West Ham have gone from a team of hoof ball merchants to a side full of movement and slick passing in just a couple of weeks.

Now I’ve not had many nice things to say about Sam Allardyce for quite a while now.

But I’ll take my flat cap off to the man who seems to be changing the football habits of a lifetime.

Grief from the fans, a strong word from the owner and a series of excellent signings seem to have transformed the Hammers.

And Allardyce has finally realised that the world has changed from hitting a target man as quickly as possible.

It was unsettling at first – imagine seeing Morrisey smiling or Ed Miliband sounding statesmanlike.

But what started with an encouraging away performance at Hull all came together gloriously with the dismantling of Liverpool last week.

The signing of Alex Song looks a masterstroke – as does the re-invention of Stewart Downing as a midfield playmaker.

Betting Spy celebrated a touch too long into the night after that win but did its bit for the pubs and bars of Commercial Street.

Next up for the new free-flowing Irons are Man Utd at Old Trafford.

Now usually that trip would fill me full of dread.

But Leicester have shown everyone the blueprint for beating the Reds – go at them hard and fast and hope to outscore them.

The Man Utd back four gets pulled about like Stretch Armstrong so goals are the call with West Ham always likely to leak a few as well.

But the bookies are wise to the trend and odds of 3/1 for five goals or more look a touch too skinny.

So let’s look to golf for our weekend punt.

The Ryder Cup roars into action this weekend – and you can’t beat three days of spanking the Yanks.

It will be as tight as ever but Europe should prevail by a couple of points while Rory McIlroy can stamp his mark on the tournament by finishing top points scorer in the event at a juicy-looking 7/1.

Betting Spy will be pulling on the old plus-fours and heading to the Silver Coast of Portugal with a few mates for our own version of the cup.

There’s nothing better than hacking around with your friends then cracking open a cold Super Bock and watching how it should be done. Enjoy.

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Running Total for all bets this season to a £10 stake: £+20.00