I have to ask Keith - did you take a position on last night's game????

I put some money on Barcelona v Arsenal in exactly the same thought process. I would have been happy to have lost the cash but it didn't seem likely. Similarly laying England at the World Cup is a no-brainer, surely?

too right, there is nothing disloyal about it. If Spurs win you dont care about the money! you are effectively buying your happiness! If they dont its no comfort at all but you have more money! I will have £1 on Gillingham to beat Leeds and a 50p on Millwall Swindon and Charlton to win this weekend! Beer money to drown my sorrows if it happens, a small price to pay for 3 more points nearer to the championship if not!

I have my money on Argentina at 10-1 for the World Cup, pretty good odds for a half decent side with the best player in the world! So, even when they have a controversial knock out game against England settled by a dodgy referee, penalty shoot out or inevitable John Terry sending off (check out the odds for that when the time comes!) I will at least have some crumb of hope for the tournament.

Peter Cook, also a Spurs fan, famously did this.

I've always had the exact same view but never actually tried (though I do generally bet once every 5 years).

Thanks to this article I have put a fiver on Millwall to beat my lot (Huddersfield) on Friday as I have a horrible feeling we'll get caned and probably end up missing out on the Play-Offs altogether...

I nearly always back my team Millwall and have made hay over last few months (and hats off to Steve Morison who is the bet-ever goal minutes buy). But I took a similar doublethink approach at the FA Cup final v Man Utd - our form leading up to the match was so appalling I feared a 0-5 (or even worse) and so I took the unusual step of backing Man Utd on assorted spread bets, meaning that the heavier the beating, the higher my takings.

In the end we lost 0-3 and I must admit, it did act like a kind of anesthetic, an effective way to numb the pain that I knew was coming!

t.j.vickerman: after Tuesday night, how can you not think we're now going all the way to Wembley and beyond?

Cavalry Trouser Tips and t.j.vickerman

I'm also a hudds fan. and like t.j have considered but never done this before. but can't see us beating or drawing with Millwall after we nearly messed it right up on Tuesday.

If we win or draw i'll be as confident as before tuesday (very) but lose like i expect and think we might not make the playoffs.

Feels strange this but;
?5 on the Wall, Come on you terriers!!

@Cavalry Trouser Tips - I don't see the coming back from 2-3 down with 2 goals at the death to take the 3 points. I see the squandering of a 2-0 lead against 10 men against a team entrenched in the bottom half of the table. Glass half empty and all that!

Bearlion,

Yes - I did put twenty pounds (out of the forty pounds I won on Sunday) on Arsenal at 5/4 which felt like an easy stroll to the cashpoint. By the end of the game I could feel some of the old passion returning - I was pacing around and couldn't wait for the ref to blow.

I'll still be betting on Chelsea this Saturday.

Keith Robertson

Well, just lost a fiver but it's probably the best fiver I've ever spent!

In the run-in to the 2005/06 season, along similar lines to the author above, I was enticed to back Arsenal to pip my beloved Spurs to fourth place. Despite being in fourth spot, three quarters of the way through the season, I was still not impressed with the Spurs side and viewed many of their victories (particularly at home) as having been fortunate. And this was Spurs. I didn't care what the table looked like, I still couldn't see it lasting. So between March and May, I repeatedly backed Arsenal to finish fourth at odds varying from 7/4 to 3/1. By the final game of the season, it was quite an amount at stake. Spurs fell short in the end, but as a consequence I won enough to be fed and watered for a fortnight in Germany at the World Cup the following month.

One thing I must add is that I felt compromised by it all. I can still recall the penultimate game at home to Bolton and thinking that it wouldn't be so bad for Spurs to miss out on qualification for the CL (or more likely elimination at the CL preliminary stage). I didn't feel comfortable about it so I've never done it since.

Spurs have just beaten Chelsea so my £40 profit from the Portsmouth game has gone in just two games - it won't stop me betting against them, I still feel my theory is sound.

Beating Arsenal and Chelsea in the same week (having lost a Wembley semi-final after extra time) says a lot for the character of the team - especially when Arsenal and Chelsea were so desperate for the points and when you consider what a hopeless record Spurs have against both clubs. It's not often Spurs fans can feel smug but I'm feeling that way tonight.

tj vickerman - congratulations for last night's win.

Keith

I decided to try it and won a few quid as my team (Stockport) continued their limp descent into League Two. Had I started this at the beginning of the season I'd be living in the Bahamas by now !!

Lovely one-liner buried in the story about Bobby Robson taking the time to reply to a young England fan's letter - these little illustrations of his generosity of spirit continue to surface long after his death. A true gentleman - RIP Sir Bobby.