Sir Alex Ferguson may not be willing to admit it but all Premiership title bets are off. With Manchester United 11 points clear and counting, one bookmaker has declared the championship race over and is paying out already.
"We might as well let the punters have their cash for the January sales," said the Manchester-based Fred Done. "The title is over and the way United are playing they could probably win the Boat Race at the moment."
There are still 16 games for United to play but an unmistakable air of anticlimax has descended on an increasingly forlorn league that should be squirming with embarrassment. It seems the highest echelon in English football cannot even muster a two-horse race from 20 teams.
"I decided on Monday, even before United beat West Ham, that I might as well start paying out now," said Done. "I'll be parting with around £150,000, although I would have to double that in pay-outs if, say, Liverpool or Arsenal ended up winning it. But let's be realistic, there's no way in the world it's going to come to that, is there?"
Ferguson will recall how Arsenal retrieved a 12-point deficit three seasons ago but the chances of a repetition are becoming weekly more unlikely. For all the manager's exaggerated caution, a seventh title in nine years is little more than a formality.
Done took the same calculated gamble two-thirds of the way through last season and United went on to win the league by 18 points, although a bookmaker playing with fire is bound to get fingers burned.
"I did the same with United in 1998 and paid out £300,000 only for Arsenal to put an incredible run together. That cost me another £200,000, so I ended up losing the thick end of £500,000. But it won't happen this year. I've been watching United for 20 years and this is the best team I've ever seen."
by The Guardian 03/01/2001 BACK TO TOP ^ |
