Right Said Fred: Talking Betting With Betfred Boss Fred Done

It’s not getting on my nerves  constantly being asked but I’m honestly not at all bothered about Liverpool pegging back City at the top of the Premier League…even though I paid out before Christmas to the tune of £750,000 on the Blues retaining the title.

I’m just cool about the whole situation with Liverpool having to come to the Etihad in April for a game that will be like an FA Cup final for them.

The fact is City have the stronger squad by far. You only have to look at the bench to see that and when the Blues do make a substitution they often look stronger which is rarely the case with Liverpool.

A bigger pool of quality players will also obviously  have a massive effect when injuries kick in as fixtures pile up in the last third of the season.

Meanwhile what a start for my home town team Salford in the Betfred Super League…unbeaten in the first two fixtures and with struggling Hull FC on Saturday afternoon.

We at Betfred are 11/8 that we make it three on the bounce with Red Devils winger  Ken Sio 9/1 to continue his excellent start to the season with the opening try.  

Saints are still big favourites to win the Betfred Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford in September at 13/8 with Wigan and Warrington both 9/2 with Huddersfield – the other unbeaten team this season – at 25/1 . As for Salford well we were 100/1 pre-season but are now 40/1 for Grand Final glory.  

Talking of wingers Warrington’s Josh Charnley has cost me a fortune since we took up sponsorship of Super League with his first try prowess.

The 30-year-old winger notched his 250^th career try during the Wire’s convincing 34-10 triumph over Daryl Powell’s former club Castleford.

But Charnley’s brace and the fact it was Powell’s first home match at the helm were overshadowed by six-year-old Whizzy Rascal.

Whizzy was supposed to deliver the match ball in a BMW but twice went past the man in green and, much to the crowd and players’ glee, eventually had the ball taken from her by Wolves mascot Wolfie.

Naturally enough, in this day and age, Whizzy’s antics was a huge hit on social media. It was comedy gold.

That brightened the mood before kick-off, bringing a smile to everyone who saw the little girl waving to the crowd thinking it was such a hoot to delay kick-off.

When the game did get underway, ill-discipline cost the Tigers with the visitors losing the penalty count 10-4 – a factor pointed out by Castleford coach Lee Radford who said stats like that “bite you”.

Wire’s creativity, particularly from the halves, proved decisive – along with Charnley’s two tries which sweetened his 100^th appearance for the club.

Interestingly, the ex-Wigan winger has already decided what he’s going to do when he eventually hangs up his boots and it has nothing to do with the game, for he’s widely reported to be planning to become a bricklayer.

It’s tight at the top of the Betfred Super League with Wire one of the five teams on maximum points ahead of Saturday’s trip to new boys Toulouse.

As most predicted at the start of February, it’s fast emerging that Saints are the team to beat in the Betfred Super League after another dominant win away at Hull FC.

Here is Oldham-born RL legend and Betfred TV pundit Paul Sculthorpe’s view of the game : “Conditions were atrocious, but that didn’t stop us running in six tries to triumph 38-6. Coach Kristian Woolf even admitting his players were ‘shivering’ during the half-time interval…but it didn’t halt business. 

“Jack Welsby returned to the scene of his most memorable moment, scoring a similar kind of try in virtually the same spot. Add to that, his involvement in both Josh Simm tries. The 20 year old picked up the Betfred Super League man of the match award, but must have been closely followed by a barn-storming Alex Walmsley. Big Al ran for 200m plus, causing no end of problems for the Hull defence.

“Another milestone from the game was Mark Percival scoring his 100th career try, and what a try it was. After great build up play from new fans favourite Konrad Hurrell, the ball was shifted left to the hard line-running Percival who was virtually impossible to tackle. It’s no secret I’m a massive fan of Percy, the number one centre in Super League in my opinion.

“Hull FC, who in fair play were missing quite a number of first choice players, Jake Connor, Manu Ma’u & Kane Evans to name a few…were dreadful. They were playing against the best team in the competition, facing the most aggressive defensive line speed but they just looked completely lost of ideas. Their defence, and skill level were abysmal, not to mention their discipline. 

“Connor Wynne was sin binned for a tip tackle on Jack Welsby, and skipper and star signing Luke Gale saw red for a lunge at Jonny Lomax. I’ve absolutely no doubt there was no malice in Galey’s misdemeanour…but it was unbelievably careless and could have easily caused Jonny major issues had he been caught full on. 

“The Match Review panel have obviously set their stall out this season to stamp out all foul play, handing out some severe punishments already. I just hope there is also some common sense behind the sentences…after all we want our stars on the field not the stand. However, players now know what is required and have to play by the rules set.”

Finally as a racing car driver, Michael Fassbender is used to beating the odds – and now the German-born actor has emerged as a front-runner in the race to be the eighth James Bond.

The 44-year-old, who played Bobby Sands in Hunger and earned rave reviews for his part in TV series Band of Brothers and the war film Inglorious Basterds, has been slashed from 25/1 to 8/1 – within just 10 days – to land arguably the most sought-after male role in the film industry.

The move at Betfred on Fassbender, who races in the European Le Mans Series, has been sparked by a series of big bets in East Anglia.

After Daniel Craig announced he’s handing in his 007 badge after No Time To Die, the market has been lively on who will be at M’s beck and call next.

Henry Cavill, the Jersey-born Superman, has drifted out to 13/2, being replaced at the head of the market by Bridgerton heartthrob Rege-Jean Page at 3/1.

Peaky Blinders star Tom Hardy is next at 7/2 – while Idris Elba, who played Luther, is a 6/1 shot.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who remains at Number 10 despite the lingering ‘Partygate’ row, is on the drift.

Even if he does become available for the job, he’s a huge outsider at 5000/1!