Odds-layers taking a chance with Latics

ANOTHER soccer season gets under way on Saturday and, like many others in Oldham, I will be hoping the new campaign is the one which enables Athletic to regain their place in the Championship.

Three League One top-10 finishes in a row have been fair enough, but manager John Sheridan and his team know that this is the time for the Latics to turn promise into achievement.

And I reckon they could well do so, thanks to some astute summer signings by Sheridan and the return to fitness of key players.

Athletic are 28-1 to win the League One title and that’s a very fair price given the lack of quality in the division.

Admittedly, Leeds will be a tough nut to crack now that they start on level terms with the rest (they conceded 15 points start last season), but their price of 3-1 reflects that and they will have to cope with the pressure of being hot favourites.

Athletic have expectations of their own, but they are not there to be shot at like Leeds and Leicester (5-1) and their odds to succeed do not accurately reflect their chance.

You can get a quarter of the odds a place (first three) so an each-way bet on Sheridan’s men is a fair punt indeed.

And for those of you who feel Athletic will go up without being champions, why not take the 8-1 on offer about them being promoted?

That said, the outstanding bet on Athletic is the 3-1 available about them to be top North-West team.

Carlisle head the market at 13-8, with Tranmere 2-1, Crewe 10-1 and Stockport County 12-1.

Get on the Latics with Bet365 as only Carlisle can give them a run for their money among this lot.

The top goalscorer market is dominated by last season’s leading marksman, Jermaine Beckford of Leeds.

He is a best-priced 10-1 for a repeat, with the three main Latics hopes being Craig Davies (50-1), Lee Hughes (50-1) and new boy Chris O’Grady (80-1).

Hughes, who has scored goals consistently at a much higher level, is of obvious interest at such a price, but injuries have dogged him in the last 12 months and you need to be playing regularly to top the scoring charts.

The action also starts in the Championship and League Two this weekend and I believe the bookies have got it right in naming Reading (9-1) and Shrewsbury (8-1) among the favourites to win their respective divisions.

n HOW sad it was to see Michael Vaughan fall apart emotionally when giving up the England captaincy.

But I can’t help thinking he was right to quit and while I have my reservations about his successor, Kevin Pietersen, he has to be given a chance so good luck to him.

Pietersen is thrust into captaincy action against the rampant South Africans at The Oval tomorrow and his England team are 3-1 to get him off to a winning start, with the Proteas 9-4 and the draw the favourite at evens.




VIJAY Singh looks overpriced at 22-1 to win this weekend’s USPGA Championship at Oakland Hills, Michigan.



The Fijian won last weekend’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio and, with his confidence with the putter at least partially restored, he may follow up in a tournament lacking the injured Tiger Woods.

n RECOMMENDATIONS: Oldham Athletic, e.w., League One, 28-1 (Ladbrokes) OR to win promotion, 8-1 (Ladbrokes, Hills); Athletic to win League One North-West League group, 3-1 (bet365); Vijay Singh, e.w., US PGA Championship, 22-1 (Sporting Bet, VC Bet, Betdirect, Stan James, Hills).