nutty nigel 7,351 Posted January 1, 2014 Greetings PUPs and welcome to week 21 of the Rays Funds season. Thisweek we have Graham Humphrey in charge and making the final selections. Withour great team of PUPs getting two successive wins and in such terrific form Ifeel the hat-trick is very much on the cards and Graham is the right man tohave in the hot seat. A previous winner with the final selections Graham is ongreat form again this season with 17/20 85%. While I’m introducing him Grahamwill be on his way home from Palace. A hardy fan who treks all over the countryto support our team Graham is a credit to the yellow army as well as our wonderfulteam of PUPs. But it’s after home games where Graham is of great value to me asI interrupt his valuable cider time and send him all over the world on hisphone to find out the results/scores of the final six. If he struggles his ITadvisor Kathy is usually on hand to guide him in the right direction…. This week we again have some of our favourite hunting grounds onmid-season break and at home league fixtures are replaced by the FA Cup. So it’sanother difficult week for us PUPs but after last week’s performance where40/41 of us picked winning selections we have nothing to fear. Don’t forget foryour selection to be considered it must be played on Sat/Sun/Mon and be listedon Bet365 or William Hill websites. This week Hector is in charge of the Norwich match bet. Hector has beena fantastic addition to our team of PUPs this season. Having picked correctly16 out of 18 he looks a certainty to make the fab40. In the mean time I’mreally glad this match bet has given him the chance of being moreinvolved. I’m sure Hector wouldappreciate all your suggestions for the match bet against Fulham in the FA Cup.Good luck Hector our fiver is in your hands. Don’t forget the bet can be asingle £5 or divided into up to five individual £1 bets. I’d like to wish all you PUPs a happy and successful new year. Stay safeand be lucky. I’m looking forward to 2014 with Rays funds. 2013 has seen somany changes both for the focus moving to the CSF and with the new bet thanksto our anonymous friend. You PUPs have taken it all in your stride and aredoing so well I think records will be broken. This month will see the 5thanniversary of our great friend and founder Arrdee’s passing. He’s always in mymind when I administer these threads and I’m sure he’d be so proud of all ofyou and what you have achieved. Now I’ll hand the thread over to GrahamHumphrey. Remember there’s no pressurebecause we are all going to do our best to help you get x2 by your name in the RaysFunds Hall of Fame. We all stand together with the single aim of raising moneyfor the Community Sports Foundation Good luck all you PUPs... Take it away Graham ... the thread isyours.......[:)]..... As always I leave you withRays signature which now reads :- Carve their names withpride.Yankee,4,Fellas,3,P''boro,2,Mr Chops,2,NewYork,2, Inch High,3,Blahblahblah, NCFC_Shaun, 1st Wazzock,3, Fonejacker,3, Norfolkbroadslim,Norfolkchance1,2, Scooby,3, Trent Canary, Cosmic Twin, Graham Humphrey,Leedscanary,2, NcfcStar, Herman, Delia’s Devonshire Dirtbox, Lappinitup,Statto, Mandie Moo, Mr Bump, Kathy, Til1010, Snake-eyes, Vindo, NWC, Hughesy.Gregt yes Norfolkchance1 £2038 for the Academy, and £237 for the CommunitySports Foundation. And with the Norwich matchbet. Splutcho, jb, Javier’s Deaf Translator, yes PUPs £34 for the CSF making atotal of £2309 raised in total so far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
killiecanary 0 Posted January 1, 2014 Been a bit rubbish at finding time to post recently so thought I''d get in quickly this timeWith my preferred leagues in France and Germany on winter breaks I''m off to Italy this Sunday - fiorentina to beat bottom of the table Livorno at home for me please...Good luck everyone Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herman 9,584 Posted January 1, 2014 Off to sunny Greece to a game that should be a home banker,although poor odds.OLYMPIAKOS v kalloni Olympiakos are romping away with the league.Kalloni are in a similar situation to us. Good luck Graham and all PUPS[Y] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jb 0 Posted January 1, 2014 Barcelona to beat elche for me please.And the Norwich bet... Rvw to score any time.Good luck! Jb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Trent Canary 0 Posted January 1, 2014 [quote user="killiecanary"]Been a bit rubbish at finding time to post recently so thought I''d get in quickly this timeWith my preferred leagues in France and Germany on winter breaks I''m off to Italy this Sunday - fiorentina to beat bottom of the table Livorno at home for me please...Good luck everyone[/quote]The French have their FA cup equivalent this weekend, quite a few nice looking games as well, albeit with the better teams away from home.I''m back to Greece with Olympiakos to beat Kalloni.Olympiakos are top, with a 16/1/0 record. Kalloni are lower mid table, 6/1/10. The first fixture finished 0-1 at the home of Kalloni.Best of luck all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YankeeCanary 0 Posted January 1, 2014 Gateshead to beat Hyde Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TIL 1010 4,656 Posted January 1, 2014 Good evening to you Nutty,very good luck to you Graham and Hector and to all you other lovely PUPs out there.If I may say Nutty I thought your intro for Graham was a bit lacking in certain respects.......ok you bigged him up for his drinking habits but you failed to mention Chicagos nightclub where he is a regular or his hankering for older married women ( photographic evidence is available). [;)]Anyway off to sunny Spain for me and a HOME WIN for REAL MADRID v Celta Vigo.The Norwich game has 0-0 written all over it and at 12/1 must be worth a £1 at least of the 5 quid.Happy New Year everybody. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
R Mellie 0 Posted January 2, 2014 To the FA cup for me this week, where I can see Liverpool having too much at home against Oldham on Sunday - so Liverpool v Oldham HOME win please. For the Norwich bet, how about a one nil home win. Good luck all Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mister Chops 7 Posted January 2, 2014 We miss you Graham, please come back to join the board, or join Twitter.This week in the Conference I think Gateshead will beat Hyde. Hyde are 0-3-22 and Gateshead are at home and 11-5-9, so not great but significantly better than their opponents.Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hissing Sid 146 Posted January 2, 2014 Heading into the minefield that is the FA Cup 3rd roundLiverpool v Oldham - Home WinFor the NCFC bet how about HT Draw FT Norwich at 4/1Best of luck Graham, Hector and all you PUPs Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,351 Posted January 2, 2014 I''m off to Italy this weekend where on Sunday Fiorentina host Livorno. Fiorentina at home are W5 D2 L1 F19 A12 while Livorno away are W1 D1 L1 F5 A15.Fiorentina v Livorno Home WinAnd for Norwich how about Ryan Bennett to score anytime at 16/1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gingerpele 0 Posted January 2, 2014 I was going to avoid the FA Cup, but then I remembered I decided at the beginning of the season Man.U would win it. So i''ll go with them to win.As for the Norwich bet, almost certain we''ll now thrash Fulham for no reason after losing an important league game against them last week. So RVW to score first, in a 4-1 win. Its 100/1 and almost certain to happen ;)Oh, a question for you Nutty am I down to get a week this year? I can''t remember what you told me, poor memory in my old age ;)Manchester United vs Swansea- Home win.Good luck :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,351 Posted January 2, 2014 The chances are you probably will Gpele. But if so it will be later in the season. Originally you were outside the Fab40 but some of last season''s top 40 have gone AWOL. You know I''ll get you in if I can buddy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Great Drinkell 50 Posted January 2, 2014 Another difficult week for Graham to pick from with the winter break still going on overseas added together with the trapdoor of the FA Cup.but as is my preference I like a risk and reward strategy and with the premiership boys likely to be resting one or two of their top players after the Christmas fixtures I''ll go with Middlesboro who are fast improving under their new coach against a good Hull side who I think will rest the big players for this one.Middlesboro V Hull Home win.As for the Norwich match I think nobody wants this to finish as a draw so I''d go with a 1-1 just to add to our troubles.Good luck to both GH and Hector. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blahblahblah 2 Posted January 2, 2014 Bewilderingly and blindly bumbling into the new year, it beggars belief that I''d blump for all the B''s this week. (oh dear. sorry. :-) )Bournemouth vs Burton - Home Win please.Benelovent and Best,Blah. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathy 728 Posted January 2, 2014 The banana skin of FA Cup third round eh? Rather you than me Graham.I know it''s a derby of sorts but I''m going to risk Sunderland beating Carlisle. I expect Poyet will put out an under-strength team but I think they''ll still have too much for an average League 1 side.For the Norwich bet I''d bung it all on a City win after the recent league result. The odds aren''t great but I really believe we''ll win this time round. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathy 728 Posted January 2, 2014 [quote user="TIL 1010"]Good evening to you Nutty,very good luck to you Graham and Hector and to all you other lovely PUPs out there.If I may say Nutty I thought your intro for Graham was a bit lacking in certain respects.......ok you bigged him up for his drinking habits but you failed to mention Chicagos nightclub where he is a regular or his hankering for older married women ( photographic evidence is available). [;)]Anyway off to sunny Spain for me and a HOME WIN for REAL MADRID v Celta Vigo.The Norwich game has 0-0 written all over it and at 12/1 must be worth a £1 at least of the 5 quid.Happy New Year everybody.[/quote]I''d tread carefully if Iwere you Til1010. When it''s your turn Nutty may reveal the post match drinking establishments that you freque[:-*]nt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathy 728 Posted January 2, 2014 [quote user="TIL 1010"]Good evening to you Nutty,very good luck to you Graham and Hector and to all you other lovely PUPs out there.If I may say Nutty I thought your intro for Graham was a bit lacking in certain respects.......ok you bigged him up for his drinking habits but you failed to mention Chicagos nightclub where he is a regular or his hankering for older married women ( photographic evidence is available). [;)]Anyway off to sunny Spain for me and a HOME WIN for REAL MADRID v Celta Vigo.The Norwich game has 0-0 written all over it and at 12/1 must be worth a £1 at least of the 5 quid.Happy New Year everybody.[/quote]I''d tread carefully if Iwere you Til1010. When it''s your turn Nutty may reveal the post match drinking establishments that you freque[:-*]nt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathy 728 Posted January 2, 2014 Really must upgrade this steam driven PC......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cosmic Twin 180 Posted January 2, 2014 I''m also going for a home win for Olympiakos v. Kalloni.Olympiakos are W8 D0 L0 F29 A4 at home and Kalloni are W3 D0 L5 F9 A13 away.Good Luck, Graham! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diesel Doris 122 Posted January 2, 2014 I do really try to offer the picker something different but I''m afraid that this week I''m going for:GATESHEAD -v- Hyde HOME WINGood Luck GH and all you Lovely PUPS[:D]For the Norwich bet, Sebastien Bassong to score anytime. Good Luck Hector[:D] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chellecity 0 Posted January 2, 2014 Italy for me this week4th placed Fiorentina to win at home vs 2nd bottom LivornoGood luck Graham, and everyone Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Humphrey 13 Posted January 2, 2014 Hello all and thanks for all the picks so far. I appreciate them all and every single one will be carefully considered. As has been pointed out, it''s a difficult week but I take heart from Greg pulling it out of the bag last week when it was barely any easier so it is certainly possible.I''m desperate to chalk up another win for myself and of course the team so will be giving it some serious thought - no alcohol tomorrow evening, just full-on concentration in a bid to nail it (to use a technical term) so expect my final selections tomorrow night sometime.So thanks everyone and thanks Eddie for his dedication in keeping this going and giving me the opportunity to pick once more, as well as the many people with whom I have formed genuine and close friendships thanks to this thread, it wouldn''t be half as much fun without it.(And thanks to those who want me back here on a regular basis! I''ll see what I can do Chopsy - although if you''re ever at a match and in a position to do so, do come and say hi in the Nelson after a game sometime...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mandie Moo 92 Posted January 3, 2014 Morning all and Good Luck to everyone this weekend.MMMK - Blackburn -v- MAN CITY AWAY WINMM - LIVERPOOL -v- Oldham HOME WINFor the Norwich bet, how about both teams to score but Fulham to win [wash my mouth out!], currently at 5/1 on Ladbrokes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hector Brockelbank 95 Posted January 3, 2014 A tricky coupon this week wîth squad rotations and the likelyhood of postponements. With all that in mind and an attempt to offer graham something different I''ll go for:Juventus v Roma home winThanks for all the match bet recommendations there is a great amount of choice. Keep em coming. I''ll be back sometime tonight with my final picks. Thanks again, and good luck everyone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SwindonCanary 455 Posted January 3, 2014 Not sure I''m allowed Real Madrid v Celta Vigo as it''s being played on Monday 6th Jan.If this is not OK my default pick is Fiorentina v Livorno which is played on Sunday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ncfcstar 287 Posted January 3, 2014 Liverpool to beat Oldham.Good luck. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Statto28 0 Posted January 3, 2014 Liverpool win for me as well please As always heres hoping for both a PUPs and City win Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GMF 720 Posted January 3, 2014 Liverpool to beat Oldham in the FA Cup for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
norfolkchance1 0 Posted January 3, 2014 Leeds to win at Rochdale for me this week.For the Norwich bet, think the game will be a 0-0 draw. Good luck Graham and Hector and all pickers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites