How Do They Get These Odds – Part 2

So after writing off to William Hill asking how they got the odds, I got a reply back some weeks later directing me to the press office. So I sent the same e-mail to the press office and got no reply.

The fixtures were released on Thursday and I thought I`d look at the odds again, and they`ve been slashed to 33/1 level with Macc. I don`t know if that`s because of how the fixtures are or because a few people had decided to put money on the earlier odds.

But looking at the fixtures, how can we be joint-second favourites to go down with that list of fixtures?

First game we`ve got Hereford at home, ok so they`ll be on a high from coming up but we beat them relatively easily in the FA Cup last season and we will have a large home crowd supporting the team. 3 points?

Second game is on a Tuesday night at Walsall. They`ve just been relegated, and if they were to lose their first game against Rochdale, then they may think “Oh no here we go again” and their losing mentality from last season will carry on.

Then you look at the list after that and it`s not till you get till Swindon away on August 26th that I actually think we may be troubled. Again though, if they lose a couple of games the losing mentality can stick in and we all know how hard it is to get out of that.

Another advantage is that we play Rochdale, Chester & Bury away in the space of seven games – one of the home games is also against Macclesfield. We are likely to have a large away following as we did last season – we picked up 12 points in those four fixtures last season.

Boxing Day – Home, 30th December – Home, New Years Day – Shrewsbury away, 6th January – Wrexham away.

Again at those four fixtures, large followings and large crowds are likely – again something that will really help the team.

Then the last five fixtures. Home to Chester, Away to Macc (Huge game), Home to MK Dons, Home to Bury, Away to Darlington. Excluding that last game, the crowds at the other four are likely to be huge. Then a large away following is always likely for the last game.

When you look at the fixtures in blocks, we really have some good periods when we can be looking to put together three or four wins on the trot. We can beat anybody, and if we can beat Derby in the Carling Cup that will give the team a huge boost of confidence – second favourites for relegation? Doubt it.