Betfacts / Top Dog / 20 September 2007 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Betfair's Top Dog sniffs around the truth behind the latest tabloid tales.

Betfair's top dog sniffs around the truth behind the latest tabloid tales.

Cruft's champion - Top stories that can dominate the news agenda
Pedigree chum - Insights that tell you something you don't know
Dog's dinner - Speculation, guesswork, or ideas that just don't come off.


Top Dog says:

Inquests this morning at the Daily Express and Daily Star who both missed the late evening developments at Chelsea. The two papers are in the same group and share copy so how did nobody know Mourinho was on his way out? Gold stars for The Mirror's Martin Lipton, The Mail's Neil Ashton and Ian McGarry at the Sun who were all on the ball when the story started breaking.

Cruft's:

The Sun - Terry Ruck Spelt End - Ian McGarry claims Mourinho's fate was sealed when by a spat with skipper John Terry - and reveals Frank Lampard was the first player to know of the Special One's departure in a dramatic phone call. The Sun have both Terry and Lampard under contract with McGarry the link man. The result is great background info when the big stories break.

Pedigree Chum:

The Sun - Harry Redknapp column - Portsmouth's manager is as good a judge of the game as there is, and after playing all four top teams is backing United for the title. He also says to get on Watford to win the Championship. United are currently 3 favourites, Watford also favourites but better value at 4.9.

Daily Mail - Jol looks for legal advice - Top football man Matt Lawton has been tipped off that Martin Jol has asked the League Managers' Association for legal help in case he loses his job at Spurs. He needs the players to back him more than he needs a lawyer. Get on Berbatov to score against minnows Anorthosis tonight at 2.04. Just a thought - could Mourinho now be Spurs' top target?

Daily Mail - Johnson set to be dropped - Neil Ashton reveals that Everton boss David Moyes is planning to axe Andy Johnson from tonight's UEFA Cup tie. No prizes for guessing where Crystal Palace fan Ashton got the tip off from. Everton are struggling for goals and 3.6 for under 1.5 goals in the tie looks interesting.

Daily Mail - Rafa stunned by double whammy - the Mail's Colin Young reveals that Xabi Alonso and Daniel Agger are both out six weeks with metatarsal injuries. Big blow to Liverpool's ambitions and a test of their squad. They are currently 3.8 second favourites for the Premier League title.

Dog' s dinner:

The Sun - Tunc sick of life at Boror - Misfiring Middlesbrough striker Tuncay says he wishes he'd never signed for Gareth Southgate and has gone from "a king" in Turkey to nothing. The quotes are clearly translated from the Turkish papers who are arguably the most notorious tabloids in the world for making things up. Expect the Tuncay denial story today!

Today's other stories:

The Sun - Arsenal and United match reports - Chris Kamara column - UEFA previews

Daily Express - Arsenal look Fab - Ronaldo's head start - UEFA previews

Daily Star - Super Ron - Fab's a class act - Owen's new op scare - UEFA Cup previews - nine pages of football

Daily Mirror - The Special Gone - Arsenal and United match reports - Stephen Ireland signs new five year contract

Daily Mail - Champions League and Championship match reports - Ian Holloway interview - UEFA previews

Tags: Betfair's Top Dog, Chelsea football, Jose Mourinho leaves Chelsea, Roman Abramovich