Premier League Betting: Robinho promises the best is yet to come

Premier League / Ralph Ellis / 30 December 2008 / Leave a Comment

Despite their perilous league position, Robinho has settled in a treat at Manchester City and has vowed to score more goals in the second half of the season, says Ralph Ellis.

When foreign stars give interviews in their own language there's very often trouble coming. So Mark Hughes must be happy this morning to read Robinho's comments from an interview in Spain.

There was always a suspicion that the Brazilian star didn't quite know which club he was joining when his transfer from Madrid to Chelsea was hi-jacked by City's new rich Arab owners on the last day of the summer window. Several of his quotes at the time suggested he thought he'd flown to go to Old Trafford rather than Eastlands. And you'd have thought that the problems since might have got him in the mood to move again.

But after grabbing a late equaliser against Blackburn that moved City away from the immediate relegation zone, Robinho is actually full of positives about the second half of the season. And while other Brazilian stars like Elano and Jo have fallen into the trap of moaning about the club when they've spoken to journalists at home, Robinho is looking forward positively.

"People have mentioned that I could be the top scorer in the Premier League - that has never been my aim but I guess it is possible," he says. "My priority is still to help City become a major force in England. If I can do that I will be happy and the personal things can come after that. I want to bring an even greater spectacle to English grounds and I promise I will score more goals in the second half of the season."

He also has a theory on why City have been struggling so much. "It is incredible that with this squad we have appeared to be fighting relegation. "I must admit I don't really understand it and it has been the one question talked about more than any other in our dressing room.

"One theory I have is that the constant rumours about possible reinforcements in January have damaged us in some way. Some of my team mates do perhaps fear for their future and that is not positive."

In the middle of City's struggles it's maybe gone unnoticed that while Elano and Jo have completely failed to adapt to manager Hughes's way of doing things, Robinho has settled in a treat. He's got 11 goals in the Premier League from just 15 appearances so far and he should get better as the season goes on. Certainly he can expect more support as the money starts flowing in January and Hughes buys players he wants rather than those the owners have forced him to take.

Robinho is currently [5.8] to be the Premier League's top scorer at the end of the season and his comments today confirm the idea that could be a useful bet. He's only three behind leader Nicolas Anelka who is clearly not happy at suddenly finding himself on the bench behind Didier Drogba despite his prolific start to the campaign. If you followed my advice to back Anelka earlier in the season when he was as long as [7.0], now's the time to lock in the profit, lay him at [3.9], and switch horses to put some of the money on the little Brazilian.

Five things you might not know about Elano

1. Born in 1981 in Iracemapolis, Sao Paulo, he began playing for Guarani, making his debut when he was only 16

2. After moving to Santos he was in the same side as his current Eastlands team mate Robinho

3. Used to 35 degrees in Brazil, he was transferred to Ukraine side Shakhtar Donesk where it was minus 25 degrees. "If you stayed still for 30 seconds your knees froze up," he has said

4. He likes cooking and his speciality is creating fruit smoothies from pineapples and mangos

5. He is a member of a Mormon church and sends a large percentage of his earnings back to them in South America