Hayemaker or Haye Taker?

Last night in Hamburg, a fight to help unify factions of the World Heavyweight Title was contested by Ukrainian, Wladimir Klitschko and Briton, David Haye. Klitschko put up his WBO and IBF titles, whilst Haye laid his WBA belt on the line.

David "The Hayemaker" Haye (image by fitpro1)

 After a rather distasteful run up to the fight, with Haye being continually abusive toward his opponent and where Klitschko dealt with all insults in a gentlemanly manner, the Ukrainian won easily by a unanimous points decision. 

After the fight Haye claimed to have gone into the contest with a broken toe after an accident that happened 3 weeks ago in training.

If this was the case:

1. Why was his injury not picked up by the overseeing medical professionals, causing the fight to be postponed until a later date? 

2. As Haye claimed not to be fully fit at the start, surely all fight fans that travelled to Germany, were coaxed there on a false pretence and have a case to get their travel costs refunded? 

3. All fans who bet on the outcome, or more to the point, on Haye to win (and Tatty includes himself in this), should get their stakes refunded? 

4.  All those paying for the Sky TV pay per view coverage should also get refunds?

To be honest Mr Haye, we  have been conned by the fact that you (so you say), did not go into the fight at 100% fitness. I am sure that you will be only too quick to take your purse for the fight though, not giving a damn about your fans being out of pocket. 

With the apathy you have shown towards the title that you once held, you have as much as stuck two fingers up at the authorities that control the sport and anyone connected with it. 

Let’s hope this is the last we see of you in the ring, because if you return, how will anyone ever take you seriously and be sure that everything is above board? 

There are a lot of very angry people, who feel totally sold out by this whole sordid affair, but I doubt you really care, so long as your bank balance rises. Thankfully the right man won the bout.

Mud sticks Mr Haye and you are totally covered in it!

Tatty is now off to the gym.....

A Little Pre-Occupied Today

Good morning everybody

As the title of this posting suggests, I have other things on my mind today. The Dingles are a-visiting the Hawthorns at lunchtime. There is no love lost between the Albion and the Wolves and today, being Roy Hodgson's first game in charge of the Baggies, gives extra significance. Also with both clubs hovering close to the bottom of the League it could be classed as a 6 if not 12 pointer.

COME ON YOU BAGGIES!!

Aa for horses, we had an 11/8 winner, 2 unplaced and 2 non-runners yesterday so not particularly anything to write home about. Today brings jumping at Sedgefied, Market Rasen and Naas, along with AW flat at Kempton. A couple to watch are listed below:-

LESANDA Sedgefield 3.10 (place or e/w)

SNOWY PEAK Kempton 4.25

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will be back (all being well) tomorrow.

Tatty

And Here Starteth Another Week

Hello my friends, 

I hope you all had a great weekend and are fit and raring to go for another week.

We had a good day on Sunday with both win choices doing the business at evens and 2/1. The each way punt went somewhat astray, but that one I really only add for a little bit of entertainment. That is very much the case with the each way choice for today. It really should go off at anything up to 33/1 which should give you some idea as to how much chance it has to win, but strange things happen at the racecourse. It is thought that on the whole, one in 33 horses going off at an sp of 33’s will win – I can’t really see that, but never mind. Today’s suggestions are listed in time order below:-

MAVALENTA Plumpton 2.00 (each way)

MAC AEDA Catterick 2.20

EMPEROR’S CHOICE Plumpton 5.00

With the sad story of the deaths of 2 horses at Newbury on Saturday, I never got to comment on the appointment of Roy Hodgson as Albion Head Coach on Friday. I am very pleased with the choice. He feels he can avoid relegation at the end of the season and you do think that if anyone can get us out of the mire, he can.

I have read some interesting supposed info regarding his predecessor over the weekend. Apparently Signor di Matteo was very aloof from certain members of the squad, having his favourites. I’m not saying that this is the gospel truth, but it does explain the selection policy on occasions and, in hindsight, one or two tactical decisions that were made.

Good luck Roy. His first game is home to the Dingles (Wolverhampton Wanderers to the un-initiated). Nothing like a baptism of fire.

I have just one last comment for you. Did you see Wayne Rooney’s goal for United against City on Saturday? Some people are saying it’s the greatest goal ever in the Premier League. I think that is overstating things somewhat, but I have a question for all you United fans. Apart from the goal (which he quite easily could have made a complete hash of), what else did he do in that game? The words b*gg*r  and all come to mind! £250,000 a week for just that can’t be bad can it?

Have a good start to the week.

Tatty

Short and Sweet

Hi y'all

A bit short of time today I'm afraid.

No reply to my email to WBA yesterday, but I'm not surprised. I'm only a fan, not in the least bit important as far as they are concerned - in fact, the lowest of the low, so what do I expect?

Both selections ended in 3rd place yesterday and not at very good prices so were not worth backing each way. I did pick a winner on Twitter ridden by Southwell's answer to Dick Turpin, namely Hayley Turner in her mask, so if you are able then have a look. Address below.....

http://twitter.com/uncletatty

OK, only 1 for Wednesday and that is at Lingfield 3.35 VEROON regularly gets into the frame and should do so again. Beaten only by a head on his last 2 starts, you do wonder if he is a bit of a nearly horse who is not keen on getting his head in front. We'll give him this 1 last chance.

VEROON Lingfield 3.35

Keep your eyes peeled on Twitter for updates.

Bye for now

Tatts

Washout North of the Border

Good day my old buds

Well yesterday was a bit of an anti-climax was it not? I return to the land of the tipping, only to find its been a bit soggy up in Western Scotland and Ayr had bitten the slurry. Shame that, Ayr is one of my fave courses; I love the Ayr Gold Cup meeting and the locals are so friendly. I must go up again someday. Matter of interest, has anyone any idea who trains at the Cree Lodge stables across the road from the course now? I remember when Linda Perratt was there and I used to follow her gelding Ho Leng. He won me a few quid at Newmarket in (I believe it was) the Bunbury Cup one year.

In case of abandonments and non-runners etc, please follow my Twitter page where I will endeavour to update any of my blogs.

http://twitter.com/uncletatty

Back on to my pet subject of the moment, the dismissal of Robbie di Matteo from the Hawthorns. I wrote an email to the club today which I reproduce in full here:

I am totally at a loss over the relieving of Roberto di Matteo from his duties as Head Coach. The Chairman says it is due to the bad run of losses that has taken place, but why no strengthening of the squad in the January window, bar Carlos Vela?

1) Surely the idea of a Technical Director overseeing the bringing in of players means that Ashworth should go as well? He has surely failed in his remit to strengthen the squad. A coach is only as good as the players he has at his disposal.

2) Who are we going to find to do a better job than di Matteo? Unless the incumbant Manager has total control of all aspects, it will never work and we will be down in the Championship again before we know it.

3) Where is the logic in removing a Coach one week after the transfer window has closed? Any replacement will not have the opportunity to get in any players he requires to help keep us up (maybe that is what the board want - it won't cost them any more money will it?).

After almost 50 years of being an Albion fan, all I can say is that I am ashamed of the club for this totally ridiculous decision. I wish Robbie well and thank him for the excellent job he has done. Peace and his cronies have made one almighty big mistake with this and I for one wouldn't be sorry to see the back of them!

Will I receive a reply? Well I won't be holding my breath..... 

On to those 4 legged, annoying things that eat hay and nay a lot (and don't seem to run very fast on occasions). Southwell (AW), Market Rasen and Sedgefield are the courses of action for today, but to err on the side of caution, I will make both selections from the all-weather flat meeting at sultry Southwell.

Last week I went against EILEAN MOR who runs in the 3.15 maiden, but today I quite fancy Bryan Smart's gelding to get his head in front. I am not convinced the extra furlong was to his liking and a return to 6 should help.

An hour later at 4.15 ACE MASTER is one going up in distance  from 6 and 7 furlongs to a mile. He has been running ok at the shorter trips, but really does stand out to me in this field and I fancy him to prevail.

  EILEAN MOR Southwell 3.15 3rd @ 11/4

 ACE MASTER Southwell 4.15 3rd @ 3/1

Good night and good luck. Remember, updates if required on Twitter.

Tatty

Tatty Returns to the Blogosphere - again!

Hello Boys and Girls

Great news, THE TATTENATOR IS BACK! Mrs Tatty has recovered well from her operation and it's all systems go with the blog again.

Before I go any further, I was shocked to see my Albion had sacked Head Coach, Robbie di Matteo today. OK, I know we have been on a bad run, but a week after the transfer window has closed, where's the logic in that? If you think about it, it is typical of that tight ar*ed idiot chairman, Jeremy Peace to push the panic button. I suppose the timing is so that any replacement doesn't have to be given any money straight away to strengthen the squad. I cannot believe that anyone else will do a better job than Robbie and it is yet another bloody ridiculous decision by a ridiculously out of touch board who, you do wonder if they really want to stay in the Premier League. A popular opinion is that caretaker manager, Michael Appleton will be given the full time gig. Can't see that Appy will be any better than Robbie myself - we shall see what happens.

Now on to the old nags. Jumping at Ayr tomorrow and, for a change, Lingfield along with the usual all-weather entertainment at Wolverhampton.

In the 2.15 Handicap Hurdle at Ayr, Merigo strangely reverts to the smaller obstacles. He is entered for the Grand National and a 2½ mile hurdle is a long way from the 4½ mile slog round Aintree. Eighteen Carat won well at Aintree in November, but he has probably got too much weight on his back this time. My choice is FLINTY BAY who has been running well with not getting his head in front. The extra ½ mile should not be a problem for him.

When it comes to an each way chance I am treading down the very rocky road of a Novices Handicap Chase.In the 3.20 again at Ayr, I have a sneaky suspicion that top weight SOTOVIK may not be very far away from glory. He may have risen in the weights a bit since, but in the middle of 2010 he was winning a better class of event than this and may well trot in at a decent price.

FLINTY BAY Ayr 2.15 meeting abandoned

SOTOVIK (e/w) Ayr 3.20 meeting abandoned

That's all for tonight, speak soon.

Chairman Tatty

Away For a Day or So

Hello

An ok day I suppose, with MIC'S DELIGHT winning at Leicester. ANJOMARBA was disappointing and back to normal at Kempton where RAMBO WILL didn't, ending a length down in 2nd.

Just to clear up yesterday's posting, I stayed in to watch WBA draw with Wigan, but how the Albion didn't get the winner at the end was beyond me. More locally, Biggleswade Town beat their local rivals 7-0.

I'm sorry to say that I will not be making any selections for tomorrow and in fact for a day or so. Mrs Tatty is going into hospital for a long awaited operation tomorrow morning, so I will be a bit busy with other things.

See you all soon.

Chairman Tatts

Decisions, Decisions!

Hiya

I do like it when a plan comes together. LA ESTRELLA won the 2.00 at Southwell well. I was quietly confident that it would be so. He came to the race with a 100% record on the Southwell Fibresand and didn't disappoint. A workmanlike performance, but returning after a 2 year break, it was always a case of if fit enough, then by how far. In the end it was only a length, but a good return nonetheless.

Wednesday gives us the delights of Leicester, Newcastle, Lingfield (AW), KKempton (twilight AW) and over the pond at Down Royal. Plenty then for me to get my gnashers into, so here we go....

At Lingfield, I like ANJOMARBA in the 1.40 Back down to selling company and returning to a 6 furlong trip, everything looks positive for this 4 year old filly.

I picked a winner at Kempton a day or so ago, so it's in for a penny, in for a pound and let's have another go. At 4.50 RAMBO WILL drops to 5 furlongs which I think will be the ideal trip for him as he seems to struggle late on in 6 furlong encounters.

Lastly, it may be worth having a look at MIC'S DELIGHT in the 2.00 at Leicester. Ran well on New Years Day at Exeter and yard currently  in terrific form.

 ANJOMARBA Lingfield Park 1.40 unplaced

MIC'S DELIGHT Leicester 2.00 won @ 9/4

RAMBO WILL Kempton 4.50 2nd @ 5/1

I am in somewhat of a quandary for tonight. My 2 local non-league teams, Biggleswade Town, are at home to Biggleswade United in the Bedfordshire Senior Cup tonight, but my fave Premier team, WBA are live on Sky at home to Wigan. What to do? What to do? Watch the blog tomorrow to see which game I decided upon.

See you soon

Tatts

Tatty in Mourning

Hello

Tatty is in mourning tonight, after the Albion lost 2-0 at Blackburn. It doesn't really help when one of your centre backs heads into his own net, when being barely challenged, to make it 1-0 and letting in a 2nd, so soon after the interval put an end to any hope for a point we had.

We really are in need of a striker who can get a few goals here and there, but what Premier League club (except the obvious few) are not? We lost out on John Carew, mainly because of the boards reluctance to pay his high wages. It seems the board are quite content with the Albion being a yo-yo club. That is all well and good, but soon enough the yo-ing will end, more than likely with us stuck in the lower of the two leagues.

The Horsey Bit

Well, we started the week with a 2nd place. It surprised, nay amazed me to see OLD WAY go off as 9/4 fav at Towcester. Somebody, somewhere must have had a hefty old punt on. He was going well until clobbering the last and ended a couple of lengths back from the winner.

Tomorrow sees a return to slightly iffy Monday cards at Wetherby over jumps and Kempton and Wolverhampton on the all-weather. As Kempton (AW) is a continual no-no, we look at the other two for inspiration.

The best quality race of the day is the Novice's Chase at Wetherby 2.35 Always notoriously dodgy affairs to say the least, this one gives us 4 competitors, all of which have a squeak. If Alfie Sherrin can jump the larger obstacles as well as the timber, he must be in with a decent shot of taking this and similar thoughts could be given to Sir Tantallus Hawk. Donald McCain's Glenwood Knight won well on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter and remains a threat, but my, very tentative choice goes to KNOCKAVILLA who, if you ignore his last run here at Wetherby, has had decent form over fences. I am concerned however, about tipping any horse with the disgusting word Villa in its name - UGH!

The best race at Dunstall Park is the 7 furlong handicap at 4.35 Stef Liddiard's SARAH'S ART won well at Lingfield on New Year's Eve and only goes up 1lb for it. Previously having winning form at Wolverhampton, he will certainly be there or thereabouts.

KNOCKAVILLA Wetherby 2.35

SARAH'S ART Wolverhampton 4.35

Right, I am now going back to my mourning, black armband at the ready.

Tatty the Baggie