Trading Result:
The game went almost exactly to plan. Manchester U dominated and, also as expected, the breakthrough did not come right away, in fact not until early in the 2nd half. I got in at around 1.3 for £30 profit. As Manchester U were in charge I decided to back them further at 1-0, securing a total match profit of £77. Since this was not recommended pre-match this is not reported in the official report but listed as "inplay" profit. This terminology will be adopted for future trades.

Inplay Profit = £47 Match Profit = £30

Total =£77

Trading Result:
If ever there were a match that demonstrated the value of trading rather than conventional gambling this was it. After 20 minutes it was already clear that the match was a closed shop – few chances and Rangers looked lethargic. Indeed it wasn’t until the last 20 minutes that the match opened out, with Rangers finally upping the tempo so the draw was layed (as were Cally for a small amount), yielding £35. However the 0-0 had also been covered with £6 hence the overall £29 profit (0-0 would have yielded a bigger profit). For the overs, I did not get in until average 2.9 having been under whelmed by the lack of goalmouth action. This was adjusted just after half-time giving a massive 66p profit on the trade (Total liability had been reduced to £42 on overs by the end)

Inplay Profit = £29 Match Profit = £0.66

Total =£29.66

Trading Result:
The first goal came after only thirty seconds (!) and so there wasn’t enough time to get the trade on. However, if you decided to get on the overs right away, well done, you would have made a very nice profit!

Real Madrid looked on top form from the start and some heavy in-play backing for Real on the Half-time and full-time markets still brought an overall profit of £82.

Inplay Profit = £82 Match Profit = £0

Total =£82

Trading Result:
The match started slowly and in all honesty I could not see an early goal coming. As the draw odds were higher than anticipated (4.2) I decided to wait until 3.5 to trade and if you had got in just when it hit 3.5 you would have made a very handy profit. Everything changed after 30 min's. when Athletic, true to form, missed a wonderful chance to take the lead, Aduriz spooning the ball over from 5 yards out. It was just then that the draw odds hit 3.5 but I just missed it for the Athletic miss seemed to finally spur Barca into life and a minute later they took the lead. So made nothing on the recommended trade, but you should have made something. However, I made an excellent profit in-play (£150) by first backing then laying Barca (Who never hit any sort of form) and then backing and laying the draw. The latter was rather risky since the price took longer to drop than I anticipated, although there were less than 10 minutes left! This is the first result I got wrong, but if I make as much profit from all such results then I will not complain. (I have not counted a further smaller profit made on the under's nor a £4 loss on the 0-0). However, if had followed my advice exactly you would also have made a tidy profit on the trade.

Inplay Profit = £150 Match Profit = £0

Total =£150

Trading Result:
The match went rather as anticipated but not the odds started at just over 1.6. The tactic was to make a small trade and wait for better odds. However an early goal put pay to the chance of an more substantial trade. A small cover trade on 0-0 meant that there was only a low profit on the trade (£12) but the bolder amongst you would have been able to profit nicely. The only real surprise is that Ajax’s victory margin wasn’t greater and 5-0 or 6-0 would have been a fairer reflection on the play. I have seldom seen so many appalling misses in one game! Backing Ajax further on the half-time and full-time markets brought a total match profit of £50.

Inplay Profit = £50 Match Profit = £12

Total =£62

Trading Result:
For the second match in a row there was an early goal. Now, you will remember that I advised you to trade on the overs to cover an early goal, but I must admit that I didn't expect one as early as 6 minutes, when Diego put Bremen in front. It seems to becoming a habit in my selected matches for there to be early goals (you will remember the Real Madrid match recently had a goal after 30 seconds!). So once more, due to the unfavorable odds I did not get on, but with Bremen controlling things in the first 20 minutes I was able to trade in and out (twice) to net £100 on the half-time market.

There was a rather tricky time when Bayern rallied after 20 minutes or so, but Bremen finished the half strongly. By the time of the missed penalty and equalizer from Bayern, I had had enough time to reduce my liability.

There was no trade in the second half. A nice profit at the expense of some half bitten nails. Next time I am trading on the overs before match begins to cover these early goals.

Inplay Profit = £100 Match Profit = £0

Total =£100

Trading Result:
As suggested, it was possible to trade out for no loss in the event of PSG taking the lead. Following the PSG equalizer a smaller trade on the lay was possible, bringing £30 profit on the trade after Marseilles went ahead.

Alas, with regard to the under's market, I was somewhat caught out on the award of a ridiculous PSG penalty and though I traded out partially after the goal, there was insufficient time before the Marseilles equalizer to avoid a £50 loss. I traded on the Marseilles win but also traded out substantially again in the second half when Marseilles started to make heavy weather of what should have been a comfortable win. (I lost count of the number of corner kicks that Marseilles conceded!). So this left only £10 profit and an overall loss of £10.

Trade profit: -£20

In-play profit: £10

Inplay Profit = -£20 Match Profit = £10

Total = -£10

Trading Result:
An excellent, entertaining match also yielded the small profit – had the first goal been a bit later I would have been for a larger amount, but was still able to lay the draw and trade out for £21 profit. as you will have read in previous reports I have been caught out too often previously by the early goal and was determined to avoid a repeat. Therefore I traded early on the overs – the open play in any case justified it- and this brought a further £17 profit (Following the trade outs at 1-0 and 1-1). The only surprise was that Roma finished on top, because they looked liked conceding several when they went 1-0 down, but in the end they probably just about justified the win due to the spirit of their fight back. Perhaps not as large a profit as I would have hoped for, but the early goals do tend to make things harder.

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £38

Total = £38

Trading Result:
If there is one thing that is predictable about Celtic, it is that they will score in the last 5 minutes, usually from a Nakamura free kick (for Nakamura read Larsson a few seasons back). This is especially true when Celtic are playing badly. Celtic’s performance was so uninspiring that I soon abandoned the plan of backing them in the first half, at least substantially. Certainly Celtic did most of the pressing yet the Saints defence looked comfortable for the most part. But nor did the Saints look like scoring so I backed unders (unfortunately not early enough to bring substantial profit – though this did yield £10.) There was only one slightly uneasy moment when Saints almost scored from a break away in the first half (as I had a £60 liability on Saints at the time!). I adopted a plan of backing the draw and trading out in stages, especially towards the end. I was looking out for the late goal – the only regret was that I did not make a more substantial trade but I did trade out at 1.3 for £30 profit.

Another trade on the half-time market brought my total profit for the match to £51. All in all a fairly uninspiring match but a satisfactory trade. I have counted only £5 of my total profit as the official trade -though it is hard to calculate exactly as my actual trade also involved the draw.

Inplay Profit = £5 Match Profit = £46

Total = £51

Trading Result:
The match went roughly as expected in the first half. It was no surprise when Roma took the lead. I got on lay gradually, at 2.8 average odds. However it was only a small amount so though I successfully traded out at 3.1 after the Roma goal, it only brought a paltry £4 profit. In the second half I was sufficiently impressed by Roma to lay Inter and after they went down to 10 men (through injuries) I was convinced that the man advantage would give Roam the win. Indeed, there were several occasions when they should have made it 2-0. At this stage I was sitting on what looked like a fairly safe £65 profit. Alas, Roma decided to shoot themselves in the foot when Mexes was sent off for second yellow card . Needless to say it was then an entirely different game and I therefore traded out of Roma, leaving a small further profit on the draw (£6). This was fully justified when, again unsurprisingly, Inter equalized. A little disappointing not to have a larger profit on this, but most of you should have been able to at least break even on this match (the bolder will have made a larger profit).

Inplay Profit = £4 Match Profit = £6

Total = £10

Trading Result:
Due to the high odds on the draw I decided against trading on the draw, preferring to wait to see if the odds dropped sufficiently prior to the first goal. With regard to the overs, although Manchester United were dominant, Lyons had decided to play it tight so I decided to trade on the unders instead – this is of course the beauty of in-play trading, you can switch according to evidence of your own eyes. I had traded out sufficiently by the time of the goal to have only a minor liability on overs. I repeated this with a smaller amount, trading out towards the end in case of late goals leaving a profit of £30. (In fact, when I had traded out sufficiently to ensure no loss I was able to switch to viewing to the Sevilla match which was far more exciting! However, had you decided to trade on the draw as suggested, you would also have profited as after the Manchester United goal the odds changes from over 4 to over 8 (extraordinarily high given Lyon’s strikers – indeed they hit the post and so almost pulled of the 1-1. But as I said, it is better to avoid laying when the odds are so high. So at least a profit with minimum risk! I have counted this as in-play profit since the trade suggested was the opposite.

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £30

Total = £30

Trading Result:
This match turned into an even better trading opportunity than I was expecting. In the first half it did not look like a goal would come for some time, despite Manchester United dominance. This enabled me to trade on unders and then trade out again as the odds dropped – with the intention of using this as a cover for my main trade on lay of overs. This worked a treat with only one dicey moment when United should really have taken the lead but for a goal line clearance from Johnstone. However, 5 minutes into the second half the odds on the draw were stubbornly hovering around 3.75.

I felt this was far too high, especially with Portsmouth making a fair showing at the start of the half – So I backed the draw with £20 and was able to start trading out 5 minutes later at 3.15 with total average odds of 2.8.

By 67 minutes I was in the happy position of no loss on overs and £120 profit on unders, with £20 profit on the draw and zero loss elsewhere. Given this situation, I decided I could afford to ‘risk’ waiting further to trade out further on the unders – even though I must say around 70 minutes a goal from United looked inevitable. In fact, by 75 minutes the world ‘miracle’ often came to mind that United had not scored. I will resist the cliché ‘name on the cup’. Yet, there was smoothing about Portsmouth’s dogged performance that made me feel it was worth waiting for a late goal (or no goal at all) . When Portsmouth nipped upfield for a breakaway penalty and goalkeeper sending off the clichés were indeed flying! Those who waited as advised for the odds to drop would have found an easy opportunity to trade out for profit after this. (Draw odds of around 4). A further quick lay and trade out on Manchester United netted a further £15 (I was hoping for an equaliser by the end as this would have given another £20 profit).

So a nice profit of £135 – as usual counted ‘in-play’ profit due to the change of strategy as the match unfolded.

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £135

Total = £135

Trading Result:
Those of you followed my advice to back Liverpool at better than 1.5 will have made a nice profit, because Liverpool’s first came just after the odds went over this. Alas problems with my video link meant I could not see the match and I prefer not to trade on matches that I cannot see. But well done to those who profited! Although I did not see the game, I assume from the scroreline that it was the recent version of Liverpool who turned up.

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £0

Total = £0

Trading Result:
In some ways, this went exactly as predicted, but the early goal from Reading was certainly the only surprise. Those who got in early on the overs will have done very well, but alas the goal came just a bit too early for me. A modest backing of Liverpool brought £8 profit. Not such a big sum as last time, but a win is a win!

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £8

Total = £8

Trading Result:
Great game which went as anticipated at the start. Lyon were all over PSG at the start and it was really no surprise when they took the lead after only 8 minutes. Those who took my advice to back overs in this case will have done nicely. I actually traded on Lyon instead as I felt a goal was inevitable.

My only regret was that I also decided to stagger my stake – so the profit on this was just £15. It looked at one stage that a rout was on the cards, especially when Fred grabbed his second. However, Lyon then became complacent and PSG fought back to 2-2. It took the second goal to finally wake up Lyon and at this stage I decided to lay PSG. A further small back of Lyon brought total profit to £40. Again, I have counted this as in-play profit.

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £40

Total = £40

Trading Result:
The game went exactly to plan. As predicted few goals and the one that did come was late on in the second half, Although Celtic dominated the first half in terms of possession they never looked too dangerous so it was not a complete surprise when Rangers took the lead. The timing allowed me to back under's once more, having already largely traded out of my original stake. I got on originally at 1.75 and traded out for average odds of 1.42. Even better, second time round the odds dropped quickly so I was able to trade in at 1.65 and trade out for average odds of around 1.33. This brought total profit on the trade to £162. A much smaller trade on Rangers in-play brought the total profit to a handy £170.

Inplay Profit = £8 Match Profit = £162

Total = £170

Trading Result:
This proved a tricky game thanks to Boro’s habit of playing out of their skin against the top 4. United started strongly and scored early on. The goal was so early that I only had time to put a small amount on them. At this stage it looked like United were on course for an easy win but I did warn you before the match that Boro can turn it on when least expected, Alas the Boro goal came out of the blue and so was on £100 deficit when Boro took the lead. Worse, at 1-1 I was just about to lay the draw when Boro scored again (we decided that the best course of action was to wait for the draw odds to less than 3 but they just had just hit that when Boro scored!).

I managed to reduce the loss on the draw further by trading in and out of Boro (at 2-1) and further back and lay of the draw (at 2-2) reduced the loss to £80. A side trade of laying 2-1 also delivered £40 bringing the overall loss down to £40. Slightly unfortunate start to the trading room but it can happen, and although the game did not go according to plan, (and United’s worse performance in some time, in fact at one time they were really struggling for the point) you would at least have been able to reduce your losses by sensible in-play trading. We look forward to a more positive result next time in the chat room!

Inplay Profit = £0 Match Profit = £0

Total = - £40

Trading Result:
What a game this was – and the plan to lay the draw immediately paid off when Arsenal took the lead early on. A later goal would have increased profit but having laid at 3.2 before the match it was possible to get out at 4.0 after the goal, leaving a profit of £40 (and of £20 had the game finished level). A further small trade on half-time market brought total profit to £42 and a further trade on the overs/under 2.5 brought £5. Back to form! And more pleasing result for the second trading room event.

Inplay Profit = £7 Match Profit = £40

Total = £47

Trading Result:
My final sentence in the preview could not have been more prophetic. It was an absolutely stupendous game with goalmouth incidents galore. Though a few of you who joined the chat room were concerned that you had missed the boat for trading out due to the speed of the equalizer, coming 2 minutes after Milan’s opener, I was not too concerned as the first-half was incredibly open and peppered with defensive errors. So 2-2 at half-time was a fair refection of the play. By this time I had been able to lay and trade out twice, bringing profit to £44. I also advised people to wait until the draw odds dropped until 2.0 before laying again as the second half became somewhat tighter; but another goal always looked likely. This brought total profit to £64. A further small profit on the half-time market was cancelled out by a £5 cover bet on 0-0 made before the start. Another good result of the trading room!

I would just like to say well done to Ted who took my advice to lay the draw again at odds of 2.0 for £81 profit. Using different stakes he actually made £177 from my inplay support on this match, which was the 1st time he had every traded!

Inplay Profit = £20 Match Profit = £44

Total = £64

Trading Result:
We came very close to securing an even larger profit, but alas the goal came seconds before I had planned to trade out – a long range effort (Very lucky, but that last comment is tongue in cheek). However, by trading again on under's and then trading out at around 2.0 I was able to ensure no loss on overs for myself and the room joiners. At 1-1 this was turned into a small profit for all (£10 in my case), by backing and laying again quickly as the odds dropped. Now, at 1-1 it looked inevitable that a goal would be scored, yet I also had a feeling that Rangers could hold out with 10 so the in room joiners were told to lay the draw in a cautious way, retaining an overall profit. I must admit that this looked to be correct with only 2 minutes left and the scores still tied. But the main thing is that a profit was secured for all! We move on to the next one.

Inplay Profit = £10 Match Profit = £0

Total = £10

Trading Result:
Roma probably blew their faint Scudetto hopes here. They totally dominated until well after their somewhat unimaginative attacking moves deservedly brought the lead. Until then, Livorno had shown little or no attacking ambition. So this, accompanied with the lack of the imagination from Roma and the injury to Totti encouraged me to tell our trading room traders to wait for better value before backing Roma (and the 0-0 was also covered with £19 as I have seen many games of this type end in stalemate). This allowed me to get on at average odds of 1.35 – though we had to wait until the end of the first half for the odds to rise sufficiently. This approach seemed to have been justified when Roma took the lead after 54 minutes. After the Roma goal we advised a trade out at average odds of 1.1, which was also fully justified when Livorno equalised. This left just £10 profit, and a further trade and trade out on the draw (still available at 1.4 with just minutes left!) increased this to £15. So altogether just £5 here, but the cautious approach helped us avoid a potential large loss and after we traded out our attentions largely turned to the exciting events at Ewood Park!

Inplay Profit = £5 Match Profit = £0

Total = £5