Hi and welcome to THE BODOG BARK. This page is an extract of the game previews, news and views onsite at Bodog Sports and is a regular contribution to GoonersGuide.com. Bodog is one of North America's favourite sports bookmakers who are now making solid inroads into the European football betting scene.
Bodog is all about digital entertainment, more so than most classical bookies (they've got an online casino, poker room, celebrity magazine style content plus Mixed Martial Arts and other fairly "cool stuff"). From a football perspective (and that's UK and European football), Bodog now is a great alternative bookie with very competitive odds
The Bodog Bark: UK & Euro Sports Betting News & Views
Adebayor? Take The Deal!
What's that sound? It's Arsenal's bosses laughing all the bank – if reports today that Barcelona have bid £30 million for Emmanuel Adebayor are anything to go by.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is the master of the buy 'em cheap, sell 'em high policy, and he's got the canny knack of flogging his star players before they burn out and turn useless. After all, not many agreed with his decision to sell Patrick Vieira to Juventus – or Thierry Henry to Barcelona – but both those hunches turned out to be proved bang-on. Neither player has been anywhere near as good since the day they left the Gunners.
But this deal for Adebayor could be Wenger's best deal yet. The Togo striker was a hit at the Emirates last season and Arsenal could well miss his goals. But that's all he's had so far, one good season, and £30m will pay for a lot of quality coming in the other way. The Gunners have already apparently lined up Roque Santa Cruz, the Blackburn striker, as a ready-made replacement. He'd probably cost a snip of the cash they'll get for Adebayor; £5m or so, certainly no more than ten (Blackburn signed him on a free transfer), leaving plenty of cash left over for Wenger to carry on shopping.
It's a brilliant deal for Arsenal. Take it, bank the cash immediately, and don't give Barcelona a second to change their minds!
Forget the prospect of Ronaldo to Madrid, Emmanuel Adebayor to Barcelona, Gareth Barry to Liverpool, or even Ronaldinho to Man City - the biggest shock of the lot is Harry Kewell´s departure to Galatasaray.
"Welcome To The Hell" waved the giant banner that greeted Manchester United players as they arrived at a feverish Istanbul airport packed with passionate Galatasaray supporters. The players had to literally run a gauntlet of hate through a seething and antagonistic mass of humanity as they made it through to their awaiting team bus.
That´s a microcosm of just how passionate football fans are in that part of the world and you can bet your bottom Turkish Lira that Harry will be in for a rough ride if he doesn´t deliver.
The problem with Kewell is you get the impression that he´s happier playing himself on his Playstation than he is playing for real. Comfort zone Harry has sat on the sidelines for so long at Liverpool whenever he gets a rare appearance he looks devoid of the hunger and motivation required to make a difference at the top level.
Hopefully the Bosphorus waters will spark something inside this huge talent that Liverpool fans never got to witness. But don´t bet on it. 16 goals in 138 games over 5 seasons was an appalling return for a player of his ability.
If he plays like that in front of the most intimidating fans in the world they´ll be burning effigies of the languid Aussie on the terraces.
Pride of Scotland Andy Murray´s dream run to the last eight of Wimbledon came to a ruthless end when he ran into Rafael Nadal. It was men against boys stuff as the Dunblane strokemaker was blown away on Centre Court in straight sets.
Murray is being tipped by patriotic Brits to win a Major one day but the magnitude of the spanking dished out by the muscular Mallorcan clearly demonstrates how far behind he actually is. On that evidence he will never win a Major if he needs to get past a Nadal or a Roger Federer.
One of Murray´s favourite tactics seems to be to exaggerate his celebrations in an attempt to wind up his opponents. It worked a treat against Richard Gasquet in the last 16 but you need more than psychology to get past Nadal.
Nadal now takes on the winner of the Rainer Schuettler / Arnaud Clement clash.
Elsewhere, it was great to see big Marat Safin book his place in the semis against Federer after overcoming Feliciano Lopez. Safin was 200/1 with the bookies at the start of the tournament and the former US and Aussie Open champ looks to have re-found his touch.
But we´ve been saying all along that it will be a Federer / Nadal final and you can hang your hat on those two meeting on Sunday on Centre Court. To bet on these giants get down to Bodog Sport.
Murray Dumped By Masterful Nadal
Bettors from around the world (except Canada) can bet at Bodog Sportsbook.
Most Recent Posts On Site
- Adebayor? Take The Deal!
- Harry Cool Faces Istanbul
Furnace!
- Murray Dumped By Masterful Nada
- Dirty Barry!
- Putt Your Faith In Charl And Gonzo
In Kent
- Lewis The Lip
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You deposit it - they'll match it. Once your deposit is processed, your bonus will be available for wagering within 30 minutes - and you can use it to place bets in the sportsbook, purchase casino chips or play in the poker room.
Who'd have thought the biggest, nastiest and most drawn out transfer saga of the summer would involve Gareth Barry, supposedly one of football's nice guys?
But it does, because Liverpool's attempts to sign Aston Villa's captain have been going on since the end of the Premier League season, and they're still going on. No-one's talking about Ronaldo to Real anymore – if you want bitterness and bullying and moaning and stubborn stand-offs, the Barry to Liverpool story is where it's at.
Here where we are so far. Liverpool offer £10million for Barry, Villa say no, we want £18m. Liverpool up it £1m. Villa say no. Liverpool up it another £1m. Villa say no, again. Barry returns from England duty to tell his manager at Villa, Martin O'Neill, that he wants to join Liverpool. O'Neill says he's disappointed, but that he can go if Liverpool make a sensible bid. Things go quiet. And then Barry lets rip in a Sunday tabloid interview, having a go at O'Neill, claiming he's been too busy doing TV work at Euro 2008 to even call him.
Uh-oh. Cue a terse press release from O'Neill and Villa, re-affirming their position. They'll sell when Liverpool meet the asking price. Today, there were first reports of Liverpool offering around £17m, then reports that Liverpool deny making the bid, and then - AND THEN! - the news that Barry won't be reporting for training with the rest of the Villa squad on Thursday, first day back after the summer break.
Villa have disciplined him for giving that interview. So, now the club captain will be staying at home while his team-mates get into shape for the new season. Will Liverpool increase their bid? If not, will O'Neill forgive him and allow him back into the side? Or will he 'rot' in the reserves?
Watch this space. There's still a long way to go in the transfer window and this one could run and run… and run and run… To bet on sport you know where to go…Bodog Sport will show you how.
Lewis The Lip
And just like that, the media has turned on Lewis Hamilton. Here in the UK we often talk about the 'build 'em up to knock 'em down' mentality of the press, and now Hamilton is getting a taste of it. The F1 golden boy could do no wrong in his debut season – but now it's open season in 2007-08. In the last two weeks, Hamilton has driven like a disaster zone. And the press haven't held back in their criticism. Even so, the normally ice-cool kid from Stevenage has started to sound as if he's losing the plot.
"There's nothing you can do that can distract me," he ranted last week. "You can keep on giving me penalties, whatever you want. I'll keep battling away. There's nothing you can do to get me out of here."
Who 'you' was is not totally clear. What is clear is that Hamilton feels he's being punished for his errors, and punished unfairly. He's blaming someone, anyone, everyone but himself. And he's lashing out at the media, which is a mistake, as that's a battle he'll never win. Someone within the McLaren hierarchy needs to have a word - the last thing anyone wants to see is one of Britain's most charismatic sportsmen going big-time, falling out with TV reporters and alienating even his own fans.
Lewis - just focus on the driving, not the moaning. And be sure of one thing: there is nothing the British media and British F1 fans would love to see more than a Lewis Hamilton victory at Silverstone on Sunday. Go do it.
