Putting my shirt on this Portuguese man of war

LIKE a lot of people up and down the country I like to have a bet on the football from time to time.

In the past, the main focus of my gambling has always tended to be on horses, but since I joined Setanta I have found myself punting on the SPL a lot more than I used to.

It's probably due to the fact I'm working on a minimum of 60 live games a season and invariably, if you watch a lot of football you tend to form strong opinions about certain players and certain teams.

At the start of each season I put together a portfolio of bets which hopefully will net me a few bob come the following May.

My starting point is always a traditional yankee on all four divisions in Scotland.

I tend to avoid backing the favourites because over the years that would've been a recipe for disaster, particularly in the two lower leagues.

Hopefully, I won't be putting the mockers on my bet when I reveal which teams I went for. In the SPL I took Rangers, everyone knows it's a two-horse race and I have a feeling being knocked out of Europe will work heavily in their favour regarding the title this season.

Division One was harder, the bookies weren't giving much away for either Dundee or St Johnstone so with that in mind I took a chance on my last professional club, Queen of the South.

The bottom two divisions were harder to decide on, but I felt sure the experience of former top-flight players, Brian Reid and Jim Weir would ensure the respective clubs they are now managing – Ayr United and Montrose – give me a run for my money.

So my £10 yankee went on the four chosen teams at odds ranging from 6-5 (Rangers) to as big as 7-1 (Queen of the South).

If my calculations are correct and more importantly, if my judgment is sound, my bet stands to net me somewhere in the region of £12,000.

Obviously, there is every chance I'll end up with nothing, but it'll be fun while the dream is still alive.

Some of the other bets I put on before the season started weren't looking too clever after the first few rounds of games: Dundee United to finish third, Scott McDonald to be top scorer in the SPL, but things have turned around a bit in my favour since then.

I had a few quid on Hamilton Accies to avoid relegation at what I thought was a rather generous price of 6-4, so far so good, but undoubtedly the best bet I've placed on Scottish football this season is the 20-1 for Pedro Mendes to be the SPFA's Player of the Year. Now I know there are certain circumstances that could render my bet useless, by that I mean injuries, but with a clear run of games I cannot possibly see how Rangers' midfield playmaker will not be on the shortlist next spring.

His performances up till now have been a breath of fresh air in the SPL, with accurate passing and classic, long-range shooting the pick of his many attributes.

After Rangers fans were put through the mill at the beginning of the season, flopping in Kaunas and losing their main man, Carlos Cuellar, just a few days later, the club were in dire need of an impact signing and they seem to have found the right man in Mendes.

Unfortunately, my retirement means I no longer get to vote on these awards, but it doesn't mean I can't champion the cause of a player, even if it is in my own financial interests to do so!

It is only natural for Hearts fans to be concerned

THE wages saga at Tynecastle appears to have been resolved, but it's hard to know for sure whether this whole sorry affair was one of the many over-exaggerated story lines that the newspapers like to indulge in at Hearts' expense or if there really is more to this than meets the eye.

Not surprisingly, Csaba Laszlo was trying his hardest to play down the situation last week and focus his players' minds on an important game at Tannadice, but given the number of SPL clubs who have suffered serious financial difficulty in the not too distant past, it's only natural that those who care about the welfare of Hearts will have concerns.

The credit crunch has had a huge impact on the banking sector around the globe, particularly over the past few weeks and with Hearts being a subsidiary of UBIG is it any wonder people are questioning if Hearts might be in more trouble than they are letting on?

Both the manager and new Danish striker, Mike Tullberg, were keen to stress these kind of financial problems are commonplace at clubs on the continent, but I fail to see how that was meant to ease the concerns of fellow employees whose wages were still outstanding?

Apparently, Tullberg went four months without being paid when playing for Reggina in Italy's Serie A, so having experienced this kind of situation before he probably feels like it's been made into a mountain out of a mole-hill?

Only time will tell if he's right ...