Roker Riches (Week 13): Not the start we hoped for, but is the future bright for the team and our betting boys?

Well, what a week of mixed emotions that was!

After only a handful of hours in the Head Coach role, Lee Johnson opted to run the team in our home match against Wigan. Whether that was a brave or silly move will be seen over time. He took the reigns for a game that was touted to be a much-needed win for the lads, but as is so ‘very Sunderland’, we lost.

Refreshingly, rather than hide behind a bunch of tenuous positives and avoiding eye contact with the cameras, our new head coach faced the press and their lenses, the fans and his employers, engaged with them and told them it wasn’t good enough, and he is here to win games. Although the result was not what we wanted, the messages from the coach were - in my view - just what I wanted to hear.

After a midweek win away (and coming from behind) at Oldham, more positive signs are emerging, albeit surrounded by confirmation of the amount of work Lee has to do to succeed among the red and white army he is now leading.

Whilst still harbouring mixed emotions, I have to admit I am for the first time in a long period seeing shoots of positivity poking through the soil of Johnson’s ‘spring season’ in leading us.

Let’s hope as the field of bulbs emerge, the weather stays fair and we bloom and grow.

Can our profit wallets follow this analogy? Based on past experiences, no, but things are changing and so can our luck. Let’s hope so eh?

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The Rolling Table Week #13: Season 2020-2021

Yellow card update...

Danny was the only one ‘late to class’ this week, so he takes another tenner wager loss as well as another tenner for another yellow card. Losing double measures like this is going to hurt, but I am sure he is hopeful the wins will offset his untimely betting habits.

The table is now pretty much a two horse race, with Phil and Paul a way ahead, then the rest of the team all within £9 of each other. It may have been very different if Everton had won, but there were a few bets like that over the past weeks, and a loss is a loss.

Can Phil ‘The Boss’ Butler have his lead trimmed before we trim the turkey? Now we have a new head coach, will predicting our scores get any simpler?

Here is the table as it stands before the Lincoln game on 12/12:

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Banker’s Bonus...

No clean sheets and no goals against Wigan, so no bonus bets.

Given the label of ‘streaky’ assigned to Lee Johnson, we can be hopeful that we are about to see his first streak start. If SAFC win at Lincoln, any win, all punters get an extra tenner bet on anything they choose next weekend.

Come on Lee, you said winning is what you want to do, so let’s start here...

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This week’s bets:

Matty Crichton says...

Sunderland to win BTTS. Lincoln are in brilliant form, but I’m backing Lee Johnson to produce the goods. £5 returns £12.50

League One treble: All of these should be home bankers! Charlton to beat Wimbledon, Hull to beat Shrewsbury and Posh to beat Rochdale, small profit but one to top the account up. £5 returns £22.58

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Gary Morris says...

I can see the lads nicking a 2-1 away win, and when I put this into my betting app I couldn’t believe odds of 17-2 are on offer. Fiver pays £47.50.

Brummie away double - West Brom and Villa to both win away from home. A big ask for Villa at Wolves, but a lesser one for the Baggies at Sid James’s park. Fiver pays £52.80

Photo by Leila Coker/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Phil Butler says...

Sunderland to win and BTTS - Sunderland are a good price to win today’s game and if I didn’t have a rule against backing my own side in accumulators I’d probably have included us in a treble. However, to get a bit more out of a single I’m hoping Bailey Wright sticks one in his own net when we’re already a few goals ahead. Or we can have a repeat of Tuesday night and come from behind. Either way my £5 would be turned into £27.50.

Championship Treble - After a good start it’s been a few weeks since I had a winner and there’s no time like the present to get back on the bus. I’m getting into the spirit of Brexit by staying on British shores for a championship Treble. Watford, Norwich and Stoke all play teams at least eight places below then and in worse form. £5 returns £67.27

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Getty Images

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Paul (PJ) Fletcher says...

Sunderland to win 3-2 and Will Grigg to score any time. Successfully adjusting to a back four after a year of playing with a back five isn’t going to happen overnight. If we’re conceding the odd goal against the likes of Wigan and Oldham then Lincoln may cause us even more trouble. There is still hope though. Our attacking play is looking more purposeful and I’m optimistic that we will score more than we concede. Today will be the day Will Grigg gets going. £5 returns a magnificent £230

Bundesliga BTTS and win treble. Safe bets haven’t been working for me so I might as well try something a bit more ambitious. I’m hoping that Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig will all win their games and score plenty of goals. So many goals that they don’t even care if they concede at the other end. £5 returns £84.45

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Getty Images

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Malc Dugdale says...

Sunderland to win and BTTS - we tend to play up against better sides but with our new back four setup we are more prone to let the odd one in too. I fancy us for an odd goal win in a hopefully open and attack focused game, and odds for this are boosted to 6-1 on SkyBet which is a decent option. Fiver returns £35.

Championship away treble - there are some decent sides playing away from home against likely lesser opponents, so I’m picking Brentford, Preston and Stoke to all grab three points on the road. Fiver returns £65.65

Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images

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Danny Roberts says...

Lincoln City to beat Sunderland: The Imps are in for, and we’re not. I fear our injury list is going wreak havoc with our performances in the coming weeks. £5 returns £13.75.

6 fold: Bournemouth to beat Huddersfield, Brentford to ease past Nottingham Forest, Crewe, MK Dons, Hull and Blackpool to all pick up wins in League One. £5 returns £207.70.

Photo by James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

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Riches Readers Random Pick...

Our readers’ bet this week has been drawn at random from the SkyBet page.

This week’s random bet is a 1-1 draw, first goalscorer being Maguire for SAFC.

A tenner bet returns a fab £260 at odds of 25-1.

Let’s see if a randomly-selected bet is better than the so called football knowledge of our Roker Report Riches punters.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Good luck to SAFC, and to all our betting buddies.