Grand National 2016 Tips

With a later start than usual this year to avoid a clash with the football, we can expect viewing figures for the Grand National to increase from already impressive numbers last year. In 2015  nearly 9 million people watched jockey Leighton Aspell win the race for the second year running. Now 'Many Clouds', the 2015 winner, gets the opportunity to do the double too and is favourite for the 2016 race at a relatively short 8-1. There's plenty of reasons to believe that the nine year old will put up a good performance after recent impressive showings and Many Clouds would be the first to do the double since Red Rum in 1973 and 1974 so plenty of punters will be cheering it on. At the same time though, with such a large field, there are lots of other contenders. Silviniaco Conti is second favourite at 10-1 and he's skipping the World Hurdle in favour of the Grand National so that demonstrates confidence. It's justified too with 7 seven Grade 1 victories under his belt. Third favourite The Last Samuri (12-1) has impressed of late too.

If you're just betting on the National for a bit of fun and feel that it'd be a shame not to put a few quid on, there are of course countless long shot options to go for too. Of course, big priced winners are nothing new at the Grand National so it's not an entirely hopeless task. Who can forget Liam Treadwell riding Mon Mome home in 2009 at a staggering 100-1 with bookmakers. Of the outsiders I'd be tempted to go for 13-year-old gelding Vics Canvas at 50-1. He's a bit long in the tooth but has impressed over the years and has experience over the fences so it'd be nice to see him be thereabouts as an each-way option.

Interestingly Paul Nicholls will put Black Thunder (currently 50-1) up for sale two days before the Grand National takes place. I'm not sure if that speaks to the chance he thinks it has of winning, but it certainly adds another element of interest to what is already bound to be a great event!

Selections:   Silviniaco Conti (10-1 WIN)  Vics Canvas (50-1 E/W)

Germany versus England, Saturday, March 26

England, minus Wayne Rooney, Raheem Sterling and Joe Hart, travel to Berlin on Saturday to face world champions Germany. The aforementioned trio are all injured, but other notable absentees from Roy Hodgson’s 24-man squad are Michael Carrick, Leighton Baines and Kieran Gibbs, who are overlooked in favour of uncapped Danny Drinkwater, Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand. Carrick was largely anonymous, before being taken off on a stretcher in stoppage time, during the disappointing 2-0 defeat by Spain in Alicante in November so, with Jack Wilshere yet to recover from a broken leg suffered in pre-season training, Drinkwater has an opportunity to stake his claim for the holding midfield role.

The subsequent 2-0 defeat of France at Wembley is more likely to be remembered for the dreadful attacks in Paris the previous Friday but, as Hodgson admitted after the Spain game, England must improve if they are to have any chance of competing with the best in the world.

Germany coach Joachim Low, on the other hand, has named a familiar-looking squad, which includes Emre Can, Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger and just one new cap, Bayer Leverkusen centre back Jonathan Tah, who provides cover for injured defenders Jerome Boateng and Benedikt Howedes.

Since the famous 5-1 victory in Munich, nearly 15 years ago, England have beaten Germany just once – a 2-1 victory in Berlin in 2008 – in four attempts and, frankly, are unlikely to get much change out of the current side on home soil. A routine home win seems likely, but in search of a little value, let’s try Germany to win 2-0 at 15/2 with 888Sport.

Selection: Germany to win (15/2 with 888 Sport)

Celebrity Big Brother final voting figures

I can't claim to have been as engrossed in this series of CBB as much as  some of those in the past. I'd say that since the move to Channel 5 it definitely seems to be drawing in a different kind of crowd. This is evident in the voting during the final (2nd to 5th February):

Scotty T - 36.32% 

Stephanie - 26.57%

Darren - 17.83%

Tiffany - 9.93%​

Danniella - 7.02%  

John - 2.33%

Personally from what I saw Tiffany brought the most entertainment value to the house. I'd have expected her to do a bit better really!

X Factor 2015 Voting Stats

Vote 1
Louisa Johnson - 15.9%
4th Impact - 11.2%
Anton Stephans -10.7%
Monica Michael - 9.1%
Ché Chesterman - 8.7%
Lauren Murray - 8.4%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 7.4%
Seann Miley Moore -7.3%
Mason Noise - 6.1%
Max Stone - 5.8%
Alien Uncovered - 4.8%
Kiera Weathers - 3.4%
Bupsi - 1.2%

Vote 2
Louisa Johnson - 15.3%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 13.0%
Ché Chesterman - 12.5%
Lauren Murray - 11.2%
4th Impact - 9.0%
Max Stone - 8.5%
Anton Stephans - 7.5%
Monica Michael - 6.3%
Mason Noise - 6.1%
Seann Miley Moore - 5.5%
Kiera Weathers - 5.1%

Vote 3
Louisa Johnson - 16.4%
Lauren Murray -14.1%
Ché Chesterman - 14.0%
4th Impact - 13.2%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 13.0%
Mason Noise - 9.8%
Anton Stephans - 8.0%
Monica Michael - 6.1%
Max Stone - 5.4%

Vote 4
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 21.6%
Louisa Johnson - 21.5%
Lauren Murray - 14.8%
4th Impact - 13.8%
Ché Chesterman - 12.8%
Anton Stephans - 12.3%
Mason Noise - 3.2% (left after Saturday freeze)

Vote 5
Ché Chesterman - 22.2%
Reggie 'N' Bollie - 22.1%
Louisa Johnson - 21.1%
Lauren Murray - 18.4%
4th Impact - 16.2%

Vote 6
Louisa Johnson - 31.5%
Reggie 'n' Bollie - 27.0%
Ché Chesterman - 20.9%
Lauren Murray - 20.6%

Vote 7 Freeze
Louisa Johnson - 44.5%
Reggie 'n' Bollie - 35.2%
Che Chesterman - 20.3%

Vote 7 Final
Louisa Johnson - 53.9%
Reggie 'n' Bollie - 38.9%
Che Chesterman - 7.2% (left after Saturday freeze)

A revealing set of results. Louisa won most weeks, though interestingly almost always by a slim margin. The only other two contestants to win a week were Reggie n Bollie (week four) and Che (week five) . The vote for weeks 5 and 6 are notable in how evenly split they were. 4th Impact's vote help up pretty well throughout. Mason Noise died on his arse in week four. No run away winner this year!

The X Factor 2015 Final

This series of X Factor has certainly been unique in that compared to some years the contestants have been pretty decent, the ratings have all but fallen through the floor. Simon Cowell's yearly battle with Strictly has become a thing of the past - there is no competition to be had - and we're left with a final that lacks much of the enthusiasm of previous years. That said, I'm sure the duets will go down well this Saturday and if they have a 'losers' song like previous years, I'll be keeping an eye out for the one and only Wagner, who always 'makes it his own'.

The three finalists:

• Che Chesterman (Boys - Nick Grimshaw)   -   20-1
• Louisa Johnson (Girls - Rita Ora)   -  1-6
• Reggie 'N' Bollie (Groups - Cheryl Fernandez-Versini)   -  5-1

Final 3 Songs:

Che Chesterman
FAVOURITE SONG: Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry on Their Own / Marvin Gaye - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
NEW SONG: Bruno Mars/Amy Winehouse - Valerie
DUET: TBC

Louisa Johnson
FAVOURITE SONG: James Brown - This Is A Man's World
NEW SONG: Yolanda Adams - I Believe I Can Fly
DUET: Possibly Rita Ora

Reggie n Bollie
FAVOURITE SONG: One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful / OMI - Cheerleader
NEW SONG: Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life / Outhere Brothers - Boom Boom
DUET: TBC

All three finalists are actually pretty different this year. Not as though being in the bottom three is the kiss of death, but it's not a plus point so I can understand Che Chesterman being the rank outsider here. That said he has picked up his performance over the last couple of weeks in part due to some excellent song choices. His songs for the final are somewhat unspiring though unfortunately (note: the duets are not yet known so I can't comment on that).

Louisa Johnson being so young and that being a 'dreams do come true' narrative likely works to her advantage. She certainly has a great voice too, though the odd duff song choice hasn't always made her sound like a million dollars (and again I don't think the choices for the final are the best). She's never been bottom 3 which of course is a major indicator that she's popular. At 1/6 though, where is the value?

Which leaves us with the fun act Reggie 'N' Bollie. I say 'fun act' because 'joke acts' in X Factor do appear to shifted more into the fun category over the past few years, so it would be a bit much to accuse them of being a joke. You could of course say that they're not very good, but that's a different kind of criticism. At 5-1, with decent songs for the final and again due to not being bottom three so far, Reggie n Bollie could feasibly be the very first year that this kind of act wins. Again they have a narrative and on top of that the new method of free app voting perhaps makes it less likely that people will vote for 'serious' acts. At the odds available I'd go for them!

Selection: Reggie 'N' Bollie to WIN at 5-1