The tabloid press were full of stories in the week about 'leaked results' and 'insider trading' on the BBC Sports Personality awards. These claims have since been dispelled but you can't help thinking that it was one of the most spectacular gambles since...er...last year, as a big priced 'personality' stole the show once more. One client bought Giggsy back in November when he was just 2 on the Index for a chunky £300. Momentum gathered for the Manchester United legend with reports of a campaign by United supporters to land Danni Behr's ex one of the few trophies in the world he hasn't won. The price crept up. 2 became 17 and on Sunday Giggs was still available to buy at 20. But surely the BBC, with their over hyped obsession with Formula 1 (it's the second biggest sport according to their website), would favour odds on favourite Jenson Button? The answer was a big fat no as Giggs, now 35 on the Index, steamed into pole position ahead of Button. Finally it was time for Freddie Flintoff to confidently bellow the name of the winner, "The BBC 2009, BBC Sports Personality of the Year is...Ryan Giggs!" Fantastic for the punter who had scooped £14,400, not so great for the rest of us who had to listen to one of the driest acceptance speeches in sporting history.

"Sir Matt Busby, David Beckham, Martin Edwards, Jesper Blomqvist, Mike Phelan, Henning Berg, Remi Moses, Clayton Blackmore can you hear me? Clayton Blackmore, you're boys took a hell of a beating!" Ok it wasn't as elaborate as that but I can't tell you how happy I was when Martin Atkinson blew for full-time on Saturday night. Villa had finally won at Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years. My feelings were the polar opposite of this punter's after he got on the wrong side of the United Performance market, buying at 78 for £75. I woke up in the morning and had the feeling that Villa would break their hoodoo. The Villa looked sharp and were not overawed in any way, taking it right to United. Gabby got his head on an Ashley Young cross and despite Rooney smashing the bar and one great Friedel save the client wasn't even given a run for his money. United's Performance totalled just 32 which signalled a £3,450 loss for our man and several celebratory texts from yours truly.

Premier League This season Burnley started out as our favourites for the drop on the Relegation Index (at 30-33). However they have shown plenty of fight this season. They currently sit 13th and we've revised our price to 20-23. Can they kick on or will they lose their bottle?

Manager of the year in the making Alex McLeish and his Birmingham side have defied their pre-season price even more dramatically than Burnley. Not even the most optimistic of fans would have believed that 17 games into the season they would be sitting in 7th place, level on points with Liverpool. From a pre season price of 21-24 they now seem safe at 1-3 on our Relegation Index

When one club rises another must fall and West Ham find themselves second from bottom. Not fancied to be in this sort of trouble this year, West Ham started at 3-6 on our Index. Even now our price of 15-18 suggests they should avoid relegation, but with only one goal in the last three the signs are not good. Are they going down?


Mildly interesting / useless sporting fact

We're at that time of year when all those ropey football DVDs fronted by Danny Dyer hit the shelves. But why fork out for them when you can see 20 of the funniest goals for free by clicking here. I love the Hans-Jorg Butt one, still cringe at the Mellberg one.