Learning To Fly

It seems positively boring to post the draw picks for this weekend after a week of good comments and lively discussion, but here they are anyway.

Two strong draws with Nice v Paris St Germain and Chievo v AC Milan, and weaker possibilities in Caen v Valenciennes, Real Zaragoza v Atletico Madrid, Bologna v Palermo and Genoa v AS Roma.

Peter Nordsted's Drawmaster picks are from League Two, where he did rather well on FA Cup Fourth Round day, and they are Stockport County v Macclesfield Town, Northampton Town v Aldershot Town and Gillingham v Bury.

Back to me, and I find value for a small interest in Stoke City at 1.7, although as a Crystal Palace fan, I am open to the suggestion that I may be a little biased. Similarly, Birmingham City at 1.73 v Sheffield Wednesday and on Monday night West Ham United at 2.04 also both look value against lower division opponents.

Today's coincidence is that draw pick Nice v PSG reminds me of the time I got to take the controls of an Air UK BAC 1-11 passenger plane flying from Paris to Nice in the early 1980s. The plane was empty of passengers, and the pilot was cool enough to offer me a couple of minutes at the controls as we flew over the Alps, a once in a lifetime experience that I can still vividly recall. I'm pretty sure it was against the rules back then, and even more so today.