One rule for one...

Before turning our attention to the weekend's financial advice, attention must be paid to the paltry £10,000 remuneration the FA extracted from John Terry this week.

The defender made comments questioning referee Graham Poll's integrity after being sent off in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at Spurs earlier this season, but after an amazing climb down he has escaped with a slap across the wrists and a measly fine.

Furthermore he escaped a ban, which is exactly why the faltering West London side supported his U-turn – the quicker he is back the better as far as they are concerned.

How the FA can allow this, I hear you ask? Well, there is a case to answer that it is Alan Shearer's fault. Hear me out. The idea that the captain of England is almost beyond reproach in the halls of Soho Square is one that gained momentum with Mr Newcastle prior to the 1998 World Cup.

After stamping on Neil Lennon in a match at Leicester, Shearer was called before the FA disciplinary panel to answer a misconduct charge. According to Gordon Kelly, Shearer walked into the hearing and simply said something to the effect of “if you charge me over this, I won't captain England at the World Cup.”

The charges were dropped and so it began. David Beckham took on the mantle in 2000 thanks to interim boss Peter Taylor, and with it came a greater sense of leniency for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid man.

After admitting he deliberately got himself booked against Wales at Old Trafford a couple of years back, the FA failed to administer further punishment on the grounds of “insufficient evidence.”

What more evidence do you need than the guy saying he did it? Terry has palpably now joined this elite group, and is therefore afforded the same degree of impenetrability – I doubt a £10,000 fine will keep him awake at night.

But how can we make some money for ourselves this weekend? Well, Blackburn confirmed their well being in their defeat of Everton in last week's FA Cup 3^rd Round, and while the same could more than be said of Arsenal, their record in the North makes it tempting to take them on at odds-on.

Arsenal's record in the North against the so-called lesser sides is wildly erratic. Defeats at Sheffield United, Manchester City and Bolton cheat the fans that see their side put in such assured and composed performances away at the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and twice at Liverpool.

Both sides' second strings performed well this week. Arsenal's demolition of Liverpool on Tuesday was impressive, but so was Blackburn's much changed team in their 4-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

“We are playing extremely well at the moment. We know that whoever we play will be in for a tough game,” said Mark Hughes, whose side have won six of their last seven games.

Take him at his word. Blackburn will deny Arsenal the space in which they love to play, and look worth a bet at a largish 7-2 with PremierBet.

No prizes for originality but Birmingham will surely batter Leeds on Saturday. If the team top of the Premiership (Manchester United) played the team second bottom (Charlton), the league leaders would be closer to 1-7 than 8-15 so the price looks too good to ignore, even if Birmingham's strike force is not quite on a par with United's.

Leeds have shown very little sign of improvement under Dennis Wise, losing their last four away games. By contrast, their hosts on Saturday are unbeaten at home in their last eight league matches, since a 1-0 reverse to Norwich.

The Blues have won the corresponding fixture in the last two years, 2-1 and 4-1. The loss of on-loan striker Nicklas Bendtner slightly tempers enthusiasm, but they still have plenty of firepower to win through.

Insight

1pt Blackburn to beat Arsenal 7-2 (PremierBet)

4pts Birmingham to beat Leeds 8-15 (Ladbrokes)

Staking Plan

Min 0.5pt

Max 5pts

*Last Week's Selections

Despite a host of goals in the game, Robert Earnshaw had one of his quieter afternoons in Norwich's 4-1 win at Tamworth. Backers of the Welshman to score anytime at 6-5 looked a great bet when he stole in for a first-half sitter, only to caress the ball over the bar from six yards out and drift into ignominy thereafter.

Arsenal obliged at 9-4, thanks largely to two crackers from Tomas Rosicky. Thierry Henry's goal, described by many as a fabulous solo effort in the midst of which, according to The Times, he ‘tackled' Jamie Carragher, was actually slightly different.

With Henry having knocked the ball way too far in front of him, Carragher decided to slide for the ball and then curl up like a mouse, gifting the Frenchman the ball, before cutting inside and hitting a scuffed daisy cutter that Jerzy Dudek went down to try and save in a greater number of instalments than I have to pay off my student loan in.

And finally, a slight confession to make. There was an error in the insight of last week's column. Swansea were 6-1 to beat Sheffield United, and not the 3s quoted, which was actually the draw price available. At ‘The Sportsman', the old maxim went that “the insight is final.” So in the interests of discipline, we will take the draw price for the win (especially given as I was leaning towards the draw anyway so let's call it even).