Marksman Gray good bet to defy bookies
From the Lancashire Telegraph, first published Friday 3rd Aug 2007.
I KNOW a good bet when I see one.
And the 50/1 that Coral are quoting on Andy Gray being next season's Championship top goalscorer looks very attractive.
It's certainly worth a flutter - an each way bet looks ideal - and I'm sure one or two Burnley supporters have already got their eye on it.
Of course, the bookies don't give anything away. But those odds are high for a striker that was among the league's top scores for a time last season.
Only a bad foot injury - that kept him out for over two months - prevented Gray from reaching 20 goals for the campaign.
I'm confident that he will be right up there again.
He's one heck of a player to have in your team - and I'm sure a lot of other managers would gladly take him off Steve Cotterill's hands.
People talk about needing a strong spine down the middle of the team, from the goalkeeper to the centre-backs, right up the centre-forward.
Well, Gray fits the bill as a good centre-forward. He is almost like the focal point of the team, someone to build around. He's an excellent team player.
But if he's to be trying for 20 goals next season, he needs good service from both flanks.
It's crucial that the likes of Steve Jones, Wade Elliott and Besart Berisha ping over plenty of crosses.
Gray will be relying on that. He's shown he's excellent in the air, but also on the deck.
Inside the penalty box, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time. That's the sign of a good striker.
Jimmy Robson was like that. He did not necessarily score spectacular goals from outside the box, but he was always in the right place to score tap-ins from six yards. It's that same instinctiveness that Gray shares.
I'm delighted to see Gray flying with five goals already in pre-season. That's the best preparation anybody could have hoped for. That will do his confidence no harm.
It was disappointing to see the Clarets lose their first game in pre-season on Tuesday. But pre-season results simply do not matter.
The only concern I have is that individual mistakes led to Romanian side Prefab Modelu scoring twice.
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