SO, which direction do we head in now? Frequent trips into the esoteric world of horse betting were meant to be the fall-back option to feed our football punts until some kind of pattern emerged. Losing out on a place, as Delta Work did in last weekend's Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal, was not meant to be part of the strategy.

It looked as if we might come away with our money back in that one but Jack Kennedy's mount tied up as it approached the second last and was left to chase home Frodon, Galvin and Minella Indo.

Alas, the negative figures that had applied to this column since the start of the season remain and the trench I'm currently dwelling in is so deep that Mrs Tenner Bet has taken away the step ladder.

The temptation is to go back to more familiar territory with a football bet, the nagging doubt, however, is that it has been such a weird season thus far that I'm seeing pitfalls in every potential fixture. The only answer to a bad run is to keep the level stakes as they are in the knowledge that a weekly stake of 10 quid is only about half the price of what is poured down my throat in coffee in that time.

One conviction I am confident of is the belief that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not execute some kind of a tactical masterclass against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. We saw on Tuesday night what happened to United when they came up against a good team and the Norwegian's system was almost rent asunder. They should have lost to Atalanta and, while Cristiano Ronaldo's late goal salvaged a draw that was practically hailed as a victory, it did not mask United's deficiencies nor convince anyone that the glory days are just around the corner.

They take on Manchester City this afternoon – not the kind of opponents you want to face when there is continued uncertainty in the ranks – just as it was the case when they hosted Liverpool a fortnight ago, and we all know how that one ended. The City win and both teams to score is 21/10.

Elsewhere, Brighton let us down the last time we asked them for a tune against struggling Norwich City. Today, they host a similar proposition in Newcastle, a club that is swiftly finding out that being taken over by a sovereign wealth fund is not always the magic bullet that it appears. Since Public Investment Fund completed its takeover at St James' Park, the new owners have had to squirm their way through three games without a victory taking their number of winless league games this season to 10. At the time of writing Newcastle are on the brink of appointing Eddie Howe as manager but it will hardly have an immediate impact on the mentality of the club's players today. Additionally Brighton are flying. The Seagulls have never lost to Newcastle in the Premier League and it's hard to not to be bullish about that trend continuing this evening.

The final pick comes from closer to home and it is Kelty Hearts. Somewhat unbelievably Kevin Thomson's League 2 leaders are 8/15, to beat Cowdenbeath, who are rooted to the bottom of the division. The teams met on the opening day of the season and Kelty were convincing 2-0 winners. Since then, their form has only improved while Cowdenbeath have recorded just one victory in their last 10 games.

Selections: Manchester City to win, both teams to score (21/10), Brighton (7/10), Kelty Hearts (8/15). Treble pays: 6.78/1

Season's total: -£50