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Pretty much sums it up. "Welcome to the real world" where there is more to running a team than just playing Fantasy Speedway with any name that springs to mind. We can thank the organisation who are the sole guardians of the "best interests of British speedway" for making the rules that we have to play by, one of which is that Birmingham, having been stripped of all its Tony Mole riding assets, by said organisation, a couple of years ago, has to now balance out asset building with on-track competitiveness, whilst those teams with an asset base can plough their resources into a focussed effort of maintaining a competitive team. It'll be several years of team building before Birmingham will be able to mount a title challenge, and I hope that the fans come to realise that. Sights need to be adjusted accordingly. Anyone who thinks "we are Birmingham, therefore we entitled" needs to take a reality check. We are in a different environment, and we're playing catch-up with the established teams in this league.

Honestly As it is coming up to Christmas I thought I would share this little chestnut off the Scunthorpe 2019 thread (Page 21) from Gazc where in response to a question posted by "allthegearbutnaeidea" where he asked "Why does every team want Rasmus Jensen?" Glasgow Gaz responded back with... Quote "Probably appeals as his average is attractive in a watered down league , I would be disappointed if my team signed him. No dis-respect to him but I have never been impressed any time I saw him albeit he was banging some big scores in towards the end of last season". Just hope the rest of Christmas isn't such a big disappointment Gazc and signing Rasmus Jensen doesn't spoil your entertainment to much next season, although there is always Hogmanay where you can drown your sorrows, like eh!!! #teamspirit #PMSL Regards THJ

Just makes the ruling of no NL teams allowed assets all the more ridiculous. Brum could have spent the years in the lower league recruiting and placing themselves in a much stronger position moving forward.

Agreed, Looks like a business signing rather than the best option with the points available. Ultimately if Brum are to survive at a higher level there will be a season or two of building and preparation i just hope that the team can be competitive enough to keep the fan base through the tougher early years.

I'm actually changing jobs because of this Panthers side. I'm going to be looking for a job near the Showground so I can attend meetings after work. I'm even taking a paycut to do it. That's how excited I am.

No one cares. Just sign the petition or don’t. If it doesn’t help then it doesn’t help but no harm is done by signing it.

He is the same standard as a lot of the reserves in the league next next season,I’m quite sure he will give it his best shot and wish him well.To say he will will be the worst rider in the league is very disrespectful he did not create this situation.There a few 2 pointers who will find his home track a challenge to say the least.

A different paper round?

well, they certainly did that in the final last year..

You could get a job as a head gardener. Own bull541t supplied

Try getting a job with the showground caterers, you can't get much nearer than that

Yeah, exactly. Where's Jim Bowen with his "look what you could have won"??? We've had a fair bit of talent come ride for the Brummies at NL level, not one scrap of which we enter the Championship with. Thanks BSPA.

He must have some cr&p staff- everything that has gone wrong is down to them

There might be no Thurrock Council debate on it so what’s the problem. They have backing from the council and the local MP. You’ve made your point the petition is worthless. Let’s move on

Welcome to Tobias Thomsen. Cue the "what, not Danyon?" Outrage...

I take your views, since you have been watching him more often. However we do have a decent track record of improving riders once in the Monarchs family. Here’s hoping we do so again.

Cos we are saintly.

We are going to try everything to get the Hammers back in Essex. It took 12 years to find the Hammers a new home after West Ham closed, let's hope we are more successful now Arena Essex has been compulsory purchased. There are lots of occasional speedway fans in Essex, as shown by the attendances at the last meeting, free and subsidised meetings and the Lee Richardson Memorial. The way speedway has been run over the last 10 or more years has driven fans away from every track, but as a constant attended since 1990, I can assure you we have enough of a fan base and potential fan base to maintain a team in Essex. It's a shame you couldn't make it to Arena for speedway over the years, as it's always nice to meet other forum members. The management and fans are fighting hard to return the team to the area and surely other fans and teams should be supporting that.

Pretty happy with the team. Strong top 2 which could be a very strong top 4 if Worrall and Dan get back to how they were pre-injuries. Wells should be steady away in the middle order and hopefully Lidsey’s promise is fulfilled in the big wide open spaces of the NSS. Only one I ain’t too fussed on is Berge. Came in last year and was average for me - got a few 8 & 9 point scores but was always from 6 or 7 rides and was no better than who he replaced. Personaly i’d have gone for one of the 2 young Aussie lads based over here, Campton or Pickering who both had better seasons last year than Berge. Overall, not too bad though and think the league is going to be pretty even in 2019.

Swindon's top four are not all without risk, Ellis can be flakey as he showed in the play offs and Batch doesn't always perform to his best either.

Any rider who gets through the GP qualifiers and qualifies by right and then the following year only misses out in a run off is, in my opinion, certainly good enough to be classed as an international rider.

Could be considered for The Golden Raspberry Awards though!!! (also known in short terms as Razzies and Razzie Awards) which are mock awards in recognition of the worst in film. The 2018 Awards were as follows, WORST PICTURE X — “The Emoji Movie” WORST ACTRESS X — Tyler Perry, “Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween” WORST ACTOR X — Tom Cruise, “The Mummy” WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR X — Mel Gibson, “Daddy’s Home 2” WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS X — Kim Basinger, “Fifty Shades Darker” WORST SCREEN COMBO X — Any Two Obnoxious Emojis, “The Emoji Movie” WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF, OR SEQUEL X — “Fifty Shades Darker” WORST DIRECTOR X — Anthony Leondis, “The Emoji Movie” WORST SCREENPLAY X — “The Emoji Movie” ROTTEN TOMATOES AWARD: RAZZIE NOMINEE SO BAD YOU LOVED IT! X — “Baywatch” New for this year BEST POACHERS OF SOMETHING OTHER THAN AN EGG X — “Glasgow Tigers” Of course "its all done in the best possible taste" Regards THJ

It's merely Buster's Magic Marketing Method. He believes that the Big Build-Up increases the desire of fans old & news to be there next season. When his mind is made up nothing will ever change it.

Just back from the Lakeside fans forum. Well attended. Someone said around 200 there but I didn't count them myself. The meeting lasted about 1hr 45 min and a lot of detail was given which I am not going to repeat on here. Suffice to say there is hope . Lots still to be done but there was an hour long meeting with the developers a week of two back, and the Thurtock Council are tangibly supportive . There are sponsors interested in giving support if things come to fruition and at the moment at least there seem to be funds available to build a basic Leicester style track. The council are doing their assessment/planning of sports facilities in a few months and Speedwáy seems to be on the agenda. The behaviour of the BSPA towards Stuart Douglas has been atrocious, and wrangling are still going on. No criticism was made of Rye House who did there best to help but reading between the lines it seems the BSPA's treatment of them has been abysmal as well. It just seems incredible to me that given the present state of speedway the BSPA are not bending over backwards to keep Speedwáy at that facility instead of obstructing it . All the riders will be paid by Stuart but it is the BSPA that are preventing it at the moment. It seems to me that that, the BSPA continue to believe that it is they , not they riders, nor the fans, that are the most important people in Speedwáy.

Not sure about that as I am sure Jason Crump bought and owned his own contract. It would make sense for all riders to refuse to sign ownership contracts and just sign for a club for a specific period, the same as most self employed people do.