heathen52

Yes agreed with everything you say, I know the outside viewing does not help where there is a distinct lack of atmosphere, but people will put up with some of the issues if they have a winning team, if not ( take me as an example as a neutral) I think why bother Brum will lose anyway.

The location of the Stadium is not the issue it's the congestion in the PB area and local Motorway network that is the nightmare, as an example from Cradley Heath the shortest route is about 11 miles via Blackheath & M5 Jct 2 along M5 to Jct 1 which is now notorius for Traffic delays, then past the Hawthorns (WBA) to Island road, Hamstead Hill, Rocky Lane to the A34 in PB, that route can take anything from 35 minutes to over an hour. The second route about 13 miles again Takes you to the M5 Jct 2 but this time continue to the M6 south at Jct 8 and leave immediately at Jct 7 for the A34 down to Perry Barr this again can take anything from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on Traffic, there are ways to Perry Barr that do not use the Motorway but at 6-00pm of an evening it's not really any quicker, yes shorter maybe but lot's of stop start driving if you fancy that after a day's graft. It has been suggested that it would be a help if Birmingham could stage some home meetings on Bank Holiday mondays to help with traffic congestion.

Someone who was supposedly in the know said a rider announcement last Wednesday which there was (Zach Cook) and another this Wednesday ???? only just over an hour left, I guess Nigel want's to keep the announcement back until Christmas eve.

I agree the signed riders are not the weakest in the League, but if 1 & 5 are not double figure scorers then where will the wins come from ?, lets not forget if Birmingham are not competitive this will impact not only on Birmingham's crowds but on other Teams crowds when the Brummies are visiting.

Competitive! Yes in the Championship, in the Premiership they will be cannon fodder for the big guns, and the supporters won't be wasting hard earned money watching them lose most weeks at Perry Barr, a long hard season ahead unless Lindgren or/and Laguta can be persuaded to sign.

As we someone else said earlier in the topic, one rider to be announced on Wednesday gone which it was Zach Cook, another will be announced next Wednesday which will probably be Rory Schlein, It's the Club itself creating this guessing game by delaying these announcements, What we all want to know and where the guessing comes in is who will be the No1 and second heat leader these two riders will basically make or break Birmingham's season, plenty of choices out there but getting them to sign is a different kettle of fish, I personally think the No1 has to be a top GP rider, and the 2nd Heat leader has to be a rider that can bang in double figures at home week in week out as a minimum.

Yeah someone connected said it was'nt Freddie that said no, it was someone else that did'nt want him to ride in the Uk.

I heard previously that Freddie turned them down, so if that still stand's then it has to be Laguta and Pawlicki Jnr which them leaves Schlein or Lampart if its Schlein then Cook starts the season at reserve, if its Lampart then he will start the season at reserve. If Brum have not signed a genuine No1 with a good back up second Heat leader then they are wasting there time and money being in the PL.

The worry is that so far Brum have announced a decent team of Championship riders but Brum are now in the Premiership.

You do realise that if that's the team the combined average will be some 5+ points under the limit, Pawlicki Bros last averages combined I reckon were 12.32 Piotr last rode for Wolves average was 7.32. Pawlicki senior Rode for Coventry way back on an assessed average so 5.0. Lampart will be 5.0 and Cook is 5.10.

I would go all out to sign Artem Laguta as No1, then take it from there.

I know Laurence reads what's on here not so sure about Nigel, so far Brum have announced 2 inexperienced Team Managers, a good RS a good young improving British rider Brennan, and a steady 2nd string come 3rd heat leader in Worrall with probably Zach Cook (reserve) to come, now lets be honest so far that's a half decent Championship Team, but the crunch will be who the 3 other riders are, I suggest Laurence and Nigel take a look at the 2024 predictions topic, granted we don't yet know the full Birmingham Team but no-one I repeat no-one has predicted anything other than the wooden spoon for Birmingham, can SE and Co prove them all wrong ?, assuming Zach is the 4th rider that leaves Birmingham with 22.59 for three riders, if and I say if it's Zagar he is in on a 7.20 that leaves 15.39 for 2 riders, It will take more than Pawlicki (7.32) and Zagar to make Brum competitive.

Considering you are usually one of the most positive Brummie fans, that does'nt bode well.

While I am hoping the Brummies will have a decent season and Zach Cook will be rider No4 then I still have hope for them, if however Zagar comes in at No1 then not only will Brum be last to announce the whole team, they will be last in the League and get Hammered in there very first home meeting against Sheffield, I will wait and see what the rest of the team is, but if it as rumoured then it's going to be a long long season and Nigel needs to be prepared to lose a lot more than he has lost so far..

Whoever is announced tonight Steve Worrall and Zach Cook will be guaranteed, just remains to be seen who the other 3 riders are, and the new Team manager will he be Santa for the night ?.

I'm not a Brummie fan, but my observation over the years has been give the fans a winning team and they will come and watch, but the opposite also applies in that they won't pay good money to watch the team get turned over week after week. The mistake Nigel may be making again is under estimating the role of a manager (Laurence is not the man) he should already have appointed a Team manager who could then have built his own Team, asking a manager to manage another persons team is not easy, yes we know it's not going to be Laurence as TM but Nigel should have made the appointment by now.

I have been to both tracks on many occasions, Did I say anything about the shape?, what I said was I have seen better racing at Monmore, Perry Barr should produce better racing but it does not for a variety of reasons, and I IMO gave a few of those reasons, I forgot to add that over the years Monmore had very good track curators. The real question should be why does a Track with such a decent shape not produce good racing and why have riders shall we say not been overly impressed with the track over the past few years.

Yes, but it aint and has'nt been.

I have watched lots of meetings at Monmore and Perry Barr and in my opinion the better racing has been at Monmore, for whatever reason Perry Barr does not lend itself to overtaking except on the odd occasion, whether it's down to track prep, or maintenance I don;t know but the Monmore track has had far more time and money spent on it than Perry Barr has, one of the reasons being that Perry Barr is limited by access issues and another would be lack of money plus inferior equipment, another from reading comments are riders don;t know what to expect from one meeting to another, I read Nigel intends to spend time on the track in the close season, it not only needs time spent but money and for goodness sake lets see more banking on the bends..

That leaves 22 ish for the last three, 2 x 8 pointers (Dudek & Laguta) and a 6 ish could be Richard Lawson, That would be my Team, but I,m not Nigel Tolley . 1. Dudek 2. Brennan 3. Laguta 4. Worrall 5. Lawson 6. Z.Cook 7. Flint I think with the british reduction Dudek and Laguta would just about fit, and that would probably be good enough to get the Brummies in to the play off's but would it Bankrupt NT ?. It's a good mix of 2 genuine top enders, 2 middle order come 3rd heat leaders, and 3 improvers in Brennan, Cook and Flint.

Yep, have to say I agree with you about those four, it's the main three where the Brummies will sink or swim, I don't see Pawlicki at No1 being a lifesaver it has to be a top top rider, I know for a fact Nigel or whoever has approached fast Freddie and I don't mean allegedly.

No matter which way the appeal result goes the upper hand is still with Brandon Estates, they own Brandon so it's down to them what they do with the site, I just hope that SCS have not done what CRASH did at Dudley Wood which was put there eggs all in one basket, then when the appeal was lost the there was no other site that was suitable to relocate to and by then the interest in Cradley had cooled, what I,m trying to say is that IMO the best time to find a new site is the time when the existing stadium has been lost, just as an example I note at the Coventry end of Brandon several Rugby pitches and Clubhouse used by Broadstreet RFC, when Brandon was given notice to close I would have been knocking there door down to try to get a Track around one of those pitches, and got the owners of Brandon to foot the bill. Anyways good luck with the decision I just Hope BE are willing to come to some arrangement with SCS should they lose, but with prime building sites fetching upwards of £1 million pounds an acre I have my doubts.

Yeah, the points limit is 40 plus the RS. The Premiership points limit has been raised to 40 (for six riders), with teams to be completed by a Rising Star, and the league will continue to stage the KO Cup competition plus an unchanged play-off format.

His last average in 2017 was 9.32.

I think that team comes in at around 29.92 leaving 10+ for the No1, Piotr Pawlicki had an average in 2014 of 7.32 riding for Wolves, if he has the same average for 2024 then Brum will be 2.75 under which will be a waste of points.