Najjer

Just out of curiosity, will Laguta be taking his place in the line up? Wasn’t sure if he had recovered from his wrist injury. Many thanks in advance

Will he ride at no.6 or does that move PHB to no.6?

Think I’m right in saying it’s RR for Iversen I saw somewhere?

I had toyed with whether this was better placed in the general discussion thread and a slightly different title tailored more towards just general UK speedway, but I think actually the survival of UK speedway as we know it hinges on the survival of the Premiership itself. We already know that not only the long term but short term and immediate futures of Wolves, Peterborough and Kings Lynn are all uncertain… We normally get to the AGM every year and look for decisions made towards the running and long term future of the sport… So how can the Premiership survive? Here’s my take: 1) All efforts has to be made to keep the 3 mentioned clubs running. Easier said than done and the ball isn’t in their court so to speak for Peterborough and Wolves with regards land usage, whereas Kings Lynn just need a new promoter/owner. 2) We need more teams and more variety in the league. This means actively encouraging the likes of Poole, Glasgow, Oxford etc back into the Premiership. In my opinion a top division of 8 teams should be a minimum. More on that below at point 3…. In my opinion, talk of one big league joining up with the Championship simply won’t work. Lack of riders and complete drop in standard with the existing Premiership sides would be a sure fire way to close the sport down completely. There is already a lack of riders at both levels of the sport but even more so in the Championship. This was proven by the failure of Plymouth, Scunthorpe, Birmingham etc failing to name a team of 7 riders until either the last minute of the season or all together when they started the year with riders injured. 3) Additional night of fixed race nights - Add Wednesday into the mix. This absolutely goes head to head with Denmark but actually affects very few riders, especially if fixtures are planned accordingly. This for a number of years has been a massive problem for the UK in that they botched the fixture list up. The likes of Poole and Oxford could continue to run their home matches on Wednesdays and have their away matches on Monday or Thursday. Their home matches could be arranged to ensure riders were available. 4) 6 man teams - This immediately frees up at least 7 riders from this years Premiership. Teams to be comprised of 5 standard riders and 1 British junior (I hate the term rising star). Naturally by having less riders per team this will mean that each rider gets more rides so means they earn more money, whilst less travel money is paid by the team. Everybody is a winner! I absolutely hate the guest ruling. They are way too many guests being used nowadays which brings discredit to the sport and competition in general. If any rider is missing then they are replaced by rider replacement. Only when a second rider is then missing can a guest be sourced. By having less riders per team, this should immediately reduce the risk of needing guests. Further to that, it has been discussed previously but I would welcome a shared spot for the no.1 position. I will use the scenario where a team could sign Artem Laguta and Tai Woffinden to share one team spot meaning it saves on logistics for the rider not having to do a full season and again, reducing the chances of riders going missing. 5) The stumbling block to all of the above is the chances of the Championship then becoming either disbanded or severely impacted as we currently know it. They themselves would have less teams as several move up but should for 1 season only reduce their points limit. This would be done to lower the standard and used as a way of preventing doubling up as it currently is. Doubling up needs to be reduced and a bridge in standard to the Premiership. Teams should have either 5 or 6 riders, with reduced teams and riders again increasing rider availability. Riders like Sam Masters, Benjamin Basso etc should really be forced out with doubling up only afforded to British riders to the likes of Danny King, Steve Worrall, Charles Wright, assuming their averages then fit. ———— To summarise….. Premiership: - Minimum of 8 teams - 6 man teams (including British junior) - Race format to mean riders getting more rides - Race nights on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday - Shared no.1 spots for 2 riders Championship: - Minimum of 8 teams - 5/6 man teams (including British junior) - Race format to mean riders getting more rides - Race nights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - No doubling up for foreign riders I haven’t gone to the extent to work out what the points limit should be, but the Championship would have to be reduced to make it more affordable for the lesser sides and ensure there is enough riders to go round. Riders will be riding more than before with more fixtures in the Premiership and more rides per match. This is only scratching the surface but should in my view be a starting point to not just look at reducing costs, but increase the viewing quality for the fan and make speedway begin to prosper again.

Did he ‘eck!

GB -7 over Sweden tonight

That is a big problem - in speedway you are almost punished for being successful, spending out huge points money and costs before then having to rip that team apart to stay under a points limit. It really is a weird theory. Formula1, Football etc there is huge financial incentive the higher up the table you finish

From a business point of view, it probably has. From what others have said crowds have been good, especially early in the season - just because results haven’t been great that isn’t always a bad thing. Teams that run away and win the league racking up 60+ points at home every week is a quick fire way to run up debt.

Along with the caption of “use it or lose it, so therefore prices are now going to be £25 to get in” more than likely….

But this was the only possible date this fixture could be ran…. Apparently.

You’d imagine that the first part of any contract would be that the riders have to be available for all fixtures unless they are injured Wonder if Eurosport will be showing this fixture now the other match is off?

Thought of a new initiative this morning - ‘The Holiday KO Cup’ Riders who work so hard for our entertainment should be granted at least 3 riders to go on holiday for these matches for some time off and be replaced by guests during the season. I can really see this one catching on.

You can’t see the issue? Take your rose tinted specs off for once and then you might. what would of happened if let’s say Adam Ellis either couldn’t ride in the SWC or wasn’t picked and Worrall was next in line being a squad rider - would he still be on holiday? Same goes for Douglas. Joke situation. I’ll also add, when was this fixture put into the fixture list? You can often move holidays for no additional costs quite close to the actual date of departure.

I’d like to think the Poles will be home and dry quite easily

Very surprised by this but a welcome addition to the league. A very capable young man who isn’t afraid of tracks which aren’t like a snooker table. Looking forward to seeing how he goes but I think he will be pretty decent.

Precisely this. If they have stopped using the product already then they have either stopped caring or began to care less and less. They have to start getting fans to care again with a good product first and foremost.

Milik in for Piotr Pawlicki today

I’m not sure that’s strictly true. Laguta is and always has been the type of rider who is electric from the start and won’t be overtaken - it’s basically how he won his world title. He’s never going to be an all action from the back type rider over here as he isn’t even that in Poland.

I’m not saying it is a speedway thing - but the point I’m making is we are quick to judge the ones who done wrong, but why not let us know about the ones who done right aswell?

Imagine what Chris Harris must be like - he must of lost count!

In an effort to be as transparent as possible, I wonder why we only hear about the ones who have failed to complete the process as opposed to those who pass with flying colours?

Yep - wasn’t difficult was it?

Originally the Poles (or Latvians in this case) thought he would be able to ride in Poland but that has since changed and he is banned worldwide currently.

I would expect them to say they are very concerned about the accusation and the ban handed out. They will now be speaking with the SCB to find out exactly what the ruling means and clarification on how long Nick Morris could likely be banned for and off the back of this they will then look at any decisions that need to be made with the team. They should absolutely want to distance themself from anybody not playing by the correct rules and criteria and will wait for the outcome of the SCB hearing but remain committed to fielding the best team possible on track at their next match and beyond…. That’s what I would expect and hope for, something along those lines - not silence.

I find it mind blowing Leicester haven’t made a statement on this - all they have done is share the SCB news bulletin. One of your riders has just been banned for a serious offence and they’ve said nothing!!! It honestly frustrates me how bad some of these promotions are at communication and it’s not even my team.