bellevueace 912 Posted December 29, 2017 I'm not a fan but he came across well and the race they showed highlighted the old chestnut first out of the start always wins not to be true, it was a great race and a good plug for our sport. Strange considering his criticisms of the GB set up especially the diet that he admitted to a weakness for burgers etc, hope he gets that someone to put the lock on his fridge:). England never have a hope of winning the World Cup or the European championship but I bet Frank Lampard never thought about not turning out for his country. Rather than walking away I think riding and changing things having an influence within the set up would be a better way for him to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IronScorpion 1,399 Posted December 29, 2017 On 25/12/2017 at 11:01 PM, Aces High said: Not a criticism of him specifically but of the situation which has led to the most marketable British rider not riding in this country for the second year running. I suspect any potential offer by BT to televise British Speedway would be significant improved if Tai was leading a team next year. Appearances in shows like this, being mentioned by name in BT's most recent ad...they know they can market the guy. Another new rule, this year, has put a block on many top riders not riding in this country as you are only allowed 1 x 8point rider in a team. This has lead to the current World Champion, Doyle, moving clubs( I am sure a lot of Swindon fans are happy with that) & Wolves losing their spearhead & GP rider, Lindgren. Most top riders will be reassessed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SCB 0 Posted December 29, 2017 18 hours ago, phillipsr said: Coming across really well... really is a credit to our sport He always does on TV and most of the time in the printed press. If he could stop acting like a petulant little twit on twitter he'd have the whole PR thing covered and I'm sure would be well liked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Cheese 2,020 Posted December 30, 2017 Repeated again today at 2.30 on BT Sport 2 if anyone missed it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BWitcher 12,453 Posted December 30, 2017 22 hours ago, IronScorpion said: Another new rule, this year, has put a block on many top riders not riding in this country as you are only allowed 1 x 8point rider in a team. This has lead to the current World Champion, Doyle, moving clubs( I am sure a lot of Swindon fans are happy with that) & Wolves losing their spearhead & GP rider, Lindgren. Most top riders will be reassessed. The rule didn't cause Swindon or Wolves to lose their top riders. They CHOSE to lose them. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grachan 7,314 Posted December 30, 2017 12 minutes ago, BWitcher said: The rule didn't cause Swindon or Wolves to lose their top riders. They CHOSE to lose them. The rule still led to it happening, though, which is what the post said. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
THE DEAN MACHINE 4,721 Posted December 30, 2017 Instead of getting the fighty bird to kick the tuna buttys off tai’s head why not get the soccer player to do a full throttle practice start on a speedway bike in the studio , that would of been pure entertainment 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,163 Posted December 30, 2017 Just watched it... Shame he cannot lead the Sport forwards in this country... Ticks a lot of boxes from the marketing side in trying to attract a younger audience.. Confident, positive, an engaging personality, ambitious and tattoos...!! What's not to like? Came across very well... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baldyman 6,243 Posted December 30, 2017 (edited) 11 hours ago, Grachan said: The rule still led to it happening, though, which is what the post said. Thought it was the lack of TV money that stopped then having Freddie...as it's obvious they went for the cheaper option of Jacob...or Freddie wanted too much. Edited December 30, 2017 by Baldyman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BWitcher 12,453 Posted December 31, 2017 14 hours ago, Grachan said: The rule still led to it happening, though, which is what the post said. Did they? Not at all convinced that is the case. Lack of tv money as said above a far more likely factor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grachan 7,314 Posted December 31, 2017 4 hours ago, BWitcher said: Did they? Not at all convinced that is the case. Lack of tv money as said above a far more likely factor. With Lindgren, perhaps, but Swindon said when they released Doylebthat they had intended to use both him and Morris. Plus, if Somerset can afford to have Doyle I see no reason why Swindon couldn't have had him too. It's like Tai said in his interview, to be competitive you need Poland and Sweden. The league here is no longer competitive enough. Introducing a blanket 9.00 average on GP riders, then having a one over 8.00 rule, is going to make sure it remains that way. Maybe, in terms of survival, it has to be that way, but, as a supporter, it is very uninspiring. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dontforgetthefueltapsbruv 10,684 Posted December 31, 2017 What it has proved is that fixed race nights have meant nothing to the 'big boys' - Its all about the money.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
topsoil 2,498 Posted December 31, 2017 35 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said: What it has proved is that fixed race nights have meant nothing to the 'big boys' - Its all about the money.... Exactly. Britain can't hope to compete with Poland when you read of the signing on fees given over there. Sweden try to keep up, but look at the mess some of their clubs are in, getting bailed out by local councils. If a British club tried to compete with Polish wages, it would be bankrupt within a couple of months. Concentrate on developing your own local talent, improve the entertainment factor to get crowds back, work hard at attracting TV and sponsors into the sport. Then you can think about attracting bigger names. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,617 Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) 14 hours ago, mikebv said: Just watched it... Shame he cannot lead the Sport forwards in this country... Ticks a lot of boxes from the marketing side in trying to attract a younger audience.. Confident, positive, an engaging personality, ambitious and tattoos...!! What's not to like? Came across very well... Yeah that 'marketing to attract a younger audience' should see loads of new young 'fans' at tracks waiting to see him race!! Shame he didn't include a list of all the tracks and dates that he will be racing at in the UK in 2018?! Or maybe I'll have to wait to see how many extra young fans turn up at Cardiff.......?! Or maybe not!! Edited December 31, 2017 by Skidder1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BWitcher 12,453 Posted December 31, 2017 37 minutes ago, Skidder1 said: Yeah that 'marketing to attract a younger audience' should see loads of new young 'fans' at tracks waiting to see him race!! Shame he didn't include a list of all the tracks and dates that he will be racing at in the UK in 2018?! Or maybe I'll have to wait to see how many extra young fans turn up at Cardiff.......?! Or maybe not!! And this is the attitude that has British Speedway where it is now... 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites