foreverblue 4,852 Posted January 18 4 minutes ago, ray c said: rory always came across as a smashing guy when interviewed not sure about richard lawson cant warm to him I remember him talking to a old lady in a wheelchair once, so nice of him to take time to do that in the middle of a meeting and it obviously brightened up her day immensely 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mac101 871 Posted January 18 2 hours ago, Mike0310 said: Part of me is still annoyed that he welched on a deal he had with my team,but it does seem you may be right in what you say Poole always seem to have a great team spirit I wonder if that will continue only time will tell,what I do no is that he is no Rory Schlien (apologises if I have spelt that wrong) on track or off it. Team sprit starts with The team manager and Midlo is one of the best in the business Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 7,349 Posted January 18 (edited) On 1/18/2022 at 6:35 AM, Racin Jason 72 said: Poor Birmingham desperately need a number one. In fact I’d say their future and survival looks very bleak indeed without one. doesn’t seem right to me. Div 2 teams being too strong is the biggest single issue for the sport for me... Should have had a points limit for top three riders in each team to share the heat leaders around.. Even if the teams with the most money then pay over the odds to bring a new high assessed rider in it would still have freed up heat leaders that they couldnt accommodate.. Given the disparity between top and bottom in each team in Div 2, it makes sense for teams with cash to spend big on heat leaders, as the bottom end of the team wont be of a level to demand too much I would think, and would be very interchangeable as the season goes on.. Will they ever truly see that working together to keep your weakest link strong enough to compete is the only way forward? Edited January 19 by mikebv 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Racin Jason 72 792 Posted January 18 21 minutes ago, mikebv said: Div 2 teams being too strong is the biggest single issue for the sport for me... Should have had a points limit for top three riders in each team ro share the heat leaders around.. Even if the teams with the most money then pay over the odds to bring a new high assessed rider in it would still have freed up heat leaders that they couldnt accommodate.. Given the disparity between top and bottom in each team in Div 2, it makes sense for teams with cash to spend big on heat leaders, as the bottom end of the team wont be of a level to demand too much I would think, and would be very interchangeable as the season goes on.. Will they ever truly see that working together to keep your weakest link strong enough to compete is the only way forward? Agree with all of that. A top rider in division 2 should then progress to number 7 in division 1 and carry on climbing the ladder. it’s farcical that Edinburgh 2nd heat leader is also number 1 for kings Lynn in the premiership 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 7,102 Posted January 18 22 minutes ago, mikebv said: Div 2 teams being too strong is the biggest single issue for the sport for me... Should have had a points limit for top three riders in each team ro share the heat leaders around.. Even if the teams with the most money then pay over the odds to bring a new high assessed rider in it would still have freed up heat leaders that they couldnt accommodate.. Given the disparity between top and bottom in each team in Div 2, it makes sense for teams with cash to spend big on heat leaders, as the bottom end of the team wont be of a level to demand too much I would think, and would be very interchangeable as the season goes on.. Will they ever truly see that working together to keep your weakest link strong enough to compete is the only way forward? Would the Promotions reduce Admission prices for fans to watch a lesser Product though.! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 6,051 Posted January 18 41 minutes ago, mikebv said: Div 2 teams being too strong is the biggest single issue for the sport for me... Should have had a points limit for top three riders in each team ro share the heat leaders around.. Even if the teams with the most money then pay over the odds to bring a new high assessed rider in it would still have freed up heat leaders that they couldnt accommodate.. Given the disparity between top and bottom in each team in Div 2, it makes sense for teams with cash to spend big on heat leaders, as the bottom end of the team wont be of a level to demand too much I would think, and would be very interchangeable as the season goes on.. Will they ever truly see that working together to keep your weakest link strong enough to compete is the only way forward? Many would say that working together to keep the weakest link competitive has been the downfall of the sport 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 7,349 Posted January 18 2 hours ago, Skidder1 said: Many would say that working together to keep the weakest link competitive has been the downfall of the sport Twenty years ago I would have been one of them... However, as usual, we had a fractured, halfway house, survival or the fittest/protect the weakest, muddled operating model with zero clear direction of where the sport was going, nor vision of what it was going to be... Nowadays you would have to think that having as many tracks (who are left), geographically around the country is 100% vital to at least try and keep some recognition of the sport by reasonably sized conurbations.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 7,349 Posted January 18 (edited) 2 hours ago, Fromafar said: Would the Promotions reduce Admission prices for fans to watch a lesser Product though.! Painted themselves into a corner haven't they? So not sure they can reduce their offer... Often using six Div 1 heat leaders per match rather than a couple at most with a mixture of riders of 2nd Div standard including two to four riders of Div 3 Heat Leader standard wishing to progress.. Instead we now have "Premier Light"... Edited January 18 by mikebv Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fromafar 7,102 Posted January 18 4 minutes ago, mikebv said: Painted themselves into a corner haven't they? So not sure they can reduce their offer... Often using six Div 1 heat leaders per match rather than a couple at most with a mixture of riders of 2nd Div standard including two to four riders of Div 3 Heat Leader standard wishing to progress.. Instead we now have "Premier Light"... Agree Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ray c 2,149 Posted January 19 less be honest poole probably got the best three heat leaders in the league combined together well on paper anyway .i dont believe they come cheap .and i know what people will say we dont pay over the odds Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lisa-colette 3,594 Posted January 19 5 minutes ago, ray c said: less be honest poole probably got the best three heat leaders in the league combined together well on paper anyway .i dont believe they come cheap .and i know what people will say we dont pay over the odds That's because it contradicts one of the two reasons we moved down imo. If you move down to save money, you are hardly going to blow it on riders wages unless a sponsor wants them at Poole and is paying for them..? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruckerroo 615 Posted January 19 Its a monetary situation as always, poole, successful club can go the extra mile with signings as they pay well and on time 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
poole keith 801 Posted January 19 its a vicious circle,teams that consistently make the play-offs in any league generate an end of season cash bonanza thus providing funds to operate a strong team the following season,those that dont usually field weaker teams and so the cycle continues 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 7,349 Posted January 19 (edited) 5 hours ago, lisa-colette said: That's because it contradicts one of the two reasons we moved down imo. If you move down to save money, you are hardly going to blow it on riders wages unless a sponsor wants them at Poole and is paying for them..? However in Div 2 you can pay Div 1 standard heat leaders a "bit less" than their Div 1 counterparts, (but still a decent amount), whilst (unlike the Div 1 teams), pay the bottom end of the team money commensurate with their lower capability and lower standing in the sport.. Having three top heat leaders in a side is a no brainer (especially in a league with so much difference from top to bottom riders), as they will usually ride a minimum 14 times out of the 30 times a team races, meaning almost 50 percent of the meeting is covered by a "good heat leader".. At times riding together to possibly gain heat advantages, and at times preventing the other team getting heat advantages.. Meaning for most meetings they are always in with a shout.. For Poole, dropping down made perfect sense.. They could still ride Wednesdays and also afford to put out a very competitive team.. Which they rely on to keep their fanbase who have sometimes "walked" a little in seasons gone by when the team has nothing to ride for, with the drop more noticeable at Poole due to the very good crowd levels they usually generate when doing well.. The only down side to having teams like Poole in Div 2 is that "the have nots" stay as exactly that given the lack of talent to go round, and the league becomes too strong to be the bridge between Div 3 and Div 1, undermining progression as well as undermining the "top leagues" standing as the aspirational standard bearing "flagship" which any top league in any sport should be... Maybe three leagues of six would be a better way forward with the top two sharing most of the heat leaders and the bottom six teams all being allowed to put together competitive teams using Div 2 second strings, reserves, and NDL up and coming talent? With any clubs wanting to run a "second team" running in a seperate Div 4 development league... Edited January 19 by mikebv Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
