4thbender

Who says he's gone?

Oh sorry, my mistake. I assumed that "dropping his average on purpose coz he didn't want to be at Redcar" referred to an illicit contravention of the rules. I now understand that what the writer meant to say was that the rider concerned "dropped his BEVERAGE on purpose coz he didn't want to be at Redcar". Silly me!

Is it being suggested that Sheffield has not one, but TWO riders who have deliberately lost races - thereby cheating the paying public - in order to manipulate results for personal gain (i.e. securing places in the Sheffield team by unfairly contriving to falsify their averages)? These are serious allegations which the Speedway Control Bureau should investigate and, if proven, take appropriate action. Remember David Layne, Peter Swan and Tony Kaye? Banned for life from professional football and sentenced in 1965 to four months in prison for "throwing" a football match. In his summing up the judge said "I also have to think of the tens of thousands of ordinary citizens who find relaxation in football and watching football. Over the years they have paid their shillings to see a football match played as they thought by experts. For those shillings, they got not a match, but a dishonest charade. It is my duty to make it clear to other evil-minded persons in all kinds of sport that this is a serious crime.” I pay my "shilling" regularly to watch a speedway match. If what you are suggesting is true then I too am paying to see a dishonest charade which, in the judges words, is "a serious crime". If evidence exists that such events have taken place it should be presented to the Speedway Control Bureau. Otherwise people should keep their speculation to themselves. Just one more reason why riders should compete fairly and maintain their integrity with the paying supporters.

It's called integrity. Promoters who fail to pay riders on time are low-lifes who should never be allowed anywhere near a speedway team ever again. But riders who give in to that sort of tyranny by not giving of their best are tarring themselves with that same brush of fundamental dishonesty, and two wrongs never make a right. Ultimately it's the fans who pay money at the turnstiles that keep speedway afloat. They have a right to expect honesty and integrity on the part of both promoters and riders, otherwise they have good reason to feel cheated (and nobody loves a cheat). As a Sheffield supporter I will never feel happy if there is a suspicion that a particular rider is deliberately failing to give of his very best to the team effort. The suggestion that we have a rider in the ranks who is even capable of withholding his best talents in some strategy for self-betterment is worrying. After all, he could do it again in 2017 if he thinks he's not getting a fair crack of the whip. I fully sympathize with any rider who is not been treated fairly by promoters, but there are ways of dealing with that without compromising one's own integrity.

I have to admit this signing worries me a bit. Someone suggested on this forum that he spent the end of last season manipulating his average downwards to secure a good berth in 2017. That's the speedway equivalent of the footballer who "throws" a game to win a wager at the bookies. If that's the case, does he not realize that, regardless of his personal differences with the management, he still has a responsibility to his team-mates and the fans who pay the entry fee week in week out? As he's now reportedly a Sheffield asset, I'm concerned as to whether he has Sheffield's interests at heart. Personally I wouldn't want to pay money to watch riders who are not 100% behind Sheffield's cause. I think he has something to prove and let's hope he responds favourably. What do others think?

A baffling array of unfathomable rules and regulations which even the sharpest legal brain would struggle to unravel. You'd never believe this sport is about four riders going four times round a dirt track. How ever did things become so hellishly complicated?

The 2016 team - had they not suffered injuries - was better than this one. I reckon we'll finish in fifth spot, comfortably mid-table (and out of the play-offs).

Todd Kurtz and Rob Branford for Sheffield: https://twitter.com/TigersSpeedway/status/805873986722787328

Don't think Zach is the solution to our conundrum.

Never been impressed by Klindt. He's no more than ordinary and when he was brought in for 7 matches at the end of 2015 season his 42 points in 30 rides was insufficient for a rider of his experience. Added to which, he's already committed to three teams in 2017 (Poole + Poland + Denmark) and his stamina will be severely stretched. Having seen other teams' declarations, I'm now seeing Sheffield's heat leaders in a slightly different light. There are other teams whose 1 to 3 are very powerful and I particularly like the look of Redcar, Workington, Peterborough and Newcastle. I think all nine teams are capable of seeing off the Sheffield threat on their own tracks and, with the possible exception of Scunny and Berwick, may well take points off us at Owlerton (especially since the fast Sheffield track offers little home advantage). I'm beginning to hope with some desperation that the promoters pull someone spectacular out of the hat for numbers 5 and 6, otherwise I could well foresee this will be another season of mid-table disappointment. Should have kept Garrity.

It's not just the Sheffield track that's coming in for some stick: https://twitter.com/chrislouisiwsc/status/805705443624546304

With most teams having now declared, the pool of riders left is getting smaller. Could it be the riders Sheffield have targeted for positions 5 and 6 are playing hard to get and are part of a bidding war between Sheffield, Glasgow, Peterborough and Edinburgh? Some people on this forum were saying a couple of weeks ago that there's plenty of time: 'four months to go before the start of the season' and all that rubbish. Are they still saying the same thing? I'm beginning to think we may not get the riders we'd all hoped for.

Can't have Wilson Dean and Parkinson Blackburn in the same team: Wilson Dean Parkinson Blackburn... sounds like a firm of solicitors!

Prices unchanged next year. The news just keeps getting better.

Klindt has already signed for Poole, Esbjerg in Denmark and Poland's Wanda Krakow. Surely a fourth weekly commitment would see him burnt out by June because of all the travel?

Be careful in the shower.

This time last year someone had the temerity to suggest on the corresponding 2016 Forum that the only role for a team manager in Speedway is to hand out the black and white helmet cover. I think Steady will, in the course of the coming season, prove that the right manager can be better than an eighth rider. His contribution off the track may prove to be greater than his contribution on it (only this time he won't be breaking his bones). Well done to the promotion for a very canny appointment.

He does a nice line in lampshades. Is he still selling them?

A right decision to go out on top. A great servant of the sport who will be remembered as an Owlerton legend. What's more, many young riders (e.g. Josh Bates) have benefited from his influence and are much improved as a result.

Top marks to the promoters on pulling that one off. The team is looking like a unit with strength in depth. How about Steady for team manager?

Are you for real? Batesy did indeed score 17, but then caused a near-riot when he took on the entire Glasgow team and track-staff in a game of bare-knuckle fisticuffs. His antics didn't endear him to the Glasgow faithful.

Thrilled for the people of Plymouth. Great news that Devon will not be lost to our great sport. Hope everything goes well for you in the NL and hope to see you back in the Championship in the near future (if Sheffield haven't won their way into the Premiership by then!)

Sorry mate, you're wrong. The early bird catches the worm; If you snooze, you lose; need I say more?

So you'll settle for whoever's left after all the other teams have had their pick? Doesn't sound like a promising strategy to me. I hope and trust our promoters are getting their bids in before the cream of the crop gets snapped up.

Going by the colour of his hands, Eric Boocock might qualify.