4thbender

"Is football failing black managers? BBC Sport investigates" says the headline (see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/31970841). Heaven forbid that they should ever decide to investigate speedway in the same way. Anyone know of a black speedway manager?.... or rider? ....or fan? ....EVER?

Steady's guesting at the Glasgow Tigers Supporters Group next week: https://goo.gl/gdDRWA Wonder what he'll say when asked if he'll be riding next year!

It wouldn't surprise me.

Don't jump to conclusions about Kyle and Josh; neither one of them has agreed terms yet. Grajzc and bomber are pure speculation.

Holder please.

When Garrity's on song there can be few riders more capable of getting the crowd on their feet. He has that Doug Wyer quality of making sure no-one goes to the bar when he's riding. However his propensity for finishing up in A & E seems to mean he only ever appears in half the fixtures (the rest being filled by guests or rider replacement). On that basis his loss is possibly not as serious as it might otherwise be. Having a 9-point rider who's missing for half the season leaves a big hole for the rest of the team to fill and guests rarely live up to expectations.

Sounds as if this could be the best thing to happen to speedway for years. Anything that makes the sport more affordable for riders, promoters and sponsors has to be good news for the fans as well.

If it were that simple all the riders would be using it already. There has to be a downside. How does it compare (in terms of price and performance, for example) to GM or Jawa?

Don't quite understand what you're getting at GPR. My point is that, for 2017 at least, what we have effectively is a Southern League and a Northern League in all but name. Simple really. On a more technical point, does anyone have views on the announcement that the BSPA will be working with the Swiss manufacturers of the GTR engine which, allegedly, will drastically reduce riders' maintenance costs? Would any techie on this forum care to explain to the rest of us what impact this may have on the sport or whether it's just pie in the sky?

The North/South divide has been achieved by stealth. Look at the comparative geography of the two leagues and anyone who fails to see that geographic location played more than a small part in determining the makeup of the two leagues is deluding himself. Glad to hear that Workington are definitely running.

And we haven't got the PLRC (or its new equivalent)

It seems that next year we'll be riding in a smaller league (the Championship) consisting of Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ipswich, Newcastle, Peterborough, Redcar, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, and possibly Workington. We'll be racing on a 2 x home and 2 x away basis, with automatic promotion for the champions to the higher league (Premiership). Rye House and Somerset have opted for the Premiership in 2017. Crucially, we'll only have 40 points to play with in building a team.

Keep it clean.

From my perch on the fourth bend I noted a distinct drop-off in the normal crowd numbers for the quarter- and semi-finals at Owlerton. What happens next Wednesday remains to be seen, but I sense that for many Sheffield fans the season finished three weeks ago. Had we had Steady, Garrity and Berge, the story might have been different, but turning out on a cold, dark night to watch "borrowed" riders trying to win a league title for a Sheffield team that was acknowledged sixth-best in the league is taking irony to its limits.

If by hook or by crook Sheffield manage to beat Somerset in the final, a major injustice will have taken place to take away the achievement of a team that's lost only four times in the entire season. It will show up the farcical nature of a competition wherein a team finishing sixth can be anointed as "League Champions" having used a litany of 'ringers' in the process. As a tigers fan of 50 years standing, it will give me no pleasure or pride whatsoever to become "champions" in such circumstances. I therefore hope and trust Somerset give us a walloping in both legs. However, I would add that Howarth, Bates, Sissis and Greaves have been outstanding throughout this debacle and deserve the praise of all Sheffield fans. It is a pity their efforts have been diminished by the ridiculous rules of the competition. For me, Howarth has been the discovery of the season and his name should be first on the teamsheet for 2017.

Summer sport? We'll still be settling this at Christmas.

...... and Howarth!

It appears Plymouth are down the swanee. This is obviously dire news for speedway and I wouldn't wish to be seen to profit from another team's demise. However it does mean that Jack Holder will be looking for a new club. He'd be ahead of Todd Kurtz and Kyle Newman on my list.

What? No Kyle Howarth? Big mistake.

Anyone know what sauce goes best on a hat... 'cos now I've got to EAT IT! This result is just breathtaking. The team that beat us by 34 points in the KOC and then held us to a draw at Owlerton in the return leg suddenly shows itself to be vulnerable just when it matters most. Unbelievable. Newcastle fans must be gutted. I guess this means we now meet Glasgow in the semis. Who'd have thought it?

Lambs to the slaughter. SHEFFIELD: Ricky Wells, Robert Branford, Lewis Kerr, Simon Stead R/R, Kyle Howarth, Arthur Sissis, Nathan Greaves.

I have every respect for Steady and his years of service have shown him to be a true professional and he will always be a Tigers speedway legend. However, from a 10+ average a year ago he's down to 8.5. In a year's time the 8.5 will probably become 7.5. He's no spring chicken and he's proving to be prone to injury. His many fans (and I'm one of them) will not want him to end his career struggling to keep up with the "ordinary" riders or getting yet another serious injury. If he were to retire now he would retire as PLRC champion and will always be remembered as such. He has IMO far more to offer the sport as a manager / coach / mentor, and I think that's the path he should follow. The promotion will shortly be making decisions about the team for next year and I would much prefer them to secure the services of a no.1 with an average of 8.5 on the way up rather than one with an 8.5 average on the way down. Sorry to be brutal, but that's the way it is with Steady.

This was a typical end-of-season Sheffield performance. Some teams end the season with a bang and others with a roar, but Sheffield seasons in recent years have always fizzled out with a phut-phut-phut. What's the point of struggling all season to get into the play-offs and the later stages of cup competitions when we simply can't compete with the best. Last night was a disgrace and I'm predicting next week will be even worse: Newcastle will beat us at Owlerton and then give us another 60+ point humiliation at their place. Roll on Thursday nights in front of the telly.

Brady Kurtz has turned his back on PL to concentrate on EL with Poole.

Can anyone explain why we started the season so well but are finishing it so badly? In the first third of the season it looked as though the Tigers were set for a top three finish, but now it looks as if we'll finish sixth (AGAIN!) and draw Peterborough in the play-offs (AGAIN!) and get wiped out in the first round (AGAIN!)