Lions12

Wow what a meeting!!!

You may have taken tactical ride points into account. Maybe at the minute it will just be best to see how Roynon gets on when he comes back, although I can't see him scoring less than what Magnus has been doing. However, if we wait too long then maybe the playoffs will be out of our reach in the near future.... If we don't get anything up at Glasgow on Sunday then I think changes will have to be made if the club has playoff aspirations.Timing will be a key factor, too soon and you'll upset the apple cart, too long and playoff/title aspirations will be out the window....

I've worked out Leicester's riders' averages so far this season (exc bonus points), Nieminen 6.86, Graversen 5.08, Bjerre 7.58, Doolan 6.87,Karlsson 6.87, Nielsen had averaged 3.76, Branford only had 2 meetings at 0.50; a bit too early to have a true reflection IMO. If you compare Nieminen's to all the other No.1's in the league he is ranked 11th ahead of Robson and Ostergaard. Fair to say how the season has started Nieminen has not ridden like a No.1. Now I'm not picking on him but it is one area where the team needs to improve significantly, the other being at area being at reserve where we are being outscored home and away regularly. Most strong teams this year have at least one strong reserve; Edinburgh have Tabaka, Ipswich Heeps, Newcastle Kerr and S Worrall, Redcar Dyer, Scunthorpe now Blackbird, and Morris seems to be finding form for Workington, it's these riders who perform way above their average home and away is what we need. Graversen is very pleasing on the eye to some home supporters who obviously never go to away meetings as he regularly doesn't perform near to a 5 point average away, I believe we need a second string who performs away from home. I would say that on current form Nieminen should go due to not living up to the No.1 tag, although this seems highly unlikely with his testimonial next month, and Graversen, who is a thoroughly likeable guy (not my words) to many Leicester supporters, however I would prefer to have riders who perform on the track home and away rather than a nice guy. It's seems tough to make significant team changes atm in the key areas of heat leader and reserve. I think that from now we have to stick with Edberg and Branford as the reserves, as I don't think Edberg will be strong enough in the main body of the team. Personally, and I know this wouldn't go down well with many Leicester fans, but I would get rid of Nieminen and Graversen, which would give 13.62, however it is difficult to know who to bring in, riders I have considered are Nedermark, Poole, Nermark, C Wright, North and Smolinski. I understand that a couple of these may already have certain criteria to fulfill elsewhere ie North and Smolinski; but there doesn't appear to be a lot more available atm... Would it be too much to ask Doolan to ride at 1 but have strength in depth, or would you sign an out-an-out No.1 but potentially have three reserves??? I'd gamble and go with Smolinski (and if not Nermark), Doolan, Bjerre, Roynon, Edberg, Wright and Branford and just hope that one of the 'three reserves' turns out to be good. Edit: Just realised Smolinski is a no-go re doubling up with Birmingham operating full-quota already

Yes I have heard that, but if the racing/track continues to not produce passing, then people will stop turning up, you would think it's going to happen eventually even if it's not obvious atm. So he can continue to produce the track slick with little/no passing to the detriment of Leicester speedway's future or try to develop a track which offers a second line with the opportunity to pass. And as we know, if fans don't turn up there will be no Leicester speedway so surely it's better to have a passing track than a slick track; the riders may want it slick but if no one turns up then they won't be riding at Leicester! It would be interesting to know on a whole what the Leicester fans would prefer, a winning side at home week in week out but virtually no passing, or a track which produced more passing but not necessarily mean Leicester won every week.

I wouldn't say I'm skirting, I just don't want to be too harsh and critical. I'm not saying you don't, far from it, but I would like Leicester speedway to be successful, it's the local club and I'd rather have it than not, I just wish it was a bit more entertaining! Yes the track isn't right, and Bydgoszcz rather showed Leicester up tonight. When the changes were made the first thing we said when we saw them was "is that it!?" And with all the land not being used, yes there were other plans at the start, but every time we walk up now, with the benefit of hindsight, we always say "why couldn't we have had a Bydgoszcz or a gorzow or a torun" I just think maybe a bit more commitment and fight from the riders when behind wouldn't go amiss

You would think they would try to go wider, but from where I watch on the back straight it is possible to see the exact line the riders take into the 3rd corner, and in pretty much every race tonight and since 2011, they all take the same line into the corner, there have only been a few riders over the seasons that have actually tried a wider line on a 'regular' basis, Bjerre, Hall, Barker and Cook off the top of my head, all who have passed around BP and made the racing more entertaining, but there aren't many more, maybe Ashworth on the odd occasion. Yes it is a difficult track to pass on and there is no denying that, but I just feel that if riders did move a bit wider with control on a line which doesn't chuck them out to the fence on the 4th turn, then the racing could at least be a bit more entertaining, even if it doesn't mean a whole load of overtaking. Ok, so maybe Nemo wasn't making tons of ground, but he did seem to be edging closer and MAY have made an impression if he stuck with it for all 4 laps. Fair point but Palm Toft is still a very capable rider despite only a 5 point average. Even if there is still no extra passing, at least seeing the possibility of an overtake and a closer race is more entertaining than 4 riders taking the same line for 4 laps I've seen some cracking races at Sheffield over the last two years at various meetings where actually there has been no overtakes all race yet the riders have been that close to one another that I've been on edge shouting and cheering and it being really exciting

Now I'm not hear to defend Leicester's track shape or the track changes, but I would like to offer a different opinion to the same-old 'the poor racing is solely down to the track shape'. After watching tonight's racing, I would say that our riders and the majority of riders in the league are the actual reason for the lack of passing at BP, no rider is prepared to move off that inside line, there is no attempt to try something different. Generally speaking, Leicester's riders (Nieminen, Karlsson, Nielsen, Graversen) aren't racers, they're gaters, and when behind make little or no impression regardless of the track. One example tonight, heat 13, Nemo at the back, did a lap of going wider and was gaining ground on Summers, but then went back to the inside line, lost all momentum and was back to where he started. Bjerre proved earlier on in the season that it is possible to build some sort of momentum throughout a race when he passed and beat Palm Tree Toft on the last bend. Also, I think Leicester could actually benefit from some sort of home track advantage that they keep going on about (which at the moment is just gate) if they were prepared to move off the inside line when behind as there is a line to go round if you're prepared to attack it all race, not just the odd lap or so. If you've ever been to Sheffield you'll have seen that as a meeting develops the home riders venture further than away riders and regularly overtake (yes it is easier to do at Sheffield I realise). I just think that the blame can't solely be the track, and that if we had more aggressive riders throughout the team we would see more overtaking as they gain confidence on the track and realise that there is another line that isn't the white one

Or maybe it will be a good benchmark, for example if Nicholls or Kasprzak miss the gate and can't pass Nielsen or Blackbird! (no disrespect to those two)

Kerr for sure looks a decent prospect, more so than Blackbird in my opinion, and I feel, as a Leicester fan, that we've missed a trick with Kerr, who appears to be a better all round rider. Saw him ride at the Somerset Cracker earlier in the month and he managed to stay with Barker for three laps before making a mistake, and beat a proven heat leader in Tully in his first ride. I think he's one of the few English 3 pt men who will actually achieve more than that this season, not to be under-estimated!

Whoops! Yes, just noticed, Robert Branford! My bad

At the end of the day, there are 41 riders still available who rode at SOME point last season, 10 of which are English; James Wright, Luke Bowen, Ritchie Hawkins Chris Schramm, Chris Mills, Jerran Hart, Charles Wright, Jason King, James Cockle and Robert Branford; riders who hardly set the league alight last season....

A potential team with the riders still available could be 1 Claus Vissing 2 Dakota North 3 Cory Gathercole 4 Claes Nedermark 5 Taylor Poole 6 Kenny Ingalls 7 Charles Wright = 42.24 Quite ridiculous really!

Then that could maybe be advertised better on the website in order to encourage more people to feel that they're getting a decent offer, instead of just the standard 15 programmed fixtures (12PL, 2 LC, 1 KOC)....

The main problem there being that these extra meetings aren't guaranteed, who's to say there won't be any at all next year! Also, the extra meetings last year, ie the test match and junior championship round, both of which I attended, only pulled in small crowds, probably far less than what Mr Hemsley expected, so he may not be so keen to hold such events again next year...... To buy a Leicester season ticket you have to be pretty convinced and very committed to making EVERY meeting, and even so you still may not make a saving!

At £330, you'd have to go to 22 meetings at £15 each. Guaranteed meetings will be 12 league meetings, 2 league cups, 1 KOC = 15. If Leicester make top 6 then that makes 18 meetings, so where are the other 4 meetings coming from just to get the £330, with no savings! Seems ludicrous to me, surely the idea of a season ticket is that you make a saving, not pay more! And few people these days can guarantee that they'll be able to make every meeting!