Solidmango

You two could be lovers...

Long way to travel on the money he’d be getting. And no helicopter for him unfortunately

Without falling into the ‘mob’ category, I have been told that there are certain timescales that need to be adhered to when trying to sign a rider owned by another club which then results in delays on the rider being ‘announced’. In addition, Glasgow do try and make the announcements in an exciting manner through their social media outlets. I hadnt considered Vissing when doing my guesstimates but based on his average he’d do nicely in one of the heat leader roles, adding in Starke, who I feel is at least a point lower than I expected he would be, then I don’t think having Cook is a big issue. I agree generally with a ‘balanced’ structure but our upturn in form last year did coincide with the arrival of Cook and a more top heavy team. Time will tell and I reckon we will have 2 or 3 announcements in the near future!

I thought Jensen had agreed to ride for Workington again next season?!

Zelda - that’s a cracker!

Aye but what percentage of the posts will be anti Glasgow from Workington fans? And will there be any new posts or just the same old rubbish that they’ve posted on the Glasgow 2019 forum page?!

Yes that’s the same ones - you are spot on. They were highlighting what they’ve spent and how they’d like the facilities to be used more in the upcoming season. Im not disputing she has the best interests of Workington at heart however the constant negativity about this club doing this and that club doing that is not really needed or helping spread positive news about speedway in general.

Who’s been offered inflated wages?! Who have Glasgow signed?! What counts as inflated? If it’s more than Workington are prepared to offer does that count as “inflated”? Glasgow made significant losses last year primarily due to investment in the club - track work, TV screen etc. All to enhance the spectators experience. What’s been said now is basically we’ve invested and have some top class facilities let’s fill the stadium for us all to benefit. It’s not rocket science really. Well maybe it is to some people

Nah. We are in a very fortunate position in that we have very successful businessmen running our club at the moment. If they decide to move on then I won’t be sitting bitching and moaning about other clubs that are enjoying that luxury and doing their best to promote the sport and spread positive news about the sport on a regular basis.

Laura appears to have a chip on her shoulder, as do a few Workington fans on here. If you’re putting a team together on a budget that’s lower than previous years and lower than other clubs then you won’t get the same level or number of riders to choose from. Get on with it and stop whinging and moaning about other clubs!

Ooft. The rage.

He's the only 6.5pt (6.59) rider Workington have had it would appear

Which team are you representing currently THJ?

I like the look of that team, very balanced and 3 guys that could all be at number 1 depending on form. I reckon we will see Cook back. I know he takes up a chunk of points but when you think we have dropped 4.5 points off team building and only 2 years ago we had Worrall, Summers and Lawson all on c9pt averages then having Cook and one those other two heat leaders on an average of c6 points then I feel it is a gamble worth taking. Not only will he be favourite in most Heat 13&15's he will also be able to help and mentor the younger members of the team. The big question is what Workington rider have we tapped up/poached/offered mental money to? Proctor/Klindt/Jensen?

You do know that Glasgow can only sign 7 riders for the beginning of the season?! How many riders are there?! What riders have we poached/poaching?! The fact is, riders like the vast majority of people that go out to work, want to obtain the best deal for the services they provide. Likewise, employers want to take on the people that will provide their business with the best opportunity to succeed and flourish. What Glasgow decide to pay their riders has very little impact and certainly does not force other clubs to pay more. It's funny how none of Glasgow's critics have maybe thought riders want to join Glasgow because they will get paid the amount agreed and within the time frame agreed, for me that sort of security is worth more than £5-10 extra per point! How many people move jobs for more money? It doesn't mean that others doing the same job in different roles across the sector all go and demand (and receive) more money. Like Gazc has pointed out, yes we made a loss this year but how much of that was apportioned to the one-off big buys - track, fence, TV screen etc?! It's too easy for people to come on here and start spouting sh!t with no basis for their accusations.

Yes, he's spearheading the Comets next year!

Some initial team thoughts: C Harris - 7.71 L Kerr - 7.18 K Howarth - 6.95 K Newman - 5.98 P Starke - 5.88 J Thomas - 2.30 D Kemp - 2.00 Total - 38 Or..... C Cook - 10.45 L Kerr - 7.18 P Starke - 5.88 J Pickering - 6.11 N Greaves - 4.09 J Thomas - 2.30 D Kemp - 2.00 Total - 38.1 (Kemp and Thomas will get 2.5% reductions) I've got to be honest, I know Cook is 'expensive' on his average but I feel the team riding and assistance he can offer is worth this especially if both reserves can perform as well as they are expected to.

I suspect, given all clubs are apparently running at a loss, that there’ll be no reduction in admission prices in any division. It may be there’s a slight increase in the Premiership and no change in the championship?

38 points to work with in the Championship next year! That’ll be Cook ruled out for Glasgow I’d say. I get the need to see a clear difference in overall quality between the two leagues but feel we could’ve gone with an increase in the Premiership to prevent such a massive drop in the Championship.

What is the alternative? We can't afford to pay the riders in a 7 man team as it is, they have a squad system in Poland to avoid the issue you point out, that's never going to happen in this country with attendances/revenue the way it is just now. I can't imagine many people saying, I'm not going to watch speedway any more because we have to get a guest rider, from another club, due to injury/absence. I've got to be honest, so many people on here/social media are very critical of the BSPA/SCB and slate decisions that have been made but very rarely come up with a solution to the existing problems.

They tried something like this in the Premiership - max one rider over 8 pt average, went down like a lead balloon with most.

Totally agree. 90% of the 'package' is the same as what's in Poland, the small variation in our product is not what is causing the major issues. There are simply not enough people going to meetings nowadays.

Reserves on c£50-60 pp and it increases thereafter through the team. With 20 league meetings and say 10 other meetings on top, with an average of 10 points, and ignoring heat 15/rr etc for simplicity, this would provide an income of c£30k for a someone on this sort of money. £100 per point may seem a lot on the face of it but when you factor in the expenses incurred by the riders - bikes, repairs, travelling etc then it's not a lot of money hence the need to double up. I know they will benefit from sponsorship to help offset costs but that can't be relied upon. The BSPA/SCB have a lot to sort out but at the end of the day they can't magically generate '000's of new supporters to bridge the gap between a clubs current income and expenses and I can't see rider wages reducing either. Unfortunately it is a bit of a catch 22 situation and I don't agree that the full blame can be laid at the door of the BSPA.

£100 per point isn't far off what most of the top riders in the championship would be getting. A maximum on that basis would have earned him £1500 so not really insane money.

Are you forgetting that's pretty much the same way that Stewart Dickson ended up in charge? His business was a strong backer of the Tigers, he then joined as promoter and in turn ended up team manager! A fan/sponsor with no experience as a team manager - seemed to work ok for Stewart but a lot of people have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about the same thing happening with Cami.