Squads (why They Wont Work)

[Starman2006 2,354]

It can work and would work if more riders from abroad wanted some meetings.

I personally believe it's the best way forward and maybe take the teams to 6 man squads, one could be your FTR.

But they don't want to come here, they have no need to. Please get that between your lugs.

[Woz01 3,589]

 

that wouldnt work , theres no one size fits all because averages dictate eligability

Why? If you have 2 or 3 guests signed in a squad clubs can pick riders which averages are suitable to riders they know are likely to miss a few meetings. If for example you have a d/u rider who you know will miss meeting you sign a guest rider to a similar average. Or course injuries will happen but it wouldn't stop clubs signing riders to replace if the 3 guest riders are not suitable.

[Starman2006 2,354]

Do the squad riders who are not picked to ride paid anything for being on standby and therefore not able to sign for another club. If so where is the money going to come from.

You would bet your bottom dollar they would want some sort of retainer. But that is just not posible.

[stevebrum 6,821]

But they don't want to come here, they have no need to. Please get that between your lugs.

Err i fully get that. Quite a few have said the would come back if it was one night racing and less fixtures. Like they do successfully in Poland and Sweden. I apologise if you have limited reading capacity.

[heathen chemistry 660]

Err i fully get that. Quite a few have said the would come back if it was one night racing and less fixtures. Like they do successfully in Poland and Sweden. I apologise if you have limited reading capacity.

matt ford and his poole corale said that a few times , not many other folk have said it...

 

i dont think thats the case , the logistics wouldnt work, most elite clubs have tight schedules, ie this week swindon at belle vue monday, at poole wednesday , and at coventry friday , some times weds and thurs meeting are we to suggest that if a swindon rider got injured on the weds that the squad member would fly over for the thurs meeting???? and at what cost, its easier for clubs to get a pl/el guest.....

 

poland /sweden have one match a week on set day, the riders know if there riding or not in advance, our schedule as it is wouldnt work with squads as you'd need squad members to be ready to go at any time with little or no advanced warning ,due to tight fixtures . and with them being in another country makes it anon starter

Edited August 19, 2015 by heathen chemistry

[stevebrum 6,821]

matt ford and his poole corale said that a few times , not many other folk have said it...

 

i dont think thats the case , the logistics wouldnt work, most elite clubs have tight schedules, ie this week swindon at belle vue monday, at poole wednesday , and at coventry friday , some times weds and thurs meeting are we to suggest that if a swindon rider got injured on the weds that the squad member would fly over for the thurs meeting???? i dont think so

I'm referring to the riders HC, not promoters. Whether they would do it or if feasible of not are just reasons to assume they won't of can't do it.

[Bruiser McHuge 589]

It would never work, it would be too expensive for a start....

 

 

Riders are self employed workers, they look after themselves and most aren't particuarły bothered where they ride as long as the deal suits them.....they are not going to sign a squad contract to sit on their backside waiting for a call without a good retainer and probably equipment at the ready for short notice calls......teams can hardly pay their riders now and squads would mean paying more riders for a whole season whereas a guest is is meeting by meeting payment and would be cheaper than paying a squad....and they would want payment...I know riders and I know they would want a retainer....and if riders are tied to a squad then it means they can't guest so that would mean they would ask for bigger contracts and a bigger retainer to make up for the lack of guest bookings they would normally take

It a good idea on paper but unworkable on the track..in my opinion

[BANANAMAN 330]

Starman2006, on 19 Aug 2015 - 3:31 PM, said:

But they don't want to come here, they have no need to. Please get that between your lugs.

True , crowds are not large enough to generate the money to pay the Superstars . I cant see many clubs gambling on signing one & hope the turnstiles start spinning either ! at the end of every season Promotions plead poverty . Emil apart I cant think of anyone i would you pay extra to watch ?

[heathen chemistry 660]

emil, piotr pawlicki , ward .....the 3 riders i think who will be battling for top rider over next few years...........

Edited August 19, 2015 by heathen chemistry

[Tabashir 8]

I seem to remember in the long distant past when a lot of riders only turned up with one bike there was a club 'spare' that could be used in the event of a breakdown.

 

To reduce costs, transport and the need to have separate kit just for the UK, would it be possible to have some sort of club owned bike system where riders that are in the squad can elect to use these instead of maintaining their own? I know riders like their own setups, tuning etc and I'm sure there are a myriad of potential issues that could be levelled against this idea, but just putting it out there.

[Shale Searcher 1,264]

I seem to remember in the long distant past when a lot of riders only turned up with one bike there was a club 'spare' that could be used in the event of a breakdown.

 

To reduce costs, transport and the need to have separate kit just for the UK, would it be possible to have some sort of club owned bike system where riders that are in the squad can elect to use these instead of maintaining their own? I know riders like their own setups, tuning etc and I'm sure there are a myriad of potential issues that could be levelled against this idea, but just putting it out there.

There's taking a step back to go forward 2 steps, but this is not one of them.........!!!

[speedwaysliders 176]

Until someone has the guts to try it we will never know.Denmark is interesting,for years they were well below every league in the world,with Danish "superstars" like N Pederson just riding for their local clubs,hardly making anything out of it.But now they have a squad system which has come from virtually nothing,with top foreign riders on their books.so how have they done it.Robert Lambert has just signed a short term deal with a swedish div1 club who have a squad system.Where have they got the money from to pay his wages? Pederson is also rides a couple of times in the czech Republic,how do they pay him?You just cant say its too expensive to have a squad system in the uk,go out and find ways of making it happen like the people in the examples above have done.

Edited August 21, 2015 by speedwaysliders

[MattK 3,447]

Where have they got the money from to pay his wages? Pederson is also rides a couple of times in the czech Republic,how do they pay him?You just cant say its too expensive to have a squad system in the uk,go out and find ways of making it happen like the people in the examples above have done.

comes down to logistics. Pedersen has bikes, mechanics and a van on the continent, so it is easy to move them between Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Czech Rep and so on.

 

If you want to ride in Britain, you need bikes, a mechanic and a van in Britain. Theses all cost money, which is why riders need regular racing to make it pay.

[Tabashir 8]

There's taking a step back to go forward 2 steps, but this is not one of them.........!!!

 

I was expecting some disagreement, but was hoping for some enlightening reasons to go along with it.

[foamfence 2,917]

How did they manage in what are known as "the old days" - ie pre- and early post-war seasons. Then eight rider teams (six having four rides and reserves a scheduled two rides). This used to be followed by second-half races for them all, plus a couple of races for local junior riders.

And riders were restricted to riding only for their own club and continued in many cases season-on-season with the same club.

Sadly, as suggested to me by another regular BSF Poster I did try a Google check to get an answer to my query but one did not materialise!!

It worked because most riders had off-track jobs and there wasn't the opportunity to ride in several countries a week, in many cases they were lucky to get one match a week. A semi-professional future is quite likely, the way things are going.

I seem to remember in the long distant past when a lot of riders only turned up with one bike there was a club 'spare' that could be used in the event of a breakdown.

 

To reduce costs, transport and the need to have separate kit just for the UK, would it be possible to have some sort of club owned bike system where riders that are in the squad can elect to use these instead of maintaining their own? I know riders like their own setups, tuning etc and I'm sure there are a myriad of potential issues that could be levelled against this idea, but just putting it out there.

There are already a lot of riders using club bikes or engines. With the very poor reliability record of modern engines a track spare probably wouldn't be the answer.