poolebolton 464 Posted November 13, 2016 I would have thought Zagar and Cook plus a Worrall. Then maybe a 2-3 point rider and possibly Joe Jacobs. Hahhaha Joe Jacobs, you can have him on his high average. Never seen such a home track rider you might as well go away with 6 riders. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Col 854 Posted November 14, 2016 If Zagar is the new Hancock i.e. the most expensive rider, would you want him back? Any team in financial trouble does not need expensive imports. Surely Cooke, Hougaard & the Worralls will constitute your top four? Your best NL team will get you decent reserves. Cook 9.83 L Bjerre 6.64 R Worrall 8.49 S Worrall 8.47 Hougaard 8.7 Williamson 3.67 Bewley 4 Leaves 0.2 A fair few teams seem to be going high top end with 2 pointers at reserve. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiheke1 4,295 Posted November 14, 2016 Surely you would upgrade r worrall to fricke/zagar/nicholls and downgrade Williamson to a 2 pter ? Better options than l bjerre as well surely? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phil The Ace 2,860 Posted November 14, 2016 Agree 100% But we need riders that can ride the NSS also. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Joe Beevers 207 Posted November 14, 2016 I was going to say Belle Vue need all the good home riders they can get and Jacobs was excellent at home last season at the reserve berth. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1 valve 558 Posted November 14, 2016 (edited) I am the same. What I remember from this year is the best racing I have seen for many years not the number of matches that we won. I agree that the entertainment plays a large significant part in attracting and retaining new fans. It is worth considering that over the past few years BV have not been that dominant in terms of league position and once new visitors have got over the spectacle of speedway, the hard reality of promoting a team event means that the team performance does need to be taken into account when retaining fans. Not every team can win the league, in fact some never have done so. but being competitive and winning the majority of home meetings is paramount to long term growth and success. Also, fans need to relate to the team they are expected to support. team line ups that keep changing week to week never mind season to season will struggle to build loyalty. As an example, remember the days of PC & CM etc...almost the same line up week in week out - season to season. This meant fans had allegiance to the team and the team members not just as it is today "the brand". Edited November 14, 2016 by 1 valve 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bagpuss 10,784 Posted November 14, 2016 Easy to forget that Jacobs had a year out before returning last season. He's never going to be a huge scorer on other tracks but could well improve now he had been to them all again and bearing in mind some of the lower order riders who are likely to be around next season. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikebv 10,293 Posted November 15, 2016 (edited) I agree that the entertainment plays a large significant part in attracting and retaining new fans. It is worth considering that over the past few years BV have not been that dominant in terms of league position and once new visitors have got over the spectacle of speedway, the hard reality of promoting a team event means that the team performance does need to be taken into account when retaining fans. Not every team can win the league, in fact some never have done so. but being competitive and winning the majority of home meetings is paramount to long term growth and success. Also, fans need to relate to the team they are expected to support. team line ups that keep changing week to week never mind season to season will struggle to build loyalty. As an example, remember the days of PC & CM etc...almost the same line up week in week out - season to season. This meant fan2s had allegiance to the team and the team members not just as it is today "the brand". Spot on.... If Speedway (in Britain) is to continue as a team sport then it has to stop all the guest/select team nonsense... By running 'team speedway' you are asking the fans to make an emotional attachment to 'their team'. Swapping riders around between different teams ad nauseum does nothing to deliver this attachment, therefore wont engender the 'tribal loyalty' that other team sports deliver... Dont deliver emotional loyalty and you, quite simply, will never deliver a successful team sport.. To a fan with an emotional attachment, whether their team is successful or not is often irrelevant as they will be there. If 'your team' isnt really 'your team' I would suggest you would question why you bother attending at all... And with the current situation of too many team places to fill with not enough riders of the required quality, delivering a 'team with integrity' week in and week out will continue to prove virtually impossible.. The irony is if speedway went 'individual only' in this country I would suggest it would become much more successful.. eg. Running once a month at the NSS with a good prize fund, decent level of rider and properly marketed, would deliver six meetings with 3-4,000 in attendance I would suggest. Maybe for the image, publicity, sponsorship levels and overall growth of the sport it would be better to run 6 meetings in front of 24000 fans in a 'full stadium' rather than 18 meetings in front of the same total amount of people scattered around 'half empty' terraces..? Dont think anyone is in doubt that the sport (in this country) is at a critical point in its evolution. If its to be ran as a 'team sport' going forward then many radical changes are required. Be interesting to see if those who run it have the vision and capability to deliver them.. Edited November 15, 2016 by mikebv 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
woodenspoon 157 Posted November 15, 2016 Perhaps, the NSS is just too good for speedway, with its expensive overheads taken into account, and with speedway at its current crowd level. I believe speedway will always be a minor sport and has its own level of followers, which in these days of competition from other events is unlikely to increase. I do really fear for the continuance of speedway at the NSS,. Unless the council is prepared to write off the outstanding arrears, I cannot see any other promotion picking up the tab. I do wonder what happened to all the money that did come in though, and how this state of affairs came about, as it has been suggested that the debt is a lot larger than you could guess at. It was always really the NSS in name only, conveniently to get the place built in the first place, as no way were the other promoters going to allow it to stage the majority of the bigger and more lucrative financially meetings. Sadly some of which used to be classed as the big meetings have diminished in status for example the ELRC that was. The problem with open meetings with a big cash prize, has been that in the past the riders have agreed to share the prize money between themselves, which spoils the whole thing. I prefer team meetings, the only individual meetings with any bite to them are the GPs, and possibly the British Final. We can only hope that the new league structure will help all clubs to survive and attract the fans back in larger numbers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tocha 308 Posted November 15, 2016 If Zagar is the new Hancock i.e. the most expensive rider, would you want him back? Any team in financial trouble does not need expensive imports. Surely Cooke, Hougaard & the Worralls will constitute your top four? Your best NL team will get you decent reserves. Cook 9.83 L Bjerre 6.64 R Worrall 8.49 S Worrall 8.47 Hougaard 8.7 Williamson 3.67 Bewley 4 Leaves 0.2 A fair few teams seem to be going high top end with 2 pointers at reserve. Zagar has signed in both Poland and Sweden which rules him out from riding here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,637 Posted November 15, 2016 Why? Slovenia doesn't have a domestic league of any sort so he could nominate UK!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,045 Posted November 15, 2016 BELLE VUE ? 1 Max Fricke 9.91 2 Craig Cook 9.83 3 Steve Worrall 8.47 4 Richie Worrall 8.33 5 Joe Jacobs 5.36 6 Emil Grondal 4.39 7 Matt Williamson 3.58 Total 49.87 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phil The Ace 2,860 Posted November 15, 2016 BELLE VUE ? 1 Max Fricke 9.91 2 Craig Cook 9.83 3 Steve Worrall 8.47 4 Richie Worrall 8.33 5 Joe Jacobs 5.36 6 Emil Grondal 4.39 7 Matt Williamson 3.58 Total 49.87 Swap grondal for Bewley and you could be right Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shale Searcher 1,264 Posted November 15, 2016 Since doubling up/down got out of control, the opportunity for new UK riders to break into the PL and EL, just about disappeared... That's you're rider shortage explained.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bees_Man 454 Posted November 15, 2016 Fricke Coventry or Belle Vue bound? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
