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PETER Oakes in Speedway Star this week has tried to unravel the farcical situation that the BSPA have put themselves in by preventing Scott Nicholls and Edward Kennett riding for a Championship team in 2018 because they did not do so this year and therefore failed to acquire an average. Although, of course, Nicholls appeared in various end of season Championship finales as a guest. We also now have a situation where Nick Morris and Craig Cook, both of whom have averages over eight, and Sam Masters (almost eight) could ride for the same Championship side but not together for a Premiership team. Do the BSPA ever look beyond their noses when making up rules, seemingly on the hoof.

Now wolves have signed Thorsell the writing must now be on the wall with regards to the TV deal as BT made it clear their offer was conditional on 7 GP riders being present in the league. My guess is reality has now set in at clubs and the delay in signing riders is down to an adjustment in value of what the riders believe they are worth compared to what the clubs are willing to pay them. The main thing for all of us is that every club survives so I for one will not criticise if Lynn or any other club come to the tapes with an understrength team in 2018. However i would hope this is the wake up call required to finally start working on a complete restructure of the sport for 2019 rather than the inept tinkering we get every year.

Up to this season neither could double down, the situation was lapsed for just this season. Chris (and others) took advantage and established themselves a Championship average, Scott didn't, even though it's rumoured that a club actually offered him a place. Personally I think British riders should be allowed to double up, whatever their average but I'd stop overseas riders being given that privilege.

Now I like workington..my second team...but that is an awful signing on that average..Sorry to say it cos I want worky to do well. Jenga...if you didn't like Sarjeant you will be suicidal after watching klindt.

No professional sport is a £10 sport and even sports at semi pro level is a bit more than that. I think that £15 would be fair price but promoters do need to look at improving pre meeting and in between heats entertainment.

I just don't see what the 2 Brit rule has to do with the one over 8 rule. Where is the relevance? People have clearly looked at their own team building plans and then proposed or voted accordingly. This really has to stop. Seriously. Get some bloody rules and stick to them.

Is there there a silent C TWK

The problem is too many higher quality riders have been allowed to double down for too long. It wouldn't be a big deal not having Kennet and Nichols in the top league if cook Harris Morris masters, Schlien, lambert, king, Lawson, grazionek, among others were also prevented from doing so. thats why it's a problem.

There are certain Poole fans that see Gavan name and they go straight on the defensive instead of actually reading what he's posted. He's more positive about the Poole signings than some others!

Having read this post I now expect the matter to be covered with the same degree of condemnation in this week's Speedway Star, rather than be buried on this website.

Would be very stupid to turn down a 1 year deal down, even if the money is poor. Except offer then immediately start making plans for 2019 and other options, an internal channel from BSPA or speak to other broadcasters. Get the rules sorted early and get out there and sell the product, don't get to next November and do nothing and be in the same boat which is the norm with people running UK speedway. Things don't just fall into your lap you have to go and work for it! Get all clubs to put on a real show come to agreement for both sides where stadiums are packed, make the product look good and then use that to sell to other broadcasters. Use BT and then somehow get a bidding war if you can get a second company interested in the product.

I'm beginning to feel my age. I haven't got a clue what either of those things are.

Yes, but that's because the current format allows for the possibility of the race-off to happen without the host nation. It would be very easy to solve that issue. I think most people would consider a best pairs competition to be a diminished SWC, but let's see...

If you think the higher standard premier league is worth £10 why do the championship clubs charge £15-17?

It will be interesting to see the final signings for Poole but looks like they could be a strong team if they get the last 3 right which I am sure Ford/Middleditch will! On the Poles, personally think Szczepaniak will be ok but wont set the world alight but he will be dependable and hold his ave at least. Woryna on the other hand is a very different proposition. Watched him many times at Coventry and saw many glimpses of brilliance. He has obviously improved immensely in the last 2 seasons and I would be amazed if he didn't translate that into some excellent performances for Poole. In fact I will be so bold as to predict a 7+ ave by the end of the season. But he brings much more as he is a lovely lad and had loads of time for the supporters especially the younger ones. Both astute signings IMO.

Just being selfish. I'd much rather have a league with 8 closely matched teams than one or two teams running away from the rest at the top of the league. Closely matched teams are also more likely to produce good racing and that's what it should be about.

I would call that comment a bit derogatory. I would also call posting something negative about him every single time he's mentioned an obsession. We all know you don't like him. We get it.

I must say that I can't see the logic here. If Chris Harris can ride Championship Speedway - why not Scott Nichols?

The only debates some of the poole fans have gavan , is mass debates at home in their bedrooms whilst looking at pictures of chris holder.

why don't you do one and go and concentrate on your beloved Ipswich

Cos you always seem to bring the thread down all the time.

Sorry Jacob. If we were going to go down the 'No Freddie' path then a strong team all round, including a super strong reserve at #6, would IMO, have been the way to go. Hope I'm wrong and I'll be happy to have this post quoted ad nauseam come october!

Whilst Nico rides on an Italian licence, he is still Argentinean

Me neither. I thought the 'March' music was great when the Track Staff walked out, followed by the Riders. Of course, those were the days when Speedway was run professionally.

If Coventry fans believe this, then all the more reason to prevent it happening by supporting the venture, proving there is support to warrant a new stadium.

Regarding it being a £10 sport, I agree it is IF there is no added entertainment. What clubs need to realise is they can provide added extra entertainment at little or no extra cost. It might involve some effort and use of brain cells (assuming they are available ) but fans would be more willing to attend if they weren't expected to stand on terraces for what seems like hours between 15 races of one minute duration. there have been numerous suggestions for extra entertainment muted on this forum, some of them very good. Such a shame few promoters read them

Yes but would anyone take the risk if they were more than five, possibly Woryna.

Probably in the past, the riders assumed there was plenty of money to be earnt from the sport, and rightly or wrongly asked for the world, when signing contracts to race . But it has become obvious to us all that this behaviour couldn't continue. There was always going to a day of reckoning, and now we at seeing effects of that. I have worried for some time that the sport cannot survive on its present course., and that massive restraints have to be in place just for survival alone. If that means the end of the top riders, then so be it. I just hope that the majority of riders realise the dire situation the sport is in, and doctor their costs accordingly. They must realise the acute balancing of the books is crucial if the sport is to survive. I hope riders like Lambert don't price himself out of reach, in their belief of what they think their worth. That would be a shame......

Really ? PL average for Scunthorpe 2016 5.42 I'm not a fan. At Scunny he was brilliant if he gated, not interested if he didn't.

He also rode for Crewe if my memory serves me correctly ,he would only be in his early 60's I would have thought nice enough and friendly chap to talk to .

Although I would like to see KK sign for the Aces on his current average I hope, in a way, that he signs for you because you signed him last year when he was dropped and because I think he will improve his average and help you build a very competitive team.

Hardly signings that will set the world alight but with the potential to improve. Its alright saying that their form in Poland is strong but very often that form doesnt translate across. Love seeing the usual Poole suspects going on and on about how wonderful their team looks. 12 months ago.........................KK was back at his spiritual home there wasnt going to be a better number one in the league..glad Chris Holder was gone as KK was far better. Nicolai Klindt was going to be the best reserve in the league, someone on a false average who was only going to score bucket loads of points. Kurtz and Jack Holder would be the new turbo twins smashing in points all over the place..........Kyle Newman 'Mr Poole' lovead and adored by everyone at the club was going to kick on and realise his potential................you ended up with Lahti, Starke and Kennett Now we are being told how amazing these 2 young Poles will be...........................hope it doesnt go the same as last year

My feelings exactly bruno.

Green sheets show 6.86

Do me a favour. You haven't got any source. I've got more connection to Poole speedway than you because I've been there a lot to watch Swindon.

Szczpaniak is a much better rider than Stachyra ever was. Number one in the averages above Kenneth Bjerre and Batchelor in Poland. You don’t become number one in a league by being mediocre. I think Woryna will outscore Szczpaniak but then if a rider is averaging above 10 in Poland he should more than capable of averaging over 6 here. And if he does that, it will be job done.

Woryna looks a good signing but Szczpaniak looks a bit too much like a David Stachyra who rode for Poole a few years ago. He will be good at reserve but may struggle mid season when he may be a second string. For a team to win the title you cannot afford to have riders that don't perform. If as expected Chris Holder returns I am not sure he will put a point on his average as some seem to think either.

Just imagine Sarjeant, Klindt and Sedgeman in the same team.

That team would absolutely hack up on the bridle next season. Fair play to Ford if he's managed to put it together.

Looks like a top team,if you end up with that one.Plus the bonus of always having a very strong reserve.

I REPEAT ... wait and see. Not everyone will see it as "diminished." A major issue for staging countries has been the race-off which even on a Friday rather than a Thursday has not attracted fans in Denmark, Sweden or Poland where, unlike Britain at least, fans are totally dis-interested if their nation isn't competing.

Tatum may have loved riding in them, we hated watching it. As fans.. We will not flock to this rehashed SWC as we did the tried and tested, but oh Well Poland are going to win again event we have loved for the last 10+ years. FANS HATE THE PAIRS FORMAT. Put me in charge of the SWC, I have limited organisation & marketing skills but I couldn't fail to make it better than a one of pairs event.

Copied and pasted off the Workington website: Poole-asset Klindt comes into the side on a 7.51 average based on the 5.78 figure he achieved last season with Poole before a knee injury forced him out of the Pirates side in mid-July.

Maybe a Thrash Metal Night, or a Rammstein Night could be fun...one way to clear the decks for a new and younger crowd to come along to see the sport.

Has the 2 Brit rule really been dropped? It’s no wonder British speedway’s in such a mess when Poole’s first two signings are both Poles, signed simply because their averages are low from previous seasons, pretty much the same with Sundstrom. This isn’t an anti Poole thing, just seems so wrong that Poles on potentially false averages become so important and more st be a good chance Shanes will be dropped after being a rare shining light last year, although maybe his low average will help

Absolutely ridiculous. His average should have been reassessed upwards anyway as it's half a decade old and he's much improved, not given a reduction just because he hasn't been here for years. Fair play to Poole but these are the things that make people walk away from the sport.

Although Wolves look weaker for 2018......using 2017 championsip averages; Howarth 8.62 Masters 8.57 Schlein 8.58 Heeps 6.93 Morris 4.88 Greaves 4.51 Thorssell 10.36 (EL ave x 1.2) Total 52.45 As others have asked, can you name any Championship side anywhere near as strong?

Having seen the relative strengths of Poole , Wolves , Swindon line ups Maybe .... 1/ Fricke 2/ Worrall 3/ 7.00 4/ Tungate 5/ Cook 6/ Bewley 7/ Smith Again , just playing with figures ...

Strikes me the lad has had a fallout with his bird and gone off on a strop. We've all been there and know what it's like to feel broken-hearted and desolate. Give him time - he'll come round. Once the icy blast of winter turns into the thaw of spring he'll start to realize that stacking shelves in Lidl is no way for an all-action Barnsley lad to earn a living. He'll be back on the bike by March.

Spot on.... Far too many times those in this Country who run the Sport have tried to put a sticking plaster on every cut that has been inflicted on it... A thousand cuts later has left it without any more plasters... It should have forged it's own identity (at whatever level that would be) and moved forward together as one entity, United in a shared vision for the common good.. Instead it faffed about constantly fudging and changing rules to try and maintain an ever dwindling top level rider interest, which ultimately ended up increasing admission costs to pay for them. And to help accomodate them, delivered disjointed fixture lists full of zero credibilty 'Mickey Mouse' meetings which simply lost the fans' interest.. These same fudged rule changes were then disected year after year by the more astute Promoters who saw loophole after loophole and used this to their advantage to 'put one over' their rivals, meaning fans became frustrated and disillusioned by their actions... It will take something (or someone) very special to get the sport succesful again such is the nonsense that has been allowed to go on for the past 20 years or so as Poland and the GP's have taken off.. Maybe finally it has been realised that a 'halfway house, all things to all men' approach doesn't work and British Speedway will (eventually) have its own clearly mapped out business plan and operating model? Which every team buys into, realising that the collective has to succeed rather than one or two individual tracks? If so, better late than never... But the plan needs to be very, very good to make any difference..