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Hold on a minute. TP hasn't made his debut yet and he is already being slated. Are we going to have him being slagged off over the next three months before he has even raced? Give the guy a chance.

What loyalty does achieve is continuity and many fans like to be able to identify with their team over a number of seasons, one of the reasons why the sport was popular in the 70's. Even better if you can retain a good level of local British riders and especially those who have progressed through the ranks from novice upwards. Of course loyalty has to be tempered with building good teams and fitting into the points limits but BelleVue have shown both historically and in recent seasons that it can be done.

Actually, us OAP's now download e-books onto our readers, much lighter to carry around!

Swindon signed a rider on a ridiculous average (Doyle) and they kept Morris who had a poor year the previous season. That's loyalty and I believe both would still be riding for Swindon this year if the BSPA conference hadn't voted for the ridiculous one over 8 rule. Not to mention Ellis - who had a poor start and was kept in the team!

On Saturday 17th Feb @7pm there will be a night with Kyle bickley at the Waverly hotel, tickets are priced at £10 with under 12s free. It will be hosted by Natalie quirk and other guests. There will be an auction and all money raised will be going to charity.

You cant knock other teams like Poole just because we name a suspect team. I'm not a lover of Matt Ford's idealism, nor his perpetual rule bending, but you cant argue about the teams he put together. Every year they are in the mix with a chance of winning. Probably if we followed their philosophy, 'The Stars' would appeal to more supporters then we do at present and recreate those exciting night we use to enjoy. I haven't seen anything yet that suggest 2018 will be any different then us making the numbers up.

Write to me at Speedwayontheisland@yahoo.co.uk and I will be delighted to send you and yours a family ticket to experience the Warrior Way with us in 2018. If at the end of it you dont like it, or feel we can improve it (this is always possible) then tell me, but if you and yours like it, shake my hand to visit your local track or us again. All the best Barry (Co-promoter IOW)

If the Premiership is going Monday & Wednesday then stick to it. Championship should still have Good Friday & Premiership Monday. Now, fans have got to watch out for double uppers missing. I bet Premiership racing will be May Day, Spring Bank & August Bank Holiday only. Stop messing the fans about!

A team scoring 46 match points will have a total average around 42.50 for team building not 46

That's what you call loyalty shame I can't say that about my team

Gradings are more unfair than averages There always has to be a cut off somewhere How do you set the gradings? Most likely using average bands. So instead of all teams building to 42.50 you have 1 grade A (9 point+) 2 Grade B (7.50 to 9) 2 Grade C (4.50 to 7.50) 1 Grade D (3 to 4.50) 1 Grade E (under 3) Team 1 signs riders on 10, 8.99, 8.99, 7.49, 7.49, 4.49 and 2.99 - 50.44 Team 2 riders on 9, 7.5, 7.5, 4.5, 4.5, 3 and 2 - 38 Extreme example perhaps but gradings would be less likely to achieve parity of teams and riders woukd still not fit due to being 0.01 over the limit and being put in the next grading

Can never understand how simple maths seems to pass over the heads of some fans, things like rider averages, team strengths limits, actual race averages, grades, etc.

Ty is actually a very nice guy, not flash just a nice down to earth guy and I hope he does really well.

So 2.24 becomes 2 and 2.76 becomes 3 So 2 riders .52 apart are changed to 1 point apart The lower rider may well be very sought after and the higher rider not so....

To be fair it not a difficult concept to grasp (or shouldnt be) Thanks Grachan for taking the time to type out the explanation!

No you are right but loyalty also does not always win you league titles. At times you need to be ruthless.

Slightly off the main subject but some years ago my brother and I "press ganged" our late mother to come with us to see our team Brentford then in Division 3 or 4. She came but showed total disinterest and sat on the terraces reading a book. Just before half time she suddenly looked up and said" which team is Arsenal?"

No commitment as usual Clive!!

Please!! Whats with all the negativity, the season hasn't even started yet! How about welcoming Ty to Lynn instead of writing him off before a wheel has turned. Look at the change in Rory, one minute he was the first one off the throttle, next season banging in the big scores (albeit for someone else)! Lets just wait and see what the final team layout is then look forward to hopefully some good racing. If we are Premiership or Championship I don't care, I just want to see some passion for my team again. Come May/June I may be joining the doubters, who knows but at the moment we have to be positive.

for those wanting more points used higher up and having a 2pt reserve, just think how it was in 2017, and this years reserves are going to be so much better. i don't mind Ty Proctor being at KL, i saw him for Workington a couple of times last season and one thing i noticed was if he gets wound up he's a totally different rider, so we need someone that can really get the best out of him.

Would of preferred Richie Worral instead of proctor

As everyone says this has been done to death and whatever my thoughts will make no jot of difference. But to take your example and rounding then 2.24 is sensibly a 2 and 2.76 essentially a 3. Yes a 2pt average may fit nicely (say Alfie Bowtell) but a rider rounded up to 3 (say Josh Bailey) could quite possibly have achieved that on the back of a decent season and with Club's still keen to accommodate a developing talent. Agree that under the present 42.50 points limit the 3ptr might find a team slot harder to come by but if we're working to 46pts required to win a meeting then there's a little more scope for all. The same reasoning of course applies to any riders average whether rounding up or down.

Thorssell rode all season as 2nd heat leader.

We didn't hang on they didn't have a plan. Nicholls and a 4 pointer really doesn't change much imo as Lambert will be at number 2 where he's struggled all too often.

That formula worked last season!

Love to know Geds plan if the rules don’t change

It`s ok - Denmark are on a break and GB don`t have fixtures in mid summer

Yes, we signed him, bought him from Wolves and are including him in the 2018 line up

Apologies for raising and thanks for taking time to re-clarify this old chestnut. As suggested it's not difficult to grasp but still not as simple in team building terms as: how many points does it take to win a speedway meeting over the prescribed 15 heats? 46 points makes sense to me and agree questions the relevance of still applying 4 ride averages. Also grading or not would allow just a little more leeway to keep riders like Alfie Bowtell etc.. on track!

The club has always been run well and often the club being loyal fitted in with there budget.For me i prefer continuity i hate loads of changes every year in the teams.

Wolves went with loyalty for years and it got them one chamionship in god knows how many years. when the promotion got ruthless the last two years it resulted in a championship and a runners up spot

I thought Kenny Bjerre was on a bargain ave at the start of 2017.Rory,not so.Im so glad he proved me wrong.It was good to see him banging in the points again after that horrible injury.

This old chestnut again Averages are the average points per ride x 4. In a 15 heat match, two riders have a nominated ride in heat 15 giving them 5 rides, but their averages are still per ride x 4. For example: A team has 42 points after heat 15 with scores of 8, 8, 6, 6, 6, 4, 4. Team average = 42. In heat 15 they get a 4-2, giving them 46 points. Rider 1 scores 11 from 5 - average 8.8. Rider 2 scores 9 from 5 - average 7.2 Team averages are now: 8.8, 7.2, 6, 6, 6, 4, 4 = 42.

Rathbone has also pleaded with fans to be patient regarding news of Panthers final two signings during what is a frustrating time for all concerned;"We currently have nothing new to reveal as far as our final two signings are concerned and of course as soon as contracts are signed and sealed we will make the necessary announcements. Unfortunately, it does look as though it will be at least the end of this month before there is anything definite to report". http://www.peterboroughpanthers.co/news.php?extend.3282.4

Did Swindon last season !!

That would not surprise me if we pulled out of the league Iversen doesn’t or isn’t able to sign - I’ve said all winter that waiting on one rider could prove costly . As Lynnboy has said Richie Worral would have been a good signing instead of Proctor - dissapointing line up .

When there is a sun break she can usually read the whole book.

agm is this Saturday 20th

Hope Folder wont try and influence his team mates,when it's grippy.Typical Poole fan.Lynn might drop down yet.If Puk don't come on board.That would be ok for you also.Poole would be top of almost nothing lol.Poole v Poole.You would win

Last time I sponsored a meeting it cost about £1400 onc vat. You could have 20 guests and a prog each. Had a meal in the stadium restaurant. The guys and girls in the office enjoyed it, a good night out.

Averages are totally ridiculous and anti speedway when putting sides together. What is the difference between rider on 2.13 and another on 2.11? Absolutely nothing, so why not simply GRADE the riders and keep them on track! Lets be honest, Alfie Bowtell( who I consider a really good prospect by the way) would have a practically rounded average of 2 points and which could equate to say a C grading for team building purposes. Makes sense to me.

is that the same as average manipulation Dave ?

She can read a chapter between each race

Thought Middlo would be the kids entertainer, he knows what kids do these days.

It may be 'good' food Steve, but those prices are are a rip off with a massive mark up. My brother owns a 3 star restaurant and catering company and he estimates at least 95% of all A la carte dinners cost less than £15 to bring to the table per head. Just asked him ....

It is very sad to see it like this, although even it is all still fixable while there is still hope. The saddest thing and what really is hard to take if this is the end of Brandon Stadium is that we should have never finished like this, it deserved a huge send off, we deserved to be able to enjoy the last meeting and sad as it sounds but say goodbye. I walked out after the last stock car meeting and thought how devistated I'd be if the deal hadn't been thrashed out a few months earlier, little did I know that the stock car meeting was possibly the final laps to be completed. So very sad for all of us Coventry fans and all fans of speedway.

You don't pay a pound a minute do you .Most meetings are around two hours. Unless using your stupid theory you would only see around 6 minutes horse racing in 3 hours around 14 minutes in 3 hours at greyhound racing. Then about 4 minutes action in around 4 hours around 18 holes of golf There is only about 12 minutes played in one hour of tennis. Even football in around 62 minutes per match.Even in darts only about a fifth of the match are darts being thrown. Nobody makes comparisms about time in other sports so why do some speedway pundits keep doing so

If said new non Brit has such a great chance of improving their average that just shows the original assessment has been set too low..... The league doesnt really need new 5 point and sub 5 point riders I would set entry level at min 6

......and now they are even more vulnerable due to foreigners who should be on sevens being turned into 5.2 ringers.

I don’t think it’s a case of being wrong or right. I think it’s a concern that people like me, who have great affection for the sport with a young family see other leisure activities as much better value and a better family experience. All the activities I list have upped their game and evolved since the 80s. British Speedway has not. I doubt I am alone in that opinion. Based on my last live experience of speedway, young families were massively outnumbered by 60 and overs. That’s a worrying trend. I’m sure some clubs - and a few on here make a good case for the Isle of Wight - deliver a better family experience than others. But broadly speaking, the sport isn’t providing a good enough package to entice young families through the turnstiles. I am sure when the time comes, I will take my children. But it will be more out of my own nostalgic fondness than any great optimism they will enjoy it.