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It really does not matter what any other team says about the Panthers side as I have not heard a single complaint from our fans. Firstly I am a fan of speedway and whether we win the league or not does not matter but would be the icing on the cake. What I do know is that I am looking forward to being entertained with this team so bring it on.

There's not a "Rye House" feel about the team at all. Rye House had Kasprzak, Harris, Nicholls, Kennett and Robson. Peterborough has a still on it Hans and Harris, that's it. So, you see, absolutely nothing like Rye House at all. This Peterborough team is the best in the league. Every rider etc Harris barring injury will increase their average no problem. I'm not sure that can be said with other teams. Saying all that, and Peterborough fans understand it, it's not how you start a season, it's all about how you finish it. If this team stays together they're top 4 no problem, but the Peterborough Showground always produces spectacular crashes. Also, Peterborough never finish a season with the rider's they start with, pretty much the same as every team so finishing positions can't really be judged until late July, but on paper right now, by far the best team against other teams already signed or predicted.

Can't be as strange as someone who doesn't go, doesn't watch, but spends an inordinate amount of his time on a forum telling people this and having a go at the sport he doesn't go to or watch.

Josh and Richie 2 riders not likely to improve. Worrall was reserve last season and still didn’t pull up any trees. Fully expect him to swap places with Covatti Josh third heat leader I assume and struggled at number two last season Not a lot of excitement for Poole fans

Not very subtle but accurate!

My sentiments exactly it does not matter what opposing fans think , nothing is won on paper anyway, there's a few miles to cover before it is decided who the top four to go in the play offs are and fortune and misfortune will play a part for all teams along the way, but with the assembled team we have it should provide top class entertainment .

Think you are spot on and nice to see a level headed approach. I think Panthers fans will have plenty of entertainment in 2019 and think sides will have difficulty picking up points at yours. May surprise some away and with strength throughout the side think they will be hopefully well placed to pinch points away.

But now an armchair critic with f*ck all to contribute.

As have I. The difference is if signed for this coming season, he isn't leading the team. He was an awful signing last season on the inflated average he was carrying and coming back from injury. Signing him meant the season was as good as over before a wheel was turned. That said, he's a rider that the club has been loyal too (and the rider to them) and have seen him improve year on year so in one respect it was understandable. What would be absolutely criminal, having thrown him in at the deep end at No 1, a position he wasn't yet ready for, is to not take advantage of him having a lower average and another years experience under his belt. He is still improving as a rider and has the potential to move forwards and next time he moves to 1 or 5 he will be in a much better position to perform. I agree, if Pawlicki were to sign it would be a superb signing and at this point I could accept him over Thorssell. What I would not be able to accept is Schlein/Masters being signed at the expense of him. That is sheer lunacy. The only excuse would be if Thorssell flat out stated he didn't want to ride in the UK this year... but then you would have thought he would come out and say something along those lines.

Spot on I have no idea what some people are seeing when they look at this Peterborough team ?, clearly one of the strongest teams named so far Cook / Andersen / Harris will be a match for anyone especially around the showground , "like Rye House" , ... really ....?

Klindt I would think. That would still leave options in case they are still waiting for Richie to sober up after the AbuDhabi F1trip!!!!

I think we can all agree Thorsell didn't have his best year but if he signed as expected then that will benefit Wolves for this season. If he can get back to his best he will be almost unbeatable at Monmore and much better away, I remember him having some excellent meetings at Poole.

Might need to get some TM advice from Garry May on how to manage Holder Jnr.

I certainly would , communication with fans during the winter break is vital in my opinion Buster should be keeping fans up to date with what is going on and not using the mushroom effect but I believe that's the Buster way ,its not exactly mouth watering at all .

I don’t know a Panthers fan who isn’t delighted with the side

That's a no then

Completely agree re the entertainment factor.......plus, selfishly, Thursdays work really well for me...... excited for the first time in ages......

Gotta say, I feel Peterborough look one of the strongest teams so far! 3 decent heat leaders & both reserves will be potent (whichever 2 they are)!

Team is fine. Will easily make the playoffs. If a rider underperforms they will be replaced. 4th good enough going into the playoffs. Middlo always gets the team firing when it matters most. Happy Christmas to one and all.

Over and over and over again...we are bored now of your opinion, once said it created mild interest...now it is mind numbing in its repetition,!

'Was' being the operative word. Absolutely no interest now other than to be critical.

I think Masters will stay at number one in the Wolves team, I agree internationally Max has a better record and would always get the nod in a world cup or cup of nations team but there is no denying their averages are similar.

Personally I would be very happy if we signed Jacob and Ash as the last 2. We would have 4 riders who were riding at No 1 at some point during the last season and all had 8+ averages at some point in the season. Backed up by Kyle and Luke with Ash spending the whole season as a reserve, happy days.

Sam Masters is the number one as a rider of his average should be, he is no less a number one than Fricke.

I just don’t get why any top level rider would sign for a 2nd division team. The money deal was clearly too good to be true.

I don't think its making any noise ?, its all about opinions , i definitely respect yours , My opinion is there's too many question marks regarding BV line up , (Bewley / Worrall fitness , will we get the 2017 Bjerre or last years? ,Lydsey inexperience, etc ).. Wolves look really strong also, Nick Morris could be signing of the season on that average , and if they get Thorsell back I'd have them as favorites

But wasn't the track largely below standard last year? Heard several reports of riders unhappy with the surface (riders who had been happy with it for many previous years). Now it could have been the higher league influence, a whinging aussie influence or something else but Somerset is one of the best race tracks in the country and until last year its been rare to hear a bad word said about it.

Personally I have no qualms over the 'sport' not being mentioned. However, a British World Champion SHOULD be mentioned in a round up of 'other British World Champions' which is something they always used to do.

I actually think you underate Jacob he was coming off a nasty injury and all in all his figures were not that bad.He actually impressed me at the Abbey he was quick and forceful.I see him averaging 7.80/8 this year.

No he wasn't. Not in the year Stevebrum was quoting.

Yes. It was Boxall and Armstrong and they were knocking in scores of 10 and 11 every meeting and making it a mockery. In saying that I believe that is the rule in Poland, and Zmarzlik was one of the beneficiary a few of years ago.

Instead of attention seeking it would be a good thing if you got yourself informed on what the petition is for. It is not for a debate. You can go on the Thurrock council website and keep up with the news if you are genuinely interested instead of putting stupid post on here, so toddle off.

So... Definite play-off teams Somerset - Best looking team in the league, will be hard to beat IMO Sheffield - Strong again, won't be touched at home and will compete for top-spot Play-off contenders Glasgow - Obviously strong, but look weak-ish at the bottom end Redcar - Love our top three and we will get some points on the road, and Stewart Bacon and Smith are very exciting prospects Leicester - They could be the dark horses for me, look a good team Workington - Always strong at home, and can't be written off - but hard to see a repeat of the title Missing out Eastbourne - If Lawson and Kennett are confirmed, they will be hard to beat at home Edinburgh - Not too impressed, they might struggle early on, but like always with a good promotion they will make changes Scunthorpe - Not a bad team, but not sure strength is there to challenge play-offs - List in top-five is a bit of an ask Bottom dwellers Berwick - Might push higher but still not too strong and don't see how they can challenge the better teams Newcastle - Poor team, unless last signing is Nicki Pederson - although I can see them making early changes which could make big difference Birmingham - Built to a budget, can see it being a bit of a struggle first season back

Jake was fiercely critical of the track last year and became unpopular with the track staff. Whilst his popularity grew with the fans, it decreased considerably with the management.

The problem is that the BBC are (and it might be argued, have to be) politically correct. That means if by far and away the 5 greatest sporting achievements were made by white males one of them at least would be dropped to accommodate a female and someone from an ethnic minority. It also means that the awards will never have the credibility that they should, even if the allegations of vote rigging are untrue. The sadness of that is it damages the achievements of female and black sportsmen, because they don't know if they are there because of what they achieved or because they are female and black. While you might - and I think you have a point - object to netball, I would say that skeleton racing is far more of a minority sport in terms of UK participants and spectators. I nevertheless suspect that there would be few who would deny Lizzy Yarnold her nomination as Britain's greatest ever winter Olympian. For me, and in terms of achievement, I would say that hers has been the biggest of all. You'd think, though, that others who were the greatest ever Briton in their field - even if that is a minority sport - might at least have been mentioned. Humph is spot on, though. Just don't watch it.

I would, it’s not a good way to treat Supporters

Thanks. Sounds great for a Lynn fan . No being serious, you must be well pleased with how you team is looking.

Yes,but must be very young at heart after such a long absence.

For Newcastle with any luck

Sheffield Somerset edinburgh Workington I think that my team Redcar will have a long tail unless Jordan Stewart ups his game by 100 %

So you've looked at Peterboroughs line up and Wolves possibly 7 , and you still think Aces look stronger ?

Wouldn't he be minimum 4.00? Thought all of these new rules were to support the Brits? I mean fair enough, I like Paco and Fernando, but at least Ben's British, and you can't exactly call me racist or whatever because I'm not even British myself, just seems a bit pointless trying to set all of these rules to help young Brits, and then getting Italians and Argentinians instead... I think it should be the fast track reserve rules like what was in the EL a few years back... Just NL riders in the Championship and Championship riders in the PL, and they stay there all season no matter how their average grows and so on... And it just means Paco and Fernando would be at number 2 or something instead

Sad to read of the recent death of Pawel Waloszek at the age of 80. He so nearly could have become World Champion when finishing second to Ivan Mauger in 1970. Ivan has often been quoted as saying that it was the hardest title he gained when the Poles were almost unbeatable riding their own tracks. I saw Pawel ride at Cowley in 1973 when he obviouly was at the veteran stage of his career (although he rode on until 1985) May he RIP.

Ostergaard, Newman and Morris as heatleaders are well behind Palm Toft, Wright and Barker at the fancied Redcar, but Wajtknecht, Shanes, Thomsen and Castagna should individually beat their counterparts, Bacon, Stewart, Greaves and Smith, unless Stewart has a breakthrough season. There is hope of better than bottom for Brum.

Doesnt matter who owns it or what work has been done it wil be forever Compost Corner to some of us

Yes, Tim could upset everyone at any time. He needed exclusive control and virtually ran a one man show. In saying that, you have to admire the total commitment and his forward planning like buying up the Somerton Park seats and storing them for years, knowing he was planning to build a stadium/track one day. I believe he had been Phil Crumps mechanic, which presumably would explain the unique relationship he had with Neil Street, who always made a point to speak to me on my visit with the Diamonds even though I usually only saw him once a year. Lovely man. As adonis has said, the track could be very problematic even for big meetings like the Premier Pairs/Welsh Open. It always had a double hollow going into the third bend, one was bad enough but a second hollow was always there as riders jumping out of the first hollow landed and created the second hole. The track material was very unique, sometime being like oatmeal in colour and packed hard, but soft only inches below the surface. I remember James Birkenshaw once tyre warming on the home straight and he dropped into a hole having gone through the top crust. Of course Tim was furious at it, and he made sure it never happened again. I personally had a lot of respect for him, talking with him for hours at the stadium, and him sharing his thoughts on setting up our original Gems team in 2002. On his advice we combined the Diamonds and Gems meetings and added a £1 on the entrance with good results. His team and the our Gems were about the only teams to stay with the original concept of why we had the Conference League, and that showed in the league positions we were in by giving new youngsters their first rides and persevering with them. We never tried to take on the moneybags teams like Mildenhall by hoovering up the top junior riders for the promoters personal glory. Tim will be remember by many for both good and bad reasons.

Sometimes I think people watch Sports Personality of the Year to check that speedway isn't mentioned, just so that they can have a moan about it after.

I did wonder how you could see so far ahead - then I realised you must have 2020 vision I'll get my coat