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I'd have Ulrich over the likes of Barker, Lasse & Garrity every day of the week. He turns up every match and busts a gut every time.

Honestly Jesus man... hes not started yet give the bloke a chance FFS!!!! Regards THJ

Yep good luck Jason nice to see Rob acted quickly to appoint a new manager at a time when he must have an awful lot on his plate... New owner new team new manager new web site new catering new roof on the office and a new floor too new track fence going in along with new drainage and some new track staff to boot... it's all taking shape... isn't It? No need for the doom and gloom "things can (and are) getting better" are they not? I'm sure there will be a million things on Rob's to do list and I hope he doesn't over stretch himself... sometimes New promoters want to change to much to quickly and they can miss some of the smaller more important points... All we need to do as fans is turn out in force to back the guy and show him that he made the right choice taking the Diamonds on... let's hope he can make a few Bob and build on what he inherited... which wasn't much to be fair to him... So again good luck to all the promotion here's hoping it works from day one... Regards THJ

I'm not holding my breath there. I'm still pretty stunned at the pulling of the petition off the back of one conversation with zero details whatsoever made public. After all that fuss aswell. Sadly sums up things over the years in speedway - those on the inside are quite happy to clam up when pushed for details from the paying public.

Welcome back Jason Crump. Always thought he retired too early and still plenty in the tank! Great signing for Ipswich and for British speedway in general

You knew that anyway - As I put on the same day as you posted the link "If they were going to look at it again then they wouldn't have issued an official statement that made the situation worse." - And you said " simply urging the Promotion to look at the situation again from the perspective of a Blue-Badge holder" - which they clearly haven't done at any point but you've gone from up in arms, to a petition, nearly page long solution that you offered to administer and then one chat where you're told "that's the way it is mate" and you say, OH OK ! Reminds me of Boris accusing Corbyn of being captured, jugulated, reprogrammed by his friends and turned into a Remainer! (we can use promoter for our purposes).

Yes, he's not liked and if you've spent any time with him , know his previous and listened to his ' surmons ' you can understand why. Lets hope he talks less and let's the results speak for him.

Hans and Ulrich riding together at 6 & 7 wow what a crazy pair to have at reserve, would scare the crap out of any other reserves on track

The current setting following one apparent discussion is tighter than a camel's arse in a sandstorm. There are times to say and do nothing and this was one because "not going to change" is a pretty pathetic stance, without better explanation, from someone who felt the need to start the thread and petition in the first place.

Why does this always happen at a time when it will be so difficult to get a replacement. Tungate ?

Sad for BWD but he is becoming a bit of a liability with his injury record which is a shame for a talented rider. This could make Panthers stronger. With British reductions. Iversen MPT Andersen Harris Tungate Nicholls R. Worrall

Nah. Nicholls for BWD, almost identical averages.

What about give it a chance before it's pulled to bits straight away. You Geordies are an impatient lot

its Barclays now.....

I agree

My theory, having listened to what he has said (previously) and what I have read a few times over the winter, is that the logistics of riding in the British, Swedish, Polish and Danish leagues coupled with the GP’s meant it took a bit of sorting out.

He didn't exactly pull up many trees the last time he rode for us in the Championship.

A lot has been said on this subject already by myself included ,above all it is great that he wants to race will have the best kit money can buy so lets just saviour the prospect we have lost one w/champ from the sport and another is returning . If he can stay clear of injury and not get tangled up chasing points or go to war with Doyle or Niki Ped he should be able to hold his own if not sparkle from time to time as the rider of old .

Even if the track has changed drastically, which mostly they won't have, he can set up a bike to be spot on after one race while less experienced riders will be chasing the set up all night.

I think Tofty will probably get the no.2 race jacket. That's a good looking side, and I think Buster for all his faults ( I know about the BB farce) has put together a strong team for 2020. That isn't a making up the numbers side. It's a strong side all the way through, including strong reserves.( with around 4.80 for the no.7 spot). If they all stay fit you have yourself a play off side imho.

Very difficult to make predictions before we’ve seen a few meetings - I do however think the league like it’s going to be very close this year, no one looks like they’re going to run away with it and similarly no one looks like they’re going to be tailed off either. Home form will be paramount for everyone

I’m not even gonna bother having a bash to be honest. Swindon look a touch better than the rest, but apart from them the rest could literally be in any order.

I think he'll do pretty well and you have to add on the points his team mates will gain by learning from him. I would think on top of the points he scores you can expect another 5 a meeting (especially away) from helping his team with set ups and coaching.

I’d be trying to get josh Pickering if I was pboro management with 4.8 left

He’s always loved Foxhall, after a month or so I can see him scoring well at home. Nobody can be expecting him to hit the ground running so we’re going to need to be patient and not make knee jerk conclusions after a few meetings. He’s going to have to show something in the early meetings mind you to show that there is something still there. I remain on the fence and it’s just a wait and see situation. Nobody can confidently predict what’s going to happen which makes this the most intriguing signing of the winter. We also have to remember this isn’t a half decent heatleader who was a 7-8 pointer who is making a comeback, it’s a rider who last posted an average over 11 in a much tougher league. I don’t think an average of between 7-8 is unrealistic. We started with Harris on an inflated average last year who dropped over a point and half and we still made the play offs so even if his average drops as most are predicting, it doesn’t mean the end of our chances.

Haha Actually not quite true... the riders asked me to take the job on full time and said I could take over from Jacko anytime I wanted... however they may have been pulling my leg... Furthermore I got a good hydraulicing off Jacko for spoiling them... the riders that is.... but I've never had a problem with man management or motivational speaking though to be fair... However what I will say is it's harder than you think it would be... and definitelty harder than it looks... it was pretty stressful that's for sure and any manager of a speedway team gets my respect... It might only be 15 one minute races but there is always something going on in between times... and that's on top of the riders moaning their puddings off... Regards THJ

His longevity was remarkable, and a tribute to his fitness. His winning of four World Titles has to earn respect but he lost a great deal of respect from me when he kept failing to ride in major events in Britain, coming up with the excuse of "Giving kids a chance". I suspect the real reason was a good deal less positive. To me he snubbed his British fans on more than one occasion, but then when did the fans count? His antics at Melbourne didn't impress either. It rather echoed the appalling mistake made by Bruce Penhall at White City. It's sad that there is no American representation in the SGP for the first time. A great flow of talent has come to an end....for now. I do hope that Nicol or Becker can meet the challenge to replace him in due time. Over the years the Americans have given us a lot of fun, even if some of it was rather worrying ;-) Not in Greg's case. I did work with a few and those smiles weren't all that real in several cases in the 80s. I never got to know Greg so can't comment on him. The illness to his wife will have changed all priorities. I wish him a good retirement with the woman he loves at his side. Speedway is important but not THAT important.

No thanks

Exactly, surely more reason to p the promotion off even more by causing aggro with the petition etc if he's banned already.

Ully scares the crap out his teammates . So nothing new there

How many actual hours of noise is there over a 12 month period, not a lot.

Welcome Jason Pipe Your new Diamonds manager. http://newcastle-speedway.co.uk/diamonds-source-a-new-manager-for-2020-welcome-jason-pipe/?fbclid=IwAR25X7cMEl5UIQyIPtkUNDzzM7-8TLbx66omO_WZw1pgpcBE18NkE_t3W0M

We've put up with the latest result being from 2018, until now

It isn't unusual or disrespectful of modern day supporters that they only remember riders from the past (especially pre-war riders) as names. At Birmingham, we have tried to keep the name of the Brummies best ever rider, Graham Warren alive by presenting an annual "Graham Warren Trophy" to the Birmingham rider we feel has made the biggest impact on the season, but in every year since 2007 when the trophy was launched, the winner has never heard of Graham Warren! We aren't offended by this - it's just natural. Time marches on, and memories fade! Clearly Tom Farndon was an exceptional rider and deserves to be remembered - but as he died four years before I was born, and 17 years before I started following speedway, I know little more than his name and what I have read about him.

I'm not really sure what the point of this discussion is. I go to Ipswich on a reasonably regular basis and as yet have heard no discussion about Frank Arthur, Vic Huxley, Bluey Wilkinson, Vic Duggan, Jack Young or even Cyril Roger. Does that in some way mean they were not great riders or worth remembering?

It’s scheduled to be the final of the Polish pairs(MPPK) in Gdansk. Full details nearer the date.

Sods law! I did a preview for the Star this week too!

The penny drops. But I think most of us that are regulaars will attend both levels. I certainly will

Link to the newe website: http://newcastle-speedway.co.uk/

Haha and Bech said he was coming over too!

He has agreed to ride in the Peter Craven Memorial meeting...can’t wait to see him ride again

I thought the club was looking to bring in a new, young, never been seen in the UK before, asset to ride at no 7?

Get wolves to take Scott Nicholls and Peterborough have Ryan Douglas

It looks like maybe you jumped the gun then started a thread with an accusation without first trying to ascertain the facts? I don’t have any answers to your questions but how many is the “plenty of riders”? Is it more than the 28 team places available? Then I could see some would be anxious. If it’s less than 28, then I’d have thought they’d all be excited at the possibility of being part of a top league set up? Because of the enthusiasm of supporters and other hard working individuals, we have moved from a time when there were very few young British riders coming through to a vibrant scene. You just need to look at how many young riders attended the GB Team training camp at the weekend and how many are at the Young Lions course in the Isle of Wight this week. Individuals have stepped in to make this development happen and the often maligned Neil Vatcher deserves great credit for what he’s done, as do those involved with the NJL and, after it was tidied up 3 or 4 years ago by the SCB, the MDL and the newly re-formed SDL. Now we get to 2020 and, at long last, the powers that be in the BSPA rather than individual promoters have picked this up and hopefully will move things even further along.

Firstly the above was prior to todays fanfare. Second why did there have to destroy one league and create another? Surely all these teams could have just entered the existing setup? The opportunities are at best equal to what was exisiting. Why any NL or CL would want to enter the premiership junior league sounds unlikely. There are plenty of riders who have spent thousands preparing for a season, licences purchased and now potentially face an anxious few weeks/months to discover if they will be competing this season.

Despite not being a GP rider Nicki had the 12th highest average in the Polish top flight last year. He is still one of the best riders in the world.

Iversen is still in discussions his main stumbling block is working out the opening and closing times of Tesco at Hampton so he can do his food shopping before meetings.

Can't compare George with havvy tho.. let's just say havvy done the ground work & kept it going & the new promotion are reapin the benefits

One of the best to ever throw his leg over a Speedway bike. Anyone who thinks otherwise is deluded. Was intrigued to see if Greg could have mixed it still this season but it wasn’t to be, some things are more important, family being one of them. Hope he has a happy retirement.

I find both these posts slightly odd to say the least. I would be the first to admit the Greg Hancock isn't my favourite rider but anyone who is a multi World Champ, has had the longevity that he has and has ridden at the highest class be it SGP or any league throughout his career must be regarded as one of the best ever and a legend of our sport.