Al Stewart

I've just read on the updates that this poster has been publicly criticised by the Sheffield announcer. That is scandalous, this seems to me a perfectly fair assessment and not an unduly negative one, from someone who sounds like a genuine fan.

Surely it will just be Swedish league racing?

They are trying to avoid teams putting out 2 low-earning riders to save money, but they tie themselves in knots trying to find a suitable rule. Tonight the two reserves did well for Plymouth, but of course they have had some easier races than Gathercole. The rule should be something like: "The referee must be satisfied that the teams are fielding strong pairings in heat 15."

Once again the appalling heat 15 rule has the exact opposite effect to what's intended. It is meant to ensure that teams field their strongest pair and here it has prevented Plymouth from doing that.

I can understand why you would say this but of course speedway is also about earning a living which he is doing very well at the moment. I doubt Craig would agree it is a stroll in the PL, he still has to work very hard to reach the standard he is showing. I'd say he could add Sweden next year without disrupting his UK double up role and then everyone would be happy, except teams in the PL who might like to see the back of him. Woffinden isn't doing them all this year. It will be up to him. Meanwhile it is a joy to watch him home and away.

Three appearances in 2009, none since. First time crashed in his second ride, injured - 1 point Second time 8 points Third time 11 points That was at age 17. Not especially bad really.

I'm not sure who would be on a list of decent riders who never look comfortable at Armadale. The point is that decent riders DO get round Armadale, it's the duffers who don't. And that includes a few of Edinburgh's own tail enders over the years.

That's not exactly it. The 8-day rule doesn't apply to no. 1's at home. But also, the 8-day rule only applies to 2 guest bookings within the period, appearances with your own team don't count. That's a change this season, and a welcome one.

I doubt it.

There's a lot of doom and gloom in the Leicester camp but as an Edinburgh visitor I think the Lions fans should look at their blessings. I enjoyed the trip and I always find the fans, presenters and announcer there very fair. They support their riders but give the visitors a fair crack of the whip as well. The Leicester team isn't perfect I agree. Both Kauko and Magnus unfortunately seem to be at the same stage, and that isn't heading upwards. You could have one experienced man like that but not two. I'm not sure what precisely the track changes have been but it isn't far from being a good racetrack. There seems to be more banking now and it looked as though riders might be able to make that work on a drier surface. As for the stadium, most clubs could only dream of having a facility like that.

This of course should not be a political forum, but for sure the area of society who most strongly believe that there are too many immigrants taking jobs is the UK 'working class'.

The point is though, that Campton already had a proven good record in Australia, and went on to do well in the UK. The work permit was fully justified. O'Malley had no record at all, there was no evidence he had ever ridden in an organised meeting, and yet after much fuss he was granted a work permit. Not surprisingly, this proved to be a mistake. Therefore the obvious conclusion is that the bar has to be raised a little bit. That's all that has happened. It is very hard to set precise criteria, though that would be desirable, because there are not many meetings held down under to go on. I'm very pro-Aussie, always have been, but the situation is that there have to be some rules.

That's absolutely ridiculous. We needed a 3-pointer at no. 7 and gave it to a local boy. There was no-one available who could get a point. You can't seriously call that a weakened team. Against the usual Workington side there would not have been a problem. With Summers coming in at the last minute, it could have been tougher.

But it's obvious that the Playoffs are a higher standard than the PCT, and the latter stages of the KO Cup are a higher standard than the first round. That's why they are not included, they would have a potentially depressing effect on the averages of the riders competing. A north / south split as in the LC is different, in theory the standards should be roughly equal.

Gathercole was the 16th rider Monarchs asked. Bach would have been the first and he turned up with Tully in the pits, but Edinburgh had been told he was out of the country. In fact Corey did fine after a bad heat 1. He was pipped in his second race and should have been selected for heat 15. Tabaka's fall in heat 2 was crucial, he could hardly hang on after that. Edinburgh would have been looking for 20+ from their numbers 1 and 6 but only got 7. Wethers and Tully were good but the Ipswich fans who post on here are only interested in their own riders. The tie is far from over.

I think the key man in the meeting is actually Tabaka. Scunthorpe have had terrible luck and to be without Howe, Auty, Morris and Jorgensen is just about unprecedented. However they have reasonable replacements and good reserves to cover. It all depends on Tabaka, who crashed at Ipswich and hurt his hand again. He's says he is riding and he scored a maximum in his last home meeting, but if he proves not to be up to it then Palm Toft and Irving will run riot. A final between full strength Newcastle and Scunthorpe teams, the best two over the season, would be a cracker. It's a pity it won't happen.

It's Aaron Summers. At Ipswich, Corey Gathercole (who did fine) was the 16th rider asked.

He thought he HADN'T broken his wrist on 17/8. Let's hope he's wrong again. Full marks to Scunny though, much the better team.

Let me know who to contact

You shouldn't be too harsh, the point is to let everyone know asap, but most importantly stop visiting riders and fans travelling. George let Edinburgh know early enough, which is very much appreciated. I was on a bus into town, Matthew Wethers had driven up his driveway but no further, etc. Of course once we've been told it spreads like wildfire.

He's never ridden Armadale. Unfortunately Garrity now confirmed as not riding.

But it would have been far better without the stupid jokers. All teams might have used them but don't forget Poland got an additional Gollob ride out of theirs as well. They were only so far behind because they had gate 1 early on. Without the jokers it might then have come down to the final race deciding the World Cup, and we would not have had eg Davey Watt choosing to drop to the back to get his team 6 down. It's not cheating, it the consequences of pathetic rules. I can't think of anything so poor in any other sport. Speedway's rulemakers have so little faith in the innate excitement of their own sport that they create cynical rules which virtually guarantee a close contest, but not a fair one. The racing was great but it's hard to enjoy it when the rules are so dreadful.

Once again speedway's pitiful rules get in the way of fairness and enjoyment of the event. How can anyone justify the home team being allowed to bring in the world champion on double points to replace a duffer, just because they have done badly so far? Pathetic, again.

Bad luck if you went.

I don't think so. All you have to do with a joker is get 3 extra points. You can't do any better than that, there's no point in delaying on the off-chance you might get another shot at it. Handed an obvious free gift chance with Holder the first time, he didn't do it. He is totally clueless.