Cue Ball

It was expected to be honest, so we've had plenty of time to get used to the idea

Sheffield should be congratulated for being sportsmen enough to let Edinburgh win so as to allow their winning streak to continue

I think to be realistic and fair to the riders, the promotion (if they are even thinking about making changes) will wait until after the next 2 home matches. We stand a very good chance of getting kicked out of both competitions anyway andit will give the riders a run of 4 consecutive home meetings, if they aren't up to speed after that, then there is a fair chance they never will be. For what it is worth, I (like the vast majority of supporters) rarely get the opportunity to go to away meetings, on that basis there would be no complaints from me if Mr Hall were to make a return to the team. You're probably never going to win the league with him in the team because you need all round consistency to do that, but around Owlerton he is great to watch and is normally good for double figures - and that it what I am interested in first and foremost at this moment in time, lets worry about topping the league when we have got our home form sorted.

Go on then I'll bite... Why are the Sheffield promotion clueless?

I would imagine that they kept it quiet in order to boost both fan and media interest - the speedway star comes out on a Thursday and Sheffield have always traditionally timed their press releases to coincide with that, our race night and the no doubt corresponding piece that will be in the Sheffield Star.

Bates becomes a club asset, as suspected, no new signing being made

Wouldn't the team have to have been declared by now if it was a new rider?

Would imagine that it is somebody becoming an asset as opposed to a new signing personally. These big announcements so often end up being a damp squib

Who is Ryan McDonald please?

Theo wasn't that bad to be fair. Anders on the other hand was bloody fantastic for his first few rides, tailed off a bit towards the end, but was still useful. Think Sheffield may have struggled against better opposition, hopefully 2 or 3 meetings on the spin will help things improve and let the riders get properly dialled in.

I made the same mistake on the other thread.... Welcome to my world!!!

Get over it. He did something in the heat of the moment and being punished accordingly. He'd not done anything like it before and will probably never do it again. The story has ended, move on.

No offence to Lambert, but why on earth would you swap Mills for him? When was the last time Simon made it through a season riding for the same team for the whole year?

Right on cue ball I think you'll find

Yes - I've just left work and got bloody soaked on the way to my car

For those wanting a weather update, think of Marti Pellow's band...

D'oh!! Just went on the BSPA site and realised my mistake, too many competitions!!

Sheffield are due to get knocked out by Berwick on Thursday night (weather permitting and following a valiant effort), Berwick will then no doubt set up a meeting in the distant future with Edinburgh with the vague hope that the Monarchs will suffer from a catalogue of (non-serious) injuries, thus forcing them to field a weakened side that will only hammer them in one leg rather than 2...

Oh dear. That did not go according to plan. Didn't think that Ty would shine, but hoped for better than 4.

Looking forward to this one - Scunny matches are always competitive affairs and doubt this will be any different. Proctor's scores have been getting back to normal in the Elite league so I have high hopes that he will hit the ground running for us, if Taylor has a decent night as well there should be no stopping us. Will be interesting to see how Nielsen goes at reserve as opposed to the main body of the team.

It ain't going to be sexy speedway tonight, but not forecast to rain again so should be on

I've seen a few mentions along the lines of `this wouldn't have happened if Hoggy was involved` - Neil Machin is still a promoter at the club. He might not own it, but he is still there in the background, surely he would have been `in the know` and able to advise.

I read somewhere that Sheffield weren't told that they couldn't use r/r for Proctor until 20 minutes prior to the meeting - would have been harsh for us not to have some form of facility given permission had apparently been given for Proctor and then not being informed that the decision was reversed. Only in speedway could a decision like that be taken one day and reversed at a point in time when the effected team could do bugger all about it

Still raining. Definitely the correct decision.

Gob smacked.