torpointfanatic22

His form last season would also be an issue!

In all honesty though look at who is available who could fit at reserve. Wilson, no thanks, Franc, no thanks to name two and of the others out there yet to be signed up I have to say none excite me in any way. Do we look at an assessed five pointer like that Castagna fellow who might do something? For me we'd be taking a bit of a gamble whether we look at a rider with PL experience who is still unsigned as the options are limited, an assessed five pointer or an untried NL rider. So given those options I'd happily take Holder and say Ben Morley rather than say a James Wright and a five pointer. Mellgren would be interesting if not a bit pricey! That said if we do go down the three-pointer route we could in theory sign another 'number one' (not that we would). I wonder if we may just see a rabbit pulled out of the hat for one of our final two...

Well they aren't going to come out and say 'We got away with it this year so thought we'd have another go in 2015' are they!?

Simota was one I wasn't particularly keen on coming back as his average has been achieved by scoring big points at home at reserve so is basically inflated. However he is an entertainer (when the track is right) which means he's probably the only one bar Newman I would have been OK with having back. He's one that I would say you could carry if the other six were improvers because he will put a few 'bums on seats'. He must improve his away form in a big way to justify being in the team. If we sign a half decent reserve then I fancy Simota to drop back down pretty quickly. More importantly for me though are the final two. If I were the promotion I'd be on the phone to Richie Worrall as now that Jack Holder has been re-assessed to a 7-point average I fancy Worrall could be the odd one out and we can still fit him in! So I hope they hang fire on naming the final two until we see who is without a job at the OTA and I really hope no matter what happens James Wright isn't one of them!

Arguably the signing of the off season for me. Lambert could be a 9-point man by the season end.

Now that would be worth watching! How long does he have until he can get citizenship? Could he go NL for a season?

Did you not already know? Shocker!

You're quite right although he did come in on a starting average of 9.69 so dropped nearly a point. He is definitely on the decline but 7.89 as a starting average is fair. As I've said before if we finish the team with strength in depth and avoid other riders that are on the decline we will probably do just fine.

I thought that as Aussies have always been 5's but had heard rumours he was a 7.

Is Holder a 5 or a 7?

That's how you build a side full of potential improvement!

Pretty certain Simota will be in there, so him in for Kurtz takes it to 42.48 which I'd take.

This is Fisher all over. He will split people right down the middle. Some will argue he is too dangerous and a liability others will say he is entertainment personified. I tend to go with entertaining but not as consistent as I'd want my number one to be. On his average though he is a value signing but we must and I can't stress enough sign another top quality heat leader. I keep hearing noise about Risager who does ride Plymouth very well, but I'd want Richie Worrall myself as I feel he offers more potential improvement and is also a slightly lower starting average. So for me this will only be a good signing if we manage to secure good strength in depth. Worrall, Howarth & Blackbird to finish the top 5 and maybe Starke at reserve would fit and be very nice indeed (won't happen but we can dream).

Totally agree about the reserve!

The fish! He is box office no doubt on his day, but I'm sure he said he didn't like the SBA when he rode for us, he isn't consistent and probably won't get any better. A starting average in the 7's would at least mean we have plenty left to get some strength in depth.

If you're not on a wind up this doesn't sound promising.

Indeed he is! Ryan Fisher tweeted tonight that he will be back stronger in 2015, is that a coincidence?

Think he was referring to Najjer, RJ!

Rasmus isn't riding in the UK in 2015 and believe me when I tell you Kalle won't be back. Kurtz isn't worth 5.96 in my book but is at least an asset (I think). Wouldn't be against the Fish coming back but don't think we'd pay the money to get him. Lewis Blackbird would be a fantastic signing but I keep hearing his name linked with the Panthers sadly. But the way that team is built average wise would be ideal in my book.

Short version, very unlikely, sadly!

On Benko, he can't get any worse than last year so although I'd have preferred other options, I don't think he is the worst shout in the world as a 3-point reserve. On Barker, for me if we try to replace him with a like-for-like replacement and build the team in a similar vein to last year then I totally agree that we will regret letting him leave (even though I personally wanted the change). However if we take this as an opportunity to rebuild with a more all round strength in the top 6 then I don't think we'll regret it at all. This will be emphasised even more if we can have a really strong reserve to partner Benko, Wethers at 5.50 would be ideal!

Benko and Newman confirmed on Devils website as the first two names for 2015.

Devils officially announce Benko and Newman... http://www.plymouthdevils.co/2015-team-building-announcement.html

A tad too early to say that imo although I am a tad concerned we are 'waiting' to see whats left rather than competing with other teams to sign top riders. As others have said though there are still plenty of riders out there and I really hope we are looking at options that don't include the likes of Wright and Franc. Somerset announce their side on Thursday night so it will be very interesting to see who they name. The thing for me is that we've heard nothing since the AGM from the promotion, granted if there is no news then fair enough but it would be good to hear something even if it''s ruling riders out of a return!

Don't think there is anything against the guy at all. The fans in general still love Barker but in my opinion he's found his level and bringing someone into the team with an average as high as his means the bottom end could suffer. I'd take Richie Worrall over him every day of the week!