CardinalSin

But carried on winning home and away, so the point still stands.

Agree Baldy excellent top two and would make us strong in the latter heats. I say the same at this time every year, I'd also like to see a completely new face, preferably someone young, talented and new to British speedway. Just like Gino this year.

King should be first name on the team sheet for me. If he is interested in another season in the PL, then he should be made a priority IMO. With the very good relationship that King has with the Ipswich promotion, then it is a realistic option. Edinburgh have blown away the theory this season that you win nothing with poor reserves. You can usually carry one poor reserve, but not normally two but Edinburgh have pretty much done that all season long. Just goes to show that getting a good strong 1-5 is more important than having strong reserve(s) as let's be honest, Edinburgh have dominated the league this year.

Speaking of weather, an awful lot of rainfall is expected over the next few days and the forecast for the week isn't great. This time of year, the track has little chance of drying out so could well be heavy going Thursday.

We lost by 20 at Edinburgh with Tungate, Hawkins and Ellis scoring only 5 points between the three of them!! We drew the home PL meeting 45-45 so we're clearly up against it.

So what's the situation as I've got to be honest It's lost me a bit, Do Somerset need all 3 points or will 2 be enough?

Wasn't that name outed as the German lad Michael Hartel?

Agree and to be honest, I want us to try and win a few things especially the title, at PL level before attempting a return. We've been consistently good since dropping to the PL, but have just fell short each time.

You're right about the "quirk" of speedway and it does seem perverse that rider who has done well suddenly becomes difficult to employ the following year. Steve Worrall is a prime example. The lad has been absolutely brilliant this year, but I'm afraid now looks a real hot potato who is best avoided next season because of that. Tungate's problem could well be Danny King. King looks to be available next season on an average of 8.88, you'd be pretty daft not to try and get his signature if he could be afforded. You're not going to go for two 8+ pointers and I've a suspicion we could well be very interested in King's services..

If that's the case, then we need to resist that pressure and stay put. I made no secret of my disappointment at the drop to the PL at the time, and have maintained my desire to see us return, even with the obvious problems in the EL. But if we won't have the finance to at least be competitive let alone successful, then it would be an absolute disaster. I still remember vividly the crowd levels towards the end of our last EL season where we were rooted to the bottom. Any repeat of that would more than likely see us dead and buried as a speedway club.

Im with Catch22 here I wouldn't touch him either on that average it looks pretty expensive to me. I wouldn't be happy going in to next season with Tungate our Number 1 and main man. Having watched him regularly now for 3 years he isn't a rider to lead a team or trust to pull you through meetings when the going gets tough. I was another who was totally hacked off with his comments earlier this season about lacking motivation and basically not trying in some away meetings. When you consider someone like Danny King is available for half a point more, it shows even more there are better options out there to lead the team. Just my opinion.

We finished 3rd in the PL table, currently two places and 10 points ahead of Scunthorpe over a league season. If we're a "poor team", it doesn't say an awful lot for Scunthorpe and the 9 others who finished below us this season does it? You seem a tad bitter towards Ipswich recently for some reason..

More than a decent replacement as the lad is flying at the moment. Good choice.

Manzares will be key here. He's figured prominently in the hidings given to Somerset this season, and has been a very heavy Foxhall scorer all season long. But he's had a mare last couple of meetings with a blown engine and other mechanical problems.

We'll need a lot more from the likes of Heeps and Tungate than we got last night at Plymouth if we are to do it that's for sure. Maybe it wasn't as easy to be motivated last night as the tie was pretty much a dead rubber, but we know Tungate has previous where effort and motivation are concerned! Heeps I'm finding really frustrating this year. The talent is there we've all seen it, and we saw it again on Thursday with some awesome racing from him. But just like he has so often this season, when you think he's finally back on song he quickly follows it up with a crap performance! Frustrating.

Not the best meeting I've seen this season, but what a fantastic heat 14! Worth the admission alone that heat, awesome riding from Heeps. Edit: Not sure what has happened here, but you may need a magnifying glass to read this

Think there will be a decent crowd actually for the KOC final no matter how cold it is. It's a final and we've been starved of success in recent years so I'd hope a cup final would be fairly well supported. Even more so if it's a second leg at Foxhall and the tie is finely balanced. Edit: Sorry Plymouth fans, a little disrespectful to be talking about a final when there is still a second leg of a semi final to complete.

I haven't been for months, but I'm definitely coming to this one. Scunny have a good looking side, strength in depth and no real weak links as far as I can see. Howe in particular, and Klindt go very well at Foxhall so could be a good close meeting.

I agree Risager has looked a little jaded in recent weeks.

We definitely need Manzares fit and healthy for this one. The boy is a heavy hitter at Foxhall and we'll need him.

It's possible of course, and if any of us other than Edinburgh win it we'll take it! But if Edinburgh survive an injury crisis, they should and probably will win it. And if they do, it will have a feeling of justice about it.

Edinburgh have been dominant at home, and every time I've had a peek at their away meetings they seem to have picked up the full 4 points more often than not! Edinburgh have been comfortably the best team in the league this year, and deserve to be champions IMO.

That's a fair point to be honest. They probably should have chosen their words a little more carefully as they clearly weren't 100% sure what was going to happen.

Deary me the childish petty name calling in this thread is quite frankly, embarrassing. Some people seriously need to grow up. A huge well done to everybody at Belle Vue whose patience and determination looks like paying dividends. Especially pleased for the supporters who have gone through some tough barren years so it's great that they finally have something to get genuinely excited about. Great club Belle Vue, great news.

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