4thbender

Eureka!

Well folks, it's New Year's Day and time to wish all members of the dirt track family everywhere a happy, safe and prosperous 2020. Here's looking forward to a new year (and a new decade) of shale-shifting and hoping for another season of exciting, close-fought, injury-free speedway for all riders, fans and officials. As we look back at the past ten years I thought it might be a good idea to nominate the stand-out riders who have represented your team in the years 2010 - 2019 and identify the Championship "Team of the Decade." The aim of the game is to nominate seven riders who have represented your team for at least one full season in the past decade (minimum 15 matches, so no guests!) and list their season average (including bonus points), then tot up the averages to arrive at a team total. The team with the biggest total wins the Speedway Forum Team of the Decade accolade. Here's my entry on behalf of Sheffield, whose Team Total is 64.84. Can anyone beat that? (NO CHEATING!) Rider Year Avg. matches Simon Stead 2014 9.90 29 Josh Grajczonek 2017 9.77 28 Shane Parker 2011 9.25 38 Jason Garrity 2016 9.22 18 Kyle Howarth 2016 9.00 32 Ricky Ashworth 2011 8.88 32 Danny King 2019 8.82 26 Team Total 64.84

Josh McDonald is a good signing. I'm sure if Sheffield had not been going up he'd have been one of the first on our teamsheet. Glad that the lad's got fixed up. Kennedy would be a hot tip for Poole's no.7 .

This thread is all about the debate concerning Sheffield's No. 7 Todd Kurtz. I am confused as to why someone would interrupt the debate by comparing Wolverhampton's Nick Morris with Belle Vue's Brady Kurtz. Is this a complete irrelevance to this thread or am I missing something?

It's Kurtz. The deals done, terms agreed, contracts signed, job done.

That's a point well made. When Dimitri rode as no.2 to Stead he had the habit of beating him quite consistently at Sheffield, making Stead the one claiming the bonus point (and not many riders can claim to have achieved that feat!)

Me too. I think they cherry-picked the wrong one there.

Not a fan of holder: has a habit of going missing at crucial times.

JB gone to Somerset.

Don't believe everything you read on this forum. It's a hoax. Some people just get a kick out of deceiving other people.

Would it be impertinent of me to suggest that future contributions on this topic should be made on the "Sheffield 2020" thread on the SGB Premiership Speedway League forum?

I am quite unashamedly a fan of TK. He's one of those quiet blokes who's happy to play second fiddle to the top stars but who goes quietly about his business. He's scored more bonus points for Sheffield than any other rider for many years and has fewer 4th places than any of the other second-strings Sheffield have tried. Heat leaders are expected to win races (and he's not one of those) but he has the happy knack of turning the heat leaders' heat wins into 5-1s or 4-2s as opposed to 3-3s, which is really the key to winning matches. It is worth noting that Sheffield's sudden improvement in the last third of the 2019 season only happened after they brought TK back in. If he finds himself in the same team as his younger brother, who knows, it may unleash previously untapped potential. I for one would welcome him back into the Tigers' lair next season.

There was a report put forward about this time last year called the Pathfinder Report. No-one seems to know who put it together but it has the ring of authority about it, although as far as I can see none of it was acted on. It's worth a read for those who missed it. It can be viewed at: http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/87061-pathfinder-report-and-recommendations-2018/ The recommendations it makes for team and match structuring appear to have some logic. it suggests that teams will sign five riders in the main body of the team and in addition sign a “reserve team” of three riders, consisting of riders "borrowed" from the NL. Matches will then be contested over 13 heats, but will be preceded by a match of three heats contested between the two teams’ reserve riders, with each of the three reserve riders having two races. Presumably the points scored over these three heats will not count towards the match scores. Having viewed their respective three reserve riders in action, team managers will then nominate two of the reserves to fill the no. 6 and 7 places in the main team. Over the subsequent 13 heats the five riders in the main body of the team will have four scheduled rides and the two reserves will have two scheduled rides each (but may be nominated for additional reserve rides). Riders in Heat 13 will be nominated by team managers (in much the same way as heat 15 currently). If this scheme were adopted it might even be possible to have a league table of "B" teams. Just a thought.

Quite simple really: the dramatic uplift in his points average meant that almost as soon as the season started he went into the main body of the team, riding mainly at no. 2. In this position he was clearly out of his depth, picking up far too many fourth places and wrecking his confidence. Had the lad stayed at reserve I would predict he would have come much closer to maintaining his ridiculously overblown 4+ average. A classic case of a talented young rider being the victim of his own success. Nevertheless the promotion stuck with him and I don't think they can be accused of not giving the youngster a fair crack of the whip. Only when the position became dire and the team were struggling for a couple of match wins at the end of the season in the vain hope of reaching the top four did they dispense with his services. Even then I'm led to believe the parting was on the very best of terms.

Don't think he was treated badly. His career will have benefited greatly from the input of Steady and the promoters stuck with him long after his average made him a points liability. He was simply a victim of the average points rules which surround speedway.

Klindt failed to impress when he had a few end-of-season matches at Owlerton a while ago.

Agree wholeheartedly that the continuation of the Bates management consortium is the best news for Sheffield. One question though: is there any guarantee that Thursday nights won't revert to a CL fixture night (as it used to be prior to 2019)?

Promoters have GOT to do something about the lack of fixtures. Either a singe combined Premiership/Championship league or a two-home / two-away format to give us some weekly action has to be top of the AGM agenda. Whatever the sport's woes, rationing is not the answer. Mid-October is traditionally the time when the speedway season winds down, but it already seems like an age since we had our last meeting at Owlerton.

Three "no's" from me. Sheffield looked good on paper but performed like numpties away from home. The season was ruined by Sunday afternoon racing - an experiment that I trust won't be repeated (who would ever have thought that the time of the meeting would affect the track?... but it DID!) Speedway will never recover the attraction it had in the 60's and 70's glory years and sometimes I wonder why I still bother. Another season like the last one might be the last straw for me.

Hands off Howarth.

Well, someone's got to start the new thread so it might as well be me! I think the most important and fundamental issue for Sheffield in 2020 is ownership. I get the impression from Steady's comments in today's rag that a change of heart on behalf of the owners is not out of the question. He says “Personally I’d like the current promotion to carry on. I think they’ve done a great job over the past few years and we all have common goals. There’s still so much to achieve with the Tigers." I would personally fully endorse this view and maybe if enough fans follow suit it might just be enough to encourage the present owners to take down the "for sale" sign and give it another go. We might from time to time criticise certain team decisions on this and other forums, but I still believe that the Bates' ownership is best placed to make those decisions (even if they do get it wrong occasionally!) I hope they change their mind, but what do others think?

I note that following the sale of Stoke Speedway Stadium and the end of an era at Loomer Road, the Stoke management have announced that Stoke will be relocating its 2020 fixtures to Sheffield as part of an overall planned 11 date season. Assuming Sheffield runs again in 2020 in either PL or CL, this might mean we actually see MORE speedway at Owlerton rather than the year-on-year reduction of meetings we've become accustomed to. Not sure how I feel about having two teams to support but I guess it does mean that we'll see a return to Thursday night racing in one league or another.

Last night showed the folly of afternoon racing - no problems with track drying out and far better racing as a result. Sheffield had the meeting sewn up after heat 4 and should have killed it off, but poor gating and silly mistakes let the visitors back in. Despite finishing the meeting with only three effective riders (only two of whom made any decent contribution after heat 6), Newcastle were gifted a league point. I bet they can't believe their luck.

The second - after Kyle.

Todd Kurtz is in the local press today saying he wants to be back in Sheffield's colours next season. I hope the management take note and don't make the same mistake of signing a load of untested riders - a strategy which has given Sheffield a very long tail this season.