Bagpuss

Undecided about him, my main concern is how top heavy we’d be with him and Lambert. If the correct balance could be achieved with both then probably a yes.

Not sure what Lynn’s track is like makes too much difference really, it certainly didn’t last season when we finished well clear at the top of the table. The team is full of experienced riders who have been round the block and have and do ride all sorts of tracks in our leagues and others. I just think collectively the whole team has dropped a level this year, maybe they overachieved last season. If you say for the sake of argument that from last year Cook replaced Iversen, Kerr replaced Proctor and Porsing replaced Lambert then on paper it doesn’t look too much different in terms of strength but I bet every single rider has been worse this season than themselves or their equivalent from last season. It’s easy to get into a habit away from home as a speedway team, last year it was a winning one whereas this year from the opening night hiding at the Foxhole it’s been a pattern of disappointment. It needs to be rectified for 2020.

Ah, my apologies. Will teach me to skim read in future!

Their last away match was at Lynn where they won 51-39.

Spot on. After having comfortably the best away record last year we now have the worst, riders like Proctor and Jorgensen unfortunately fell off the cliff edge with their away form but they weren’t the only ones, collectively we haven’t been good enough on the road and even adding Cook did little to improve things. I would keep Lambert, MPT and Riss for definite then build round that. Wright is a great shout for second heat leader and Nicol & Pickering seem to appeal to several people to inject some freshness into the side. Maybe Jordan Stewart? Or somebody completely new to the UK, plenty of talented riders who competed in the Under 21 competitions this year.

Your first line stated that the rule book should be adhered to which I took as meaning he should ride for Eastie? But it won’t be a mathematically dead rubber whatever happens tomorrow night. The fact is that neither Eastbourne or Brum can affect the Championship Play Offs on Saturday night.

Do they? Not so sure myself. This ‘us versus them’ attitude does speedway no good at all, speedway won’t get any better until everyone pulls in the same direction. This decision is based on common sense, yes we can criticise why the situation has come to this point but now it has this decision is by far the most sensible. And it would be if Eastbourne were in a Play Off match the same night as Ipswich were racing a dead rubber meeting on a Premiership race night and Lawson rode for the Eagles.

#commonsense

I didn’t say your meeting is irrelevant, I was responding to the claim that it’s all about the Premiership. I’m saying that if your meeting was a Play Off tie and Ipswich’s was a dead rubber on a Thursday night then common sense would be for Lawson to ride for Eastbourne.

Is it not common sense for him to ride in a meaningful fixture rather than a dead rubber? And that would apply if it was the other way round, which leagues the meetings are in is irrelevant.

Going back to that era you could also include Chris Mills and Kevin Doolan.

We’ve just had two dead rubber matches at Lynn last week and I can honestly say that if Cook or Riss were needed elsewhere for a meaningful fixture I’d have accepted that completely.

I’d have thought it would be common sense to let Lawson ride for Ipswich and grant Eastbourne a facility?

I’ll be honest mate I’m struggling to remember the last decent Cardiff meeting. I didn’t miss one from 2001-2014 and the social side was always the highlight of the weekend. Certainly wouldn’t want it removed from the calendar but as a general point sone of the poor tracks do as we’ve had too many boring rounds and not enough exciting ones.

There is never a guarantee on racing but it’s much, much more likely to be good at Belle Vue than Cardiff. The World Cup final two years ago was good, it was the race off the night before which wasn’t as the track was far too grippy. As Rob B says it would be to compliment Cardiff and not replace it, but I’d like to think they learn something from each Cardiff meeting and try to make racing better the next time.

It needs a fresh pair of eyes and a completely new approach. None of very, very few of those currently promoting in the UK can deliver what is needed.

The racing is the most important thing but we are in 2019, poor facilities is one of the reasons British speedway is struggling. They don’t have to be Premier League football stadium standard but the basics shouldn’t be hard to get right ie proper and safe lighting, adequate toilets and food/drink outlets etc. However good the speedway might be you are unlikely to keep newbies coming back with poor facilities.

Best team man we’ve ever had? Wow, that’s some claim. How far back are you going with that assessment? I’ve only been going since the early eighties and I could name several better than Schlein.

This years series has felt as stale as I can remember a GP season being. They won’t because of the £’s but it needs a complete revamp and taking to the best racetracks in the world wherever they may be.

Not in the rule book? I’ve seen it happen several times in my speedway watching lifetime.

Does the ‘locking up in front an opponent’ exclusion not exist any more?

You can never say never in speedway, I’m sure if Rory was squeezed out at Wolves and Lynn made him an offer he’d be back. That said not a rider I’d be too keen to see back, would rather go with fresh faces and a new direction. Nick Morris will be back at Swindon I’m sure. As fir Buster, whatever you think of him he rescued the top division in its current format and it goes without saying that pumping money into our two local rivals will have compromised what he could spend on the Lynn team. Don't see that changing until Ipswich and P’boro are moved on to fresh owners.

I think the only way Robert wouldn’t do the UK is in the unlikely event that he got a GP wildcard pick. Won’t have the World U21 stuff next year and it seems he likes to be busy so can’t see him reducing his schedule to two leagues. There is of course the possibility that he may want to move to Germany as his permanent residence and not ride here but you’d imagine his income from Lynn matches is pretty significant as one of the league’s top riders and the man who many Lynn supporters turn up to see. Scary to think what might happen to our crowds if he didn’t return. Can see the logic in Daniel’s team but would be reluctant to start the season with two riders coming back from significant injuries who have both missed a large chunk of this season. Like the idea of Charles Wright, has always ridden Lynn well.

Iversen won’t start the season over here as he’ll be doing GP’s and his usual three European leagues.

Poole should put the tie to bed in the first leg really but Ipswich have riders who could score a hatful if it clicks for them, expecting something like 52-38 but you never know.