Bagpuss

Edinburgh have a long old tail.

49-41

No excuses here, we were sh!te. But that doesn't mean we can't comment on a track being bumpy or not. And it did look it on the video.

I don't think the surface or the width of Lakeside is what makes it a marmite track for many people, but how tight riders have to turn to get round the bends. It makes tracks like Arena, Edinburgh, Wolves etc more challenging for away riders as they are more unique, and if as an away fan you see your riders struggling to get round efficiently it can cloud your judgement. Personally I like the variety that smaller tracks provide and I've seen more good meetings than bad at Lakeside. That said I think good racing on a big, fast track will always trump good racing on a little one. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder at the end of the day.

Putting crowds aside for one moment it's no mystery why they went for Mondays and what should have been Thursdays as they are the nights that leagues in other countries don't run; Mondays are also clear of Championship fixtures and Thursdays could / should have been made so too to avoid all clashes. Weekends are always going to attract better crowds but with Poland riding on all three nights and World championship rounds / GP's / U21 rounds etc regularly on Saturday nights it's difficult to see how we can run a top league to a decent standard on those nights without riders being missing for virtually every fixture. The aim of FRN's is to prevent fixture clashes and while Wednesdays are proving a disaster for those teams with Danes Mondays are perfect. One of things which has put people off British speedway in recent years is the endless guests and R/R's, the sacrifice for putting that right is to run on nights when riders are available. It's difficult to please everybody of course, Belle Vue and Rye seem to have had smaller crowds so far if you believe what you read on here and having been traditionally weekend tracks it's perhaps no surprise. It's a really difficult to get the balance right.

I'm sure if NKI ever refused to ride in a home meeting he'd be heavily criticised too. This week is the first time Neils' UK form hasn't mirrored what he has been doing abroad....apart from a good score in Sweden he was pretty average everywhere before his op. Despite one or two unfounded claims on this thread he always gives it 100% in my eyes.....in contrast Holder never looked interested last year.

If he did get big offers thrown at him it would be based on his potential.....at twenty years old he beat seven current or recent GP riders last week and he will only get better. He may not have scored hatfuls of points but those he did score were mainly unexpected given his lack of experience. You are absolutely right about keeping his feet on the ground, and from what I have seen this season his and his family's feet are firmly grounded.

I think Lynn being half an hour down the road and having good sponsorship locally means that riding for the Stars works perfectly for Robert.....it was said that he would have to leave to move his career on but this season has blown that theory out of the water completely. Unless somebody comes up with a megabucks deal (and I don't believe that money exists in British Speedway any more) I think he will only stop riding for the Stars if and when he cuts out the UK altogether. He absolutely does need more support though, if he has an off night which he surely will at some point we will be screwed unless others step up to the plate.

There are good points made in both the above posts, although I think the general feeling of doom and gloom is a little OTT. We have had four home meetings and six away in all competitions and last night was the first time we've not scored 41 points. We have had a home defeat and an away win plus a bonus point on the road so we are just above break even. We need a run of home matches with a full team to really see how strong this team is, let's hope we get it. Still too early to start replacing riders IMO but at some point if one or two don't start showing signs of improvement then it needs to be thought about, especially if there are spare points to play with. Andersen is very raw but no wobbler, just needs to start getting out of the gate better and a run of home meetings will benefit him no end rather than a different track every week that he's not seen before. Not beyond the realms of possibility though that it's a year or two too early for him.

Assuming three go through then in the interests of variety it would be nice to see three of Milik, Lambert, Holder and Fricke qualify. Lots of old hat in there who wouldn't really add much to the series.

The rise and fall if Heeps over the last twelve months or so is really puzzling.

He did but scored quite well in Poland and Sweden this week. We need him to start pulling his finger out sharpish over here, starting on Monday hopefully. Hadn't realised that to be fair, but as Haza says we have a couple of matches in hand. The key is going to be getting a full side out going forward.

Behave! That's the first hiding we've had.

Just worked out that heats 13 & 15 were Robert's 34th and 35th heats in the past six days.....no wonder he ran out if steam. As for the rest.....embarrassing.

One man team tonight. Even with the missing riders who would have kept things much closer that's a disappointing scoreline.

Indeed. Pick that team and say goodbye to the play offs. Or stomach the absences and stand a reasonable chance of finishing top four.

Any suggestions on the 'available options'?

What's your name, Shovlar?

They have if they thought they could get away with fibbing and hoodwinking fans but in this particular instance I can't see the value in that or what they can get away with. They have obviously negotiated with MPT's Danish club and its not gone their way at the last minute.

Maybe he was released and then recalled all since before the weekend? It depends if you trust what the promotion say, personally I do but I can understand why some people don't. If he was never going to ride I don't see why the club didn't declare a guest in the first place, they had nothing to gain by telling fibs for the last five days.

If you read the press release it says that Lynn were assured that MPT wasn't required in Denmark and then he was recalled at the last minute, no reason to disbelieve that. Good to hear that Iversen, Jorgensen and Andersen have no clashes left but one wonders if they can be recalled at the eleventh hour too.

Proctor and Palm Toft out tonight plus news of future Danish absences http://kingslynnstars.co/news.php?extend.30646

Another scoreline which won't do the league any good.

Can't agree with that, it's about getting both team members over the finish line before the opponent's two riders, as it should be. If a rider dashes off into the distance every time with no regard for his teammate a la Milik that's not pairs/team speedway.

We need a strong guest for Palm Toft otherwise we are going to get marmalised at reserve.