Bagpuss

Frustrating that MPT was elsewhere scoring a hatful but even allowing for that we'd have got a point had Lewi Kerr scored the half a dozen or so points you'd expect from him.

I take that to mean that Wright and May are never going to see eye to eye but if he had been man enough to apologise despite that he would have kept his job.

From speedwaygb.co DYNAMIC Dan Bewley will lead Great Britain’s Young Lions squad in the World Under-21 Team Cup semi-final at Glasgow on July 14.The cool Cumbrian kid heads a side busting with talent alongside Ellis Perks, Zach Wajtknecht, Nathan Greaves and Connor Mountain.GB take on Australia, Germany and the Czech Republic at Ashfield and will hope to build on a season of success for their buzzing country.Great Britain’s sensational Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations success with silver has really lifted the national scene.Since then Robert Lambert and Bewley have finished one and two in the British Championship and both qualified for the World Under-21 finals.Greaves and Mountain both finished on the podium at the British Under-21 title at Berwick while Wajtknecht has been impressive at Swindon and Lakeside. Great Britain Young Lions boss Neil Vatcher said: “Sometimes in life teams or individuals become victims of their own success, and on this occasion I feel the GB Team has been dealt a massive blow by not being able to select the British Champion Robert Lambert.“His inclusion in the Finals of the SEC Series clashes with both dates of the Semi-Final at Glasgow and also if we were to qualify for the Final on August 18.“Having said that, no one can stop progress and everyone involved with the Young Lions wishes Robert all the best in the series, plus also congratulate him on performances across the UK and Europe - he deserves to be included in the Finals.“After having that confirmed that Robert was unavailable, we now have to move on and be positive about our team and believe that we still have the quality to qualify for our second consecutive final.“The position that gave me the biggest heartache was to select a reserve and in fairness I had three in contention.“Connor Mountain, Jack Smith and Jack Thomas probably all deserve a place in the squad, but with only one place available, Mountain has got the spot.“I looked at everyone's form across the leagues and also their performances at both the British Under-21 Semi-Finals and Final. I have got to say it has caused me many a sleepiness nights. But having been impressed with Connor all season he gets the shout on this occasion.“I know both Jacks will be disappointed, but as we all know with still a month to go before the Semi-Final anything can happen in speedway and if called upon I know both Smith and Thomas would be ready.”Wolverhampton youngster Greaves speaking on his own inclusion said: “It’s obviously great to be called-up for your country, it’s awesome.“I’ve just had my best score for my club Wolves on the day I got the news I’d been picked, so I’m buzzing.“Great Britain have had a good year so far so it would be good to keep that going at Glasgow. I like Ashfield so I can’t wait to get there.“I want to keep progressing and that has been happening. This is another big step for me.”The GB Team would like to thank their Team Sponsors Complete Filtration Solutions, SFS Electrical and Wessex Marine for their support.

Hardly 'karma' when he's lost his job through being a berk and then not being a big enough man to apologise. Pretty sure that Vissing & Covatti will prove their worth going forward, and while it's a shame to see a British rider lose his spot it seems he brought it on himself.

The main reason I can think of is Iversen and Lambert not wanting to fly back to Britain on a Monday in between a Sunday Polish match and a Tuesday in Sweden more often than they need to. One would imagine they agreed terms based on Thursday nights originally.

dontforgetthefueltapsbruv is your man to ask.

If Auty rode at number one for Scunny it would be a fair comparison but he doesn't.

Poole continue to underachieve as a septet. Pretty baffling as on paper they looked outstanding pre season. Bet Holder enjoyed that tonight.

I think the scores that MPT has knocked in so far this season and what he contributed last season show exactly why they signed him.....yes he is going to miss a few meetings but his scores when he can ride and those of guests when he can't were obviously deemed the better option than alternatives on similar averages. Can't imagine too many riders who average under six being able to card paid seventeen too often. As for Allitt's comments my interpretation is that Lynn had their team sorted long before the AGM and then found that the goalposts moved at the AGM. Again I'd suggest that having your choice of riders 75% of the time was deemed to be better than having a second choice and inferior one to to seven 100% of the time. Certainly far from ideal but not thick and probably the considered choice.

From kingslynnstars.co KING’S LYNN team manager Dale Allitt is considering his options for his side when they travel to the Abbey Stadium to take on Swindon on Thursday (7.30).The Tru Plant Stars are awaiting a fitness update on Ty Proctor who missed their previous two fixtures because of a shoulder injury.While Danish duo Kasper Andersen and Michael Palm miss the trip to Wiltshire after Andersen crashed out of the Stars’ home win against Rye House, and Palm Toft is in Championship action for Peterborough.British Champion Robert Lambert will lead the Stars’ challenge after he backed up his paid maximum against the Rockets by scoring a 15-point maximum for Rospiggarna in Sweden on Tuesday.Swindon go into the fixture at full-strength after Sheffield released Jack Smith which means he can take his place at reserve. Allitt said: “Swindon is going to be hard because they’re a fantastic team on their home track. Tofty (Michael Palm Toft) is a big miss because he got paid-10 before but all you can do is beat what’s out in front of you. We’ll try and regroup, and we will try to get the best people in if we have to. “Kevin Doolan comes in for Tofty and we all know a lot about Kevin, he’s been a hero here for a long time.“All we want is a full team. We have proved at full-strength or missing one rider how dominate we can be. Fixed race-nights are making it really hard because it’s not what we thought it was going to be.”SWINDON: Nick Morris, Adam Ellis, Tobiasz Musielak, David Bellego, Troy Batchelor, Zach Wajtknecht, Jack Smith.KING’S LYNN: Niels-Kristian Iversen, Lewis Kerr, Ty Proctor or R/R, Thomas Jorgensen, Robert Lambert, Guest TBC, Kevin Doolan.

Carrying an injury I believe.

Depends what 'making it' means, if he ends up being a 5-6 point rider like MPT or THJ then he'll have been worth persevering with. The only way anyone can tell that at this stage is if they have a crystal ball up the loft.

The Swindon website has our top five present and Doolan as the guest for MPT with an unnamed guest for Kasper for some reason. No team news on either Glasgow or Sheffield sites to confirm Kerr's absence from their meeting.

One presumes that Newman wasn't the pain in the arse that Wright has been claimed to have been?

Absolutely typical that Palm Toft scores paid 18 and is then unavailable. Hopefully Proctor will be back, if so then a point like last time should be possible if everybody chips in.

I thought that. I expect the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, I'm sure there were less people than there would have been with no Engand game but probably not dramatically so, not from what I've heard anyway. As for Kasper, I'm never a fan of dropping riders but if an opportunity arose to strengthen the number seven position then it must be seriously considered. After a reasonable start he is now really struggling and its becoming likely that he's not quite ready for Premiership racing.

I think if you are being replaced by the World Champion as a tac sub you just have to suck it up. However being sacked by text is pretty poor.

Unless anybody knows exactly what Wright did or said then how can they say that the club have done the wrong thing? As good as he has been on track there is always a line which an employee / contractor cannot cross and IF he has done that people can't complain.

Will Covatti be at reserve? Decent signing if so for me.

Did the club ever say that it would be on the big screen or was it the usual Chinese whispers? Personally I don't see how it ever could have been on the scoreboard screen, not particularly safe if it catches the eye of people who should be concentrating on the racing and maybe some people at speedway would record the football and watch it later. At least in the bar people have the choice, although personally I would decide on one or the other and not mix and match.

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.