Wee Eck

I bet Scunthorpe say the same about Rob Godfrey and Leicester about Neil Machin. I maybe can’t say the same for the Premiership with Keith Chapman of Kings Lynn, Colin Pratt of Peterborough (owned by Keith Chapman) and the reserve member being Chris Louis of Ipswich (owned by Keith Chapman). That’s proper democracy for you

Actually, I think this is where this league is finally getting itself sorted and returning to the development league it was always meant to be. There shouldn’t really be places for 35 year olds when there are younger riders available.

I thought Damien Bates had been on Management Committee for the last two of three years? Is he then one of the “numpties on the BSPA”?

On the other hand, if you drop your price by a third - say from £15 to £10, you have to increase your crowd by 50% just to stand still. In BT Sport’s first season covering domestic speedway (2017) all tracks were ordered to reduce prices for televised meetings so they’d look good to BT. Some went at a fiver (Swindon?) some round about a tenner. I’m sure I read somewhere that all tracks lost on the deal. Don't forget tracks are made to take tv fixtures and, historically, crowds are down for these so, unless a track can guarantee that by lowering their prices they will substantially improve the crowd and make good the lost revenue, they need to maximise prices so they minimise losses

That really would only work (maybe) on one track in the country. Are you suggesting the other 22 close down? Many people suggest that UK should copy Poland - but Poland thrives on team racing. Individual meetings are just an add on and seldom attract big crowds. In UK, supporters don’t turn out in big numbers for individual events either - compare crowd levels for play-offs versus league riders’ championships But, if you really believe a two day festival of speedway as you envisage it would work - sidecars, juniors, and solos - why not get a group of like minded individuals and rent the NSS for a couple of days and run the event?

“Shared” by Poland I assume you mean? And we all know Poland doesn’t share

I downplayed the “Saturday night and no top league” comment but what about “Bank Holiday Sunday” and no Championship meetings? No Sheffield, no Newcastle? At least the top league shows how to create interest by running two home and away derbies tomorrow night.

What were you expecting? Top league UK doesn’t run on Saturdays. Had you forgotten? Five PL meetings on Bank Holiday Monday. Not bad in a 7 team league Also one NDL meeting

Only one possible track.....

Is it just a coincidence that this appears on the day that CFS sponsored Swindon were going to use Craig Cook as a guest? Just as well that the weather forecast has put paid to that idea....

Is there a way to watch this other than through BT Sport? I don’t have a BT subscription

You’re not comparing like for like. When you buy a season ticket for a team, you know that doesn’t guarantee who will be in the team. Injuries, loss of form, or even big payments to ride in Poland can cause a rider to be missing. You are paying to see the team. The only comparison to your stack vs lasagne argument would be if you paid to see Peterborough and Kings Lynn were there instead (not to say that won’t happen!)

What is or was “tricksgate”? ”Trick” was the nickname of Tony Richardson but he’s not ridden for a UK team for about 15 years? What happened with him?

Why would anyone post something like that? It’s just rude and an insult to all Poole supporters. What are you trying to achieve, or, do you think you might achieve? And “cheats”. When, what, where, how? You getting confused with Coventry in 2010 when they could have used Shamek Pawlicki 23 times but only allowed him 11 meetings (when you needed 12 for an average) so he remained as a reserve?

I think all he’ll get for that load of nonsense is sympathy for his carers who have to deal with his ramblings on a daily basis. What a waste of bandwidth.

You are well ahead of me on this - I haven’t read the article. But your point is the article says he was offered a team spot at Edinburgh but turned it down because, although he would earn well, he’d end up with a high average at the end of the season? Dear me! As you say, a complete lack of ambition. Second strings sometimes do themselves out of a job because their average doesn’t fit, but that’s surely a rarity for heat leaders?

First of all, I’m not sure there’s a connection between him not going back and worrying about his end of 2019 season average. I suspect that, had Edinburgh wanted him, he’d have gone back, so maybe he’s looking for an excuse. But, I do take your point that it suggests a lack of ambition when a rider in February 2019 is worried about what his average might be in a year’s time. Whatever he ends up as, he should surely be determined to be the best available whether that’s a 5 pointer, a 12 pointer, or anywhere in between. Very few good riders miss out on team places at the beginning of a season

Not sure I follow that. From what I can see, last year, he started at 8.52 and ended at 8, 7.8 if he’s allowed the 2.5% reduction. Maybe it’s because he’s not improving is why he didn’t get a place at Edinburgh? Maybe there are other reasons?

That’s a huge accusation. It’s a different company so are you sure it’s the same people?

See below

I think you almost got there, then formed an inconsistent conclusion Many a rider has fallen for the “Poole Speedway pays best” and have looked for excessive deals. Poole have consistently offered a fair rate but said that (a) they’ll get paid on time and (b) they’ll have a chance of picking up additional sponsorship. That’s what the attraction has been, and probably still is. Even though there were no race suits this year, many Poole riders carried sponsorship logos from businesses that also support Poole like County Crest, Wessex Marine, Sunshine Service Centre and Meridian Lifts. If Poole have decided not to pay what they believe are excessive demands, it doesn’t automatically follow that either of your two assumptions - lack of funds or diminishing interest - apply. Indeed, it seems more likely that, by making sure the business remains profitable, there is a greater chance that someone will buy it as a going concern On the specifics, I’m not convinced about Allen. He spent a lot of 2018 moaning and seemed to sparkle in heat 2 then fail to live up to expectations. Starting the season on 5.07 and ending in what should have been an easier league on 4.56 - an average lower than Auty, Newman, Covatti, Summers etc - doesn’t sound like someone worth paying a lot for.

That both riders were out regardless of what the AGM decided. At least one of them was telling other people in October that he wouldn’t be in the 2019 team

You are rather a rude person, aren’t you? I’m trying to have a serious conversion correcting your misunderstanding of the BV management’s decision making process, particularly that the only “bigger picture” in not re-hiring Cook and Tungate was for the benefit of BV, exactly what they should be doing, and you seem to think that they and they alone have the good of the whole of British Speedway in mind when they make team building decisions. More fool them if that was the case. But, of course, it’s not. As I said before, you should ask them why they did it as you won’t believe me or probably anyone else.

The fact that you can’t justify your accusation that I don’t understand how things work says even more. To make it easier, what about Jason Doyle - in Swindon’s retained this - being “released” by Leicester after three full seasons? Let’s face it, Cook and Tungate weren’t released because of any “bigger picture”. The BV management chose, solely for the sake of BV, not to re-sign these two riders. You need to ask the BV management how big their picture was

Tell me more. My understanding is that, if you have loaned a rider, you have first call but only if the team holding his registration doesn’t have other plans. But that doesn’t either force you to use them or actively release them. Under these circumstances you are not really releasing them, are you? Do you think Poole “released” Chris Harris, who’s not on their retained list, because of the “bigger picture” or because they didn’t want him?