King Jamie

Something of a farce. Shame really, as Oxford was one of the meetings I was looking forward to. Sam Masters getting 7 rides is enough to induce sleep. Watching him dribble round the white line whilst half a lap ahead is not my idea of entertainment. I pay money to watch racing, not exhibitionism. He has the highest average of any rider in the Championship and is the only second tier rider with a Premiership average of over 7.00 (indeed, it's over 7.50!). "Look at me... dribble, dribble... I'm too good for this League... dribble, dribble... another win... Ker-ching!" Joy 🙁

That's not you dropping another jealousy bomb, surely?

The above shows why I flunked Science at school. Cheers chaps!

On Norway Day too.

What did we say?

Drama aplenty at sunny Armadale last night as Captain Cook and his merry band of Pirates sailed south with league points in the bag. Monarchs only have themselves to blame for the defeat. Heats 12 and 14 summed it up. While I can accept mistakes from the relatively inexperienced Dayle Wood, I can't afford the same leeway to Michele Castagna 2 races later. Some may call his efforts over trying. I call it gross stupidity. Plank. Not that it really mattered as the impending heat 15 1-5 was blindingly obvious. We've conceded a 5-1 in either heat 13 or 15 in all meetings bar one (Berwick at home) thus far this season. That said, we couldn't have had a much tougher start. Glasgow home and away twice plus Poole at home, with Berwick (H&A) sandwiched in there also. The upcoming clashes with Plymouth and Workington should give us a much better idea of where we are. Concede 1-5s in those meetings and we may as well give up. Hats off to Victor P for scoring almost half our points. He must be one of the best reserves to grace second tier shale in the UK. That said, his one failure last night (heat 11) turned the meeting in the visitors' favour. Hats off also to Darryl Ritchings. Not the worst performance I've ever seen from a visiting number 7 on their first visit. One further thing, aside from the racing. The sun delay seemed somewhat unnecessary. Whatever happened to those goggles with tints through them which acted like shades? Do riders not keep a pair spare nowadays? If so, why didn't they bring them? It's not as if the big yellow thing only just appeared yesterday. Indeed, if such a product is still in existence, I hope all riders who didn't pack a pair in their kit bag were fined. Heavily.

7 rides also for Dayle Wood may keep it even closer.

They've got to run the fixture at some point, preferably sooner rather than later. Can't keep avoiding dates to suit others.

Surely if there's a mathematical possibility that we could knock Poole out of the competition, Glasgow will do the honourable thing...

It's a pity the numbers game didn't allow Monarchs to replace Max James with Jack Smith. Would've been really cool having Jack and Victor at reserve.

And why would they?

Sunny Armadale hosted its first meeting in 1997. The date? Friday 4th April. The score? 43-47. When do we sign Peter Carr? A few things from tonight: Heats 13 and 15 went as expected. The lack of real top end strength will define this season. Michele Castagna - dreadful lack of team riding in heat 7, leaving young Max to fend off Leon Flint. To follow that up by landing himself in the fence while chasing shadows a couple of laps later was,quite frankly, pathetic. Super Grahn is probably Average Grahn at best. Didn't really attack the track and looked relatively slow throughout. Overall not the worst evening's racing, with a not unexpected defeat thrown in for good measure. Let's hope for warmer weather in the coming weeks. Only two and a half months 'til summer...

Have no fear. We'll get our revenge the next time a Polish club signs a Scotsman...

I like it. Besides, it's only a bit of fun. Surely you're not ashamed of the fact that your very own home town is the only one in the UK with that special 4 letter word contained within?

I have to say, if it's confirmed 2 x 4pt reserves, I'd quite honestly have to say it's one of the worst ever attempts at team building I've ever seen from the Monarchs management. And I've been around to witness multiple efforts. Sedgmen is not a number 1. Castagna is not a number 5. Thomson is adequate at 3 or 4. Palovaara or SuperGrahn must be at reserve. There's no point in having them both in the top 5. The 4-pointers may well do ok at reserve. However, any possible potential gain from that 'strength' will be well and truly cancelled out by those above who have, quite frankly, been thrown to the wolves. I look forward to counting the heat advantages from 13 and 15. Should be fun...

With that amount available (and considering there's no number 1 in the team), I would much rather sign a rider such as Claus Vissing, coupled with a 2pt rider (Max James) at no.7. That would leave Palovaara at reserve initially, probably swapping places with SuperGrahn once they both attain new averages. Having 2 4pt-ish chaps at reserve (unless they're somehow world beaters) will leave the team extremely weak throughout.

Yeah, I hear he brings the sweets for Ed the Monarch to hand out to the kids every week.

ABBA aplenty over the tannoy next season then.

Ok. Just for you... Boughen to Edinburgh. You read it here first 😉

Well done Mods 🙂

Cheetahs 🙂

That could affect the balance of the side.

Thompson for Thomson? Usually people take the p. We've decided to add one instead.

Think 'Cardiff without the roof' and you'll not be too far away. Monarchs scored better than I expected last night. Unfortunately, we discovered "too many Cooks" isn't always a bad thing. Congratulations to Poole. The people's Champions 2024. Say no to the Americanised play offs.

Blobby been out dancing again. Silly boy.