szkocjasid

I agree that was a poor performance, but as he's a 4 point rider can expect that from time to time. Had he been at Ipswich instead of Jenkins, I'm sure he'd be under no pressure & had Jenkins been at Leicester, he'd be under threat of being dropped. I would drop Kemp to strengthen at reserve, but I wouldn't be desperate to get rid of him.

Kemp was a 4 point rider signed on a 3 point average, so was a very shrewd signing imo. He's actually averaging 4.27 this year, so has put a point on his starting average. As the team isn't working out, he'd be the one I'd drop to strengthen up the bottom end. But don't feel he's been as bad as some make out.

If Kerr doesn't go back to Oxford, how about Schlein & Kerr in place of Becker & Kemp. Would mean having a strong reserve in Kerr. If Kerr is kept at Oxford, sign the rider they drop?

Same here. I really thought their top 5 would be strong enough to carry the reserves. With Sheffield missing riders, lost a chance of away points that other play-off rivals wouldn't be expecting to get.

I'm pretty sure they'd use Mountain's Prem average (4.54), but Lambert's Champ average (converted to 4.07) as he doesn't have a current Prem ave? Mind you Cook (4.39) has a lower ave than Kemp (4.54) so something doesn't add up?

An away win here, would certainly be a massive boost to their play-off hopes

Sheffield 43-47 Leicester

King's Lynn 43-47 Ipswich

Oxford 52-38 Belle Vue

With Harris not having been in great form for Oxford recently, would you move him away from number 5? Who would go there instead, Janowski?

They always go by averages these days. Mountain & Howarth's are above Dan's. Even if he wasn't in a SGP2 qualifier, he wouldn't have made it. Shows the flaws in not having qualifiers for the British Final. Dan has done well this year, but misses out because of last year's scores.

If Knudsen was knocked out, does that mean he sits out 9 days under the concussion protocols? Does the fact it didn't happen in Britain make a difference? Possible guests for Glasgow could be Danyon Hume or Dan Thompson?

After Edinburgh's last home defeat. The group is wide open again. Previously found it hard to imagine Glasgow winning at Armadale, but that changed when Plymouth managed it.

Getting away from the Oxford thread here. But I'm curious, what would happen if you were an Oxford fan & Hans Nielsen was your all time favourite rider, but Oxford closed. So you'd go to watch Swindon but not become a Swindon fan right? What if Hans signed for Swindon would that have changed anything? If his arch rival Erik Gundersen rode for Swindon's opponents, would you cheer against Erik as a Hans fan & want Swindon to win?

Wayne Hutt is an unattached 3 point rider.

I'd disagree with that. If they think they can find a reserve who will score more why is that a "major error"? If you said, the reserves are slowly improving, the early worries may prove unfounded, I hope they're given longer & prove it was right to keep them - then that'd make sense.

The problem with Lynn calling off matches in good weather, is they'll end up having to race then in bad weather to fit them all in

Fantastic effort by Lynn to score 42 points. There reserves doing what they should be capable of. But surprised by the heat 15 selection, picking Wojdylo means he was the second best rider in the team - so why wasn't he given any extra rides on the night? Maybe just sharing the rides out once the match was lost? Certainly a positive performance for Lynn ahead of the rest of the season.

Great attitude

I feel the complete opposite way. Now Swindon don't have a team, why would someone turn up at Oxford just to cheer on the opposition? I guess it depends on the level of rivalry, Edinburgh & Glasgow fans not likely to support each other if one closed, but as Cradley closed nearly 20 years ago could easily see their fans supporting Wolves (last year). Personally I was a Rye House fan, then an Arena-Essex fan also as soon as they were in a different league.

Look at how well Dan Thompson is going this year. Yet last year no Championship team wanted him at the start of the season. Birmingham then gave him a short term chance, but preferred to bring back Stefan Nielsen over keeping Dan. Then finally Plymouth gave him a team spot (but he got injured). British Promoters have to take some of the blame for lack of home grown talent, when there's promising young Brits without team spots.

Personally I think Sam has done what you'd expect of a new 2.00 reserve. (Currently averaging 2.05)

If the plan was to use the tac sub against McGurk to "guarantee" points, then heat 12 was the first opportunity to use it.

People were calling for changes to the Cheetahs because they had points to play with, rather than because they looked weak imo (well maybe Atkins) Same for the Spires, Oxford are doing well, but if you have points spare, why not try to improve your team?

That's true, in the higher leagues if you're not allowed a facility you're allowed a guest. Is the 75% of average rule applicable in the NL?