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"Not that great" Oxford took unbeaten Ipswich to within 6 points, with a missing rider & a manager who made a howler. That would've been a good result even with a full team. Harris has been decent, you can't really give him grief over one poor match, after all he was signed on a sub 7 average, you can't expect big scores every week. Janowski has been poor, but they are better to wait till gets a new average then drop a reserve for another heat leader (if anyone's available).

Actually Schroeck's excuse for his mistakes makes him look even more inept imo I’m normally clued up, but there was so much going on towards the end of the meeting and I missed an opportunity there and that does frustrate me. As soon as Tungate was missing & Clouting was his planned replacement, the obvious choice would be for Wright / Clouting or Wright on his own to take the first 3 rides with Riss replacing Clouting / Tungate in heat 14 alongside Boughen. Then once they were 6 points down, very obviously you'd put Nicholls in instead of Boughen. So how was "so much going on" that he made a mistake? He should have known what to do before the first heat?

Schroeck not being too hard on himself. “No-one is harder on me than myself and I know I made a mistake in Heat 14 and could have put a reserve out with Scott. I’m normally clued up, but there was so much going on towards the end of the meeting and I missed an opportunity there and that does frustrate me. But at the end of the day, the only way we could have got a win would have been to also gain a heat advantage over Sayfutdinov and Doyle in Heat 15, when Ipswich had pick of gate positions"

There was never any doubting Sheffield's top end strength, but if their reserves can carry on like this, they'll certainly take some beating. Could well be favourites for the league.

If they sacked Klindt for underperforming, does that mean they'll do the same with the team manager?

Yeah, with Wright getting an extra ride, strengthens them for sure.

Sounds very odd, if Tungate / Clouting spot had been left blank 3 times, then Oxford could've used Nicholls in white with Boughen in yellow, or Nicholls in white / yellow with Riss in white / yellow. Why have a 3 rider race?

Lynn's reserves should outside Sheffield's imo, so that should help Stars at least get close to 40

I guess it helps their confidence to blame their equipment rather than admit they were under par? Means they can go to the next track & expect a big score because they believe they weren't at fault for a low score?

Cook is Birmingham's second best rider on 2024 figures now Nicholls has gone.

I wouldn't be surprised to see his 4 heats resulting in 3 5-1s & a 4-2 to Glasgow.

Putting Etheridge at 5 to me looks a case of damage limitations, aiming to score points in other races, to score as many as possible. I don't think it will work though, to get the bonus point they need Schlein scoring well at 5 & Etheridge scoring well at 3. As it is I can see Schlein picking up an extra point, but Etheridge dropping 2? I would use this tactic if I thought I would struggle for 30 points & want to avoid embarrassment, rather than going for a narrow loss & the bonus point. But if anything, it keeps things interesting & I'll give them credit for thinking outside of the box.

That confuses me even more: 1) I can't believe they only gave Klindt 4 matches 2) I can't believe they didn't think to sign Riss for Kerr & if after 5 weeks Klindt hasn't picked up his scoring then drop him 3) I can't believe with 7.44 available to replace Klindt, Riss is the best they can come up with 4) I can believe, but kinda disappointed the BSPL / SCB allowed Oxford to drop Klindt because they'd prefer to use guests

As Riss could replace Kerr, meaning Oxford would no longer need a guest, I would support a ruling where Oxford were not allowed to drop Klindt & still use a guest for Kerr.

That's the problem with many speedway promoters / fans etc. They act like if you are weakened by injury that's a disaster & shouldn't be allowed. To me that should be expected & accepted.

Pre-season I thought it was odd they'd choose Heeps when they were over a point below the limit. Out a 6.00 rider in with Jenkins & that's a solid middle order pairing. Asking Jenkins to be the "3rd heat leader" is a tough job.

I thought Oxford would do well, but be prone to the odd howler away, due to the inexperience of their bottom end. For Plymouth everyone looked at their top end & couldn't see where the race winners would come from, that's the reason why they were predicted bottom. I thought Oxford had the best 2.00 riders in the league, so would end up with 2 x 4.00 reserves. Couldn't see as much improvement from other teams reserves. I have to ask who is the "top rider in the league" and who is the "good heat leader" as Oxford arguably have the strongest top 2 in the league, think you've sold them short on that point. I hope Plymouth can do well at home & not do "a Birmingham" by throwing away decent away performances by losing at home.

Having seen a pic on fb, not the greatest quality granted, Plymouth were robbed of a "draw". Why would the ref need to look at the replays anyway, don't they use transponders now?

I think it's because Leicester were weakened last year when Morris got banned & they had to use r/r. Then at the AGM the other promoters probably thought "that could happen to me" so they voted for more guests allowed.

Klindt isn't the answer to turning Birmingham into a winning team, but he has the ability to score more points than Lampart, so any improvement is worth doing. I'd keep Milk, as he may start scoring well at reserve. If Birmingham weren't so bad, I'd give Lampart longer to see if he can improve, but Brummies have done so poorly they need to be ruthless.

Both teams are not strong at reserve, but someone has to win that battle. Even if that's Redcar, still think Comets top 5 will steer them to victory.

Scunthorpe could well win this one. Certainly got the bonus point sewn up imo.

I wasn't surprised by Oxford's heavy away loss at Poole, but expected then to be fine at home. Great effort by Plymouth, who won't be as bad as many think they are.

I've seen quite a few comments on fb especially, suggesting that Riss for Klindt is part of a plan to replace Kerr with a stronger rider, but that doesn't make any difference. Oxford are now on 37.88, they can replace Kerr (5.32) with the spare 2.12, so 7.44 available for a replacement. If Riss replaced Kerr instead of Klindt, the team would average 39.24, so they'd have an extra 0.76 to replace Klindt (6.68) which is 7.44!

Except knocking Edinburgh out of the BSN leaves him with 2 less fixtures, hitting his wage packet?