szkocjasid

There's a difference between not being bothered to race & not wanting to give up a holiday you've already paid for! There's not an easy answer for this situation imo

I wonder if the riders could challenge the legality of that, is there wasn't a fixture listed when they booked holidays? Unless their contract says they have to be available every Monday & Thursday during the season?

I'm honestly not sure why people are so bothered about this, we've had guests used for years for a miraiad of reasons, you'd think fans would be used to it by now? The match needs to be raced & Sheffield are struggling for dates, so I'm glad it's being run - last year's jubilee league still isn't finished, partly because clubs couldn't agree to dates in August. Wolves probably shouldn't have agreed to the holidays, even during world cup week as you never know with the British weather! I'm also confused by Worrall & Douglas holidaying, did they not expect to make their world cup teams? In this instance don't feel for the riders, if you want to race in both UK leagues & Poland, you can't expect to get a holiday mid-season. Also the result isn't really important, both clubs will be in the play-offs anyway!

You'd think the authorities would be used to clubs falling to complete their fixtures before the cut-off in previous seasons & so discussed how to avoid it happening again at the AGM right? Or am I expecting too much?

Boughen has shown tremendous potential at such a young age, especially as he's very new to Speedway. Woffinden had ridden in Australia, Lambert had ridden in Germany, Bewley didn't ride till he was 16. Going back to the likes of Jordan Palin, Eddie Kennett or David Howe who were all great at 15, these guys had many years of youth racing, so we're expected to be stars, Boughen is more along the lines of Bewley for experience, but a year younger.

Some tracks how limited time they are allowed "noise" from the bikes, have seen signs in the pits saying - no warming up of bikes before 19:00 etc.

As long as the starts are the same for both teams, it's all fair. The only thing the ref should keep an eye on, is to make sure grading of the starts doesn't change heat to heat based on gate the teams are starting from.

But clubs don't have to announce their real attendances, just the ones they give to the tax man lol! In all seriousness, there's only 2 reasons not to announce attendances 1) you're embarrassed by the low numbers, 2) pretending less turned up pay less VAT etc. I remember years ago Glasgow gave a free programme away, said programme value £5 on it, while not illegal I assume that would save money compared to saying it had £2 value?

Pre-match I had Berwick down as favourites for 6th, now that tag passes to Monarchs.

Without knowing how much streaming costs & how many people sign up each week, you can't guarantee they'll make a profit. You would assume it's worth the effort as otherwise other clubs wouldn't stream. It could make a difference to the attendance though, perhaps not by much, but people travelling far or especially in bad weather some may stay at home & stream instead of attending (costly if it's families). While I'd assume it's worth streaming, at the end of the day it's their business, they don't HAVE to stream just because everyone else does.

I get your point, but still would have put Flint in 10 & Knudsen in 13. As Berwick lost a 5-1 in heat 13 don't think it was a masterstroke saving Flint for that heat. Would Flint have beaten Thompson in heat 10, we'll never know? Fair point about Complin getting 2 on the trot.

Can't understand why Berwick have given Lee Complin a r/r outing, means a top 5 rider is going to miss out? Any time this happens I think it's a mistake, if the reserve loses form & team men improve, which may have happened as Flint & Knudsen won their last rides, then a team man has lost a ride! But if you use the team men as r/r & they don't improve, can still replace them with a reserve (Complin) in any race, so there's no risk of getting it wrong!

There always will be speculation (at every track) as British Speedway doesn't announce attendances. Strange when most sports do, plus foreign speedway leagues as well.

There never seems to be an urgency, not just in the Prem, I often hear of teams not racing because they are missing riders. But do they not realise come the end of the season they'll be struggling to fit in fixtures?

I certainly have to disagree with that point, Nicki picking himself in the Danish team doesn't mean he doesn't have faith in his squad it simply means he's in the top 5. Well have to agree to disagree regarding him being manager, I see no reason why he can't do both (as long as he has an assistant with him on the day).

Sheffield had to be below the points limit to make a change like that.

How many team managers still ride in the Polish Extraleague? Pedersen is clearly one of the top 5 Dane's, manager or not!

With r/r at one, I would have put Jorgensen or Flint at 2 & 5 (either way around), so you'd have your strongest two out in heat 13

Or having faith in your own riders?

Giving him track time ahead of a league match next week, which is more important to win?

It's because he's got experience riding for GB abroad in multiple competitions in recent years. That being said, I still can't understand why Wright & Lawson weren't named in a 10 man squad?

Just reading about them not riding together & forgot the team positions. The manager could still easily avoid putting them out together, but a good manager would get them on the same page!

What do you expect on a 4.00 average?

So can Poole overcome the tremendous disadvantage of having the 1st leg at home? But I'll be brave & back them to lift the trophy against all odds! Glasgow 49-41 Poole.

Will be interesting to see how Riss goes after struggling for Ipswich. Redcar 48-42 Scunthorpe.