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With Workington, Berwick & Oxford having a poor day, think the top 4 looks to be, Poole, Glasgow, Edinburgh & Redcar.

If Plymouth aren't allowed a guest for Klindt, would be not get a 28 day ban then?

Yeah, that's an odd one, r/r must be stronger than Thomsen you'd think?

Looking at the August averages, Birmingham will be 8.97 below the points limit!

Kerr's 2025 Prem average is 5.33 (6.20 with bonus points). That's very decent. A couple of poorer matches doesn't mean he's struggled all year. You could argue his Poole average should be much higher, compared to his Sheffield one!

Well JJ won heat 8 & 12, don't know if that proves my point or yours lol!

Actually it could be, if Morris was worse than guest scores!

Heat 7 was the best I've ever seen Kyle Thompson ride, bouncing off the fence to beat Luke Harrison & Jake Allen.

If Birmingham announced that in their press release, no-one could blame them. But they announced it was a mutual decision i.e Edwards wanted to leave, they wanted to keep Hagon. Now Hagon had improved on his Leicester form, but still not the rider Edwards was. Since then Edwards has done brilliantly against Birmingham & made them look even more daft! Maybe his scores are logical, it's easier to get bigger scores riding against Birmingham than for them, due to the strength of the opposition.

Palovaara has a higher average than Cook, so possibly better guest options if he misses any matches.

Heard the same comment before this year, but the RS system continued. Not popular with some on the forum, but I don't hear the clubs themselves arguing against it (unless I've missed that).

Should have said riding at 3 (or not riding at 2). In general Hagon hasn't been good since moving up from reserve, so is put him in the "less pressure" number 2 position.

Can anyone explain why Birmingham preferred to keep Hagon over Edwards?

After thinking on Wednesday, would a good performance from Edwards for Oxford harm Redcar's top four hopes, I'm now thinking the same about Zischke / Vuolas. From a Workington perspective it would be better if Poole won, so if they help Redcar win, hurting Comets top 4 bid!

As a team with 4 "heat leaders" I don't understand Hagon riding at 3?

Agreed, the changes looked to totally transform the team.

It's odd, some riders will drop down & score loads. Maybe at home he will (but that won't be enough for Plymouth to move up the table).

Who would Berwick sign for Cook. No point making a change, unless they new rider is better than guest options. Missing an 8+ number one isn't a bad thing in the Champ. Of course you want a full team, but on paper Berwick should be able to cover till Cook returns.

Makes a real difference to the Workington team if Bowes can keep up the heat leader scoring.

Bowtell should have been a trump card dripping to reserve, not happened so far. Joe T can score double figures some matches, but also run lots of last places. Not easy to know what you'll get from Plymouth.

After a poor start think Plymouth will be relieved to keep it close, gives them a chance of the bonus point. Oxford probably feeling the opposite, before the match would have said a 4 point win was decent as they were missing riders, but after such a great start, won't be so happy.

Yeah, was thinking the same thing too.

Loss of the bonus point won't hurt Poole, but very valuable for Workington as they chase the top 4.

Not direct rivals then, if Perry helps Plymouth win, won't knock Glasgow out of the top 4, for example.

I'm always have a curious look to see if a guest could help or hinder his team. (Edwards) Redcar & Oxford are rivals for a top 4 spot, so you'd expect Redcar to prefer a Plymouth victory, so Edwards could be harming Redcar's chances if he helps Oxford win. (Ritchings) No issues (Kennedy) you could argue Plymouth are Scunthorpe's rivals for the wooden spoon, but I don't really consider that a reason for him to turn down a guest booking. (Perry) Plymouth not rivals of Glasgow, no issues.