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Same with Matthew Wethers, loyal to British Speedway for 10+ years, didn't miss matches to ride abroad etc. Average shot up when Newcastle matches were removed, hasn't been signed since, despite apparent lack of riders due to his 6.5 average. If they realise there is a flaw with averages, by all means change the rules for everyone, but can't change the rules just for Boughen.

Doesn't matter if he's injured, taking a break or been dropped for poor form, he's not in a teams 1-7. There was no 28 day signing due to injury, both teams have replaced him. Lynn may want him back, doubt Glasgow would. Anyway, I reckon Nora racing to help him regain confidence / learn how to ride in close contact without shutting off, would be best for him.

Some people say referees should be former riders as they can understand what happened during a race. But this shows a former rider being a referee could never exclude someone, because he'd come up with a reason why they rider wasn't at fault!

It seems like ever since Smith got given a full time place his form's dropped off. Feels like last year impressed with Glasgow at first but flattered to deceive as the season went on.

Gusts scoring 11 points is "rubbish", McDiarmid scoring 6+1 is "rubbish"?

Yes it certainly worked well for Leicester against Belle Vue. I won't say r/r at 5 wouldn't have worked because Leicester were so strong any riding order would've gained a big victory.

Before the match Edinburgh could've been satisfied to score 41, but after being only 4 points down a couple of times, probably feels like they could've done even better. Shows the team has improved, scoring above 41 at one of the title favourites & you feel it could've been more.

I wouldn't call it hindsight, I'd call it planning ahead. Loftus has to go in 12 or 14 (they weren't gonna drop a rider from heat 13). So the choices were Grahn in 12 or Grahn / tac sub in 14! Didn't cost them the match, but could've been closer.

Think the Edinburgh TM, has made a howler giving Grahn his 5th ride in heat 12. Means if the club are 6 points down, can't use a tac sub, or can only replace Castagna with a tac sub. Loftus having to have his 3rd ride. If he put Loftus in heat 12, heat 14 could possibly be Castagna & MPT, if they weren't 6 points down then Grahn gets his 5th ride anyway, no harm done.

Schroeck doing a grand job tonight

I don't know how to say this politely, but if the BSPL don't like it, Boughen can tell them to get stuffed. He doesn't currently have a British team spot, so can do what he likes.

Good idea

I don't think I would have gone with a guest, especially with Oxford having a couple of potent reserves. With everyone except Masters able to take an extra ride, is that stronger than Vuolas? Away at Redcar was probably a lot worse, Sam Hagon getting a guest booking when he had a lower average than every Oxford rider. This time I don't think Vuolas is a bad choice, but would've had faith in my own riders to get the job done. If 5th in the averages is missing, it's a bigger risk in case of injuries, not so much when it's the 3rd heat leader. EDIT, Vuolas is going well after 2 rides, they've picked the correct guest!

No one said they have to "flash the cash" or break their budget, doesn't mean they shouldn't look to strengthen up though.

The problem with waiting to use a tac sub in heat 14 is that's an unnecessary risk. If they're not 6 down, Harrison gets a 4th ride & Harris doesn't get an extra race. If they used the tac sub earlier / didn't use Klindt in heat 3, they'd have more options available, if they really wanted to, could give Harrison a 4th ride & replaced Iversen with Kvech in heat 13. There would've been no harm in Harris replacing Kvech in a ride, Kvech can still come out in any heat.

They don't have to pay the amounts they currently pay to riders, let's say they pay 10 x the amount riders get in GB. Half that payment & riders will still give Poland priority over GB.

I'm not a Belle Vue fan, but I think they are nailed on for the play-offs. I'll go as low as 99.99% sure of their top 4 spot. They could lose every remaining away match 60-30 & still comfortably make the play-offs.

If it's just a case of keeping competitive & having an ok season, it's a good result. But if they had any belief they were still chasing a top 4 spot, then it's points they couldn't afford to miss out on.

Think the Lynn manager should have planned the rides out better. Not using a tac sub when 6 points down, meant no extra ride for Harris, then giving Klindt the first r/r outing left Harrison taking 4 rides. From the updates Harrison was competitive, but if they want to challenge for the play-offs, need to be more ruthless / tactically wise!

The league / play-off scenario makes it easy for clubs not to care. In this case Belle Vue will have less points money to pay out, one less travel expense to pay out, doesn't hurt their home crowd & even a 70-20 tanking wouldn't hurt their title chances in the slightest. Get rid of the play-offs & clubs would care more!

I don't think that's a rules just something clubs put in their contracts. What would happen if a top rider put his foot down & didn't agree with having to pay back his signing on fee? Zmarzlik for example, you can't tell me if Lublin weren't gonna sign him in his terms that there wouldn't be another 7 Extraliga clubs after his signature. But no rider ever stands up to the Polish clubs tbh

Well I appreciate there being a reason for using r/r at 2, as opposed to the usual "everyone uses it at 2 logic". I still wouldn't want to use Fricke at 8 against a "rising star" though. If Douglas & Howarth had to ride together, I'd then put r/r at 5. Use Howarth in heat 4 (meets a reserve) Use Fricke in heat 7 (against opposing number 1) Use Douglas in 11 Use Masters in 13 (as usual) Swap Douglas & Howarth around (Douglas at 4 means he avoids two-on-the-trot with his r/r outing). Still have a heat leader racing with a reserve (except heat 4) in r/r outings, plus 3 extra strong heats when Fricke & Masters are paired together?

I'd put Howarth at 2 & r/r at 4. Don't think it's the best use of your top rider (Masters) getting an extra outing against Blodorn & Mulford when he's capable of beating all the opposition riders.

I wouldn't say Killeen was "thrown in the top league" he was on the RS list & obviously agreed to the position. I don't understand the reasons why they did that, it weakened their team to secure Killeen for this season (when the rules would've allowed them to pick Jenkins instead). For Boughen it seems like he's tried to force the first 5 years of his career into half of that time, rather than conquering a level & moving up, he jumps up straight away, wether that's his thinking or advice from others I don't know? It's hard to believe he's still only 17 as he seems to have done so much. Boughen only had 1 full season in the NL, then left it behind, he was only a 7.51 rider, so while that's a fantastic first full season, he obviously had room for improvement / more to learn. Then after less than 10 Champ fixtures as a 16 year old, signs as a "rising star" for Oxford, doesn't even get a full season before he's moved up to number 6. Was there a need to rush up into the top division, would he have learnt more if he tried to progress more gradually? Every rider is different, what works for one may not work for another, but when I read a great many people talk about him backing off on tight first bends, it does seem that something went wrong in the route he took up the leagues. Finally, was Glasgow the best choice for him, they are a team that wants to win & will make changes if it's not happening, so their riders will be under more pressure (same as at Poole) than at other clubs. As much as I criticise Schroeck for his awful tactics, he does tend to give riders more time, rarely strengthens them team (to the detriment of their chances of success) and if you're a struggling second string, you'll still get 4 rides as higher scoring reserves don't get used properly. Sounds like a good team to go to to progress!

Ta for the correction, I remember thinking why return for the International "friendly" but he got injured again before that. I remember him saying he rode because he didn't feel any pain, but I wonder if he considered "what happens if I fall again"? Obviously riders could crash on any meeting, but if it happens when you've not fully recovered you can keep putting yourself out for longer. I guess Doyle doesn't think about that? Tbh not many riders do.