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If Berwick have any sense they will already have that contract arranged for next year and build the team around Alden. Would like to think we have learned the lesson from last winter.

Our season has just not started and I for one am already looking forward to the winter months as we set about rebuilding our side once again after another false dawn. Let's not cover old ground here, its been widely accepted that we should have signed Micky instead of Alex. We need to move on and look to the future. We need to have a solid team for next year with decent reserves. Paul is making great progress and I would love to see us stick by him next year but in an ideal world he needs a 4.5-5 point man alongside him to take the pressure away and allow him to continue his development. A team headed up by Seb and Kozza with a middle order of David, Matty and Micky Dyer and say a Lewis Kerr alongside Paul at reserve would do nicely for me!

Our season has just not started and I for one am already looking forward to the winter months as we set about rebuilding our side once again after another false dawn. Let's not cover old ground here, its been widely accepted that we should have signed Micky instead of Alex. We need to move on and look to the future. We need to have a solid team for next year with decent reserves. Paul is making great progress and I would love to see us stick by him next year but in an ideal world he needs a 4.5-5 point man alongside him to take the pressure away and allow him to continue his development. A team headed up by Seb and Kozza with a middle order of David, Matty and Micky Dyer and say a Lewis Kerr alongside Paul at reserve would do nicely for me!

If we are taking Liam Carr at 6, would Paul Starke not be able to race at 7 in place of Barrett?

Mickey Dyer, Lewis Kerr surely on better form than some on the list?

If we did take Dyer as a guest, could he take a rider replacement ride or would he be bound by Ricky's average? Dyer would be a brilliant guest! Even at number 1.

If I were to go to my work and not perform to the best of my ability, there would be consequences. In a results driven business such as speedway, these consequences need to be swift and decisive. I look forward to seeing how the underperforming members of the team are dealt with. If we are struggling to gate, why is the whole team not out after the meeting getting some practice instead of bouncing around the centre green. The same excuses get rolled out every week that issues are getting dealt with. Shame there will be an ever decreasing number of people there to see if this is really the case. As for team changes, what average is M.Tressarieu available on?

The difficulty in changing the team is there isn't really anyone out there who could make a massive difference. Wasn't there tonight so can't comment on individuals. However, a third home defeat by May 4th doesn't bode well. Interested to see what spin the promotion put on the website match report. Worryingly none of the teams we have dropped points to are as strong as Newcastle. That could be a televised murder on May 21. I'll have my mask on though.

There are a number of issues with the track, but many are simply out with the control of the promotion. Whilst we would all love to see big sweeping bends and wide straights to provide ample racing lines, it is simply not going to happen. We are restricted by the football pitch so the track staff need to work with what they have. How they do that I simply don't know. Apparently the track is being prepared how the riders want it, but the standard of racing is such that the fans will vote with their feet. This has been in evidence early on this season is crowd levels are dropping at an alarming rate. If the promotion are happy to put on 15 heats of gate and go, then the very best of luck to them. Another alternative is to put a finish line opposite the start line and have 60 heats of 1st and 2nd bend races because after that the excitement ends and you can fill your programme in. With a big Sky meeting coming up, plus the World U21s in August, time is on our side to get the track into a fit state but decisive action needs to be made as soon as possible or I can see trouble for the future of our beloved Bandits.

Another meeting full of processional gate and go heats. For what seemed a cracking evening, it was a very low crowd which this early in the season is a worry. Sky's cameras are going to have to work extremely hard to disguise our track and its limitations in regard to a racing surface. Best wishes to Richard Hall, himself having no luck on his favoured outside line. Pleasure to see Simon Stead, no one was near him all night.

Berwick should have enough home track knowledge to see off Sheffield this weekend, especially at reserve where the Tigers look vulnerable away from home. Hopefully Stead is passed fit to ride, as he along with Richard Hall and Ricky Wells can keep the match close. Many eyes will be on Facundo Albin who many feel should be a Bandit. Bandits by 10.

Edinburgh far too strong at Armadale for us to get close on Friday. Even with our Aussie insider, Edinburgh by 20.

This is the point many are misinterpreting. Whilst the die hard fans will go week in week out, the casual fans who are wooed by the promise of exciting racing are the ones who will not return. I'm sure as you say Screm that the track will improve as the weather gets better. The team should hopefully improve alongside the weather and we will all be happy!

One can only imagine the potential embarrassment of 15 televised heats of gate and gone. Article in the speedway star this week states the track team are working on improving the track to suit the riders. Maybe they should speak to Lee Complin and Jade Mudgway who both had no problems passing people in recent times. Watching the GP last night and the racing throughout was superb. People tuning in to watch us in May will expect the same product and unfortunately it could potentially have a detrimental effect on our crowd levels. I hate to be negative as I really look forward to my Saturday night at the speedway but something needs to give to move our season forward.

Before we all start casting our minds to next season after our season ended tonight (tongue in cheek by the way!), bear in mind that Edinburgh have a very strong team and are much fancied to challenge for honours this year. However, it must be said that our reserve pairing are going to come under some serious questioning after another home defeat. The foundation of any successful team is at least one reserve to be knocking in 6-8 points per meeting and taking points from opposing heat leaders and middle order riders. Certainly at home anyway. This has not happened so far from either reserve. Granted both are recovering from injuries and will need time to get going. However from the point of view of crowd levels and sustaining the future of speedway, how much time can they be allowed in a losing side desperate to boost crowd levels.

That's a great point. Ashworths average masks his current standing amongst number 1s in the league. On paper he is up there with the best but in reality when the chips are down and you need to count on your top man to bag points he has struggled so far this year. Hopefully just a blip but in upcoming meetings I can't see him anywhere near Cook or Stead. Catastrophic collapse on paper tonight but overall a decent cup tie over two legs. Micky Dyer must be the signing of the season. I love our kevlars though so not bitter....

Cracking meeting in store this weekend,with two evenly matched teams. Berwick will be keen to put last weekends defeat at home to Redcar behind them and should be fired up to prove the loss was a mere blip in a season promising so much. For Edinburgh they will be looking to continue their strong start to the season and will arrive at Shielfield high on confidence. At the top of the teams, Craig Cook will probably have too much for a returning Ricky Ashworth and should score well. The middle order of the Bandits will be crucial to any chance of success in this meeting, particularly with Max Fricke struggling on his previous visit. At reserve Messers Barrett and Edberg will be keen to prove the doubters wrong and deliver good scores. A fired up Berwick to win by no more than 5 points.

I think its very early to be looking at team changes because without question we have a good team on paper who have proved in the past that individually they are capable of scoring well both home and away. What is clear as I posted previously is the track is not set up for our team of non gating racers to work from the back and score the points their efforts deserve. So if the football is hapenning on a Saturday, is there any access restrictions on the Friday or Saturday morning to get the track set up, watered etc... Just a question. Another observation. Kings Lynn was mentioned in a previous post as being a true racetrack with plenty of passing. The difference being that the riders can turn up at any time and practice as much as they like. Our 2.5 hour window is somewhat different. But after Heat 15 last night I was heading home at 8:27. What is stopping the riders getting out on the track for some practice. Granted an hour is not a long time but its better than nothing surely. It would also give the time to explore setups and different lines whilst not affecting results. I think the key is working with the track staff to get a track that the team are confident to attack and at the moment it simply isn't there.

I am by no means an expert in track preparation, but I think it is plain to see that it is not in the best of shape at the moment. After the 1st and 2nd bends, the riders settle in and generally follow each other round for three and a half laps. Overtaking has been at a premium not only at the start of this year but also the end of last year. And no amount of smoke machines, quality burgers or updated music can disguise the fact that the track at Shielfield does not lend itself well to "racing". Tonight in isolation after the 1st and 2nd bend I think there were two passes (please correct me of I am wrong). Again, purely observational but the riders were trying to make moves but for whatever reason as soon as they left our only racing line, they would get stuck out wide, lose speed with it any chance of making a pass. I absolutely applaud and support the promotion in all the changes they are making. But without a good racetrack, then it could all end up in vain as there will be fans who decide against coming back. Am I wide of the mark or does the problems lie with the team as opposed to the track?

Whilst Redcar have been poor so far this season, I can see this meeting being a lot closer than expected. Although we have Seb guesting at number one who, on my opinion, will bring in more points than Ricky, the rest of the top 5s are pretty evenly matched. Mitchell Davey never really got to grips with Berwicks track, and can see the strength of Edberg and Barrett to take advantage. Bandits by 10.

Jason Garrity guests for Glasgow in place of Harley Horwood for Sundays return leg. Difficult to choose a winner for this one. Heart says Berwick but on opening day Glasgow will be fired up. Much depends on Nicki Barrett who was excellent at the tail end of last year. 45 each and everyone's happy!

Fairly processional racing mixed in with a few decent races. Highlights for me were Vissing chasing down Nicki Barrett and Robin Aspegren off 15m then Matty Wethers holding off Craig Cook. Both teams look solid from top to bottom this year. For Berwick, we were solid 3-5. Both reserves looked rusty, as did David but got going later in the meeting. Wonder if Ricky was still suffering from mechanical problems, seemed slower than usual. For Edinburgh, Craig Cook was head and shoulders the best rider on show and on this form will be the man to beat in the league this year. Ably backed up by Claus Vissing and Theo Piper. However, the real trump card was Joe Tabaka who looked very quick indeed. Guessing longer term plan would involve him moving into the main body of the team allowing for Max Fricke to spend some time at reserve. From a presentation point of view, fantastic to see an old style parade again! Hats off to the entire promotion for such a massive focus on moving the race night experience forward.

Cracking match in prospect with both teams looking very well matched. I'll go 46-44 in favour of the Bandits after a last heat 5-1 from Ricky and Robin to save our skin!

Many valid points raised in your post Backless, I have to say I agree with them all. I think the overall product and presentation has come on leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, but as you state, come 7pm there has been no move forward. Dick is without question a passionate and very knowledgeable speedway man. However, the entire presentation during his possession of the microphone is very outdated. I for one would much prefer a traditional parade with bikes out on the track. We can still see the riders before they put their helmets on for a couple of laps to get a feel for the circuit. This in turn would feed into the quality of the first few heats, as the riders would have a feel for track conditions and would be able to attack from the off as opposed to using the first heat to get a feel for conditions. The musical presentation leaves much to be desired, but this is a real difficult one to overcome. Finding a selection that caters for all who attend is a tricky task, though it could be said that we are nowhere near at the moment and improvements can certainly be made here. Workington have to be commended for the introduction of match races. Granted it is only for one meeting, but the additional interest in seeing their top guys taking on one of the Elite Leagues best riders is certainly appealing. Perhaps there is scope to see what we could implement on a similar level.