Blackadder

Could well be Taylor Poole, Ben Wilson, Richard Lawson, R/R and 3 other guests for Sheffield at Somerset, with R/R for Oliver Allen.

Not keeping in a straight line from the gate.

Just found this in FIM regs:- 078.3.6 Signing-on All Team Managers and their respective riders who wish to practice must sign on at the date and time stipulated in the SR, which should not be later than 30 minutes before the first International Jury meeting. Riders who do not wish to practice may however sign on during Race day according to the times stipulated in the SR. When a Team Manager or a rider has signed on, he is deemed to have entered the meeting and is not permitted to take part in any other motorcycle meeting until the completion of the FIM Speedway World Cup, unless eliminated from the competition. The signing-on area in the pits must be clearly marked by a board, bearing the inscription “Signing-On”. I'm picturing Nigel Pearson interviewing Simon Stead on SKY on Monday and wondering how Speedway will come across to the general public.

As long as Simon is available for Team GB when required, I can't see why he shouldn't be free to ride for Sheffield on other days. Seems like another case of foot shooting by the FIM to me.

Welcome back Ben. Best wishes.

New Green Sheets showing average of 6.40 for Ty Proctor.

Some info from Speedway Star's Fantasy League. It shows points per match to start of season average, up to last Monday. So for example, Josh has a start of season average of 3.00 and is scoring 3 points per match on average, irrespective of the number of rides. Andre Compton 137.61%. Simon Stead 117.90%. Josh Bates 100.00%. Simon Neilsen 91.74%.. Leigh Lanham 83.80%. Taylor Poole 83.47%. Ty Proctor 43.38%. Ty looks to be returning to form and last night gave the best performance from a rider that I have seen in a long while. The first 3 above are doing their job, so the next 3 are shown to be the ones under-performing.

Dave insists it was a bacon sandwich!!!

From what I understand, Matej Kus is not fit to ride in the UK for a week, but is fit to ride anywhere else in the world. It is a farce. Some teams in the past have had to use a NL 3 pointer because a rider is riding elsewhere and they can't have a facility. Even though Thomas Jorgensen was cleared to ride by the SCB, it still stinks. Some supporters did not go tonight because of this. They were undecided as to whether they would go, but this made their decision for them, so the Promotion suffers. No problems with getting knocked out of the cup, but Speedway has done some foot shooting again.

In this week's Speedway Star, Damien Bates has said that any new signings will not be riders who have ridden for the club previously.

I just posted it in Sheffield 2014.

From the Sheffield Star:- Some hard decisions are needed at Owlerton. Sheffield Tigers’ boss Joe Screen says he will support whatever decision the club’s owners make over team changes. The Sheffield consortium members are currently looking at the prospect of two new signings to pep up the side for the second half of the season, once the new averages for July are confirmed. And Screen says they have to do what is right for the club as some riders are clearly under the microscope after a disappointing run of results. Said Screen: “It’s not my decision, I’m just here to work with the riders and try and help them improve. But as coach and manager I will support whatever decision they make. It’s never nice when something like this happens, but it’s the nature of the sport. I guess someone will be disappointed along the way. They’ve done it once this season by replacing Adam Roynon with Ty Proctor and that’s not really worked out how we wanted it to so far, but then again Ty Proctor hasn’t become an ordinary Premier League rider overnight. He’s got the ability and the talent, but he’s just not doing it for us at the moment, along with several of the other boys in the team. It’s the nature of the beast and I know Damien Bates is crunching the numbers looking at what may or may not be done when the new averages come out.” Tigers are back in action tonight when they head to Peterborough in Premier League action. Panthers are strongly fancied as one of the title contenders with a powerhouse side, particularly on their own track. PETERBOROUGH: Ryan Fisher, Lewis Blackbird, Ales Dryml, Ulrich Ostergaard, Lasse Bjerre, Joe Jacobs, Nicki Barrett. SHEFFIELD: Simon Stead, Taylor Poole, Leigh Lanham, Andre Compton, Ty Proctor, Simon Nielsen, Josh Bates.

I think it more likely to be taxis for 1 or 2 others before one for Leigh.

Saw an improvement in the Tigers overall performance, but still not good enough. We had only 3 different heat winners, which is 1 better than last week, but Monarchs had 6 riders with a win or paid win and they had no retirements. Still work to do, but congratulations to Edinburgh. For those who may be unaware, meetings will start at 07.30 from July.

Rant resumed. Just had a quick look at scotreferendum.com. It is all about what the power junkies say will happen if the electorate are daft enough to vote for independence. No mention that the rest of the UK just might not lie down and let them have all their own way.

I can just picture Neil Machin banging on the Speedway Office door, asking Damian to do just that. Not.

I think that the whole point is the political power junkies get more power. IMO they should be doing what they are paid to do and stop wasting so much time and money on trying to increase their self-importance. End of rant.

In the Sheffield Star:- Tigers ‘can’t afford to lose at home again’ insists boss Screen Sheffield Tigers boss Joe Screen admits enough is enough after another sorry home showing. The Tigers were thumped 49-41 by fierce rivals Scunthorpe on Thursday night – their third home humbling of the season at the hands of the Lincolnshire side. They remain bottom of the Premier League and face a wait of almost a fortnight for another league meeting, but Screen insists any decision on whether or not to draft in new blood will not be his. Screen said: “It is frustrating for everyone involved. “We’ve got a terrific number one in Simon Stead leading from the front, but he isn’t getting the back-up he needs. “We were without Ty Proctor the other night which didn’t help and his rides only earned five points. “He would have been a good bet to get more than that given the way he has been riding, but we may well still have been beaten “We’ve lost so many meetings to the weather and it is not easy to get race fitness or bike problems sorted when only riding once a week. “But we can’t make excuses anymore. We can’t afford to lose at home again. “I don’t do the hiring and firing – that is someone else’s remit. But are there any riders out there anyway?” Screen insists he has plenty of sympathy for the likes of Taylor Poole and Simon Nielsen who have struggled for form throughout 2014. He added: “I can feel for them because I’ve been there myself during my career. “We’ve got Taylor suffering with machinery. He broke a rocker-arm on Thursday which is no-one’s fault. There is nothing he could have done – it’s just bad luck and that’s the situation we’re in. “Young Josh Bates is still getting trouble from his back and a couple of others are just not doing it. “I can assure the fans that some serious talking will go on behind the scenes. We’re not just going to let disappointing results like that one on Thursday go.”

What has been said please?

It is all about the power junkies who are pushing for the change. Nothing else.

Tony Steele pushed for the interval to be held early at Sheffield last night due to problems with the setting sun on the third bend. Later on, there was a full moon over the second bend, but as Werewolverhampton weren't riding, there were no issues.

Only 2 Tigers won a heat, 5 for Simon Stead and 1 for Leigh Lanham, and that is not good enough. As Spike Milligan used to say, "what are we going to do now, what are we going to do now". Can't really see anything can be done until next month's green sheets are issued and we know how many points are available. For me, Richard Hall would be a welcome addition for entertainment at Owlerton.

That's what I thought, unless it was a replacement for Ty, who won't be there.

They have new muck now, for the first time in about 3 years, so hopefully the track will improve.

No Josh at Edinburgh tomorrow I believe. A better all round performance from the home Tiggers but I haven't seen times as consistently slow as they were on a day with no rain for some time. Good to see Eric Boocock brought in to help with track preparation; hopefully they will get it right soon.