EC Rides Again

It all comes down to the eternal question of "stand alones" and "second teams" co-existing in this league. You just cannot please all of the people all of the time.

Over the last couple of years the Heathens have been putting 60 + points on the board pretty regularly. It's not done too much harm to their crowds, has it ? The Stags will only be making a single visit to the other tracks this year, so I think the negative posts are a bit OTT.

Although I must admit that he wasn't first on my list of experienced riders to lead the new team, Steve was very good in that ill-fated one-off appearance for the Saints a couple of years ago. Will he be riding in the Amateur meeting tomorrow? I'm hoping to get down to the EWR after lunch and see the lads go through their paces. It seems like there are team places up for grabs and the meeting is a final "Boot Camp" to see who will go to the "Live Shows" !

Wed 19th March it is. http://www.speedwaygb.co/news.php?extend.23802

I wish I shared your bullishness. Everyone seems confident that they have their visa until they're told that they haven't got it !

With the home fixtures being Sunday and Bank Holidays I would hope that being able to tempt Gary back would be a distinct possibility. He wouldn't need to take time off work, which was the main reason for his retirement a year ago, if I recall correctly. Would love to see the tall fella back. What do people think about the home fixtures ? The Stags will have ridden 7 out of 8 home league matches before the end of May. Will this help or hinder the progress of the rookies in the side ?

Triffic news. This is the positive side of the new NL reserves rule in the Elite League, as if it wasn't for that you wouldn't have seen the likes of Matt Ford getting involved in this sort of project. As it is there are seven more spots open to a potential future GB rider in this years NL. Thumbs up all round. Also, from a personal point of view, it'll be great watch some new recruits grow and progress at the EWR this year. I remember the 2010/11 team with great affection........ let's hope we unearth a few more rough diamonds.

I don't think the Polish league season starts until late April, so not an issue. Looking at the fixtures I don't see the home leg of the KO Cup against Peterborough - anyone know when it is ?

Congratulations and good luck to Rosco. It's not the most demanding job - just pick the right team and motivate them........simples.

New Years resolution for David and Jorgy: "Not to fall on my shoulder this speedway season".

It's the National League AGM today, so if it's the resurrection of the Stags we'll soon know. I thought that it would be the announcement of a new sponsor. What ever it is they are keeping it under wraps with rather more success than the new TV deal !

What has happened to the "major announcement within the next week" that was trailed last Monday ?

I'm sure that The Scunthorpe Telegraph has been called a lot worse ! I forgot to mention that the august journal also quoted Rob as saying that if they run then the team will be known as the "Stags" rather than the "Saints". Strangely, after all these years there is an issue over the copyright of the stick figure logo ! How was the Zielona Gora "mouse" logo dispute resolved ?

Three of the last four spots to be announced in the next couple of weeks. Final place in the New Year.

Rob's quoted in the local rag tonight as saying that Scunthorpe will look seriously at running a NL team, depending on outcome of AGM

No surprises then. Maybe Tai will get a quick name-check in the "and these are some of our World Champions we haven't mentioned tonight montage". I think that this is the best we can hope for. Interestingly enough on Talk Sport this morning Colin Murray asked for suggestions for an "alternative" SPOTY for deserving sports persons who wouldn't get a look in on the official short list. He actually mentioned Tai as an example.

The nominated top ten who are voted for by phone vote on the night was brought in to nullify the organised campaign by minority sports to get their candidate voted in as a winner (see Bob Nudd and the Angling community). I must admit that Briggo being the victim of a stitch up was not something I was aware of, but it was a year before I was born ! If Tai could be included as a nomination that would be great, but I cannot see it happening. This year there is only one winner, Andy Murray, with Ben Ainslie worth an each way bet. I think that the rest of the ten nominees will be padded out with a spread of the usual suspects that will fulfil the Beeb's "diversity" criteria.

What average would Sam come in on ?

With Rob saying that Josh would not be at No. 1 I did wonder whether we might see MK back at the EWR. His form at the end of the season was great and I assume that he won't go with Leicester up to the top league. Just needs Rob and Magnus to kiss and make up, aaaah !

Really hope that you can get back to the form you were showing at the start of 2012 before the injuries started piling up.

Promoting British juniors to EL reserve spots is a good idea if done properly........... but who expects it will be done properly. If some money comes in for a TV deal I expect an extremely watered down version of this plan to be put in place. I would just like to commiserate with the Panthers fans, terrible news.

Interested to know if the AGM fall out was discussed at Tai's do in Scunthorpe tonight? All systems go for a straightforward team build now. No Ash Birks it would seem for starters.

I always thought that ITV4 would be a natural home for speedway, motorsports already in their portfolio and the generally nostalgic roster of blokeish repeats like Minder from the seventies. Get Dave Lanning out of retirement and it would be just like old times. As ever an interesting contribution from Flagrag.

This is the worst week of the year for a speedway fan. Absolutely nothing happens the week before the AGM.

There are several topics spread across the Forum that are similar in tone to this one. They are all asking "what next?". At the crux of the matter is the Sky money, or lack of it. The promoters seem to be in a "chicken and egg" fix in that they cannot decide how to organise themselves for next year until they know what TV deal will apply - but how can you negotiate a TV deal with no structure in place! The AGM next week will reveal all (or not).