Steve Shovlar

Whilst Somerset have done well this season, the expectation is certainly on them to beat Poole. They are clear favourites to progress to the final and if they don’t make it through it can only be viewed as failure. Expectation should be there from the fans as well as the management and riders. As a Pirates fan I view these two meetings as a chance to make the final. It’s not like when we won all those championships and I expected us to win them. This time I hope we can beat Somerset to make the final but I am not expecting it to happen. Big difference and as a fan of Poole, completely stress free this time around. I am sure Middlo will have the team fired up and they will give their best. Plenty of Poole fans as usual will still make the trip to Somerset on the 17th to cheer on the boys in the hope of turning over the favourites.

It wasn’t a patchup. The whole of the first and second bends were relaid from base upwards.

He’s not interested in Ipswich. Red herring. The reason he doesn’t post in Ipswich threads because he is more interested in Poole. A very weird person with some serious issues.

Unfair. The chosen team never rode a meeting. It was patched up from the start of the season. Kurtz was never meant to be number one.

And as night follows day he has spouted his usual yawn worthy guff. So predictable. No wonder his wife walked. Could anyone seriously imagine having to be sharing a life with someone with so much anger and hatred? Needs anger management therapy.

I seriously don’t know why you bother to respond. He is simply a Poole hater and it’s pointless having a discussion with someone like that. Much better to ignore his diatribes. If we lose against Somerset, he will post we have choked. If we win, it will be because of some luck, poor ref decision or a Somerset had an off night. Don’t ever expect him to actually praise Poole on a win. He will respond with some utter guff about me or Poole as usual. He always does.

Belle Vue have more than covered for Bewley so far.

It doesn’t help when two of the 4 semi finalists are doctoring their track to give extra home advantage. Somerset are making it one line for their riders, proved by the last two meetings, and Kings Lynn are making the track ultra grippy, proved by the meetings against Poole and Leicester. While there is nothing illegal about doing this, it takes away exciting racing. A grippy track makes racing very fast and spread out. A one line track means if you don’t get bullied off the inside line you win. Neither are conducive to exciting, thrilling racing the fans and BT demand. Fans could argue that if Somerset make the track an inside line only, then Poole should gate and sit on the inside. Easier said than done. The Somerset riders will have their setups sorted out of the gate. Same goes for Lynn. Whilst Iversen doesn’t like grippy tracks, making it grippy helps their riders at the bottom end. Simon Lambert said he wished it was ultra grippy every week.

Perhaps you will like this one better. NSS is the best track in the country but you should accept the Poole track produces excellent racing as well.

Of course they will bother, or cop a heavy fine. All meetings must be run.

SP both straights are minimum 10 metres wide, with the bends minimum 15 metres. NW42, last nights race was thrilling, but I feel if Doyle hadn’t made a mistake on bend 2 when he lost a lot of speed, Fricke wouldn’t have caught him. But I enjoyed it nevertheless.

Probably be a double header now.

Meeting abandoned.

Have Lynn picked the wrong team for the semi? Got a feeling on this form Belle Vue could make the final.

Poole bends are not narrow. FIM width. Poole track nearly always produces good racing. Don’t listen to the haters. Plenty of passing last night! I admit the track isn’t as good as NSS but what tracks are?

Heat 13 yesterday was excellent. But this was better.

No I was there to witness the track at first hand in the B fixture. It was televised so anyone watching on BT saw what the track was like. Leave the curb and go backwards. They also did it against Kings Lynn. Nicolai posted on twitter asking what the hell have Somerset done to their great race track?

All managers make the odd blooper. But how many titles has he won? Almost lost count.

Perhaps I read your post wrong. I read the “who cares” as you not caring about Chris Holder after the service he has given the club. If it was about his problems, then I apologise.

So Gary May decided to take the first leg in the hope that Somerset will build a big enough lead to make the second leg at Wimborne Road two weeks later nothing more than a formality. Somerset are clear favourites for once. We don’t go very well around the Oak Tree, and they go very well around our place. Heats 13 and 15 are a virtually nailed on 8 point swing in both meetings. However, I am not giving up all hope. If, and it’s a big if, all the boys click together we can cause a shock and knock them out. Brady Kurtz and Josh Graczjonek both need to up their games and Richie Worrall needs to have a good meeting there, something I have yet to see. Chris Harris struggled badly on his last two visits. Again he needs to pull back the years. The rebels are odds on to progress to the final but at least this time around we will be aware the track is likely to only have one line. Expecting 52-38 which will be too much to pull back. But you never know. Middlo, with more league titles than the rest put together and possibly the best manager the sport has seen for decades, will have the boys fired up. Will it be enough? We will know soon enough.

Well I do for one and there are many hundreds who appreciate the time Chris Holder spent with the Pirates. He is one of Poole Pirates all time greats and deserves to be classed as one. Your dissing him by saying “who cares” says a lot more about you.

The rule should be strengthened. As the clock hits zero, all riders must be ready for the green light. Gardening in any shape or form will result in a disqualification. The fans will appreciate this, and the riders will soon get used to it. Gardening delays are one of the banes of the sport.

Heat 14 last night.

He had to be seperated from his team mate earlier this season and threatened with the sack. Doesn’t sound good as gold to me.

If Matt is in charge of Poole next season there would be no way back for Jack Holder, even if he wanted to return. Burnt all his bridges with his behaviour last season.