Steve Shovlar

I have the Leicester riders the other way around. It was a great race. Heat 05: King, B.Cook, R.Worrall, D.Thompson 1-5 (16-14) Line Up: R.Worrall, D.Thompson, King, B.Cook Comments: R.Worrall gated but King divebombed him bend 3 lap 1 to take the lead. A fantastic ride from B.Cook to pass Both Lions exiting bend 2 lap 4 to take 2nd and a Poole 5-1.

He’s got to be given more than one meeting Lisa. Needs a few months. Everything will be new for him and he will need plenty of time to settle in.

Both great riders. Gary Allen was a great servant for Poole before moving to Swindon. That crash he had nearly took him. NHS at Poole certainly saved his life. Really liked Mark Thorpe as a rider.

Who was the last Kiwi to make a real impression over here? Gary Allan? About time a New Zealand rider made a break through.

It’s a very strange signing. Has nothing to show the reason why Plymouth would want to sign him. Keleher is a much more accomplished rider than Turner, and he didn’t make the grade either. Looks like Turner fitted the remit and is willing to come. A shame there aren’t better him grown prospects to fill the spot.

Sounds like another Keleher with a worse record. Wish him well.

I would grant Glasgow a ten point lead. It’s the only realistic way they are in with a shout to be honest.

Can’t wait for Eastbourne to return. Some of the best speedway days out was a Good Friday. Poole at 11 am played out in front of a packed Wimborne Road, before heading east to Eastbourne in the evening for part two. Really brilliant days. Some titanic battles and top notch action. And some excellent budgie bashing with old man Dugard doing his best to doctor the track in favour of the budgies. Hopefully just a season away.

Riding a 200 metre track he is regularly at compared to the U.K. is chalk and cheese. Last night it was a tiny circle of a track. If he joins Plymouth he might be OK.

I remember Kyle Lagault was signed by Poole years ago but never rode for us. Did he get injured at the time and retired? If that was his first ever meeting back it was a very good effort.

Never going to happen. The PL is all powerful and any loss of revenue will be viewed badly by the millions of football fans who will rightly blame the government.

5-6000 at Poole back then. 3-4000 at Bournemouth in league 2. Swindon Town had bigger crowds, still do really and are in league 2. But one of the players purchased yesterday for Bournemouth would buy STFC 10 times over. Yesterdays spending at AFCB is more than all the other leagues in europe combined. The Premier League is the European Super League in all but name only. No other league can compete or compare. AFCB outbid AC Milan for a player this window. They are near the bottom of the PL but in any other league the lineup would see them top 8. They are the smallest PL team by a distance, but one of the richest clubs in the world due to their PL status and new ownership.

In the early 2000’s Poole we’re regularly getting bigger crowds than AFC Bournemouth. Yesterday, AFC Bournemouth spent over £80,000,000 (80 Million pounds) in the winter transfer window. How things have changed.

I have nothing against Jake Allen but he is a journeyman third heat leader in the Championship. Not in the same class as Richard Lawson. Yes, on his home track he could pop out and beat Lawson but overall Lawson is a much more accomplished rider. I recall Allen having a couple of decent meetings at Poole when he was at reserve. But last season he was nowhere and didn’t get close to double figures if my brain remembers correctly. Can’t really compare the two riders. When Allen rode for Somerset he looked like a talent about to break through but sadly it never materialised.

PAUL JOHNSON. No doubt.

They went on record stating that Somerset had permanently closed and that they were not going to discuss it. They surely forfeited any reason to keep a promoters licence.

I should imagine anyone, and I mean anyone, could put together a consortium or just themselves to start a new speedway club in Somerset. They certainly don’t have to ask permission from any other group or the Hancocks, who lost all rights the moment they shut down Somerset. They might have rights to the name but a new club could be called Somerset Saints. They would need a licence from the BSPA and pay bonds etc. But at the moment, no one has the god given right to say we can be the only group.

No! Very poor and extortionate imo. Once bitten, never again. Eat at McD’s around the corner beforehand.

Certainly wouldn’t eat at Poole. Double Cheeseburger £8. RIP off! Go McD’s before if you need food.

Easy to do that way but how many seasons has Brennan and Thomson had in the CL? Let’s see at the end of this season. Confident Cook will not be behind Thomson and could well have a higher average than Brennan. The improvement was there for all to see. Time will tell.

You are under rating Ben Cook. It’s perhaps understandable since he is relatively new to British speedway but as the two clips above show, he is progressing rapidly in the right direction. Here’s another clip of Ben passing MPT at Plymouth and the commentator completely missing it. Go to 52 mins heat 14. Ben struggling on the tiny Plymouth track but finally getting to grips with it.

Don’t remember a single Poole fan wanting Ben Cook replaced last season. Just got better and better as the season progressed.

If Poole fans were offered Kye or Ben Cook for the third heat leader berth, I doubt any would pick Kye over Ben. Cook progressed over the course of the season. Whilst I like Brennan and hope he will be a top British rider, having watched Ben since his arrival in the U.K., he has gone from strength to strength. But for the visa he was issued he would have had plenty of premier League rides last year. This year will see what he can do. I have no doubt he will do more than his job for Poole in 23.

I think Ben Cook is better than Brennan and Kye Thomson already. He is new to the leagues so non Poole fans have really yet to take serious notice of his abilities but Peterborough have been watching and Pirates fans know just how good this little racer is. Big things await Ben and if he continues to progress this coming season then Poland awaits. Very fast out front and able to make Impressive passes. I have no doubt he will do a great job in the third heat leader berth.

Nathan averaged under 2 didn’t he? Yes he scored a few points over the season but very little.