Big Al

Looking forward to the start. But no news on the Bates situation's a bit unsettling. Maybe a bit of trouble at t'mill caused by Sarjeant's average?

I see that Tom Bacon is named on the replacements bench for Wasps tonight in their A League rugby union game against Leicester Tigers. As he is number 23 it probably means he plays in the backs.

Which club "owns" Lasse Bjerre as an asset? Was it Ipswich he started with? If they can agree a sensible fee, it could be worth Sheffield/Leicester buying him outright rather than keeping on paying out loan fees. As for Bates, well he could well come back in at some stage but Lions need to be harvesting the league points early season, as there are plenty of opportunities, so a re-declaration with Bjerre included would make most sense as long as the terms and bureaucracy can be sorted out successfully.

The other key ingredient was Willy's harsh exclusion in his first ride after tangling with Simmons on the first bend. Knew that he more or less had to win his other 4 (3 out of 4 was enough in the end), so every heat he took part in was nerve jangling stuff. The run off just shredded the nerves. Jessup's surprise failure heaped even more onto it all for us. Unforgettable.

Looking at the fixtures list, the first 6 weeks of the season could be crucial. Leicester has a golden opportunity to take an early advantage so there can be none of that "our season starts in June" stuff if results in those 6 weeks arnt good enough. Nothing less than 100% at home will be enough plus at least two away wins during that period. There's a much better chance of achieving that with Stead as manager. Getting Vaculik and Pieszek dialled in, and Newman producing the goods is far more likely with him in charge.

Stronger? Who knows. Nebulous concept anyway. But probably more stable. A relatively calm winter, for a change. Remember last year's turmoil? This time it's the same 8 clubs, line-ups all more or less sorted by end of January. Relatively low level of wholesale changes being made by clubs and in some cases "former favourites" returning and a small crop of newcomers to add interest. When Leicester moved into the upper league, there were three seasons of wholesale changes from year to year. Looks like that's finally at an end. I see that Rye House and Somerset are being widely tipped to occupy the lower places in the league, but it's only their second season, and there is a lot of rider continuity unlike with Leicester when they stepped up. Then you have the clamping down on doubling up clashes, the fast track lottery is gone for good, and so there's a lot of what supporters have been wanting for a long time. Foreign riders have always come and gone, so this time it's Lindgren and Bjerre but chances are they'll be back sooner or later. The biggest travesty is the continued absence of Woffinden.

But Hans Andersen has (apparently) joined Leicester. That's one major option already let go.

The two televised league matches didn't do Jim Lynch many favours. I felt sorry for him during the home match v Swindon because he had so much sh*t to deal with, plus constant TV interviews, and a bad reffing decision. But at Somerset he blew it tactically, had a meltdown during a TV interview, and then Mr Tatum kindly stuck the boot in to finish the job off.

Some of the team, we more or less know what we're going to get. There are two who you can put into the category of unknown quantities although we have good reasons to be hopeful. The key man I think is Newman, especially early season. Can he properly fulfil his promise, and stay clear of injury? This is the year when he needs to kick on. Will he??

8.50 might have been more justifiable but until there is a proper Europe wide conversion rate which is set in October each year by an independent body it's always going to be unsatisfactory. Anyway, the mantra of "build the team to the points limit" hasn't been followed, which might not be a bad thing if a change is needed in early season.

Agree with one proviso which is that "knocking" is justified when higher-paid riders take the P out of the paying public

If they are haggling over the loan fee or transfer fee it could have caused Mr Ford to start playing games via the media. Hans is, what, 38 but by no means over the hill yet. So Ford could be trying to get a better transfer fee than what Leicester are offering??

Gone beyond daft, hasn't it? Why can't riders just have an average based on what they did in league speedway in the season just ended. If they rode in GB league use that one. If they rode in Poland or Sweden but not UK, use their average from those leagues with an adjuster which is set by the FIM immediately after end of each season. If they rode both Poland and Sweden the higher figure applies. Why is there this obsession with treating GP riders differently. The GP's are a different kind of speedway.

If the new calculator with big buttons which Santa brought me is working properly, I make it to be like this- If Sargeants average is 3.81, it leaves 7.15. If his average is 2.56, it leaves 8.40. This is based on Vaculik 8 and KP 6 as per Flagrag. In the case of it being 2.56, they could bring in Hans Andersen and swap Josh Bates for Lasse Bjerre if Josh really does have to quit speedway. If I'm wrong let me know and I'll send the calculator back!!

Ok maybe not. How about KK then?

Holder?

Most recent SGB average is 3.33 in CL which converts to, what, 2.++ for PL? Rumour about him signing for Lions began a few weeks ago, so perhaps the club were trying to get his GSA verified before confirming him? Based on his form in 2017 I doubt if the club would have him at 3.81 whereas 2.++ could mean Kim Nilsson or similar as the final appointment.

Simon Lambert has to miss a large chunk of each season injured. Not easy finding replacements for someone with such a low average

If Martin Vaculik does carry a 9 point assessed average, that bullet is probably worth biting. If Krys Pieszckek is assessed as 6 (or even 6.5 at a push) that might be ok. But if he is given a starting average of 7, I'm not so sure he's good value, especially if it means Kim Nilsson can't be fitted in. I have seen the rave reviews but would prefer us to start with three known heat leaders (classing King as the third) than have King as the no.2 and the third one not certain. Lasse Bjerre might also become a possibility for the team without Pieszczek.

After years of hearing all sorts of garbage from the previous owner/promoter since joining the top league, but actually ending up with teams composed mainly of leftovers and waiting and waiting for riders to be announced, I for one am delighted the new ownership has "jumped the gun" by announcing the signing of Martin Vaculik at such an early stage. I'm not including Jason Doyle in the "leftovers" category when he was signed from Birmingham, but he wasn't a GP rider at that stage and left due to the intransigence of the owners. The signing makes a statement, to the Leicester supporters and the rest of the league. We're not going to be the whipping boys any more. And we don't need charity handouts from the 1 over 8 fiasco. And, I'd much rather have a Plumber as club owner than a Hairdresser.

We know where the real power resides now. It's the Championship clubs. No wonder that Ipswich & co didn't want to shift leagues, stay with strength in numbers and make the higher level league dance to their tune. No surprise to hear the AGM sessions went on for so long in that case. The Premier League is now well and truly on its own, so can it survive or will they eventually fully concede and chuck in their lot with the Championship? Unless they can conjure up some TV money and league sponsorship, it's looking a bit dodgy. So we also have the 1 over 8 shoot-in-the-foot fiasco. Not content with being screwed over by the PL, why not inflict some self-harm as well? Already the World Champ looks like being lost to the UK. Nice start, guys. I wonder how many riders out there with 7-8 averages not currently riding UK will actually materialise? I bet they will be upping their financial demands because they can pretty much hold the UK top league to ransom now. And the tac sub? Heat 14 allowed?? Can they be serious? Imagine a guy coming out in all 3 of heats 13, 14 and 15. Gee, won't that really speed up the match being completed. How about a rule banning tac sub riders from having 2 rides on the trot? As my old mate Geoffrey Boycott would say, there's more brains in a Pork Pie.

What I see is a fudge of compromises, trade-offs and a rift between the two leagues which has been patched over temporarily. Its a case of most have got what they didn't ideally want, and some have got what they wanted. Next year's horse trading will just rake up the compromises made this time as favours reckoned to be owed are called in. Democracy in action!!

When we had Wilson, Boulger and Jessup at Leicester, plus a cast of regulars filling the other places, the crowds were good and interest high. All three moved on at various times although I think that DJ was first to go. There were conflicting stories around at the time as to whether he moved due to Rider Control, excessive money demands, or tightwad promoters. Whatever, we were then treated to a succession of riders coming in via the Rider Control system who were substandard and in many cases didn't want to be there and showed it by their performances. The club's decline was rapid and steep from then on until Rogers revived it a few years later.

I think the fixed race nights plan isn't primarily to entice GP riders etc to ride in the UK now. It's more about trying to tempt the more middle-range riders, who have been content with Swedish team places plus a Polish squad place. Polish clubs may now be happier to allow their mid-rangers here, the Museilaks of this world.

Contrast the attitudes of Holder and Zagar as described above (and I think they're true) with Martin Vaculik who has stated he wants to tackle a difficult track as part of his quest to become a better rider. These 3 are in pretty close proximity in the current GP pecking order. Let's see which one comes out on top in 2018. Maybe he's realised how much his 2 years at Leicester helped to move Mr Jason "British tracks are crap" Doyle on in his career.