Teromaafan

Holder's last average in the UK was 7.16 (back in 2017). Assuming that still stands, by my maths, the following could be accommodated: Cook & Allen out Holder & Joe Thompson in. Overall improvement?

There are clearly no chips in Ben Barker's tyres then (only in his belly)!

'2 year suspension of his school registration'.......... Good to hear his Headmaster is having none of it either!

Just read Dale Allitt's statement regarding Lambert's replacement for Laguta. So it was because Artem struggled with the smaller tracks was it? B*ll*cks! He was a recent world champion and should be experienced/well rounded enough to adapt and handle all tracks (needs to have a word with one of his fellow countrymen). Its obvious to the speedway public there there were other issues with Laguta.

I thought Dickson was an astute team manager, but over looking the opportunity to use Fricke as T/S in heat 5 seemed a mistake. He was not eligible for a R/R ride so this would have been the only opportunity to bring him in as a replacement in this slot. At the end of the night however this matter became irrelevant as the Lions were consistently out gated and were frequently passed even after trapping. Lions have now lost the last two home meetings comfortably and whilst I’m not a fan of the rider revolving door, it will no doubt be in motion again before the transfer cut off.

Sorry, but the Sad Police have to step in here. There was no Push registered with Trumpton Fire Brigade. There were actually two fireman called Pugh. Captain Flack crashed in a match against Camberwick Green and was banned for life after testing positive on a urine sample… that he had drunk from an opponent as a dare. So, no facility for absence available there. Apologies to anyone under 55 for wondering what the F—- is going on here.

His flyer in heat 13 was embarrassing. The only passing seemed to come from riders making mistakes due to the state of the track. When experienced riders struggle you have to question the track safety. Goodness knows how crap it could have been without the extra half an hour of preparation. As disappointing as the travelling fans were, to come away from there with two points is something we would have settled for at the start of the night. Max got up from his fall at the end so I hope he’s okay. Great contribution from the reserves tonight and their form could be crucial going into the play offs.

If Dickson can get Craig’s head right, I’m quite optimistic. When the Lions started up again in 2011, for the first few seasons, Cookie was very difficult to beat at Leicester and we used to dream of him moving to us. Things have moved on since then (I used to have hair etc) I know but if he can gate, he will hold his own. Must admit, I’m not sure what he will deliver away though.

The only time you will have to write the name Cook in your programme is for Heat 15. If Cook is nominated for that race it would mean that the Lions already have the match in the bag. Thank you for reminding me though of my age regarding Colin Cook. A bit similar to Bomber (maybe not quite as good) when it comes to attitude to racing as I remember. Probably smaller than most club’s mascots, but a proposer racer.

Surely we should get Cookie cooking?

This guy was just operating a camera and this happened. What a relief. All the best Pete. A lot of the posts on this forum platform discuss crap (I’m as guilty as anybody) about subjects the outside world neither know or care about. But when it comes to something that is more important than the sport (health), it is great to read poster’s concerns for Pete’s welfare. Should add Cookie into that too. Sounds like Pete needs to be patient and we will all no doubt continue to post garbage relating to the minority sport we love.

‘Best drains in the country my arse’. You should follow that up. With the right marketing you could be a very wealthy person!

Makes me wonder if the Leicester track drains could even cope with a full Nick Morris bladder, but I guess we’ll never know.

Slightly off topic but of all the so called big hitters (GP riders or not) coming back to the UK this year, Emil is the one that stands out. His attitude and commitment makes me proud to be associated with this sport and is a joy to watch. Just wish he’d stop winning so many bloody races at Leicester though!

Putting Batch at No.5 is purely down to the weak (no disrespect to Mountain) opposite number for the opposition. I hope that the Leicester management will be using this as a benchmark for Troy, riding at the same number as a supposedly inferior opponent. Batch should be mindful that Mountain is without PL team and is also a Lions asset.

Thank you. Teams as you would expect. Batch at No.5 though? Paired with reserves in 3 races? Can’t see that, extremely weak pairing.

And these rumours are?

Yes, never quite gets to adding ‘…lenko’ at the end does he?

Swapping Batch back for Morris is not an option (regardless of the outcome of the hearing), because that would put the declared team over the points limit. Troy's average this season (admittedly after just three meetings) is 2.33 and I'd be surprised if the management are likely to give him much more time. The longer they persevere with him, the less time there is to bed a replacement in. There doesn't appear to be much choice out there and taking a punt on an untried 5.00 point Johnny Foreigner might be the way to go

Lions were were simply second best all night and fair play to the Witches who really seemed to want it. Whilst our play off spot is not in doubt, looking forward, I think that Batch is a worry. He needs to be delivering six points in home matches but his average is only going in one direction. Even when gating, he is surrendering points far too easy. Lions success in the play offs will depend on him upping his game, which I’m doubting he will.

Quite a bit of wet stuff predicted in the next 24 hours. Eurosport don’t like to be messed around, so will the Lions leave it to chance? Wouldn’t be surprised to hear this being called off in the morning.

….. And then we move on to the final. I’ve followed the sport for almost 50 years and cannot recall a better meeting than tonight. It had the lot (apart from a GB win, gutted for the lads), the four best teams in the world giving it everything, with more passes than a village idiot on Mastermind. Even when there was no passing, the racing was superb. If you didn’t enjoy that, Speedway isn’t for you.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, ideally, riders would only double up if they had been kicked in the b*lls, but it would appear that doubling up is here to stay due to a shortage of riders and what they can earn per meeting in the UK.

Out of interest, what was the 50/50 prize payout tonight? Last weeks prize ( £102) seemed poor to me although it was apparently a season record. Since attendance figures are never revealed, the 50/50 prize pot is probably the next best thing for an indication of crowd size.

Are guests an option though if a missing rider is fourth in his team's averages?