Teromaafan

The amount of Heat 15s (one every meeting from my research) tell us what?

I see on the Lions website that Specsavers are now sponsoring us. Have they not been involved before, providing rose tinted pairs for the previous management?

Looking at our team for next season, I'm as optimistic as you can be for a Lions follower. If we are to be serious title contenders, then we cannot carry anyone. The key could be trigger happy Sarj. The margin between a warning and making a perfect start is so slight and if Sarj can get some help from senior team members on this front he could pick up some valuable points, particularly at home, against opposing reserves and second strings. If he does start trapping better it would also be a saving on elastic!

Like the sound of this, where exactly (web site/link) has this been confirmed? Would seem to leave room (finances permitting) for another top end heat leader to give us much needed clout in heats 13 & 15.

So Sarjeant's average for Premiership (superior league) team building is 3.81 yet his Championship (inferior league) final average from last season was 3.33, how can this be right?

So the management are giving Josh 'as much time and space as he needs'. I assume/hope that this means they will continue team building without him but keep him in mind when (inevitably sometime in April) they are looking to shake things up due to riders under performing. We wish Josh well and hope he sorts things out but the Lions (and Sheffield) have to look at the bigger picture despite the family connections.

The thought of Robert Lambert in Lions colours excites me. Although he seemed to stagnate a bit last season, I still think he is likely to be the next big thing in British speedway. Always seems to do okay around BP and is a real racer who's efforts would go down a storm with the Lions fans. If we could get him I would almost be prepared to take his namesake (poor Simon) if that meant staying within the 42.50 total!

Fairly pleased with the team signings to date and it's nice to have named 5 by this time of year for a change. It's difficult to guess who the remaining 2 might be in view of the lack of (official) information regarding assessed averages and what the management have to play with (and can afford). Last season our reserve pairings were as good as anyone's and I think it is important to try and maintain strength in that department again. This makes Newman an important signing. I recall quite a few meetings last year (home and away) where we kept things tight only to be undone in heats 13 and 15. This has hopefully not been lost on the management and trust that the next signings include someone of at least Nilsson's calibre (whom I would be happy with again although there are rumours that he will be giving the UK a miss next year) to accompany Vaculik. I' m okay with King as a third heat leader but he did cost us vital points when he came up short in these heats last season. There is every reason to be positive at this stage and hope that the completed line up (which will of course see its first change by the end of April!) will be attractive enough to maintain the interest of fans disgruntled with the move from Saturday nights.

For me the biggest problem with speedway in this country, which is embarrassing to try and justify to non followers of the sport, is the number of riders doubling up. It came to a head in the recent relegation/promotion play off when a couple of Leicester riders were unavailable because they were riding for.......the opposition! I'm hoping that fixed race nights will go some way to reducing (is eliminating too optimistic?) clashes and restore some credibility to the sport. Something else I have thought about is riders moving on the start line. There is a very thin line between cheating and making a perfect start. I came up with what I thought was a very simple solution. Set a small battery laser (as used by Surveyors/Estate Agents etc) parallel to and a bike length plus about 12 inches behind the line. Before the green light goes on, all riders must be forward of and not therefore break the laser beam. When the green light is on riders can neither touch the tapes or break the laser beam (which would result in an exclusion). This leaves a potential 12 inch 'gamble zone' for the riders to move at their own risk. Same for all riders. Any comments on this idea would be welcomed. I emailed this idea to the BSPA some time ago and remain hopeful of a response before the next millennium.

With regard to race night I do not think that Saturday is the be and all that the previous management believed. The rumoured Monday and Thursday nights would not impact attendances greatly if supporters had a play off contender team to support. How come no other top tier team ( apart from RH) wants to race on a Saturday? If the entertainment and team success is there, spectators will not be put off by race nights, (think Sky football kick off switches?).

Of the four Championship teams in the play offs, only one team does not have rider/s that double up for the Lions. Does anyone know how rider priority works when a rider rides for both teams in the Premiership/Championship play off? Although this is a little embarrassing for the sport, it has to be addressed and I wouldn't be surprised if the powers that did not have something in place for such a scenario. The normal priorities for Premiership/Championship fixture clashes cannot surely be applied in such circumstances?

So the Championship play off dates have now been announced. If the promotion/relegation play off to follow does actually happen ( still not convinced) we are looking at early October for their meetings with the Lions. Have the Lions riders been told to make themselves available? Are potential guest riders being approached with regard to their availability to replace Lions riders that might be riding against them? (Don't laugh, this is speedway remember). Personally I do no think it matters what league we ride in next year (so long as we do actually compete) since the majority of riders racing will be the same names due to all the doubling up. Such is the lure of the Premiership that I do not think any Championship team is busting a gut to join the 'big' boys (I said stop laughing). Further re-structuring of the leagues would seem a priority and if it is necessary to bring in weaker riders to reduce the number of double uppers, so be it. Teams with similar ability having riders who do not ride for other teams has to be the way forward. Fans will relate to a regular 1 to 7.

As a neutral I wasn't bothered about last night's result and enjoyed some very competitive racing. When Ellis broke the tapes he was put back 15 metres and I noticed that he lined up with the gate 3 position. I always thought that a rider put on 15 metres had to take up the outside gate position (with the other 3 riders re-shuffled/moved across to gates 1 to 3) to give the start marshal the best chance of not being run over. Is my understanding incorrect? has the rule changed? Please let me know!

Did anyone else pick up on the post match interview (on BT Sport) between Kelvin Tatum and Pete Adams? Kelvin asked Pete a very reasonable question regarding choice of first leg venue for the play off semi final which prompted an unnecessary confrontational response from Pete. Kelvin covered himself with his response to Pete's accusation that he had not done his homework but was clearly miffed (and rightly so) at the juvenile response to his simple question. Pete Adams did not do the sport any favours in front of the TV cameras. Having a face resembling that of a camel (anyone else spotted that?) is no reason to have the hump!

I really think that Jolly Jim shot himself in the foot in the post match interview. He didn't think that any of the riders were going anywhere (his words) and didn't therefore bother with the tactical ride as soon as the Lions went 10 behind. If that was the case and he couldn't see where the next potential strong heat advantage was, why did he not go for the 'black and white stripey hat' there and then? A tad harsh but could have won us the meeting. Overall I was impressed with the fight back and it seemed that everyone, including guests were up for it.

Whilst I do admire the enthusiasm of other posters, I find it a little sad with regard to their 'excitement' for the next meeting when Lions can field a 'full strength' team. At this stage of the season, the league table doesn't lie ( same for any sport really) and the bottom line is that we are/have not been good enough to be any higher than we are in the league, regardless of who has represented us ( guests or official 1 to 7 riders). Being realistic and not wanting to be negative, we are now too far adrift to avoid the wooden spoon. We have been unlucky with injuries, but he sport is unlucky with injuries.The most frustrating thing for me is the amount of match points squandered home and away where we have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. This frustrates but does not surprise me when the team manager tells his team to just enjoy the away fixtures. Since his job is to motivate and encourage, Jolly Jim clearly doesn't give a toss and should be told to enjoy 'gardening leave' as it is referred to with proper jobs.

.....and line up at the tapes to race against a guest rider who is replacing himself due to his absence!

A team is bottom of the league with two of their main men unavailable through injuries. They have a meeting and although their captain is fit, he is unavailable because he is riding for another team who are pushing for promotion in another league. The team suffers yet another defeat, whilst their captain is the top scorer for his other team in a meeting that they have won. If his great form for his other team continues, that team may well get promotion and replace the current 'top' tier team he captains. You couldn't make this up......but this is where speedway is in 2017.

There are now a couple of Aussies looking for work after being moved on from their jobs just down the A47....... (Surely not?).

​​Anyone manage to get to the Q&A with Dave Darcy in the track bar? Any interesting comments to share?

This discussion regarding who will remain with the Lions for next year (based on the likelihood that they will be relegated) makes me smile. The current seven, just the right side of the revolving door, will not be the same next month yet alone next year, due to injuries and the (rider form related) fickle/panic nature of the club managements within the sport. How many speedway fans have any affinity with riders in their team, the vast majority of which come and go in a relatively short space of time compared with other sports and who also ride for another team in Britain? I know several people who do not necessarily follow the sport, but have an understanding of it and are staggered by the fact this can happen in a so called professional sport. Regardless of whether the relegation/promotion will actually happen between the current top two tiers next year, we will still see the same riders in both leagues, its just a case of which team colours they will be wearing during the close season rider scramble.

As much as the league misses Coventry do fans really want to see a meeting where riders might be doubling up for two teams in the same match! The sport is getting to a stage where this scenario might not be far off!

Looking at the latest averages, Bjerre and Riss will be at reserve. My immediate reaction was that this paring is as good as, if not better than, anyone's in the league (when they are available of course). Then my glass half empty outlook tells me that there is a reason why they have dropped to reserve in a team that are serial wooden spoonists. If they can ride to their capabilities however, especially at home, some serious points could be racked up (although maybe not enough to elevate us to a lofty top 7 league spot). As long as they enjoy themselves eh Jim!

Nothing short of embarrassing tonight. We remain the joke of British Speedway despite all the recent rider changes (just different punch lines). Although not strictly true of tonight's line up, how can a team be at it's weakest when they are supposedly at full strength! This is not as stupid as it may appear since we had some very close away meetings at the start of the season with a heavy guest presence. Would love to know how 'no pressure Jolly Jim' took this one tonight and hope he apologised (adding a beer wouldn't seem unreasonable) to any Lions fans who made the journey to Somerset. Is there any better example of it can't get any worse?

Don't know about other folks thoughts but Jim Lynch's laid back approach to away matches to me is frankly unprofessional. His most recent comments in the Wolves preview on the website such as 'having a bit of fun' and 'don't take things too seriously' are embarrassing. For your information Jim there aren't too many people laughing. I can understand the mindset of trying to relieve pressure on riders but for goodness sake don't make comments like that public. It's not like we are dominating at home, like he said was the priority at the start of the season. From the outside he appears be taking the pee. For all his faults, Norrie told it like it was.