steve roberts

...time to draw a line under it and proceed in a civilised and respectful manner.

...bizarre analogy but at least you've given an answer which is a move in the right direction and his record speaks for itself however as I've indicated elsewhere he has/had good lieutenants in which to bounce his thoughts off which is always a bonus when planning strategies on and off the track.

...Okay I'll keep it simple but as you implied "usual supects" (which implies more than one) I'm sure the "usual suspects" would like to know your choice. As regards mine, that's easy, the Cheetahs Team Manager (Peter Schroeck) as they top the table at present!

...and your answer to the best current team manager would be? Enlighten us.

...which was half the fun between races and discussing what had just taken place. Personally I don't understand the need to rush thru' a meeting and have it all done and dusted in as little time as possible. Never agreed with the adage that a meeting consists of just fifteen minutes of action (although extra races would be beneficial) because personally what went on between heats only added to the entertainment value in my opinion.

Used to be the same on the old Oxford Cheetahs forum.

The best Team Managers also had good Lieutenants on track who acted as "go-betweens"...Ole Olsen at Coventry, Sam Ermolenko at Wolves, John Louis at Ipswich, Ivan Mauger at Exeter and Hans Nielsen at Oxford to name but a few.

Agree entirely...having a sure ability around you to work with makes things much easier. Ipswich were not the strongest of teams on paper during their double winning years (1975/76) but having the combined force of John Berry and Ron Bagley running the show they excelled bringing out the best in their riders.

...and his longevity is to be congratulated. A true servant to the sport he has graced for nearly thirty years now.

Exactly!

I recall one rider being put under the spotlight for taking "nightnurse."

I'm sure that he was a clean cut wrestler (a "goodie" as in those days they were either "baddies" or "goodies") Didn't realise until relatively recently that Pete Waterman is the nephew of Spllt?

I vaguely recall that a wrestler at that time once dabbled with speedway?

...another pretty awful commentator. I used to like Chris French on "Screensport"...you could telll that he was a speedway fan who knew his stuff!

Brings back memories and when speedway was shown on mainstream TV albeit on an irregular basis.

...another of his favourite sayings was "chasing, chasing, chasing."

I recall Wally Loak referring to John Louis as "Lewis" on one of his commentaries.

Recall Malcom Simmons disliking the track before he moved to Poole but then re-set his mindset and didn't find it as "frightening" as he once thought however his views on Newport and Bristol were less complimentary! Martin Ashby improved considerably as a rider after his en-forced move to the County Ground which required a different approach and Phil Crump enjoyed his visits there! Certainly not the most popular track for visiting riders and many held it in trepidation when due to visit and many apparent "breakdowns" on route to Devon were often reported.

I recall during one of his commentaries he still referred to Leicester as "Hunters". Would have been the Wills Internationale.

Not sure when the Wills Internationale was first televised? For some odd reason it was the one meeting that the BBC had the rights to.

Hans Nielsen was the best exponent of the art that I ever witnessed although a colleague of mine mentioned that Ronnie Moore was a class above all others plus throw in the likes of Ivan Mauger and, as much as I hate to admit, Ole Olsen! George Hunter when a "Cheetah" was also pretty good and Jan Staechmann covering for Todd Wiltshire in particular.

Interesting where there were a couple of references made to full face helmets (a thread was created on the BSF a while back) and that they may well have been a contributory factor to at least two riders in Aussie suffering with life changing injuries because of the design of them when first introduced.

Great that you're keeping this thread going...much appreciated!

Team Riding is one of the great spectacles in team speedway in my opinion.

I guess part of the thrill was being able to stand right up close to the fence (as was Exeter)?