Solidmango

Ok. See you there - assuming you’ll be travelling to support your ‘team’?!

Direct from Peter Facenna on Facebook, no need to apologise Midget, blobby etc. I don’t usually respond to comments on social media, however on this occasion due to some of the comments that I have read above and that are being made elsewhere, I feel I must. The reason I am choosing to comment here and not release a further statement through official club channels, is that the events that unfolded in the early hours of Friday morning are not going to help us attract new fans to our sport and are likely to be of little interest to anyone who is not already a speedway fan. I had very much hoped that I wouldn’t have had to go into detail about the events that unfolded, mainly to spare Joe the indignity and give him a chance to seek out another opportunity, however as he has chosen to not tell the full story and instead go out of his way to criticize the club, Joe is no longer my concern. Below are the facts, which are not based on hearsay and have not been embellished. The reason why we choose to base ourselves at the Village Hotel in Glasgow during our pre-season training camp, is that our health and fitness expert, Ray Watts, and his business, Pegasus Training, are based there. Ray is a volunteer at the speedway as well as a personal friend. Our camp started off well on Thursday with a tough fitness test session in the gym, followed by a chat around what it meant to ride for the Tigers, what we are all about as a club, and what we expect from the boys on and off track, based on the fact that they are not only representing Glasgow Tigers, but are also representing Allied Vehicles Group, a substantial employer and well known business in Glasgow. After going out for a meal together and having some fun ten-pin bowling, I dropped the boys off at the hotel at about 21:00. Having come home and gone to bed, I was woken at 00:37 by a call from one of our riders, who proceeded to tell me that after he had returned to his room from the Bar, Joe had set the fire alarm off, that the entire hotel had been evacuated, and that the fire brigade were on site. Furthermore, because Joe had been arguing with hotel staff, including the manager, as well as arguing with the Chief Fire Officer (all whilst wearing his Glasgow Tigers/Allied Vehicles jacket), he had been barred from returning to the hotel. Joe had told the other riders that he had no money to go anywhere else, so I contacted Paul and asked if he could make sure that Joe had somewhere to stay and that whatever it cost, I would give him it back the next morning. Unfortunately, a lot of the nearby hotels were full, so James and Paul had to walk a mile and a half with Joe until they found a hotel that had a room available. The hotel was the Radisson Blu and the room cost £131, which Paul paid and which I paid Paul back on Friday morning. On the Thursday afternoon due to Ray’s relationship with the hotel, we were afforded a great welcome and were provided with a meeting room and a function room that we were able to set up a studio in, all without charge. When I arrived at the hotel early Friday morning, I met Ray and apologised profusely for the embarrassment that Joe’s actions must have caused him. Ray and I then sought out the Manager of the hotel so that I could apologise in person. During my conversation with the Manager, who was very understanding and praised the other riders for their behaviour during the incident, he informed me that Joe had shown no remorse for his actions and had created a scene with his staff and the fire fighters. He also told me that had this not been the case, Joe would have been allowed back into the hotel. I informed Joe on Friday morning that he had caused reputational damage to me, to Glasgow Tigers and Allied Vehicles, and to Ray, who had gone out of his way to ensure that we were well looked after by the hotel. I then informed Joe that on the back of this misdemeanour, he would no longer be riding for the Tigers. I suggested to Joe that he could try to change his train ticket so that he could get home, however he informed me that his dad was coming to collect him. It’s been reported that Joe was ‘left stranded’ in Glasgow on Friday, however had Joe informed me that he wasn’t able to change his train ticket and that his dad couldn’t come and collect him until much later, I would have arranged another train ticket for him, despite the hassle that he’d given me that morning. I also offered to get the items he had left in his room dropped off at his house next week. As for the comments stating that we simply dropped Joe for Kyle and that this was always planned, I can assure you that this is not the case. Kyle did get in touch when he lost his ride at Workington but was firmly told that we already had our team and that we didn’t have a space for him. If making this team change was always planned, we would have done this weeks ago, before going to the expense of bringing Joe up to the training camp, kitting him out in all our team wear, buying a set of hiking boots for him, and ordering Kevlars for him, which thankfully haven’t been produced yet. The bottom line is that if Joe hadn’t acted the way he did on Thursday night/Friday morning, he would still be a Tiger and would be joining us at the Supporters’ Group event tonight. Joe is a character and applied himself well during our initial gym sessions, however the club and its main sponsor cannot tolerate our reputation being damaged in the way it was, especially after a conversation only a few hours earlier about how professional we wish our club to be and about how our riders are representing Allied Vehicles as well as Glasgow Tigers. It’s a shame it has not worked out for Joe with us, but I wish him well for the future. Out with this incident, our training camp has been a great success, and I look forward to the Supporters’ Group event this evening, where fans will get to meet our 2019 team. This is the last statement I or the club will be making on the matter.

Joe was caught vaping in his hotel room whilst at the boot camp. How was he caught? Perhaps a smoke alarm that caused the full hotel to be evacuated and it then being identified that one of the Glasgow riders was the cause. Perhaps the incident didn’t stop there either...

Regardless if money is no object, if they have no morals or loyalty they wouldn’t have hesitated to make the change when Workington confirmed they weren’t racing. Now, off you go and put those toys back in your pram Midget.

The Facebook post now appears to give some details of the “unforeseen circumstances”.

As someone else mentioned, why Lawlor and not Chessell? And why the change after the team had a team building session in Glasgow? If Glasgow wanted Bickley in from the moment Workington withdrew, why wait until now and risk him signing for someone else? There’s more to this story that is being kept under wraps for someone’s benefit and i don’t think it’s Glasgow’s!

Could easily be £100k between staff costs, the large screen purchase and the track work that was completed.

You two could be lovers...

Long way to travel on the money he’d be getting. And no helicopter for him unfortunately

Without falling into the ‘mob’ category, I have been told that there are certain timescales that need to be adhered to when trying to sign a rider owned by another club which then results in delays on the rider being ‘announced’. In addition, Glasgow do try and make the announcements in an exciting manner through their social media outlets. I hadnt considered Vissing when doing my guesstimates but based on his average he’d do nicely in one of the heat leader roles, adding in Starke, who I feel is at least a point lower than I expected he would be, then I don’t think having Cook is a big issue. I agree generally with a ‘balanced’ structure but our upturn in form last year did coincide with the arrival of Cook and a more top heavy team. Time will tell and I reckon we will have 2 or 3 announcements in the near future!

I thought Jensen had agreed to ride for Workington again next season?!

Zelda - that’s a cracker!

Aye but what percentage of the posts will be anti Glasgow from Workington fans? And will there be any new posts or just the same old rubbish that they’ve posted on the Glasgow 2019 forum page?!

Yes that’s the same ones - you are spot on. They were highlighting what they’ve spent and how they’d like the facilities to be used more in the upcoming season. Im not disputing she has the best interests of Workington at heart however the constant negativity about this club doing this and that club doing that is not really needed or helping spread positive news about speedway in general.

Who’s been offered inflated wages?! Who have Glasgow signed?! What counts as inflated? If it’s more than Workington are prepared to offer does that count as “inflated”? Glasgow made significant losses last year primarily due to investment in the club - track work, TV screen etc. All to enhance the spectators experience. What’s been said now is basically we’ve invested and have some top class facilities let’s fill the stadium for us all to benefit. It’s not rocket science really. Well maybe it is to some people

Nah. We are in a very fortunate position in that we have very successful businessmen running our club at the moment. If they decide to move on then I won’t be sitting bitching and moaning about other clubs that are enjoying that luxury and doing their best to promote the sport and spread positive news about the sport on a regular basis.

Laura appears to have a chip on her shoulder, as do a few Workington fans on here. If you’re putting a team together on a budget that’s lower than previous years and lower than other clubs then you won’t get the same level or number of riders to choose from. Get on with it and stop whinging and moaning about other clubs!

Ooft. The rage.

He's the only 6.5pt (6.59) rider Workington have had it would appear

Which team are you representing currently THJ?

I like the look of that team, very balanced and 3 guys that could all be at number 1 depending on form. I reckon we will see Cook back. I know he takes up a chunk of points but when you think we have dropped 4.5 points off team building and only 2 years ago we had Worrall, Summers and Lawson all on c9pt averages then having Cook and one those other two heat leaders on an average of c6 points then I feel it is a gamble worth taking. Not only will he be favourite in most Heat 13&15's he will also be able to help and mentor the younger members of the team. The big question is what Workington rider have we tapped up/poached/offered mental money to? Proctor/Klindt/Jensen?

You do know that Glasgow can only sign 7 riders for the beginning of the season?! How many riders are there?! What riders have we poached/poaching?! The fact is, riders like the vast majority of people that go out to work, want to obtain the best deal for the services they provide. Likewise, employers want to take on the people that will provide their business with the best opportunity to succeed and flourish. What Glasgow decide to pay their riders has very little impact and certainly does not force other clubs to pay more. It's funny how none of Glasgow's critics have maybe thought riders want to join Glasgow because they will get paid the amount agreed and within the time frame agreed, for me that sort of security is worth more than £5-10 extra per point! How many people move jobs for more money? It doesn't mean that others doing the same job in different roles across the sector all go and demand (and receive) more money. Like Gazc has pointed out, yes we made a loss this year but how much of that was apportioned to the one-off big buys - track, fence, TV screen etc?! It's too easy for people to come on here and start spouting sh!t with no basis for their accusations.

Yes, he's spearheading the Comets next year!

Some initial team thoughts: C Harris - 7.71 L Kerr - 7.18 K Howarth - 6.95 K Newman - 5.98 P Starke - 5.88 J Thomas - 2.30 D Kemp - 2.00 Total - 38 Or..... C Cook - 10.45 L Kerr - 7.18 P Starke - 5.88 J Pickering - 6.11 N Greaves - 4.09 J Thomas - 2.30 D Kemp - 2.00 Total - 38.1 (Kemp and Thomas will get 2.5% reductions) I've got to be honest, I know Cook is 'expensive' on his average but I feel the team riding and assistance he can offer is worth this especially if both reserves can perform as well as they are expected to.

I suspect, given all clubs are apparently running at a loss, that there’ll be no reduction in admission prices in any division. It may be there’s a slight increase in the Premiership and no change in the championship?