oldtimer

Over the past few years I have got more and more disillusioned with speedway, and at the moment, like many others, I am not sure if I want to follow the sport anymore. I think there needs to be drastic changes and the following are my main concerns. I want a team that has 7 riders who I can follow and support throughout the whole season, and when a visiting team arrives I want to see that team, not guests and R/R. Of course you will say injuries cannot be helped it is part and parcel of speedway. However this season injurys seem to have been worse than last season, and that was pretty bad. I don't know the answer, but the fact that bikes have got more powerful and faster and tracks have stayed the same size may be the cause, or I have read the new silencers make it more difficult to control, or perhaps riders need inflatable crash jackets. Whatever the solution something must be done. Teams turning up with only half of their named riders has got to stop. Having mentioned the new silencers, they apparently make it harder to get the correct set up and that is why you see top riders get a max one night, and a low score the next. Something needs to be done about that and a return to throttle control and the skill of the rider, not who can afford the best equipment and engine tuner. The tactical rule needs to be dropped, if not for all matches then definately for the Play Offs. Succesful teams should not have to take an axe to their team at the end of the season because of an artificially low team average being imposed. You follow your team all season, and the next season it's a different team, your favourite rider cannot be fitted in due to team averages, the average has to be increased from it's current level. Reserves should not have more than 6 rides, with 4 programmed rides that still leaves 4 extra rides between them to cover an early race injury. It's ridiculious that you can have a reserve potentially scoring 21 points and due to rolling averages, that rider stays at reserve for weeks. The League cup should be dropped, to ensure if it's a wet summer, we are not scrambling to get fixtures run at the end of the season Why should you have to stand on a freezing cold October night to watch a competition final. Finish the League in September, and then if time arrange an end of season competition. If the KOC or LC is kept, make teams finish their KOC or LC matches before they start their League matches. How stupid to have a competion that starts in March but doesn't end until October. If you own a business and you want to be successful, you find out what your customers want, and then give it to them. This sport does not bother to find out what their customers want and promoters can't be bothered to ask or don't care. A business that ignores their customers fails, and that is what speedway is currently doing, with fans drifting away in large numbers at most tracks. I hope at the AGM they have the guts to put things right or myself and many others will say, "Thanks for the memories" and walk away.

I have worked out who should stay and who should go, but don't want to give my reasons yet as i don't want to upset anyone before the presentation night this Friday.

Can't blame Somerset management for not booking someone with a higher average than Hall, with such short notice they were lucky to get anyone. A question, if Hall blew two engines, was he on his own equipment in heat 15, I have never seen more than two bikes in the pits for each rider? Hall may have rode his socks off but I'm sure you are not saying Alex or Claus would not have done the same. One final point, in the last race of the season, when the championship was to be decided, it would have been nice, win or lose, to have had two Rebels in heat 15 who after all got us there in the first place.

A great fighting display by the 5 Rebels but up against it with two passengers in Hall and Kerr and a Scunthorpe tactical, a rule that makes a mockery of the whole affair. Would it have been different if Wrighty kept still at the tapes? Somersets team managers May and Bishop made two blunders, the first was changing reserves in heat 11 at the Oak Tree and putting Kerr in against the Scunny tactical, and secondly putting Hall in heat 15 tonight. Alex Davies 8 points, Claus Vissing 7 points, so you put in Hall who had only scored 5, unbelievable. Would love to know the reason for this as it defies all common sense, and at the moment I feel very angry. . Well done Scunthorpe.

I feel very sorry for the Rebels fans who paid about £28 each for the coach, which obviously could not be rearranged for tonight.

who is replacing Cook?

A bumper crowd who made a lot of noise and even had air horns, all of which made for a good atmosphere, a shame it can't be like that every week. Spoke to Wolves and Sheffield fans who had travelled down. There were four things I did not understand about tonights match. Number 1 - Scunthorpe were without David Howe or Thomas Jorgensen, their guest Mellgren only scored 5 points they were operating R/R and only got 4 points from that, Mellgren shed a chain in heat 8 and Palm Toft did the same thing in heats 6 and 12 losing the Scorpions valuable points, one 5-1 turning into a 3-3, and yet despite all of this they only lost by 5, unbelievable! Number 2 - Steve Bishop when interviewed said "the track was hard and had caught them out." How can a track not be prepared for the home team and how can they not be aware it was different from normal? In fact it was a gaters track and Rebels couldn't gate. Number 3 - When it was obvious to everyone that Scunthorpe would use the tactical in heat 11, why did they put in Lewis Kerr in place of Newman's programmed ride. Kerr had to take two more rides but he was in heat 12 and could have replaced Newman in heat 14 for his third ride. I would have thought you would want your strongest pairing possible to block a tactical, and even if Vissing had won the heat, we were looking at 4 points from the Scunny tactical and a 3-5 result. Number 4- Why was Craig Cook not in heat 15? I thought you could put your number one in even if he wasn't in the top scorers and Monburg apparently wasn't feeling well. Monberg was rider of the night and also recieved a cheque from SREF. Good to see Wrighty scoring well after a blank at Ipswich. Rebels have a mountain to climb on Sunday but stranger things have happened. There is speedway at The Oak Tree on Friday 28th December The Somerset Christmas Cracker Meeting, 16 riders, 20 heats.

Well done Statman, we got another mention on mid day news, more coverage this week than for the last 12 years.

ONE DOWN< ONE TO GO.

Well done the Craig Cook Rebels, and Kyle the best reserve in the League, at last a trophy for Debbie to polish. Seemed a great fightback by Witches but Somerset kept their nerve. Sadly Wrighty's P45 must surely be in the post, and on this performance, Scunthorpe must think they have one hand on the Premier Trophy..

Much to my surprise, Rebels got a mention tonight on Points West re tonight and Fridays match plus pictures from Oak Tree Arena

Just hope no more injurys for the Rebels before the Big ONE!

This is slightly different, Swindon and Somerset are both in the Points West news area, in fact Somerset nearer to Bristol where studio is located.

The answer is to cancel the League Cup or Premier Trophy by a different name, why they brought it back god only knows. The competition starts in March and finishes in October when everyone has forgotten about it, even the fans of clubs still involved. The riders in the finals are different to when the competition started or the finalists qualified, due to injurys and rider changes and it should be put in the bin. Sart the season with the KOC, but don't let it drag on all season, teams must finish their KOC fixtures before they start the League fixtures. Then start the League fixtures, and if we have a wet summer there will still be plenty of time to finish fixtures and we can watch the finals in September not freezing October. If we have a dry summer with few rain offs then the BSPA get together for an hour and come up with an end of season compettition, call it "The Dry Summer Cup" or whatever. The competition would not be compulsory and clubs could declare to enter or not. The rules of the Dry Summer Cup would depend on how many weeks left of the season. It would help clubs publicity as they could say next week we have the KOC Champions visiting or the League Champions visiting. It's no good saying this next season because teams have totally different riders as the BSPA reward for success is you have to take a hatchet to your team to get under the team average.

After continually ignoring speedway, BBC Points West local news had on Monday a brief report from Swindon in their 6-30pm news and pictures and a report on the Robins victory in their late news. Also had Rosco and Nick Morris in the studio with the Elite League trophy on Tuesday evening. The question is will they also give Somerset publicity when we win the League Cup on Thursday and the Premier League on Sunday. I have e-mailed them, perhaps others can do the same.

Came back from 2 weeks holiday in the sun, logged on to catch up with the news and was shocked to read about Doyle, who was at the Oak Tree last night wearing his kneck brace. However Fisher proved a good guest and Craig Cook is booked for all the final 3 Rebels matches. If the Play Off Final second leg against Scunthorpe on Oct 28th is rained off, off Rebels will stay up there for re run next day. If Rebels home match against Scunny is off on Friday 26th it can be run on either Tuesday or Wednesday the following week. Last night it was a gater's track to start and Rebels struggled, Tom having bike problems and Alex the same in first ride. The track improved after grading and so did the racing and a 14 point lead should hopefully be enough, although some of the Rebels don't go well at Scunny. In the programme Steve Bishop was writing about team managers duties and mentioned the importance of getting the correct helmet colour. he is now doing a hundred lines of "I must practice what I preach". Alex, Claus and Jesper all rode well and Kyle produced his best race in heat 14. For the vistors 16 year old Adam Ellis looks a good prospect, surprising choice to put reserve Tresarrieu out as a tactical having scored 2 from 3 but he made the gate, and Lanham would score more if he moved off the white line. Strange decision in heat 12 to have all 4 back as Taylor Poole slid off on his own, also thought Vissing was pipped for third place by North in heat 15, but then my eye sight is not what it was.

Weather forecast looks grim.

Children should be banned from this forum.

Prefer to wait until last match over before naming names and giving views on next season, but would replace 3 of the current team.

Assuming Rebels beat Leicester on Friday, Newcastle are away to Leicester on Saturday 6th, if the Diamonds lose by more than 6 (no points) then it does not matter if Rebels don't get any points away to Leicester on 13th as it would be shock if Leicester got a point away to Newcastle, and Rebels would finish top as only team to get an away point. How did I do Statman?

This should be a "walk in the park" for the rampant Rebels and another 3 points in the bag. It's voting time for rider awards on Friday, as last year Debbie always does it when I am away. I assume it's the usual three catergories, favourite rider, most entertaining rider and most improved rider. As I won't be there can someone complete a form for me, and put down Sam Masters for all three, thanks very much.

I think the Rooster should get a free copy!

Very sad news.

With the Workington V Ipswich LC semi final match off on Sunday, they need to have this fixture re run on Sat October 6th instead of the Play Off match against Scunthorpe currently on the fixture list, or at least a double header. That way the final first leg can be at Somerset on Friday October 12th which is currently a blank fixture date for the Rebels. The Play Offs won't have been run by that date so a LC match will at least ensure that one competition is completed before the end of the season. What we really need is for the BSPA to extend the season into November and arrange rider contracts and insurance now.

As Newman is reserve he could have taken 7 rides if needed. James was moving at starts on Friday, I think it's frustration as his bikes are not working.