oldtimer

In this weeks Speedway Star there is a full page colour add for The Pairs. It says " Featuring the top ten pairs in the Premier League." Should have read "The top ten pairs that are available on the night."

Why does Barker not replace Bjerre?

In this weeks Speedway Star, reporting on the World Under 21 at Coventry, Sam says "Ive been pretty low on confidence lately due to crashes. I keep hurting myself and it doesn't help" Sam came back from injury early (perhaps too early) to ride at Somerset and you could see he was struggling, but it proved his commitment to the Rebels. Sam was also the only reason Somerset won a trophy last year winning the Premier League Riders Championship, so you are losing a fans favourite, not usually a smart move, unless their form has dipped alarmingly. On my calculations (which are usually wrong) we have an away match at Scunthorpe, two away matches in Premier Trophy, assuming we get through the semi final and three aways in the Play Offs assuming we progress. That's six away matches and Sam would miss one on October 13th. So I have to ask who do you think on all known form shown so far would score more points away at the remaining five away matches, Sam or Jesper? Replies on a post card please! Assuming Alex and Tom are signed next year, they are both still eligible for the under 21 competitions. If one or both show improvement and progress, will they be shown the door if they miss Rebels matches? The problem lies with the powers that be arranging matches in different countries with no thought or co operation with those clubs affected. I hope Jesper gets a max on Monday and you will be pleased to know this is my final thoughts on the subject.

This competition started so long ago I have forgotten who is who, unfortunately we may struggle against Newcastle. I assume it's home and away aggregate and BSPA not changed the rules I'm taking Cliffboy's advice, finish my wine and off for an early night.

Cliffboy number of reasons don't think we will win League, Somerset is such a fair track there is little home track advantage and just as one example our recent home and away against Edinburgh, aggregate result Edinburgh 98 Rebels 85 think Jesper rode in both.

Yes Semi first but should thrash Workington

Completely baffled by this decision, granted Masters has not progressed from last season but still a heat leader, and some of his poor form (by his standards) was due to riding with an injury. He is or was a Somerset asset, and was hyped up when he was signed by the promotion, and as a young rider can only progress further and improve his average. Jesper on the other hand is past his best and understandably has struggled on away tracks he has never rode before. Explains why Sam was not being included in The Pairs.. The official version is Sam would be missing matches due to his under 21 commitments. He is at Tanow on September 15th so would miss Somersets home match against Workington, but it's a PL match and would not affect Somerset qualifying in the top two, and Somerset have enough fire power to cover with R/R. The other meeting is in Pardubice on October 13th which on the Rebels fixture list is an Open meeting, perhaps the Premier Trophy? Sams last two matches in the seven match series are in November so don't affect anyone. Kyle, Tom and Alex were in the British under 21 and have missed meetings, the KO Cup home defeat springs to mind. So knowing the fixture list at the start of the season it makes you wonder why this has just become a problem. There is no guarantee that Claus will return to his best quickly after yet another injury, and on paper this makes the team weaker and virtually guarantees we won't win the League this year. We can only hope that Jesper rides the away track better when we finally, (if we ever do), race the Premier Trophy final

That should be exciting, will they alternate the greyhound racing with the speedway, fans will be able to watch the speedway and have a bet on the dogs at the same time.

So don't have it at Coventry. I know it's a problem and my week end suggestion probably not viable, but we have a competition over 7 rounds which in theory could have had Kyle, Tom, Sam and Alex all missing on 7 Fridays, hopefully not R/R as well for an injury. Fortunately for one round Sam managed to ride on Friday and get a flight out on the Saturday but he was on borrowed machinery. Anyway I'm over it now, and if I don't like it I don't have to go. At the moment weather forecast not good, so perhaps it will be rearranged for Pairs Friday.

I just remembered we didn;'t have Alex either he was in the same meeting as the others, so we had just two Rebels Doyle and Wright and lost by 2 points on aggregate. Don't be daft Crescent Girl, nobody would turn up on a Friday, run it on a Saturday or Sunday so that not just the Rebels (may have an away match)but also other teams would not be affected. If Coventry can't run on a week end choose a track that can. Good luck to Carl Wilkinson and James Sarjeant, lets hope their contribution and R/R enables us to win by more than 6 points. It would be sad if we gave away any of the 6 points gained on the Scottish Tour.

It's not the managements fault that Sam, Kyle and Tom will be missing next Friday, niether is it the riders fault, it's the crazy way speedway is run. Somerset went out of the KOC in the first round because these three riders were missing plus they had R/R for an injured rider, the result was just 3 of the team were available. I did not attend for that match and I won't be there on Friday. Perhaps if enough fans protested they may decide at the next AGM to have these meetings at track that could stage an early afternoon meeting so riders could meet their commitments in the evening.

Not a bad meeting, spoilt by the stupid joker which meant the best team didn't win.

Watching Pedersen in the Play Offs and especially last night, you have to ask what on earth is he doing in the GP competition? A good rider yes, but a light of other days.

In the few meetings that Zorro has competed (at very short notice) he has performed much better than Harris, and if he wanted to be back in next years GP's it would be a crime if he missed out because we had to have a Brit in the competition.

There can never be enough!

It has come to my attention that some Rebels supporters were not aware of the unofficial Rebels forum, if interested it is: www.rebels-forum.proboards.com

We are stuffed anyway, an embarressment tonight when we finish 4th.

The track will be super slick which is no good for Harris and don't expect him to win a race.

All the Sky team thought the track was in great order as did Mark Loram, my question therefore is,apart from Bombers races, why did such a good track produce such boring and processional racing?

Speedway is a family sport, however at Cardiff it is a load of piss artists which is why we stopped going.

Was it my TV or was a lot of the racing held in the dark?

Many thanks Manchesterpaul.

Have to disagree, we have not made progress from where we have been the last 5 years and next year it will not be one step further, the same old suspects will ride for GB. If Australia had Crump riding we would not have beaten them at Lynn and we would have been in the race off, and we would not have gone through to the final from that. Next year barring injuries, Crump, Sayfutdinov and Nicky P will be back and we will be stuffed.

Can anybody tell me why the final is at the same venue as the "Race Off"? It means that the teams who were not good enough to go straight through, get the chance to practise on a slick track on the Thursday. It's about as stupid as the Joker which not only rewards failure but disadvantages not only the team who are 6 or more in front but also a team that could be second but less than 6 points ahead of the team playing the Joker. Why no reserves, if Scottie gets injured first race we may as well go home. Why let Olsen,a name synonymous with boring racing, anywhere near a track for a prestigious event. Brits will not like the ultra slick track and look booked for 4th.

Must have taken leave of your senses to sign Loo Brush on an 8.96 average.