AndyM

...who beat Ivan Mauger in a run-off. It is said by some that Mauger lost more than Szczakiel won!

Jim, your problem is that you're so brainwashed by this feeble setup that you've got vision of how things could be improved. And if there is ambition shared by a like-minded consensus, anything is possible. Sadly, the BSPA share the same disease.

It's not a full-time job at the moment, though if it's done right it could attract a sponsorship package.

Idealistic maybe, but less so than the many suggestions on these pages for an independent body to run UK league speedway. Why not somebody with seniority and worthy of respect but no links to current clubs? Why not a PC or Dave Jessup or similar? Why not a Mauger (if anyone could persuade him)? You talk about fire in the belly, but frankly the occasions when I've seen that have been few and far between, and Middlo most certainly hasn't done the off-track part of the job to promote the development of British riders.

Most sensible post yet on this thread. That's absolutely right - we need an independent player who is influential among and can bring weight to bear on the promoters.

After all - you've made a detrimental comparison yourself!

Why? It's all subjective. Sven got us to the quarter finals and lost on penalties. Whether people think he should have done better is an entirely reasonable debate - and the same goes for Middlo's performance. Why should we not have the right to make comparisons of this nature if it's done without abuse?

Not quite right, Ron. The gist of this thread is that he should be taking on more of a crusading role to develop British youngsters, with a higher profile. His performance has come in for criticism, but I don't think anyone here can truly be said to have crucified Middlo on a personal level.

As I've said before, the British team manager shouldn't just be selecting a squad, then showing up on match days to give a pep talk, manage substitutions and collect his pay cheque - he should be integrally involved in the national development at all levels, promoting investment and developing a long-term vision to put our country back on top of the world. If he can't do that, we need somebody who can.

If that's Middlo's approach, he's no better than the back-room BSI GP selectors. A qualifier should be fair, equal and open to all, or risk being the subject of ridicule.

Yes. Write to me offline (andymillward@ntlworld.com)

Wow! Evidently a good win for Hans (didn't watch it myself), but think Crumpie is quite happy to play the percentages and take no undue risks now. No point when you're well ahead and the opposition are eliminating each other and blowing their own chances! A deserved world champ, by the looks of things.

Can't think of a better way to do it, though speedway authorities have a tendency to select the most perverse solutions to this sort of problem. The real answer is to have all places subject to qualification every year, then there can be no argument!

Maybe he has other fish to fry - an urgent need to watch the world tiddlywink championships, perhaps?

The title is intriguing, but maybe just that and no more. Have we been labouring under a false impression of Simmo all these years? What half-truths have been told about his career?!

To be fair, it's near both Chorzow and Katowice, Champion.

That's your call, but since Sky paid for the privelege of showing the GPs, you can hardly blame them for cutting down the free options. Obviously they want subscribers and big audiences in order to drive higher advertising revenue and therefore to increase profits. If you want to change that, write to the terrestrial channels and persuade them to make speedway coverage mainstream, though I doubt if you'll have any joy - if they can't win football and cricket, they're hardly going to compete with Sky over speedway coverage.

And huge it certainly is. When I saw Nielsen win a world title there, somebody told me the capacity is 120,000, though in the UK health and safety would probably cut that by half. Would that we had regular speedway stadia like that, though sadly we would struggle to fill them.

I'm well known for hating the semi & final system, but if we have to have a final I'd much sooner go for a system like that, Steve - less chance of an injustice by far.

Machinery? Doubt it. Don't think he was mentally at the races last night. Didn't look like he believed he'd score, so he was beaten before he started. We know he can do much better, but he's also shown he can be his own worst enemy. Quite seriously, I think it's time the lad employed a sports psychologist to overcome his mental block. He's got to believe he can win first.

Surely nobody would choose to call themselves Steve Shovlar unless they were the infamous one?

And so he did: Not quite what Mr S was saying before, but then Tony has been written off before now. Might come back with a vengeance next season, for all we know. In the meantime, I'm going to delight in seeing an Ace leading the pack once more!

Sorry - who was whinging?

I don't remember if or when I ever saw an exclusion for both wheels over the white line, but it's been very, very rare and I'm positive that I've seen riders break the rule at least once per season and hardly ever suffer punishment. Perhaps refs need re-education to ensure the laws are applied correctly? The one that aggreived me most was many years ago at Brandon, when Ole Olsen won a tight race against PC by blatantly cutting a corner. All the Aces fans were up in arms, but the ref and all Bees fans suddenly did a Wenger and were afflicted by selective blindness!!

Sounds a bit like someone else we know, Steve!