False dawn

There may be more truth in this statement than we care to believe. This merry-go-round of riders is surely not the spirit of team racing as seen over the years. Juggling averages, wholesale changes, riders moving from one club and then turning up somewhere else means we could be supporting a very different team come the play offs from the one that opened the fixtures in March. Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I guess it's possible to have a completely different 1-7 in October from the the one you started with despite the transfer window cut off.

The other way round.

I'm hearing reports that Greg has injured his shoulder at the practice. Accident involved a medic apparently, but reports are a bit sketchy

Silly comparisons and you know it. Riders riding for different leagues in different countries is an established principle. I remember Joe Screen doing 80 meetings in a season and no one had an issue with that. Riding for Torun and Belle Vue are not incompatible activities. Claiming priority is one thing. Claiming exclusivity is quite another. But if you don't have an issue with riders, many riders becoming unavailable to any British club then rest easy.

An old f**t that uses Twitter, Facebook and the forum during commentary. Bit of a contradiction in terms me thinks. Your knowledge of speedway well before your time is impressive. But some of the speedway back in the day was a somewhat special. But that statement has always been true. Now is the good old days. You wait and see.

Well I'm glad you think what the Poles are doing is fair, equitable and legal. It consigns the rest of Europe to the second division.

The latest Swede? What average does he come in on?

But no one said, "You can't ride in another country". The question of "ownership" is another issue and a long way behind what the Poles are doing. We pay more so the rules don't apply to us. You condone that point of view?

So the law can go to hell? Don't complain if you don't like it?

I don't. But the SCB have banned him for leaving (or threatening to leave). Do you know better than that?

As I said earlier (twice, I think) surely the FIM should be taking an active role in this? A national racing authority, acting under their jurisdiction is behaving in what could easily be defined as an illegal fashion. Not FIM rules, EU rules. They have the power and the clout to tell them to stop.

I refer you to my previous post. If a circuit is greasy you don't don't get record race times. The riders who struggled had not set up for a grippy surface and went into the corners half hearted. Seeing riders in the same race powering through the corners and others backing off on the entry and flat tanking through the corner was very telling. Dispute my stats! Oh. Was that the same Thomas Jorgensen who went round in 59.65, in heat 8, before the remedial track work?

But only if there's an "R" in the month I'll get my coat

For the record... Track record 57.6 Nicki Pedersen 11/09/2002 Heat 1 Troy Batchelor 58.12 (0.52 off TR) Heat 2 Lewis Rose 58.92 (1.32 off TR) Heat 3 Robert Lambert 58.06 (0.46 off TR) Heat 4 Hans Andersen 59.50 (1.8 off the TR. The slowest time so far. Chris Holder pulled up) Heat 5 Robert Lambert 58.31 (0.71 off TR) I was expecting a new TR and as such expected processional racing. It wasn't bad, trust me. Oh, and if you think the remedial work was needed or not, or made no different... Heat 14 Robert Lambert 58.95 (1.35 off the TR) and even KK, who looked unhappy with conditions earlier (pulled up in heat 5), set a time 59.15 in heat 13. There were riders who were just not trying I'm bloody cross, sorry.

Which meeting did you watch? Not the one I saw.

Sorry, this is illegal, against the law, not enforcable in a court of law. The Poles are breaking EU law and no one has the balls to stop them.

Well I said I'd give up and I will. But answer me this. Do you think it's right for the Polish authorities to prevent a rider from riding over here?[clue] Your answer will determine which riders are available to UK clubs.

I don't care how old he is. I've watched 2 meetings on which he has commentated and I'm back to Dave Lanning thinking who does this first class exponent remind me of? And it ain't just because he gave me mention (both weeks). But it does show his sensible and skillful use of social media as well a knowledgible commentary all at the same time. I am impressed and hope he is picked up by BT or Sky.

And you know why? The riders are bloody grateful to be riding for their club and just get on with it. Giving their all for every point.

KL appear to be in disarray. Buster needs to kick a few behinds, maybe sack a couple riders and throw his arms open to what faithful fans he still has. Smoothing over the cracks, I fear, may be the road to disaster.

From my observation last Thursday and at other meetings, it is not just the track that is at fault. Riders are getting more and more used to slick tracks where the bike can spin up on the surface whilst the rider holds the throttle wide open. At the same time engines develop more and more bhp and torque. When the surface is grippy what tends to happen is the bike drives more and is more unpredictable. You'll hear riders talking about flattening the engine or detuning it. The track last week was not overwatered, it wasn't especially bumpy, the shale was not uneven. But it did have a decent amount of shale on it and guess what? These rocket machines picked up. Some riders (who have never been World Champion) found a way to ride it and BEFORE the remedial work were setting the fastest times seen at KL for years. Again, from observation, it seems you have to be able to set up the bike and engine properly, don't be timid and yes, have some good old throttle control. I'm not saying that KL couldn't improve their circuit but if you present professional sportsmen with safe but challenging conditions they should perform better than this.

Well I'll answer this one and then give up. The contracts the Poles are offering restrict what the riders can do in riding elsewhere. The test of such contracts in this country is, "Is this reasonable?". I believe, no it isn't reasonable. But I'm not a judge, just my opinion.

I guess he's happy for us to speculate and arrive at our own conclusions in the meantime. I wouldn't let the other side and the fan base have their say unchallenged if I was him. Step 1 Robert, don't piss off the paying fans. (pardon my language)

Blinking heck. Is there no end to the talent of this fellow Dave Goddard? Apparently he can speak Polish as well!

Being employee or self employed is not the issue. In both circumstances you sign a contract. The issue is if such contracts are illegal. A contract is invalidated if it contains illegal clauses and this is the case here. You cannot sign away your rights regardless of the amounts involved or the power of one party. I refer you to the European Union Article 101. This appears to enshrine in law the UK concept of restraint of trade, which is based on case law within these shores. However, I spent 10 minutes looking at this and now I'm going for a lie down. I do believe there might be a case here but it would take better men than me to unravel the law. Intuitively, what the Poles are doing seems wrong to me and seeks to prevent riders from pursuing their legitimate trade elsewhere. If something seems unfair (prima facie) surely the relevant authorities, in this case the FIM, should investigate.