spook

there is no hat eating here Iris......... ive never doubted Ole's commitment or organisational skills.......... and it tells me a lot that no one was paid the grand sum of a couple of notes to clean down those banners.......maybe because they weren't expected to be dirty? If he had something to do with the track then hats off to him but as someone who had the privelige of watching behind the scenes events during 2006 SWC I can confirm that despite the blazing sun over Smallmead not a drop of water touched the track from mid day and it was obvious that the baked crust was just going to develop into dust and be pushed away from a blue groove.....as it did.................... that track should have been watered regularly throughout the day and in speedway terms, for a world cup, it was negligence ........... the Poles were not happy about it and subsequently didnt qualify from the race off ...... the Danes loved it in the final and went on to win........... this kind of track prep does not create the racing we saw the other night and if he was responsible for controlling the flow of water that day then thank heavens for the shower and lets hope Leszno has had one

tbh Cliv Clav I understand his uncertainty if he didnt make the 'deal' that Rico said they had ........... once again for me the first question is can we win the SWC? the second is can we qualify for the final? and obviously the third is do we gain more by having Rico in the team or by Ed gaining more experience? after the other night though I think Ed really weakened his case for inclusion as he just didnt look comfortable at any point and Leszno will require a similar approach to the track............. I think it would be likely that he would struggle and be tailed off and thats where any positive experience possibly becomes negative for me I'm sure Rico will be great to have in the team tonight and hopefully he can lead by example

spot on if it is the case Andy as the essence of the sport cant ever be allowed to be lost................ but i'm just not convinced that this is the reason for it ........... it really would be so easy to place advertising elsewhere or keep it clean............ one thing to consider is how many times has this discussion come up time and time again over the last few years and yet still no one comes forward with official word .............. in the absence of official word we can only summise as to what is going on (a huge and extremely overdue Speedway Star interview?).......... the longer it goes on the more my personal opinion has been that Ole has too much power and an extremely tragic view of what makes good racing I'll be honest though while we are seeing the efforts being made that we have seen since Cardiff.... then i'm a happier chappie and hopefully it will continue................... as others have said we will see what tomorrow brings

oh for god sake grow up Jim I have no issue with age despite you trying to make out like I have I have no issue with opinions despite you trying to make out like I have I did not ask you for any information and you were certainly not coming forward to give me any info and on the other side of the coin I will not criticise someone's spelling in an attempt to score imaginary points I will not attempt to back someone up because they are a friend or one of the 'in crowd' ...while not actually stating anything I dont bad mouth the way people construct their posts in an attempt to score imaginary points and I dont make childish trolling posts to try to score yet more imaginary points feel free to continue with the childish and bizarrely vindictive approach because if you are unable to allow yourself to draw a line in the sand then you can guarantee that I will start using the 'ignore' function good luck with it all

lol after seeing the size of their motorhomes I wouldnt be suprised if he was guaranteed a bath as well

painful stuff for Nicki and tbh although he has a living to earn I hope he takes as long as he needs...... he would guaranteed a WC for next season anyway

haha! tbh I think i'd be trying to wash my hands of that one as well

to be honest Jim I wouldnt appreciate trolling childish posts from anyone .... let alone from a poster who's experience should allow them to know better...... the simple fact of the matter as I have posted recently is if you have an issue with me as your recent posts most certainly indicate then get in touch with me privately ..... or put me on ignore..... either that or get over it meanwhile I think i'll be getting back to the discussion JC1 yeah this was debated long and hard a while back and the sponsorship thing is something that comes up from time to time..... i'm assuming its back because of Keith Huewen's comments the other night............. it could well be the case but it is also coincidentally Ole's extreme track prep preference .......... not only that but no matter how much sponsor's interests are protected it makes no financial sense for IMG to make the racing processional

arent you a bit old for such childishness Jim? behave yourself Iris did you really think Vojens was ok? The guys looked like they were massively spinning out to me

and if hypothetically IMG decided that they were displeased with the way that their business was at risk for something such as processional racing....... do we think that his name would still be there? Or maybe they are displeased and this explains why the tracks have improved and he is sitting in the stand?

nice punt!

we had one of the trackstaff post here following the event (sorry I would try to find the post but I shudder to think how long it would take me!) saying that they were finally allowed to prepare the track in the way that they had been asking for it to be for years I would be highly suprised if Ole wasnt behind every grain of dirt or non dirt for the Vojens track considering his connections there but since Cardiff there has been a marked improvement in the other tracks....... tbh considering his vast amount of experience with all of these tracks you would expect year on year improvement... not the opposite....... I would have a dossier on each track if I was in the role.... what worked, what didnt, what the weather was leading up to it, effects of practice etc etc ............ more importantly though I would make it my business to know how good the local track staff are, what kind of tracks they dish up and how consistently.... until I had evidence that they were crrrrap I would always trust them

The SWC is run by IMG and overseen by the FIM ....... there have been a couple of versions of what Ole's involvement is for the GP's........ it has been said that it is a case that IMG hire his expertise....... and alternatively that it is the FIM who have inserted him into the role................. the one that makes the most sense is that IMG hire him I can safely say that Ole was running the show in 2006 for the SWC just as he does for the GP's ............. complaints about the 07 Leszno track also saw fingers point at him I suspect nothing has changed as to who is in charge and as ive said before i'm sure that Ole does a lot of things very well with organisation at the top of the list............ for him to be sitting in the stands and for both Cardiff and Pboro track prep to be left to the trackstaff (what an idea! ) it points to the likely scenario that a quiet word has been had and his remit has changed

yeah its a good point a month or so ago the BBC moto GP coverage had a piece on their race suits down the years and visited the factory that has made them from the days of Barry Sheene................ it showed how they had changed and the reasons why and covered the materials used... in effect they were extremely padded leathers which expanded in the right places and had kevlar stitched into the right places.....and all of the tailoring is safely stored on computers so it can be reproduced easily.......... I am not sure what the price tag would be to get a one off made for speedway but once the tailoring was set for a range of sizes it would just be a case changing the colours I should imagine following this maybe Nicki will be looking into it? p.s. no I dont remember leathers being mandatory... but I do remember the forerunner to race suits...... the old pits boiler suit flapping in the wind over the ripped leathers ... step forward Mike Fitzpatrick

yes I understand what you are saying but all of those riders were from different generations where respect in society ran at very different levels....... I am sure that Peter was also kept tightly on a leash by the more senior (and tough!) of the squad as well....... we didnt need to have a whole team of the same age come through at the same time... and maximums at 18/19/20? Shouldnt you be talking about Emil there?... Emil is possibly a good example how it doesnt matter how good on track you are incidents such as Cardiff will happen due to a lack of experience and Kenny? a genuine British legend but the guy could never be described as mature..... he just chose to show it in other ways which im sure if you asked the right people would result in a show of hands of the people he rubbed up the wrong way needlessly so yes you did mention the lack of maturity ..... but knowing that.. is it a reason to shoot them or not put it down to something that could/would be gained as experience?

some of us contacted IMG a few GP's ago to register our displeasure .... I didnt personally get a response but I think one of the others got a token 'thanks for your mail' response the season still has some way to go but i'd hope that they will help to get the message across ........... last night was the best kind of example possible though and hopefully whether Ole takes the plaudits for it or not... it continues

but no doubt viewpoints such as your own ... or maybe even his team manager's will be relayed back to him and maybe as was the keyword of the night.... he may draw some 'experience' from it ......... it is easy to forget how young these guys are

I remember that Phil Brown and he was a great team man............... maybe a decent GB speedway example is Phil Collins? He never set the world alight individually but was a good team man

well even if I was to agree with what is a biased viewpoint on some of those incidents ........they would still all be irrelevant Ashie ........ simply put we dont know why he wasnt there last night and we dont know who made the decision for him not to be there............... is it not a likely scenario that a mature decision was taken that if things had gone too far in the background to resolve quickly... that its best in the short term if he stays away? do YOU know the reason and who made the decision to so publically be slagging the guy down over this? were they any good? 'good' is relative... and if the team was selected based on the future then that has to be kept in mind when defining 'good' If we are defining 'good' as the entire Polish team and as 95% of the Aussie performances then its a hell of a lot to live up to..............did we think that a team including Scott and Rico could deal with that? No of course not otherwise the youngsters wouldnt have been out I think ultimately it really was job done just from the point of experience............. tmc made a very good post today about it being about what the riders recognised/noticed/witnessed and how they are going to go about bridging the gap.............. I am certain that they will all recognise that their second bends were not good enough ...... that the machinery wasn't quite good enough...... and the machinery changes during the meeting werent good enough.... I am sure that the experience that they gained last night just cannot be gained elsewhere in such quantity one thing that I do think the team needs to be congratulated on is how well they gated last night..... as much as we love the racers we need to finally recognise the importance of gating to compete at this level regardless of how the track is prepared

well I really couldnt see this discussion being forced to happen over this week maybe this forum should be retitled so that we avoid the inevitable issues surrounding it?

is it? or is that code for 'its my right to be able to knock the guy for no reason' ??

100% which is reason 1) why the guy either has to go or be 'controlled' tbh Eastie I may be wrong but I think we are already seeing signs that he is being controlled ...... Leszno will be telling as to date we still haven't seen it prepared for a GP or SWC event in the way it is at league level

I just don't get the attitude tbh .......... is this the 'British attitude' in full flow? ............. ie 'something positive is happening so lets concentrate on the negatives even if we arent quite sure if they are a negative' ............. don't we criticise our sportsmen for being infected with doubt and negativity? How can we expect our riders to hit their full potential if we are lurking behind every corner to have a pop at them? ...... and lets face it we arent actually just talking about 'a pop' with Scott are we? When we look back at some of the stuff posted about him over the last few years anyone would think he had committed mass murder! Until it is explained by RL, Scott or someone else involved then I don't see how any kind of speculation does the team any good...... and tbh I hope it is all left until after the campaign if it is to come out

oh give over will you why after a night that shines a positive light on our team do we have to have something (anything!) negative posted? .... lets all go back to the trusty punchbag Scott Nicholls you dont know why he wasnt there............. you dont know who made the decision for him not to be there ...... you dont know what the situation is or how it is being dealt with............. I suspect that the England manager does and it is his job to deal with it............. I suspect that is and will happen whether it involves dialogue or simple team build actions Quite honestly it really isnt our business until the manager wants to make it our business and by choosing to make trouble where there may well not it only undermines the good that is actually coming out of this campaign