Paulco

Welcome back guys

Must have been down to the rider himself , maybe the travelling got too much . Because surely we should have persevered with him all things being equal .

We'll see , but most teams seem to be going down the long tail route this season as building to 38 points takes it's toll

I'm the same mate . The ridiculous points limit doesnt fill me with excitement . Even worse for you guys after being upstairs for a couple of seasons . Still it means i get to see my team racing at one of my favourite venues again , rather than make the pilgrimage as a neutral as i have done the past two years .

Well Harris is fixed up near Burnham on Sea and it wouldnt surprise me in the slightest if we went down the Cook and the dancing 4 pointers road . So if that was the intention it hasnt really worked .

Away from the nonsense for a minute or two . Other clubs are announcing signings , but nothing other than silence from the hallowed halls of Ashfield . I must confess that the ridiculous points limit doesnt fill me with enthusiasm for the new season and i worry about what will be served up in front of us because of that . The " i know something you dont know " mob will no doubt smugly post some cryptic bollocks about who we've got , happens every winter , but team building to 38 points must be a nightmare . If we have Cook it takes over 10 out of the 38 points . 6 riders for less than 28 points - seriously . We had that in the 80's with Steve Lawson and 6 of his mates keeping him company in the pits , it didnt work then and Cook cant win meetings on his own . Rumours on here from Workington alleging underhand tactics to get one of their riders with Rasmus Jensen seemingly fitting the bill ........really ? Ok he done well during Worky's glory charge in October , but he's never impressed me round Ashfield in the past - Kid Jensen would have been more competative . I'd have the engine room of last season , namely Vissing , Starke and Kerr back again , and play the numbers game from there , such as it is .

He probably had to for there to be a top flight

I heard from a reliable source that Craig Cook was given his own private Boeing 747

That's ok then , we only deal with reliable sources on here .

Yes but is it a reliable source down the bingo ?

Fear not , by page 10 on this thread it will be up to £400 a point and a 5k guarantee

That happens in sports like Rugby League . It's a nice idea in theory , but in reality someone will find a way round it , much like the financial fair play in football . Trouble with speedway is , there havent been many rules implemented that havent been bent in some way .

Someone offers you a job at £x and you verbally agree terms . You go home and someone else phones you and offers you £x amount more . So you call the first one and say " sorry i've changed my mind " . I've done that in the past and so has thousands of other people , it happens , it's life . But to blame Glasgow for threatening the future existance of clubs and dangering the future of speedway as a whole is hysteria bordering on paranoia . If a club offers to pay a rider more money than another club will , then deal with it . The only future Glasgow is threatening is possibly it's own for the gamble of being a good payer .

They are and they put forward their opinions very well and i do get where they are coming from . But i just feel such a drastic cut in the points limit is going to make life difficult for some riders and also short changing the paying public . For a sport that seems permanently on life support , i dont see how watering down the product is the way to achieve an upturn in it's fortunes . I hope i'm wrong , but i fear a downturn in the level of performers in our league will eventually have a further negative impact on crowd levels . I mean no disrespect to the riders i mention , but are people not more likely to make an effort to go to the track to watch Craig Cook or Nick Morris or Steve and Richie Worrall or Danny King rather than Kevin Doolan or Ludvig Lindgren or Simon Lambert . I've no doubt that the admission prices wont reflect the dropping of the level the riders on show , so i have my doubts about dropping to 38 points will help the sport in any way . Yes in the short term it will save promotions money , but long term do we keep watering down and watering down . It's going to be a make or break year for league speedway at a few venues .

If it meant seeing a better standard of riders racing against each other , then yes . Wasnt too many years ago the points limit was 45 .

How did we cope in the 70's with about 25 teams in our league ?

Yes it was ludicrous having riders riding at number 1 in the Premiership and the Championship at the same time . But watering down the Championship when most of the clubs are struggling to just keep going is a gamble .

We shall see . I just hope watering the product down even further doesnt become a stadium emptier . In the long term you could have 5 pointers becoming 7 or 8 pointers in an easier league , when theyre not really 7 or 8 point men and suddenly unemployable .

38 is 38 last time i checked The only saving grace is that an extra team means the 38 point limit wont put 7 riders out of a job

Much head scratching with most promotions about how to fit 7 riders into this ridiculous points limit . Think it will take more time than usual to find out who is riding where next year

He'll be Leicester bound i would have thought

Thats an interesting point , what would Woffinden come in on ? Haha . The 38 point limit should rule Cook out of the equation , sad but he'd take too large a chunk out of the points limit . Personally i'd have Vissing , Kerr and Starke back . That would be roughly 21 points . I'd take Pickering in a heartbeat if Edinburgh could be persuaded to part with him , but riders on his sort of average will be like gold dust . Especially him , who'd put 2 points on his average on a proper speedway track . Kemp and Thomas at reserve would be a major coup and throw in a Coty Garcia and that should be umder the limit .

Maybe so Dot , but if you dont ask you dont get

They made a big song and dance about running on a Friday night ( remember the famous letter ) so it would be a bit embarrassing to return to a Sunday afternoon after just one season running on a Friday night . I'm surprised at Somerset dropping back down , but glad too as i love the place and if we also get Birmingham and Kent , then we might get some Southern Tours again too . With Ipswich moving up to the top flight , we should be enquiring after Drew Kemp . I know every club in the Championship will be after him , but surely we must ask the question .

38 points is a big drop . Will the admission price reflect the difference now between the top two leagues ? Or will we be paying as much , and in some cases more , than the top flight ?