Willowman

It is amazing how you think you have made what seems to be an unambiguous statement only for it to be interpreted in a totally different way, so apologies for that. I wasn't referring to Sheffield having home advantage at all, more that Sheffield have always (well until recently) consistently performed well at Somerset suggesting the fairness of the track and thus minimal home advantage due to the track. I agree that in the past few years that Somerset have scored well at home but that has been due to the strength of the team and not anything to do with the home advantage of the track. If my memory serves me correctly (as I have been there to witness things from the start -- where is Najjer when you need him, oh yes, "down the float"), when we first went PL we scraped wins at home but scored badly away. As the years have gone on we have managed to gain a bit more consistency with winning at home and put in better performances away. In recent years we have demolished teams at home and performed well away. Of course there has been the odd season bucking the trend but I am talking about the general trend. My point is though that this is more due to progress that has been made in putting teams together rather than anything to do with the track. I would still say that the track offers away teams the opportunity to do well if they care to take up the challenge. This is what Sheffield were, until recently, very good at doing at the OTA. Unfortunately I have neither the stats data or the time to back up my claims so just working from memory and intuition. What I would like to do is look at what the losses were at home when we were neither (oops, missed that one off) near the top of the table or near the bottom, i.e. just an average side. It goes without saying that if you have a strong team who end up near the top of the league table you are going to win all your home meetings (or at least you would think so) and likewise loose many at home if you're near the bottom. Mid table would give a better idea. I still however maintain that Somerset do not have much, if any, home advantage due to the track. But hey, ho, that is only my opinion.

No, as an example of a racer. Perhaps a poor example but certainly used --- damn it, was going to say, used all the racing lines, but a rather poor example in both the case of Simon and GC as they just got out into the dirt on the outside. I was really trying to give examples of racers rather than gaters who were well known for being so at Somerset. I would disagree with the "good home advantage" suggestion as I thought that the OTA has also been regarded as a fair racing circuit. You just need to recall the meetings in front of the Sky cameras to see that. Surely trick tracks like Rye are the ones with a "good home advantage" , not the OTA. Never heard any suggestion anywhere else that the OTA had a good home advantage. What do others think? Excuse my ignorance scb but if (and only if) you are a Sheffield supporter, then how can you say the OTA has a good home advantage with the Tigers record at the OTA? Didnt think I would get quite so sucked into the discussion but I am enjoying reading the thread.

Nearly there Gavan (in my opinion). The best racing I have seen at the OTA was in our early PL days where we were in the lower reaches of the table and most other teams provided stiff opposition, when we had racers the likes of Zorro, GC and Simon Walker etc. So I agree with the 'even' bit in particular if the home team is a bit weaker and there is thus not much home advantage. We all know though that the scoreline very often does not reflect the standard of the racing. As with all tracks, if a team of very good fast gaters turns up, this can often kill a meeting, e.g. when Hull won the league.

Well I'm glad to be a Rebels fan rather than a Lions fan, put it that way. I wonder what the riders think?

Good guest selection. Kyle was handy on his last visit to the OTA and has been in form lately.

Looks like the Scorpions have got a trophy this season - the most topics started by their press officer trophy!

Don't forget the Proctor fiasco too. Of course, as you say, it was all "pre season". "Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own." Just a shame Brady isn't fit for the start of the playoffs. Could all be over by the time he is ready for a return especially after the result last night and Birks returning for our meeting at Scunny tonight.

Hold on just a moment. The Rebels have, bar the injury to Brady who hasn't been replaced.

Very surprised you are not on 4326 already. Where have you been?

"Beautiful British names" (ignoring the country coding letters that is)!

Couple of weeks at the earliest from the interview on Friday night. Splendid choice.

A quote from Stuart Robson I am reliably informed.

Don't know where you get that information from but our riders are much younger than that on average.

Only 7 hours to go before my fvourite meeting (PL pairs excepted) of the season, my adult hometown team (or should that be county) versus my childhood hometown team. Hoping for a cracker. Can the Bandits be the only team this season in league meetings to give the Rebels a run for their money? Well I think that they have the best chance of any team with Brady on the sidelines and Pontus being elsewhere. Hopefully Rasmus will put in a good showing again at the OTA for us. The Bandits have riders who know the track inside out in Claus and Kev. Also Dave has a liking for the track too despite his scores (if my memory serves me correctly). So it could be down to how well the others gel tonight. Good to see Matty back but hopefully not as a free scoring reserve. The Bandits may also benefit from the new riding order for the Rebels (damn it, am going to have to change the old spreadsheet tonight). Weather should be splendid for tonight. It was a little misty and overcast this morning but if the weather has followed what has happened 20 miles from the circuit, all should be good to go with a well prepared track. There isn't too much wind to dry things out and if it comes over a bit gloomy again the track should hold it's watering well. Yee haa! Can't wait. Just as well it's not next week as I'm not around.

Agreed OT re a temp signing although it still wouldn't equal Brady:s scoring power. But if he doesn't come back at all could be an opportunity lost for someone to settle in for the latter stages of the playoffs - assuming we get that far!

You forgot about Charles Cliffeboy.

Baldy productive tuft!

Thanks for the update 'Srem'. Wishing Brady a speedy recovery. It would be a shame and disaster if he missed out on the playoffs assuming we still make them. Hopefully Olly will have recovered sufficiently well to be effective. Could do with another few points in the bag. Most importantly though is that the riders have no I'll effects when recovered.

A load of rubbish then!

More likely to be Brady or possibly both.

Well I was looking forward to a battle tonight but was very disappointed. RW poor as per usual, RH rapidly ran out of steam, MR flashes of brilliance, GM the pick of the Witches, RT still not cutting it, CH leaving it late to wake up but still poor and BH out of his depth. If the Rebels do as well at Foxhall as the Witches did tonight at the OTA then I feel sorry they can't give you a decent meeting. Despite the loss of Olly early on it was the usual outstanding performance across the board from the boys. A special mention for Todd in 13 who did great to get through to join Nick up front only to blow Brady's engine. Hope Brady and Olly are okay but it didn't sound promising for Brady arm wise.

That was a very enjoyable evening with some great racing. Somerset supporters were really pumped after this one and it will have done the team the world of good. For the Monarchs I was impressed by Justin who seems to have recovered from his lows of 2012. Also Max seems to have a liking for the OTA and rode very cleverly to secure his points. Tonight though the Monarchs were let down by Craig who had just one of those nights but I thought Sam was quite poor considering how well he used to ride the track and looked almost desperate on occassions. Although there was passing galore tonight, a special mention for heat 3 where although there was no passing it was equally good. Pontus had to cover Steve's moves while at the same time trying to make a move on Max himself. So it just goes to show that you really can still have a good meeting without any passing as long as the riders are close and making attempted passes. Looking forward to the weekends fixtures. Just hoping we can bag a few more points on our travels and entertain the home side supporters. Please, please boys, no Ipswich!

Roughly between 0 and 24 would work. Obviously you didn't catch how well Somerset did at Ipswich.

A bit like Ipswich too. Damn it. We have got them away again on Thursday. Trust me to put my foot in it!