Willowman

Come again? He will be dropping some decent scores and replacing them with decent scores. Then things will stay the same. Got a bit confused there Tsunami!

The ironic thing was they were team mates at Swindon at the time too if my memory serves me correctly.

Tribute to Emil here. Such a splendid chap and consummate professional.

I think I'm wasting my time!

Good to hear Paul Starke comes recommended by Bandits fans. So come on Berwick promotion. Get your team declared. My first team is sorted. Now how about my second?

One thing I did forget to put in my post was that if the team spirit and never say die attitude from this year can be carried over to next, you just never know what could happen. It is good to here that in general Paul Starke comes highly recommended by Bandits fans and is tipped for a good year ahead. Seems like he will be very much missed.

You are going to have to learn his name though! Sedg - no E - men (plural of man). Hardly Graj - cz - onek but still causes problems!

Well it was always going to be difficult to rebuild the team after this years success so something has had to give. My biggest disappointment is seeing Josh move on as I thought he and Nick would have certainly made a good start to team building if the rumour that Doyley would not be riding PL was actually true. However how can you not be pleased to have Doyley and Nick back? After Charles made such a difference to the side in the later meetings of 2013 he had to be considered. I know what everybody says about riding at reserve other than in the main body of the team but for whatever reason he did look very much like he was more than capable of moving up, so no brainer really. With all the hype around Brady, his average and the promotion promising him a place in 2014, another one pencilled in. Todd did okay for us at Rye as a guest so obviously did enough of a selling job to convince Gary, so another one pencilled in. Same for Paul who I have to say did impress me and really does look like he could come good especially after a full season in the PL. Finally hopefully Olly will stay free of injury and live up to his potential and average. Not one that I would have gone for. The question that I would like answered really is what choice did we really have if we wanted to follow the format that provided us with so much success in 2013 and maintain a bit of loyalty to riders? Of course there are a lot of "if's and but's" but I think that these have all been carefully calculated. Good news I say if other teams do not fear us. We might just prove a few doubters wrong. Full support for the decisions made and team declared from me. If it doesn't work out, at least we tried. Bring it on!

I haven't seen Robert Lambert's name appear anywhere for some time?

The only problem comes when meetings have to be re-arranged like the Rebels and Ipswich had to do with the potential losses of Doyle and Barker although that would have been like for like. Still not ideal but we will just have to wait and see.

Gutted Josh will not feature in the Rebels side for 2014. I would have been more than happy if Josh was our no 1 and that is saying something when comparing him with Doyley. Good luck to him and the Comets for 2014. I reckon you will be there or thereabouts and love him. Such a talented rider who is on the up. It just begs the question what form will the Rebels now be?

Well that will be a yes! But exactly when, who knows?

Agreed. I thought we called ourselves 'Speedway Supporters' not 'Pies & Beer Supporters'.

Len Silver's team.

He wasn't too impressed with the OTA and yet ended up there doing well as the season progressed. Great rider to have in your team for away meetings!

You would have thought that it would be something along the lines of when their converted PL average from the EL exceeds an achievable PL average, say 11, i.e.an EL average of 6.6. But that would be far too sensible. That would exclude Craig Cook and Jason Doyle from racing in the PL which doesn't seem unreasonable considering their ability in the EL. Funnily enough though, Ben Barker and Edward Kennett would still be allowed.

Well that would be a signing to play right into your hand.

I know where you are coimng from on this one. The Rebels were left in the same position a couple of times after the turmoil of changes in promotion. Wishing you Sheffiled fans all the best and hope Xmas sees you get what you want.

If the league format changes significantly we could be looking at a major team re-build with no JD, NM or JG. GM would have to pull of some real masterstokes in that case.

If CC is serious about his career progression, would you have not thought that he should be looking at riding elaswhere in 2014 than Armadale, in particular at a bigger track along the lines of those in Poland? I think he has mastered Edinburgh now!

I think you will find your proposed #4 has already been pencilled in elsewhere.

Got a bit of a problem there then 'dantodan' as the riders you want back are all PL riders too!

Congratulations to the Rebels on such a magnificent season. I'm sure if Doyley had been in the Fours we would have had that one too. What is really pleasing in my mind is that Somerset have done it in a steady manner mostly improving year on year. After the team announcement I think it was in everyones minds that this would possibly be Somerset's best chance if they managed to stay clear of injuries and with a bit of luck on their side, and so it has proved. A big congratulations must also go to Edinburgh who certainly made it very hard for us. The conditions last night certainly played into the hands of the Monarchs and it could have so easily gone their way. I would have thought the outcome would have been much more predictable had the track been as per usual but hey-ho, there you go, we will never know. It is a testament to the club and supporters that not only did they appear at all in 2013 but that they also gave us many brilliant meetings over the course of the season. Somerset certainly know what it feels like to be runners up so chins up in readiness for 2014.

I think it is hapiness rather than amusement.

Surprised nobody has flagged that Lewis Rose is now riding for the Rebels as reported here.