Fourentee

Wiser thoughts quickly prevailed there, I suspect! Put some form on, then!

Gosh, I had no idea. To think I've missed that. The Swindon thread, you say? I'll be right over in the next week or two.

Given how little you care about what Stevebrum thinks of you, one might be a tad surprised about the length at which you point it out...

Fair point, but in theory you could probably say the same about Monmore (at least from a size perspective) and we all know how that works out. I would expect him to find a way.

At least they didn't return to the previous effort, where the bottom two top-tier clubs (Peterborough and Wolves) played each other for the right to face the top second-tier side (Edinburgh). "What happens if we lose this pre play-off match?" "You get two extra pay days against a much weaker side." Hmm.

Couldn't have put it better. Will be a huge miss to the sport.

It's an interesting idea, but presumably there would have to be some kind of weighting to reflect the differing standards and match formulas pertaining in each league. Surely the sport's team building processes are complicated enough as they stand? Anyway, I don't think the majority of fans are too bothered how their team's riders perform in Sweden, Poland, Denmark and wherever. It wasn't much consolation to Wolves fans in 2014 that Woffy was tearing up the place in Poland.

I suspect there's a tacit acceptance among promoters that if Fred Bloggs is an asset of Club A but wants to ride for Club B, by and large it's in the interests of the system for the two promotions to agree a loan fee and let him get on with it. Next year Club A may be casting covetous eyes at Joe Smith of Club B anyway.

I don't think even Freddie believes they are necessarily the finished article yet. But he felt the Gerhard suited his style and had development scope. Obviously the advantage there is that, if you're the 'name' rider associated with the product early on and it's going well, then you have a potential advantage to start with and you're best placed to keep the project moving forward in the way you want it to. Fair play to Freddie; he committed to it in a big way and that must have been a risk.

Yes, you're right. I've also seen him remove the helmet once or twice in the pits following heat 15 away defeats for Wolves and smash it into the bench. All the more startling for being such a largely undemonstrative man, but an indication of the passion bubbling beneath. Edit: Helmet off on the lap of honour at the Olympique last night.

When he got really excited he would sometimes raise his left hand just above the handlebars in acknowledgement of the crowd. Even his fist pump after winning that heat at Belle Vue in the play-off final only travelled about four inches. The classic mix of Black Country and Swedish, a delight for the connoisseur!

Funny you should mention that...CVS tells the tale that PK was scouted and invited over to England; they hadn't met at that time. CVS had forgotten which day he was coming; came the knock on the office door and there stood a tall, suited and bespectacled figure with a briefcase. CVS thought he was an insurance salesman.

To give the opposing view, a young developing rider I spoke to recently said that if he has a tumble and wants a confidence booster he has a blast at Scunthorpe because it's fast but not technical. The throttle twists both ways, you know!

Now if you hadn't coughed to it... ...this wouldn't have happened!

Given his smiley, I'm pretty sure Perton Wolf was on the scent anyway.

Fair enough. Nicki Pedersen always thrived on being booed at Wolves. One year some Monmore fans cheered him to the echo during the introductions in the (as it turned out forlorn) hope of destabilising him psychologically. Worth a shot!

Yep to both of those. The only small caveat I would note is that, precisely because people put such great store by the success of the T/R, the 3-3 and 8-1 might have a bigger psychological impact than the 6-3 and 5-1 despite them having the same effect on the scoreline. I've been in the pits and seen the effect on riders after an 8-1 for their side (bear in mind that many riders have only a general idea of how a meeting is going rather than knowing the actual scoreline, so the 8-1 is perceived as a huge boost).

You gave it away with the word 'meeting' (my bold, italics and underline). They weren't losing the meeting. They were losing the tie. As pointed out elsewhere, in effect what you're saying is that the team riding away in the first leg would be the only one able to use a tac. Again, as mentioned elsewhere, surely you either stick to the rules used in the league or decide that, given it's a one-off aggregate two-legged match, no tacs at all. Reluctantly, I'd say keep it as per the league -- team managers' roles have been diminished enough already. Full agreement on your most important point, though: Tremendous meeting. Have only seen it on screen -- was at work on the night -- but must get to the NSS next season. Wonderful track and stadium by the looks of it. PS: Just a general observation on Cook's interview. Did really well to keep his comments controlled despite his obvious bitter disappointment. Very impressed by his passion.

Ringer: "An athlete or horse fraudulently substituted for another in a competition or event." I think the word you were actually looking for was "replacement".

Nice touch to put PK in heat 15. Well done Wolves, commiserations to Belle Vue who have had a fine season.

Steady...!

It might be acute!

Finish? Finish??

For goodness' sake cheer up man, Poole will probably win the thing again next year.