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It really does not matter what any other team says about the Panthers side as I have not heard a single complaint from our fans. Firstly I am a fan of speedway and whether we win the league or not does not matter but would be the icing on the cake. What I do know is that I am looking forward to being entertained with this team so bring it on.

There's not a "Rye House" feel about the team at all. Rye House had Kasprzak, Harris, Nicholls, Kennett and Robson. Peterborough has a still on it Hans and Harris, that's it. So, you see, absolutely nothing like Rye House at all. This Peterborough team is the best in the league. Every rider etc Harris barring injury will increase their average no problem. I'm not sure that can be said with other teams. Saying all that, and Peterborough fans understand it, it's not how you start a season, it's all about how you finish it. If this team stays together they're top 4 no problem, but the Peterborough Showground always produces spectacular crashes. Also, Peterborough never finish a season with the rider's they start with, pretty much the same as every team so finishing positions can't really be judged until late July, but on paper right now, by far the best team against other teams already signed or predicted.

Can't be as strange as someone who doesn't go, doesn't watch, but spends an inordinate amount of his time on a forum telling people this and having a go at the sport he doesn't go to or watch.

Josh and Richie 2 riders not likely to improve. Worrall was reserve last season and still didn’t pull up any trees. Fully expect him to swap places with Covatti Josh third heat leader I assume and struggled at number two last season Not a lot of excitement for Poole fans

Not very subtle but accurate!

My sentiments exactly it does not matter what opposing fans think , nothing is won on paper anyway, there's a few miles to cover before it is decided who the top four to go in the play offs are and fortune and misfortune will play a part for all teams along the way, but with the assembled team we have it should provide top class entertainment .

Think you are spot on and nice to see a level headed approach. I think Panthers fans will have plenty of entertainment in 2019 and think sides will have difficulty picking up points at yours. May surprise some away and with strength throughout the side think they will be hopefully well placed to pinch points away.

But now an armchair critic with f*ck all to contribute.

As have I. The difference is if signed for this coming season, he isn't leading the team. He was an awful signing last season on the inflated average he was carrying and coming back from injury. Signing him meant the season was as good as over before a wheel was turned. That said, he's a rider that the club has been loyal too (and the rider to them) and have seen him improve year on year so in one respect it was understandable. What would be absolutely criminal, having thrown him in at the deep end at No 1, a position he wasn't yet ready for, is to not take advantage of him having a lower average and another years experience under his belt. He is still improving as a rider and has the potential to move forwards and next time he moves to 1 or 5 he will be in a much better position to perform. I agree, if Pawlicki were to sign it would be a superb signing and at this point I could accept him over Thorssell. What I would not be able to accept is Schlein/Masters being signed at the expense of him. That is sheer lunacy. The only excuse would be if Thorssell flat out stated he didn't want to ride in the UK this year... but then you would have thought he would come out and say something along those lines.

Spot on I have no idea what some people are seeing when they look at this Peterborough team ?, clearly one of the strongest teams named so far Cook / Andersen / Harris will be a match for anyone especially around the showground , "like Rye House" , ... really ....?

Klindt I would think. That would still leave options in case they are still waiting for Richie to sober up after the AbuDhabi F1trip!!!!

I think we can all agree Thorsell didn't have his best year but if he signed as expected then that will benefit Wolves for this season. If he can get back to his best he will be almost unbeatable at Monmore and much better away, I remember him having some excellent meetings at Poole.

Might need to get some TM advice from Garry May on how to manage Holder Jnr.

I certainly would , communication with fans during the winter break is vital in my opinion Buster should be keeping fans up to date with what is going on and not using the mushroom effect but I believe that's the Buster way ,its not exactly mouth watering at all .

I don’t know a Panthers fan who isn’t delighted with the side

That's a no then

Completely agree re the entertainment factor.......plus, selfishly, Thursdays work really well for me...... excited for the first time in ages......

Gotta say, I feel Peterborough look one of the strongest teams so far! 3 decent heat leaders & both reserves will be potent (whichever 2 they are)!

Team is fine. Will easily make the playoffs. If a rider underperforms they will be replaced. 4th good enough going into the playoffs. Middlo always gets the team firing when it matters most. Happy Christmas to one and all.

Over and over and over again...we are bored now of your opinion, once said it created mild interest...now it is mind numbing in its repetition,!

'Was' being the operative word. Absolutely no interest now other than to be critical.

I think Masters will stay at number one in the Wolves team, I agree internationally Max has a better record and would always get the nod in a world cup or cup of nations team but there is no denying their averages are similar.

Personally I would be very happy if we signed Jacob and Ash as the last 2. We would have 4 riders who were riding at No 1 at some point during the last season and all had 8+ averages at some point in the season. Backed up by Kyle and Luke with Ash spending the whole season as a reserve, happy days.

Sam Masters is the number one as a rider of his average should be, he is no less a number one than Fricke.

I just don’t get why any top level rider would sign for a 2nd division team. The money deal was clearly too good to be true.

I don't think its making any noise ?, its all about opinions , i definitely respect yours , My opinion is there's too many question marks regarding BV line up , (Bewley / Worrall fitness , will we get the 2017 Bjerre or last years? ,Lydsey inexperience, etc ).. Wolves look really strong also, Nick Morris could be signing of the season on that average , and if they get Thorsell back I'd have them as favorites

But wasn't the track largely below standard last year? Heard several reports of riders unhappy with the surface (riders who had been happy with it for many previous years). Now it could have been the higher league influence, a whinging aussie influence or something else but Somerset is one of the best race tracks in the country and until last year its been rare to hear a bad word said about it.

Personally I have no qualms over the 'sport' not being mentioned. However, a British World Champion SHOULD be mentioned in a round up of 'other British World Champions' which is something they always used to do.

I actually think you underate Jacob he was coming off a nasty injury and all in all his figures were not that bad.He actually impressed me at the Abbey he was quick and forceful.I see him averaging 7.80/8 this year.

No he wasn't. Not in the year Stevebrum was quoting.

Yes. It was Boxall and Armstrong and they were knocking in scores of 10 and 11 every meeting and making it a mockery. In saying that I believe that is the rule in Poland, and Zmarzlik was one of the beneficiary a few of years ago.

Instead of attention seeking it would be a good thing if you got yourself informed on what the petition is for. It is not for a debate. You can go on the Thurrock council website and keep up with the news if you are genuinely interested instead of putting stupid post on here, so toddle off.

So... Definite play-off teams Somerset - Best looking team in the league, will be hard to beat IMO Sheffield - Strong again, won't be touched at home and will compete for top-spot Play-off contenders Glasgow - Obviously strong, but look weak-ish at the bottom end Redcar - Love our top three and we will get some points on the road, and Stewart Bacon and Smith are very exciting prospects Leicester - They could be the dark horses for me, look a good team Workington - Always strong at home, and can't be written off - but hard to see a repeat of the title Missing out Eastbourne - If Lawson and Kennett are confirmed, they will be hard to beat at home Edinburgh - Not too impressed, they might struggle early on, but like always with a good promotion they will make changes Scunthorpe - Not a bad team, but not sure strength is there to challenge play-offs - List in top-five is a bit of an ask Bottom dwellers Berwick - Might push higher but still not too strong and don't see how they can challenge the better teams Newcastle - Poor team, unless last signing is Nicki Pederson - although I can see them making early changes which could make big difference Birmingham - Built to a budget, can see it being a bit of a struggle first season back

Jake was fiercely critical of the track last year and became unpopular with the track staff. Whilst his popularity grew with the fans, it decreased considerably with the management.

The problem is that the BBC are (and it might be argued, have to be) politically correct. That means if by far and away the 5 greatest sporting achievements were made by white males one of them at least would be dropped to accommodate a female and someone from an ethnic minority. It also means that the awards will never have the credibility that they should, even if the allegations of vote rigging are untrue. The sadness of that is it damages the achievements of female and black sportsmen, because they don't know if they are there because of what they achieved or because they are female and black. While you might - and I think you have a point - object to netball, I would say that skeleton racing is far more of a minority sport in terms of UK participants and spectators. I nevertheless suspect that there would be few who would deny Lizzy Yarnold her nomination as Britain's greatest ever winter Olympian. For me, and in terms of achievement, I would say that hers has been the biggest of all. You'd think, though, that others who were the greatest ever Briton in their field - even if that is a minority sport - might at least have been mentioned. Humph is spot on, though. Just don't watch it.

I would, it’s not a good way to treat Supporters

Thanks. Sounds great for a Lynn fan . No being serious, you must be well pleased with how you team is looking.

Richie worrall it is then

THE Save Coventry Speedway & Stox Campaign Group send their compliments of the festive season to all supporters. As we head towards a third year in which our sports will be absent from their rightful place, we want to assure everyone that our determination to see them return remains as high as ever. There have been few formal developments since the Public Meeting in early November, but we have remained active and can confirm Rugby Council are now in receipt of even more information to counter the statements made by Framptons on behalf of Brandon Estates. The Planning Application for Brandon Stadium was submitted in January 2018 but a date has still yet to be set for it to be taken to committee. This will not take place until the completion of the government Inspector’s Report into the Rugby Local Plan (which we believe is imminent), or until the Council have received specialist sporting advice regarding the application itself and the myriad of responses opposing it. We remain totally convinced that the Planning Application is intrinsically flawed as it fails to satisfy the criteria required for the development of established sporting venues under National Planning Policy Framework. Framptons were required to submit further information making the case that there is no ongoing need for the two sports to be operating at Brandon (or in the immediate area). This was finally submitted after a five-month delay, and we made our views very clear both in our response to the Council and in our presentation at the Public Meeting. Since then, it has been confirmed that there will be no Coventry Speedway team competing next season, giving a final answer to the ludicrous claims that the club was perfectly well accommodated at Leicester. The stock car analysis was equally controversial, and we have submitted aerial photographs of all of the venues which Framptons claim could be alternatives to Brandon, which totally disproves their ‘desk-top analysis’ which contains very little in the way of actual evidence. Additionally, if you were at the Public Meeting you will remember the case of Perry Barr, which is listed in Framptons’ covering letter to their Needs Analysis as a possible alternative venue, on the basis that it stages “similar kinds of uses.” That statement is incredible enough if you know Perry Barr, but even more extraordinarily the stadium is then included in a list of current, active stock car venues during the content of the Needs Analysis, leading to a completely inaccurate mathematical exercise over the total number of venues. In addition to the responses which had already been submitted pointing out the fallacies of these statements, we have now been able to submit the actual planning documentation from Birmingham City Council granting permission for speedway to be staged at the stadium from 2007. This makes it quite clear that no motorsport with the exception of speedway can be staged at the venue. In our view it is totally unacceptable that a Planning Application and associated documents seeking to destroy an iconic, successful and viable sporting venue, where there is a clear case of ongoing need, can be so disgracefully deficient. There have been numerous other responses to the Needs Assessment, including from both the speedway (BSPA) and stock car (BRISCA and BSCDA) governing bodies, all of which highlight the inaccuracies and untruths contained within, and stress the importance of Brandon to their sports. Framptons have also been forced to withdraw a section of the report relating to Coventry Racing Club and the negotiations which did or did not take place in 2016, and this also has an impact on the Turley (viability) report submitted in January which made the same incorrect assertion. It is the belief of the Campaign Group that both the original Planning Application and the subsequent Needs Assessment documents are absolutely riddled with inaccurate, misleading and untruthful statements, and we have therefore considered making a formal complaint to the Royal Town Planning Institute under Sections 11 (Accuracy) and 12 (Errors and mis-statements) of their Ethics and Professional Standards Advice document. We have decided however, as Rugby Council have committed to the appointment of an independent body to look into the various claims and our response to those claims, we will defer a decision until the independent body completes their investigation. We already have meetings confirmed for the early part of the New Year where we will be seeking assurances over the exact process going forward. We will be ready for any situation and can assure Framptons and Brandon Estates that our opposition will only increase until they do the right thing and agree that the sports should be allowed to return. We do ask all supporters to stay as positive as possible – we have a huge amount of firm evidence in our favour, and we will keep fighting for as long as it takes. The Campaign Group wishes you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and please be assured we will update you as soon as there is further news. *FOLLOWING the news that Coventry Bees would not be racing in 2019, we were asked by the Coventry Telegraph on December 4 to provide a statement. As only half of that statement was printed, we now reproduce it in full: We stated when the Bees were accepted into the National League, running at Leicester, that we could only offer our full support if we could be convinced that this was part of a genuine plan for the club to eventually return to its rightful location. It is patently obvious from the most recent planning documentation that the developers were happy to regard Leicester as an appropriate long-term solution, in an attempt to absolve them of any responsibility to provide an alternative in the Coventry/Rugby area should they receive permission to build on Brandon. Although the club has issued no statement, the Bees have not been included in the list of National League starters for 2019, which will be largely down to the poor attendances and associated losses suffered this year – none of which comes as any surprise, and does not lessen the demand for speedway or stock car racing in the area. This totally invalidates the representations of Framptons, who argued in their initial application in January that Leicester was “better suited to its use as a speedway stadium for a number of reasons including its accessibility...” and their subsequent remarks claiming that alternative provision for the previous speedway use at Brandon had been satisfactorily made, along with their inaccurate analysis of alternative stadia for both sports. The failure of the Coventry Bees project at Leicester merely highlights the totally unsatisfactory nature of that solution, and the clear ongoing need for the club to be operating in the Coventry/Rugby area. The Planning Application continues to directly contradict the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework with regard to sports facilities, and the developers must not be permitted to proceed on that basis. The absence of Coventry from competition in 2019 in no way changes that position. ENDS

How on earth is this team anything like Rye House? Harris and Hans maybe but then you have Cook , Wilson Dean, Wright and Bjerre so no comparison at all. Rye House and the dads army were above Poole when they folded......Poole then took another ‘dad’ in Harris which helped them win the league. Poor trolling attempt but expected

For Newcastle with any luck

Was Steve Boxall not another one who was averaging over 8?

were they the stand out team in 2018 as well ? ended up spoon makers !

Wouldn't he be minimum 4.00? Thought all of these new rules were to support the Brits? I mean fair enough, I like Paco and Fernando, but at least Ben's British, and you can't exactly call me racist or whatever because I'm not even British myself, just seems a bit pointless trying to set all of these rules to help young Brits, and then getting Italians and Argentinians instead... I think it should be the fast track reserve rules like what was in the EL a few years back... Just NL riders in the Championship and Championship riders in the PL, and they stay there all season no matter how their average grows and so on... And it just means Paco and Fernando would be at number 2 or something instead

Doesnt matter who owns it or what work has been done it wil be forever Compost Corner to some of us

Well said.

Sometimes I think people watch Sports Personality of the Year to check that speedway isn't mentioned, just so that they can have a moan about it after.

I did wonder how you could see so far ahead - then I realised you must have 2020 vision I'll get my coat