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I completely disagree. If anything, signing Drew Kemp brings in a far better calibre of rider for where the Comets are at right now. For a start, Kemp doesn't come with a history of not turning up or pulling out at the eleventh hour. Cook has had chance after chance at various tracks, and the unpredictability just drains a team. Workington are completely correct in wanting to give the paying public a reliable, committed 1-to-7 on the track each week. Kemp works hard, and he puts the laps in. Reliability and commitment is far better than sporadic talent in a team sport. This is definitely not a write-off.

Rubbish! They both had 8pt+av last last except Kemp rode in all the fixtures and Cook threw in the Towel after 8 matches.Kemp is a decent replacement and will turn up every week.

Under the circumstances kemp is a fantastic signing imo.

At least Kemp won't just turn up when he feels like it.

A Danish rider missing for a Danish league match, doesn't bother me so much, but a British riders who's home track is a Wednesday missing a match seems very wrong!

Fifa are ar**holes, you'd think they'd have put England on a later slot knowing Oxford are riding....

And this exact topic is exactly why this forum is going down the pan. Surely mods can delete this rubbish and trying and make speedway have a little ounce of respect. Imagine if you were knew to speedway and this forum or even posting on this forum loads to discuss and you see a couple of people just insulting and arguing over non speedway related stuff. Surely mods can get some control over this and all ow this site half a chance to get back to being a proper forum of speedway discussion.

Our team manager is Peter Schroeck. There was no fury as he probably thinks we won.

Ahhh, if ever a post reflected a nickname...Respectfully that's rubbish. The impact on his confidence finishing that far back in every heat can't be good for him and he's 26! It's not like he's a teenager who is upcoming, I'd argue 26 is far too old to be classified as a rising star anyway. Can't fault Tom's efforts and his professionalism but at this time he's clearly not ready for this level of racing. Hopefully a focus on NL for him will help him potentially secure a Championship place in the future. As for his replacement Ben Whalley, it's a brave shout bringing in an NDL 2 point rider straight into the Championship even with the amount of points he's scored. Anyone know much about him from his Edinburgh form? Either way got to be worth a try!! Good luck to him.

Try to say the same thing in Polish...then somebody will (no doubt) take the mickey out of you. English, or should I say British riders, riding in the Polish Leagues are paid enormous sums of money and yet cannot utter a word in Polish.. and I think they should out of respect to their employers !

Kelvin & Olly: " They have all the top notch kit here to get it on", cut to 3 men with brooms 🧹🧹🧹

Can we ride you every week Can we ride you every week Oh hang on we do

Take a bow Freddy Hodder. I don’t think anyone seen that coming. Phenomenal performance

Awful from Oxford, what on earth was that track all about? Tracks been poor all season for me. Without Riss we have no second heat leader, Rowe is barely contributing 3rd heat leader scores, meaning McDiarmid is riding out of position. Fair play to Glasgow, a deserved victory, a great night for Hodder but any home team should not be letting an away reserve averaging under 3 to go unbeaten.

Disagree,you get the nod over klindt

How good has Danny King been this year? Lost the top two and he’s really stepped up to the plate and been consistently good. Good for him.

The track’s condition has been appalling for some time now and shows no improvement regardless of the weather. It’s always slick and dusty. Just a couple of seasons ago there was always an outside line and plenty of passing. Think Bomber, Scotty, Charles Wright and others; they were never off it. However Mitch’s performance last night demonstrated otherwise. I know we’re fortunate to have Speedway at Oxford but after what we’ve been used to it’s hard to justify standing around watching the guff that’s being served up now. Perhaps, as another poster suggested, they know the inevitable.

It's always Poland. Some wags on here have said Sheffield is a dangerous track, but for many a year there has been an endless stream of premier riders returning from Poland with season-ending injuries. Is it really worth it?

.Congrats to all concerned in getting the Meeting On a remarkable effort under extreme circumstances.Well Done.It was a decent meeting.

Bernie eccleston making an appearance

Welcome to... the wonder of Drew 😂 All Comets fans in my thoughts at this difficult time 🙏😁

I still don't think there's as much water on that track as there is when Morris usually waters it. 😆

It really beyond a joke nowadays.Why bother comes to mind.👎

Fair play to the Ipswich promotion, they now provide audio for the streaming service before the meeting and some of the interviews during the meeting to those at the track. And on the big screen of course.

Deanno is the kind of guy that the powers that be should be listening to, but i suspect he says it as it is, something the BSPL frowns upon as they prefer to be the secret society rather than what they should be which is the Promoters of this sport which has been allowed to run down for as long as i can remember.

I hope Craig is ok, sport comes second to mental health.

Probably because the GP series they took over was losing money and required stabilising first to put it back on an even keel

They can’t drop Tom to number 3, the highest average rider has to ride at number 1

You rich southerners! 😂

A clothes peg and some stiff card was the elite option.

He's done his time and that should be the end of it. Garrity was a talented rider and thrilling to watch. I'd have no problem with him racing for the Foxes. If racing helps him stay on the straight and narrow, everybody benefits.

Blimey! You can't shut him up when he gets going... think i preferred it when all he said was "I'm big happy" 😂

Personally I would make a big call and drop lambert and Allen, bring back Charles and bring a 2.00 with him to keep klindt in the team and actually run with a powerhouse 1&5 we have the points to play with do this

Olly Allen did not fancy the chances of Zmarzlik the 6 time world champion off statistically the best gate all night. Allen and Tatum share half a brain cell between them and we are held hostage to listen to their drivel every GP night.

Would agree,but Kelvin and Olly quick to blame Woryna

What ever it is, I hope it involves improving the track size and shape,, cos the on track action really is in need of improving.

Links for the SGP: https://vksport.vkvideo.ru/video-53550004_456242701 https://vkvideo.ru/video-234681448_456239253 https://vkvideo.ru/video-204150284_456239245

Peter Collins!

Feel for you mate, unfortunately British speedway is getting worse by the day, no one seems to have any joined up thinking of how to organise things, same as the British final being on a Saturday when 6 championship teams already had fixtures in place

Good luck to the lad.... Paid his dues... No point having a penal system if you cannot change...

I did laugh when schroek described the defeat at Workington as a good defeat. thought he was wrong to blame the reserves as he choose a top heavy team and the consequences of that is weaker reserves signing his mate Riss ,who for the fourth year running is unfortunately not able to ride due to his eye issues. Always a big risk especially as big hitting replacements are hard to find. thought the track was better than normal in respect of the dust but it seems the watering equipment is far from adequate.

As someone who regularly attends Oxford but no allegiance (my past supported clubs closed) the track has been disappointing this season and will impact my decision in whether I will attend future meetings. I won't stop going, but may attend less as it's a fair way to go to watch 4 riders going around in dust with no racing.

Thought this thread was going to be about Craig Cook!

Kemp is a really good signing, suits our track for sure. He can be very fast on his day. Scored 12 points last season at Northside from the No.1 position. Glad he's been snapped up and in the side for this weekend. Averaged 8.57 when riding in the No.1 position last season, so obviously has the ability, he kicked on massively over the last 2 seasons. I would move Kemp to No.5 and have Batchelor ride at No.3 with Tate, but that's just my opinion.

Yes to the above, but he is nowhere near the standard required to replace Cook, anyone with a knowledge of speedway will tell you that. You've replaced a number one with a 2nd/3rd heatleader at best

I filmed for Bob Tasker/GRT Media every week for a season at Derwent Park and remember recording some great meetings. I also went over with Bob the season before to do the interviews for the DVD's and watching Simon Stead and Carl Stonehewer going up high on the 3rd and 4th bends, was a sight to behold.

When the season is running, people want momentum and routine. If you have big, erratic gaps between meetings, some fans lose the habit, find other things to fill their evenings, and just drift away. The winter break is different because everyone knows exactly when it starts, when it ends, and the anticipation builds up for opening night of the season the closer you get.

The plan was to have 2027 completed well in advance.... July would be "well in advance"... They are running an operating model simply unfit for any purpose other than giving riders a chance to earn a living riding Speedway... Two leagues being ran of similar inconsequence.. "Any Speedway" being put out, devoid of any jeopardy, consequence, or credibility... And all done on nights to suit riders but not necessarily the fans.... In 1976 you would walk into Woolworths on a Saturday morning, and it was heaving, with people of all ages, as kids even went there to buy records and pick n mix.. In 2006 you would walk into Woolworths on a Saturday morning and it was empty apart from a customer base of a sparse number of 50+ somethings.. But the stores, and their operating model, stil looked like it was back in 1976... UK Speedway is Woolworths... Decades of zero plans to move the business forwards due to the lack of skill set of those running it, and a reliance on doing the same thing every year, and hoping an ever dwindling, and ageing, customer base would suddenly, one day, wake up and decide to return.. They didn't in Woolworths case, and they won't for UK Speedway... It needs proper, radical change...

😂 that’s doubling up for you!

Sadly even the most loyal supporters have become disillusioned with the offering and if you look at the lapsed supporters and even those who use to contribute on this forum no longer bothering it sums up why no one bothers any more. A few hardy souls will traipse along to the meetings but for what, a contrived league that holds meetings as and when and if someone is pissing in the wind it is called off because of adverse weather. Where did it all go so wrong. Time for a major reset and focus on young up and coming talent and stop pandering to a few who see the UK as a supplementary income to fund overheads without the need to over do anything apart from turn up at the track. The riders are not to blame but those who employ them are. These guys are contracted to overseas clubs paying top dollar and they are not going to jeopardise everything for a tin pot Monday/Thursday night league with six clubs where the teams are made up of the riders doubling up who are screwing the system by trying to make an annual return out of possibly 20 plus meetings. For the bean counters, work out how many evenings/days they actually race in the UK and then you have an idea of the restricted working pattern with individuals seeking an annualised return that does not stack up if compared to the alarm clock worker who in person in this the country has to graft five plus days a week or more to try and make a decent annual living. You then ask why would they attend a meeting simply to line the pockets of part timers. The sport has lost its way with supporters, sponsors and the trust of many. Fingers crossed someone comes along with ideas to turn it around because as a spectacle and Plymouth can prove it, racing and excitement can prevail, it just takes balls to offer the public what they want when they want it as opposed to the riders.