Lioness

As if we could forget! I think we should leave the others in suspense for a while longer

Why does that make me think of Gary Glitter? I think the record was Norbolds Hole was it not? Long time ago but that was a classic

Scottish speedway fans will tell you how ironic it is the person he is having a go at! All all round good speedway guy whose motivational 'speeches' to Josh as he came out of the pits at Glasgow were awesome to listen to and who always works his ass off. Bridger is showing himself up for exactly what he is

its beside your white stiletto's

Grachan, ILR used to be different for certain areas including sport. It was football I was involved in it with but ILR was not deemed enough to allow us to sign a T&T player as he did not have sufficient international experience to play in the professional league but he could remain here in other employment. I cant fully remember the ins and outs but sport was treated differently then - it caught us out at the time as we hadnt thought there would be a problem You don't have to be married! I have a funny feeling Mitty has very recently attained citizenship but I might have picked that up wrong I think most of us are wondering why Matty Wethers has been caught up in this as he appears to fulfil every criteria and then some but if you don't apply for the correct type of application the regulations can be very unforgiving

I dont know the specifics in this case obviously! there are so many variables Joseq7 but in this case and from the wording on Workington's website I get the impression that Matty has applied for ILR rather than citizenship (which he would almost certainly get imo). ILR can be revoked at any time and with ILR there are certain restrictions which would possibly be the reason he requires but fails to qualify for a work permit. This is guesswork however as 1. its a long time since I dealt with it and even then my dealings were in a limited area (although it was sport) and 2. there is a lot of assumption there and I am not sure why someone in Matty's position would have been advised to go ILR in the first place. If anyone saw him voting in the referendum you can also rule all this supposition out as if he went for ILR he would not be entitled to vote

It has been confirmed by the BSPA and several clubs that they knew before the end of last season this was about to happen Ff and that in fact the governing body cut them some slack to prevent chaos before the end of last season. Technically they are only being asked to stick to the rules that have been in place for years anyhow, rules the speedway community has been breaking. Prudence would mean that clubs should have been advising their non EU targets accordingly to make sure they were not left high and dry. Ignorance is no excuse - nothing has changed so far (as far as is publicly known) other than they are being asked to adhere to the rules that they have been breaking for years

I dont think Taylors last average was over 7 was it? Kozza's is but it was not acheived last year which was what was originally posted as the criteria. Dftftb, it will be interesting to see if a revised criteria comes out. My own experience of dealing with them albeit a few years ago now, was that if there had been even a minor innocent transgression from the rules they tended to become an immoveable rock strictly adhering to the tightest meaning of the rules once it was discovered but that may have changed. On Kozza, if I take a step back and look at it as a neutral, I honestly cant see why they would amend the rule for him. I could understand a relaxing of the rule IF a rider had been out injured for a season but in the previous season had been over the required points limit (in this case 7) but unfit to ride in the state championships due to injury but as far as I can see that doesn't apply to Kozza. It worries me that an apparent lack of advice to ride in the state championships and ensure a top 4 finish could cost him this season. My 'Glasgow' head would be happy for me to be proved wrong but my 'neutral' head says 'why?'

I've never been called eloquent in my life! Elephant yes but eloquent never ......

Its good news on the Tigers front rather than good news on Kozza Smith. As jenga has pointed out, its the sponsors licence that has been granted which now allows Glasgow to submit an application for Kozza or any other non EU rider, nothing else. I am still very dubious on Kozza's visa. The way I read what has been made public on the new regs, because he didnt attain his 7+ average LAST season (which he missed) then he would need to have finished top four in a state championship. I assume Glasgow must be confident that not racing last season will not be a barrier or they would have advised him to do a state championship in case.

I really think I should give up the attempts at humour :-\

Maybe he forgot to apply for a team managers license and someone else has been doing the job for him

Well you have to admit, Mick Horton has everyone talking about the Coventry situation. Pity its by ensuring that a piece that shows the clubs management in such a poor way gets maximum coverage. If he had just kept his mouth shut a good proportion of the speedway public would not have been aware he had an outstanding invoice due to Kenneth Hansen. Now however the majority probably will. Aye, bright move Mr Horton!

apart from when you are at Glasgow

Think thats a whoooosh there ... I stupidly tried to use humour

I believe its because HE chose to take the risk and drink too much the night before a Grand Prix resulting in him recording an alcohol level above that permitted by the regulatory body. Do I win a prize?

A look at the most recent newsletter sent out and the latest entry on the official website proves the point: http://www.glasgowtigers.co/?p=3766 Could you have done any/all of the things mentioned before? Yip if you knew how and who to ask I'm sure you probably could have. But just look at the positive exciting way they are now marketing it - its night and day I take what I think may be your point that there are still one or two involved whose people skills are frankly almost non existent but they must obviously offer something else to the club. the change in marketing strategy so far however imo is night and day

you probably know better than I on that matter cyclone but it has been said to me that Allied's marketing people are getting involved and I base my comments on that. Makes sense really that if you are going to plough a lot of money into something you make sure your best marketing people have an input

Personally I think there is a big difference between a rider who has attained an actual average and retained similar for a few seasons suddenly lobbing 2 points off it compared to an assessed average rider attaining a true average after the required number of meetings. Im not saying either situation is right or wrong, just that they are not comparable as one has only 'dropped' because of assessment rules, not because he suddenly rode differently or failed to attain previous scoring trends, whilst the others dropped due to a massive nosedive in scoring

nail, head. hit. on the apparently there are great marketting moves afoot. sadly there was never any real replacement for Parks and all the work at promoting the Tigers he did off track. While riders of his calibre only come along every now and then it sounds as if the promotional side will not be allowed to be neglected in the same way which can only be good for the Tigers

^^^^^^ what he said Shads is dealing with fact as do the visa requirements. Opinions dont come into it. we all like to think our chosen 'favourites' are the next Stevie Lawson/Carl stonehewer/Shane Parker. 99.9% of the time we are wrong. thats why average figures are used as a guide and not what we think they could do with Greg Hancocks machinery! Averages are a far more accurate guide of how decent a rider is than saying 'but in this race he did well' So what? Its ALL races that count and averages are the best indicator there is of that

Your not alone phillipsr and obviously we are not getting to know either. OED has it as a crustacean so ti cant through any light on the subject either but hey your age is more important than giving an answer to one of the few civil quesitions asked on here

so if he is only 'slightly' better then Shads point is valid as he has not achieved the required 7 point average

Its not the VISA laws being tightened up - as I posted on the Workington thread I came across this in a different area in 2001 and have often queried how riders were able to come to the UK in the way they did. Whats happened is that the authorities have finally clamped down on British Speedway for not complying with the regulations in the way they should have been. this is not all about having a go at speedway which is all some seem to want to see. perhaps the authorites have to share some of the blame for not noticing the breaches in speedway earlier - although Mr harkess conceded that it was brought to clubs attentions last season - but see the wider picture. Why should speedway riders be treated differently from any Australian in another occupation when it comes to getting a work visa for the UK?

Err...how has Steve completely missed the point when all he has done is reply referring to the players YOU put up as an example? You named 3 Brazilians and an Argentinian, not Steve! Last time I looked neither Brazil or Argentina were part of the EU! Then you try and claim Sissis shouldnt be able to claim his Greek heritage - why not? Did you complain when Mark Loram rode for GB? He is claiming something he is entitled to claim. Its NOTHING to do with stopping Australian speedway riders or any other Commonwealth sportsmen. The legislation has also been in place for MANY years - the fact that British speedway blatently flouted the rules does NOT mean they can carry on doing so once they are caught out. the fact some are only complaining about it now because it is affecting speedway is not justification