Halifaxtiger

Harsh to say the least. There's no doubt that Bech is a hugely talented young rider but only if he is actually riding. I think Jon Cook's point is that he is missing more than anticipated - a situation that occurred at Plymouth last season - and that the reasons for absences aren't wholly convincing. Listening to Cook at Lakeside on Saturday, you could the disappointment and frustration in his voice at the teams performance so to suggest that he is only interested in himself is way wide of the mark. I can't find a similar post on this thread so its not indicative. I have said this before but the BSF remains a bastion of free speech in amongst all the official forums where criticism - however justified - is barely tolerated. For all its trolls, abuse and wind up merchants it is invaluable for that purpose. I don't agree with the above post but it must be pleasing for all of us that it can be made.

In this case, I think he's probably right. Step up from The Wurzels, I suppose

Pretty decent meeting on a well prepared track. Roynon seems to have bounced back - aside from losing it and hitting Bjerre, he was impressive. Best I have seen Kurtz ride, while Allen was imperious.

A couple of other points: barker and Newman might be banging in lots of maximum heat wins but they should be split up as they ride the same line and Plymouth need some new music. I know my taste isn't up to much and the standard across the sport isn't good but rule brittania stoops to a new low. Encouraging to see a big attendance.

It rained pretty heavily about an hour before the start but aside from the first couple of heats there was nothing wrong with the track at all, Nilsson showing it was possible to pass. Bees were very impressive indeed and Will prove a real handful in the play offs. Watt aside, i thought the Lakeside boys tried hard but were simply outclassed on the night. I thought Jon Cook's comments were very honest - credit to the bees but we weren't good enough. Even if Bech's is playing absolutely straight, you can see why Lakeside might want someone else.r

Usual quality SBA meeting - for racing from the start and round the first two bends it really is the best in the country. There were a few cracking races too - Simota's win in heat 12 was superb. Peterborough were full value, especially Ostergaard and Barrett.

Its not often I start a thread but its not often Plymouth fans do either. Another visit to one of my favourite venues and with young Mr Newman restored to the side Devils to take all three points, I think (despite the presence of track expert Mr Boxall). Plymouth: Ben Barker, Kyle Newman, James Wright, Rasmus Jensen, Josef Franc, Roland Benko, Zdenek Simota. Peterborough: Rider replacement for Lasse Bjerrre, Adam Roynon, Steve Boxall (guest), Ulrich Ostergaard, Ales Dryml, Max Dilger, Nicki Barrett.

You made a call based upon what you were told. Done it many times myself only to then be proved wrong. You missed a cracking meeting..............but then I'm not a Lynn supporter I still think that the Stars are the best team in the EL on their day. Last night just wasn't one of them.

Must admit I didn't have a good view of the starts. I looked at lunch time One thing, though. Never, ever, take their (BBC get their information from the Met Office) word for it - always get a few opinions from other forecast sites. In my experience, they are very good at forecasting what the weather will be in an hour, and pretty rubbish at forecasting what it will be in a couple of days.

Some excellent racing on a well prepared track, a last heat decider and some top quality presentation= Cracking meeting Are you watching Coventry ? North was superb and I was impressed again with Rose. A word, too, for Stuart Wilson. In a week that has seen refereeing come under some close scrutiny, he never put a foot wrong.

See you Friday

As someone who studies weather forecasts intently, the BBC the one for Swindon for today is completely different to all the others, including the Met Office.

Racing at Glasgow in 2014 has been the best I have ever seen it there - indeed, Glasgow v Plymouth is one of the best matches I have seen this season anywhere.

I thought it was a decent meeting with the Devils doing much better than I expected. Kurtz was the rider who impressed me - again. Always good to see the boys from Plymouth. Haven't laughed that much in a long time

Maybe 'skimping' wasn't the right word. How about 'incompetent' instead. Every week we hear excuses for poor track preparation - weather, stock cars, greyhounds, not enough time, poor equipment - and now we have a new one - the TV company. How dare Sky want entertaining racing for their paying subscribers. They'll be wanting meetings that run to time and full teams next. If its so difficult to prepare a decent track, how is it the norm at Scunthorpe ? How do Belle Vue do it ? Or Wolverhampton ? Or Mildenhall ? The answer is because they have track curators who know what they are doing, and rarely do you go to any of those tracks and see a poor surface. I have had the pleasure of working with Robert Huggins in the past and he could turn a track destroyed by stock cars the night before into a superb racing strip in a matter of hours. Having worked with Bob Ellis, I know he only starts on the morning of a meeting. The best comment made last night was 'I have seen worse'. Hardly complimentary, is it ? We all know the weather affects track preparation but hearing the same excuse week after week simply isn't good enough. If one track can be consistently good, all the others can. These are a few of the comments about Coventry v Belle Vue: Thank god that this wasn't on Sky. Track was so poor. Terrible track, poor meeting, that meeting was a complete and utter borefest of some of the most processional racing that I have witnessed in many years Why is the track so terrible? thought it was 'another midlands track' for a minute I was watching... all riders 30 yards apart, straight legged drifting across the apex of the turn unable to bring the rear wheel round until pulling an almighty locker to prevent themselves hitting the fence... is that polish fella back?? Not the best is it. The track was substandard Not the racing. What was the excuse that time ? I can't comment much on Coventry's track this season - I don't go there because the track and the racing have been rubbish in the past - but it seems that last night was anything but a one off. The thing is it can't be underestimated just how important the quality of the track surface is - in fact, I'd say it is the single most important issue in the running of any meeting. Good surfaces mean good racing which means entertainment for paying customers which means people will come back and bring others with them. Crap track surfaces mean the complete opposite.

They need to get someone who can prepare a track. Back in 2007, Mildenhall used to run PL meetings the day after stock cars. Robert Huggins started on preparation at 9.00 on Sunday morning and by 4.30 in the afternoon West Row was one of the best racing tracks in the land. This is about skimping on track preparation and its absolutely disastrous for the sport.

According to the Sentinel: Stoke: T Atkin, C Widman, B Hopwood, L Payne, J Armstrong, R Shuttleworth, A Kirby. Devon: T Webster. R Andrews. L Chessell, J Shanes (r/r), M Bates, H Banks, T Govier.

It doesn't. But the post above says 'someone looked at the updates and made an assumption' when in fact I was doing them in the first place. I haven't mentioned what the riders and officials I know have said about Buxton in the past. I could put Michael Lee's comments up as an example, though.

I'll take your word for the fact that the track was not doctored. I think you will find that I said that the track 'bordered on dangerous' and looking back to my updates that day described it is as 'unsafe'. If the photographs of the holes on the first bend that day are evidence, it maybe possible for me to obtain them because I know pictures were taken. If you are 'fed up' with people saying the track is dangerous I am hardly likely to be the first, am I ? As to my source, if it is possible to read the Kent facebook page for that day, do so. As I have been to every track in the country in the last couple of years (and 23 this season) I can definitely confirm that some are better than others. I am struggling to think, though, of the last time that fans were critical of Mildenhall, for example. It is indeed my choice where I spend my money. It is also your choice how you treat paying customers. I think you will find I was doing the updates that day. There 6 were falls in the first 4 heats and it was a lot more than 'a bit slick and dusty'. As I have said supporters took pictures of the holes on the first bend where the track had worn away completely.

I used to be an occasional visitor to Buxton (4-5 times a season). It is, after all, one of the closest tracks to my home. I thought about coming this Sunday but that made me recall why I don't go any more - it is as a result of attending the same fixture last season. The track was awful - bordering on dangerous - but that wasn't the worst of it. I was told by more than one source that the track had deliberately been prepared that way to pay back Kent for the state of their surface when Buxton were at Central Park. Who on earth sabotages their own product and then expects paying customers to come back for more ? Two friends of mine are Sheffield supporters but used to go regularly to Buxton. A friend of their's complained to a member of the promotion about the track and was told 'If you don't like it, don't come'. Needless to say all 3 of them don't go any more. Adding me to that, that's 4 fans who don't go to Hi Edge and what is appalling is that's not because of the racing, the track, the stadium itself or the presentation but solely because of the attitude of the promotion towards paying customers.

Fair point Berwick isn't a good track for racing but they really did pull out all the stops for the sky meeting last season and they deserved another crack at it. Those who judge the PL as a whole on the basis of that meeting should remember that Berwick wouldn't be in the top ten circuits for racing in that league.

I don't dislike him at all - quite the opposite, in fact - but I think you would find it hard to find many that would say that he is a better promoter than Frost.

I think PL speedway is more sustainable. I'd say its absolutely true to suggest that existing EL clubs would lose fans if they dropped down but not to the extent that they would be worse off than they are now. It is a credible option to have one league split geographically (if we can find the riders, that is). Dropping to 8 clubs, though, might help the EL to survive particularly if they go to one meeting a fortnight (albeit on different nights).

Spoke too soon................ 5-1 & 4-2 to Monarchs since you said something

Yes, that's true. I wonder how many would say that Horton is better than Frost, though ?