TheScotsman

Is that the same as eating a piece of cake? JC always tells it as it is!! And that's how it was.

Really?

I do worry about you sometimes Gazc. Having a go at Monarchs on a Weegie v Redcar thread? That's sounds a pretty Celtic thing to do. And he never said we were cheated last night, though actually we were robbed!

Errr King is not the rider he used to be at the moment. Fact!! And JC's full quote was "Danny King is not the rider he used to be at the moment." Check this season's averages in the Ippo programme - King Matches - 10 Rides - 45 Points - 91 Average 8.08 So he obviously isn't what he used to be at the moment. I think you are making more out of it than there actually is. And as for King being better than 99% of other riders in the PL? Well there are less than 100 riders in the PL so King must be the best in the league? I think Cook, Stead, Kennett might have something to say about that and based on this season's averages alone, probably another dozen riders like Masters, Lawson etc.

I don't know how the comments were scathing or unprofessional either. In my opinion, and I think that of all the Ippo supporters around me, King missed the start, saw Edinburgh were going to get a 5-1, so baled out in the hope of a restart. Certainly no-one seemed to think anyone touched him. And in the rerun he got the most blatant flier I have seen in a while. Certainly the other 3 riders didn't seem to make a big effort getting to the first turn, presumably all expecting a restart. And yes Max Clegg did get away with a couple of dodgy starts in the rerun of heat 2, but remember he was ahead in the original running when it was stopped on lap 3. A rerun was called when it could so easily have been awarded. And Dan Bewley being excluded in that first running seemed exceedingly soft. And we were also on a 5-1 in heat 13 when Covatti came off on bends 1/2. Fortunately we still got the 5-1 in the rerun. And as scotchopper mentioned, Kevin Wolbert was a decent distance ahead of King in heat 10 when that was stopped after Kerr came down, only for King to get the benefit in the rerun. So in terms of rubs of the green, the majority of them went Ippo's way on the night. And in terms of scathing comments, I think that saying "Fisher is such a dirty rider" is one of those. He seemed to be in no way to blame for any of the incidents. Probably the main issue with Covatti coming off was not that Fish was inside him, but that the track was so devoid of grip all night and by heat 13 it was also wet, so that if you didn't make a sharp start you were going to be on the end of the inevitable domino effect since everyone was sliding out towards the fence at the same time. But back to the whole meeting, it was drifting gently to a close until the joker ride in heat 12, followed by the Monarchs 5-1 in heat 13. All of a sudden there was some interest. Ippo were/are poor. King was very lucky to get 12. But rode his luck and was fast when out in front. Kerr has gone backwards a lot - has he come back from injury too soon? Or is he on slow equipment? If he hadn't come off whilst last in heat 10, he might have got past Etheridge, but then again........... Risager was steady as he goes - managed one win. Sarj seems to have lost his sharpness at the gate and lost what could have been the crucial heat 14 to Clegg. Covatti was going very well till he came off in heat 13. He was actually gating ahead of the pack and not trying to ride the boards!! Paco scored in each race but included in that were 2 losses to Clegg. It was probably a fraction down on what I expected. Greenwood disappointed me. From seeing him get a paid max at Peterborough a couple of years ago, he seems to have gone backwards a lot. Seemed tentative. Monarchs are not great but have spirit. Scored 10 points more than I expected!! 7 race winners and 11 no scores tells the story of a team that needed to have its top 4 on song, so the loss of Erik Riss was a major blow. R/R yielded 1 point when on his form this season he would have probably been looking at 7 or 8. Masters rode well for his paid 13 and was comfortably ahead when heat 15 was stopped. Wolbert was steady and unfortunate to miss out against King when it was stopped and efficiently won the double jpointy joker ride. Etheridge was ...... well the jury is out. He was very poor in a couple of rides, but made a couple of good gates in 2 others and was ahead of Kerr when Kerr ran into the 4th bend fence. The Fish rode well especially in his last 3 rides. Not so past it has some might like to think! Cleggy was very hot and cold. Either gated a mile behind everyone else or got some starts bordering on fliers. But 7 paid 8 was a good haul. Bewley was steady but not really gating with the others apart from when he got his 2nd place in heat 8. Surprised at that because he apparently has been gating very sharply in the NL. Maybe all these 7 ride matches in the NL are tiring him out? And as for the facilities? Food bar on the 2nd bend was closed despite having a sign saying Open on the window! Sound system on the back straight opposite the tapes in abysmal. (But I think it may be better in other parts of the back straight stands?) Lighting is not great. Track has gone downhill so much this year - did I read at the start of the season they had changed the shale to something a bit lighter? Whatever it is there doesn't seem to be much of it. Virtually no overtaking - Bewley passed Greenwood but got excluded for it / Castagna passed Etheridge. Don't remember any more. Crowd was a fair bit lower than I have usually seen. But the company of the BSF section was great!! Nice to meet up with macca at last - but no I still don't want an Ippo car sticker!! .

Miaoww again damo.

I think jye might be living with his brother who has a job in the Midlands.

You missed out Der Kaiser. His average is higher than any of your lot bar King. And his average away from home this season is higher than Smiler's. And as for a rider that scores nothing - I'll have you know that both Jye and Dan the Man have both scored 5. So there!!

If you struggle tonight then the end is nigh!! But I'll be along to boost the attendance by 0.5%.

Smiling Sam's average is a big bit too high.

Keep up MoFa - Toft has long gone - try the Scunny thread.

But then Mitch will come in and clean up!!

He's not doing 7 rides for Edinburgh though - just for BV in the NL. And that should stop once he is in the main 1-5.

Having been partly instrumental in the upsurge in Paco's form, I can only say I hope he has engine problems all evening tonight!! Might give us a chance of hitting 30!! Surprised it seems a bit cloudy today. And an increasing chance of rain from 8pm.

The answer almost certainly is no we can't keep him going forward due to the Friday fixture clashes with both BV teams. Just have to appreciate him whilst we can I seem to remember he was signed as temporary cover till Mitch got his paperwork sorted out.

I don't think we are supposed to understand the rules. That would suggest it was a proper sport. Just think of speedway in the same way as a circus or a monster truck show. A kind of entertainment but not a proper sport.

Reserves fiasco in the PL is getting nearly as bad as the averages fiasco in the so called EL.

All depends on Dan's availability I suppose. I remember everyone laughed when we signed him - not many laughing now!

It also says "be back soon" so it doesn't sound like a season in tatters.

You don't even know if he will miss any matches yet!

Mitchell davey will be eligible in June!

5 wins for Dan the Man again tonight at Brum. Busy boy and likely to be busy again tomorrow.

That's a bit dramatic!

Would have fancied we had a chance of some points if we had had Erik and if The Fish and Cleggy were fully fit. But certainly not now.

Track will have had a good soaking today!!