Cue Ball

I don't believe that the bikes can deal with the amount of dirt we used to have, it makes them dangerous to ride

Did not see that happening! King didn't look his usual self prior to his crash and not sure that Sclein enjoyed his first ride and just didn't seem to get stuck in after that. Riss for the Tigers was brilliant and Howarth is fast becoming a top rider. Good luck to Master Bates and the baby!!

I'm sure at the Q&A night pre season they mentioned wrangling over who has priority of his services... why on earth are we still having the argument? Surely this should have been sorted pre-season if it was known to be an issue - maybe a stupid rhetorical question, but how hard can it be to say to the BSPA x club owns him, therefore under your rules the team in that league gets priority, fo you agree? Or am I missing something? Also, if we had priority on Saturday night, why would Thursday be any different?

Sheffield's win last week was fairly emphatic... but think Ipswich will be a different proposition. The Tigers should edge it, but will be close, maybe 48-42. Will be interesting to see how Josh G goes against a proper no.1 on his home circuit

One of Berwicks issues will be that Bridger won't have ridden half the tracks he goes to that a year, I didn't think he looked as bad as his score suggested and reckon he will do ok most places he goes - he has never be known for being a big track specialist

I imagine that the stadium was close to capacity, great to see and a few decent races as well. Branford impressed as did Kurtz. Lasse will be better, JPB didn't disgrace himself and the 2 Josh's did alright for the first night. Considering it's a new home track for 5 of the 7 I think there should be definite cause for positivity.

Weather forecast looks like it should be on, so let's hope for some good racing to attract some newbies!!

[quote name="Charlieboy" post="2932262" timestamp="1490463583 A nybody know why Josh g didn't ride last night at Poole ? Good luck to the Tigers and hope theres no injuries this season. think I saw somewhere that he was stuck on a motorway which got closed for 12 hours

Weather appears to be set fair for the P&P thankfully, gives time for a spot of practice before the Ipswich trip

I see Machin has been appointed as a co-promoter at Leicester... for a man that had enough of promoting when he left Sheffield, he seems to have done a lot of it since he left!! Glad to see it to be honest, the man has a lot of experience to offer to other people that have the energy to put it to practice

I got the impression that the 'Glasgow' blueprint was in relation to the timing of races. It sounded like he was saying that they have heat 1 at 7.30, 2 at 7.35, 3 at 7.40 etc to ensure (baring accidents) that the meeting runs smoothly with sufficient time I imagine for bog breaks between races, but without the meeting being allowed to drag on. A bit like the dogs with timetabled races. I may well have got this completely wrong as I couldn't hear all that was said!!

I don't think you'd get very good odds against it

He's invested in the club in terms of the track (additional shale), riders, improved the presentation, spent time/money putting the team together.

I see your point 😀

Crump's tweet says riding at Sheffield 'this' year

Steady retirement meeting in March by the sounds of it... looks like Jason Crump has agreed to ride

And all this is based on perception from the terraces without any actual knowledge of whether riders were under performing on purpose, or whether they were underperforming due to inferior equipment due to cash flow problems or if they just had a bad season and were (heaven forbid) actually just trying their best and falling short of the mark.

With a 5 point average, not many teams will fit BWD in at reserve I would imagine

Good point, well made

If Branford is the reserve of choice, it leaves us with 5.66 for the final rider, in which case Klindt would look about the best of the bunch that are left

I know nothing about track preparation, but I've said before that I wonder whether the track is down to the bikes not being able to handle a lot of dirt anymore. Cracking move to get Stead to be manager - if he can assert the same influence on the other riders as he did on Bates we should see increases in average across the board. It will particularly be good for somebody like JPB who, if taught the right way regarding both on and off track aspects of the sport, could go far

One of the best full stop not just in the Premier league. Happy retirement and hope he enjoys whatever he chooses to do

10.26 remaining, Steady would leave us with less than 2 points so that looks like the end of him at Sheffield 😞☹️️

8.90 average

Would be very surprised if Howarth/Bates is on that list. Would guess that Tungate and Josh G will be at the top and wouldn't be surprised to see Stark/Wright up there as well and probably the Rebels reserve pairing too