bringbackHalifax

I believe Craig Cook is Leicester bound.

My subbuteo team has a couple of broken players. ............................. can I borrow two of yours to make us equal !!!!!

Steve and Richie both had the chance to come to Newcastle for 2014 and chose to go elsewhere, why does anyone think they would want to come back. Not many clubs will offer Steve a job in the Prem next yr as he would most likely be at NO 1. Danny has now got a realistic Prem average so can double up next year. This yr only Newcastle could fit him in on his high average. Will see if there is any loyalty or he goes for bigger bucks elsewhere. No doubt when the promoters sit down and talk about how much they lost this year, they will wipe away the tears, and build teams they cannot afford for next season. Bet Edinburgh's losses this year will be close to or higher than the 40k a few seasons back, but they will plead poverty and get the begging bowls out of the steel container and do it all again. Just wish all prem teams would provide entertainment at an affordable level and not get sucked into the win at any costs mentality of the elite league.

No it was K O cup and definitely Ipswich and Worky.

Workington v Ipswich in recent times rings a bell but cannot remember the exact scenario or which team had the benefit of the decision. Either way someone tonight is gonna be well pi$$ed off.

Wow - its heating up on here. Gonna have to make a call pretty soon re what if no mtg tonight. I think when they declare the first leg score as the only thing to go off Poole are progressing to tomorrows final. Then its gonna get red hot on here.

17 wins on the trot for the Monarchs, certainly have the momentum. They have 7 fit riders for the run in which is key for the aggregate matches. Last night they were much sharper from the starts and it showed it was the Diamonds first tteam meeting on track since Glasgow in mid September. hardly good preparation and it's a month since we rode at home, so don't fancy our chances at all against the rampant monarchs on Sunday. Maybe we should have arranged a fixture in the interim to give track time.

How about not letting any team not completing fixtures participate in the play offs

I believe for team building purposes the assessed average should be the lowest figure to be allowed. i.e. if a 7 assessed rider gets a 8.25 then team building is 8.25, if he drops from a 7 to a 5.45 then the team place ( riding number ) should be determined by the 5.45 but the team building figure will remain at 7. This will stop the 3, 4, 5, point no hoper foreigners in the premier league. I would rather take a chance on a no hoper Brit. I think we need affordable speedway. £10 entrance free for kids under 16 6 man teams genuine £45 a point for all riders - no exceptions. no add ons from promoters or club sponsors Any rider wants more - go Elite If no Elite - regionalise for 2 years - North and South. only season starting average can be used for guesting - not current one -this limits average manipualtion

Was hoping to keep this above the your track my track debate. Doesn't need to be wider as there were a few times in the last few weeks where 3 abreast round turn 1 and 2 and down the back straight happens at Brough. Can't manage that round Berwick first bend, although you can off the second. The issue is when a rider hits a patch of the softer stuff and then picks up unplanned grip and then wipes out his rivals / teammates. Again some riders, whether you like it or not can regain control and others can't. I would put a drainage system in to get the standing water off the track asap and leave the shape alone tbh.

I will try and give a balanced view on the track yesterday ( and probably the last few weeks as well ). The drainage on bends is not great ( there is none at all on one of the bends ) and whenever there is rain it just sits on the track. When JS turns up early on a Sunday morning his first few hours is spent pumping water off the track. However as these parts of the track have sat under water it means the base is different to the outside, where there has been no standing water. When you get new riders ( first visit ) or certain established riders ( Barker for Ipswich last yr, Auty every visit bar 1, Ollie Allen every time he drives through the pit gate in his van, if he comes, to name a few ) they tend to leave their brains in the toolbox and make a hash of at least one race. Not one of those mentioned hits a corner as fast as Cookie the other week, or indeed Lindgren last night, but they get the line all wrong on entry, which usually means a big off. It is frustrating for the home riders that the track is patchy and inconsistent but they understand that the speedway club has no access to the track after Wednesday night due to the dogs and therefore are in the laps of the gods with the weather. It also is difficult to find a set up that works week in week out. Agree with the comment though that the riders who attack the track will prosper. Stead, Cookie, Josh G, Kyle N, and Pepe last night after his first ride Hope this helps people understand. I am not trying to justify it, I would love it to be better, but its not the worse track, I have seen this season. Kings Lynn, Lakeside, Poole, Scunthorpe, Swindon, Coventry, Belle Vue, Eastbourne have all had some bad track meetings.

The idea of nullifying a joker double pointer is to come out of the race with the same points advantage you went into heat with. Newcastle did that and more tonight. As for team riding, it is very difficult for the riders at the moment as there is only one quick line round brought this season. If you look at Robbo and Kerr tonight Robbo didn't team ride with Lew as Lew wasn't quick enough and Somerset have a decent rider in every race normally so better to bank the points. Robbie and Lew are evenly matched so can ride together, Danny is quicker than Lew R, Ludo is quicker than reserves so harder for them. Also riders prefer clear run into bends to pick line that suits them so better if team mate is well ahead. Just a pity track surface nowhere near as good as last season. Well done to the lads on a good victory. Hope LewK and LewR recover quickly ,but don't think we will see either next week.

Would be good if we could quickly re arrange two away matches and then we could have the benefit of the spare points to strengthen.

If Robert lambert was available on a 3pt ave in both leagues, something that is not possible once he rode in his first meeting in the elite league why do the Newcastle fans believe Newcastle would be his only option. There are other clubs out there who would throw cash at him as they would any rider who is on a low average and a banker to increase. The guys who have come and turned us over Josh, Richard, Cookie ( he will ), are all doubling up and hopefully with Danny we can compete with these guys. As for the rest of the team, they all have ups and downs but as they have less meetings, all are struggling with finding the right set ups this yr ( include Christian and Anton in this as well ). They need to ride through it and get it sorted, we need to back them, stop dreaming that there is a bottomless pot of cash to keep changing the team, give them a decent race surface to strut their stuff on ( lose the gate and go one line only ) and see where we go. I think the original team would have made the playoffs, I have doubts about the new one, anyone who went to Ipswich or Plymouth( get the dvd ) would see them all digging deep for the club, equally the last 2 home matches haven't left any rider with a smile on his face.

Well, buggered if you do and buggered if you don't. In deep poo now if Rose has to miss any meetings as rr will give us no chance. hope he is okay. Onto the changes, I accept why, but when it didn't work in full, needed a plan B. this can't be a plan B. Had a quick look at last 5 home and away matches. Without bonus points it looks like this SR. 8.43 LL 6.78 CH 6.13 LK 6.00 ( only 5 home 4 away ) AR 5.82 (only 4 home and away) LR 4.37 CS 4.20 Robbo has 6 double fig scores but none at no 1 Ludde has 5 double fig scores 3 at no 1 Christian has 2 double fig scores , none at no5. Anton has 1double fig score at no 5 Lewis K has 2 double fig scores. Based on this info correct decisions made on Christian and Anton, and it showed we needed a number 1. Just feel we would have been better off soldiering on as we were until two balanced signings could be made as now we will continue to struggle. On a separate note, we don't seem to have the same race surface as last year and it seems to favour the gaters now. A guy stood in front of the speedway office cleared off after two races after saying track was as bad as it was for the workington match and that was boring. Seriously, gone home after two heats. See what next weekend brings.Edinburgh and Ipswich will both see a league points guarantee looming.

Don't personally agree with every decision George makes, but no one had scored points off gate 4 prior to ht 8, so why risk the black and white in that one. Lewis is now hopefully sorted, Anton had a headache when he set off to stansted for his early morning flight and his bike is a mess, but Ludde, George and George will sort it for Sunday when he flys back in. schrammy is doing the airport drop tonight for Anton , he is gutted about the crash. Looking forward to watching on tv tomorrow night. Oh, and some team is going to get hammered shortly when these seven diamonds click.

What sort of gear would be worth £40k ?

I think the material in use on the tracks is the main difference. it may look nice but in reality it is fine stuff that doesn't give the riders any grip, hence a number of surprises which happen when you see some of the inexperienced riders make the gate, hold the racing line and unless they make a mistake, they can win. Equally if you are behind, chase the dirt and it will be the equivalent of hitting the brakes. This is an issue in both leagues, not just the premier. Sadly we are now seeing unprecedented ftg heats. This is backed up by the number of restarts at mtgs as riders are desperate to win the / roll/ gamble / cheat their way in the 30yard chase from the start.

Having been to both matches over Easter weekend, I have to say without the spicy bits to get the crowd going there wasn't much to get exited about. I do like it when Scunny come to Newcastle as they tend to have a go unlike the Sheffield effort recently. At Scunny I thought they could of graded the third and fourth bends more to give the riders a different line. It had a blue groove by heat 3 and was way too deep on the outside half of the track. At Newcastle it was too deep on the third and fourth bend outside line but was of a finer material which doesn't seem to bind and give riders grip, on the contrary it just unsettles them. Ryan was good and a little exuberant which caused his crashes, but he will learn fast. Howe was his usual self, competitive and sensible, TJ was quick but got a couple of rollers and had a mad moment ( the DVD will show the truth ). Anton showed improvement but was knocked about a bit, Robbo and Luudde were entertaining ( Ludde unlucky to blow the engine in ht 15 ), the rest hit and miss (excuse the pun ) but Lewis Kerr had a night to forget. Speedway has high and lows and it's how they bounce back that matters.Lewis will bounce back quickly. Already looking forward to the league matches .

Just to clarify Sean Wilson is Ludvigs tuner, but Anton's are done in Sweden.

And we are assuming that these Aussie riders pay tax in the uk !!

I am sure one of our swedes will be down at the track this Sunday mucking in and he will ensure that the outside line remains intact. I seem to remember he popped in last yr also, not sure if he helped though.

Why is it worse ? There are rules to be followed in all walks of life. Don't make this out to be a UK thing, when it's not. There is a process to go through and riders need to take responsibility. If you want to ride in another country you need to ensure all the arrangements are in place that satisfy both your home country and the one you are going to race in. Don't plead ignorance, it gets you nowhere.

Think you will find Masters is a done deal at Edinburgh.

How about a couple of North based riders joining the witches? Maybe add that little bit that seems to be missing at the business end of the season. Need a change from same old formula.