BWitcher

Well, we're about 4.5 hours away from the match, despite all the controversy beforehand I'm getting very excited. Only problem I have is woke up with a bad migraine and it won't shift... which is really going to impact upon my enjoyment tonight. However, I will be there, absolutely not going to miss this, playoff speedway, the sport at its best. Let's hope for an excellent meeting and no injuries.

It's what I call getting the averages for EDR's fiddled at the start of the season.

That's right, you don't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPe16yiO0oQ Ooops.

Let's be honest here and cut to the chase. Poole are highly 'fortunate' that their two lowest scorers from the first leg are now missing this match. An already strong team has culled their weakest links and replaced them with better options. What was already a daunting task for Wolves has now become a mammoth one. There was a realistic chance that as in the first leg Pedersen would score 1 or 2.. Tungate is likely to get a lot more than that. Lindback scored 5 on his best track in the UK.. several of those pts were gifted by Wolves riders entering turn 1 on the wrong line, the wouldn't happen at Monmore, he'd be fortunate to get 3 or 4 in the form he is in. RR will cover that and then some. Sadly for Wolves, it's just not their year.

Was ok, many years ago. Given his recent form and riding other machinery it's not much of a blow. He got 5 in the home leg? Less likely to score as many at Wolves. On balance, I'd say it's about even but I'd say there was a better chance that he really struggled than flew round, although will admit he 'might' have flew round.

How convenient! What is the reason for this sudden absence??

I really do think you live on a different planet to the rest of us. Not even the staunchest Poole fans have tried to deny the rule.. yet you decide it's hearsay? Brilliant. The rule has been quoted numerous times. As for your ridiculous statement nobody has stopped attending the sport due to the pretty much annual scams then... well, words fail me.

In most cases I would agree, in this case it isn't needed. Short term and Long term are two different lengths. The shortest possible term is 1 match. Hence that is short term. To play devils advocate we will say that anything over 1 match is 'long term'. It isn't obviously, but as you point out, it's not defined so we will take the shortest possible period it can be, which is two matches.. given that 1 match is short term. How many matches did Andersen miss after he was signed?.. 1 match. So he fails to meet the criteria, no matter how you twist it and no matter how short you try to imply 'long term' might be. Now, despite all the discussion, nothing is going to change, Poole will continue on in their destructive fashion, fans will be p****d off the length and breadth of the country and the fanbase will shrink further. All that being said, I'm still looking forward to tomorrow night (being the fool that I am) and hopefully we'll have a cracking nights racing and Wolves can make a fight of it. In other words, lets agree to disagree and focus on the match itself.

Nice try. There is no need to fabricate information as you are doing. The evidence is already available. Andersen at no point stated he would be out long term, he stated he would back asap, whilst Poole were already putting the message out he was done for the season, laying the groundwork. As for you trying to dispute the definition of 'long term'. Well, short term would me one match, that's as short as you can get. To appease you we'll have the 'long term' as two matches... he didn't reach two matches so under no definition could it have been classed as 'long term' from the point at which the signing was made. Anyway we'll never disagree... I'm a fan of the sport and want to see it prosper. You just want to win at all costs and to hell with the damage as is clear by your final comments above. Each to their own.

Will it be 'packed'. There will be plenty there, but not as packed as it was in 2009. They don't say they do... they DO. I know of many myself personally.

Correct. The issue here is quite simply, this isn't an isolated incident.. indeed, it's not even isolated for this season, or even this month! There's two incidents involving Poole causing fans to say "Not again". It's pretty much every single season there is some scam pulled by Poole which is why we get the same debates every single season and even on this forum they involved increasingly less people. Why? Because many of those who were vocal in previous years are now lost to this forum and more importantly, lost to the sport.

I've seen a photo, same as you. I can take a photo of my legs with one slightly raised and the right knee looks much bigger. Doesn't prove anything one way or the other. So, no I haven't seen the 'injury' and neither have you.

If only that were the case. This forum contains a very small % of speedway fans. Head over on to facebook and all the various groups and you will find hundreds of fans from teams across the country who know the stunts Poole pull.. and each time a few more of them say it's the last straw and stop going.

Irrelevant. He raced within a week of Poole claiming he was going to be out LONG TERM.

The dimwits who were 100% correct that Pedersen would one way or another not be riding in the 2nd leg? That doesn't make them dim you clown. That makes them correct.

It's been quite clearly explained numerous times. If this was a legal situation it would be a simple case. At no stage did Andersen ever say he would be out 'long term'. Indeed he always said he would be back asap. When Poole made the change it was only allowed for a 'long term' injury. Andersen raced within a week, nullifying their claim. Poole's change was made under false pretenses, as such was illegal. Of course the sport will do nothing about it, it never does. All the rest about being stronger, not stronger, guests etc is irrelevant. You're right about one thing though, many of us have made fools of ourselves and still do by continuing to support the sport in this country. Unfortunately for the sport, many more have realised what fools they were making of themselves and have abandoned it. This latest episode will have simply added to those numbers.

What you believe to be credible or not credible is completely and utterly irrelevant. What is credible is the sport following it's rules. A signing was ONLY allowed for a LONG TERM injury. Andersen's injury, quite clearly, was NOT long term. There is no grey area here. It's blatant. As such the signing of Lindback was an illegal one. In any CREDIBLE sport an illegitimate signing would be ruled null and void any any meetings/matches they had competed in would be conceded. In speedway's case it's by removing a rider's points.

Really? Posters on here are in the minority, there are far more who have simply walked away and continue to do so every time this kind of thing happens. Making a fuss about nothing? Seriously? It's staggering how often speedway fans get up in arms about something that is legitimate, then when rules are broken they claim it's nothing. Lindback wouldn't have been interested in joining any earlier or they would have signed him.

The biased poster on this thread is yourself who advocates complicating situations and re-writing rules that have been perfectly fine for decades. It's little wonder you support the antics Ford gets up to. Woffinden's average was 7.03. That is it. Nothing else to discuss. It was achieved in the same league under pretty much the same heat format as now over a full season. A bona fide representation. Throughout the history of the sport riders have had good years and bad years and teams look to take advantage of that... Poole in particular! It's not even a debate to be honest, unless of course you are suggesting that Woffinden spent the entire 2014 season lowering his average so he could return 18 months later for the playoffs?? It wouldn't surprise me, I stated on facebook that Wolves had better have booked him immediately or that is exactly what would happen.

Yeah it's daft a rider using the average he earned over a full season isn't it. However, going off your theory, Woffinden isn't as good this year as he was then, so I think around 6.50 would have been fair.

To be fair, it's not breaking the rules is it, they made a mistake and it looks like they quickly rectified it. Now if they'd have applied for some kind of special dispensation or in the 'best interests of the sport' then it would be different.

I raced too, unfortunately it was very dangerous because less skilled riders like yourself didn't ride with your heads and kept getting into trouble. I still remember that poor lad you wiped out.

At least there is one Poole poster who has some sense, as always.

It had better be true. Exactly. As soon as Wolves called off their match, which was a couple of hours before Belle Vue I believe, then they should have been onto Harris immediately.

Maybe they don't have an issue...