BWitcher

One would hope this isn't some petty action instigated by Birmingham's webmasters.. They haven't exactly acted professionaly thus far with accusations being bounded about left, right and centre.

Yawn. This is the kind of thread that should be closed immediately. No wonder you get banned when you post rubbish like this.

It was picked up on Brian, this is why I mentioned that the rest of the Wolves team did their jobs as despite being without Tai and his scoring power, they lost by less than they did previously. It further backs up the point of how much Wolves missed him. It also backs up my point that the Brummies now need to step up another gear or two for the final as despite some superlatives being thrown at them, they weren't that impressive against Wolves and will need to dominate the middle/lower orders far more. They can't rely on Darcy Ward scoring 7pts over 2 legs! Good luck to them and lets hope its a cracking final with good weather and big crowds.

I don't disagree with anything you say in that post E I. It was run in a shambolic way before, and since. However that episode served to really drive home this fact more and more to many fans who have since either given up or only attend sporadically now. My lack of sympathy with Douglas/Lakeside lies around them simply rolling over and accepting the Poole situation earlier. Once it became obvious that the SCB were going to take no action against Poole, Lakeside should have made it publically clear that it wasn't on. As it stands, the publics perception is that Lakeside were in agreement. Their statement after the postponement does not go far enough. They should have kicked up an almighty stink about it. Yes, you tell us that is not the way they operate.. but it is the ONLY way to operate in the current setup. The sport will not get cleaned up until promoters take a stand over the dodgy practices.

And now due to the further weakening of the league and shambolic way it has been run since then nobody else can afford it on the crowds they are getting in either.... as predicted at the time by many of us.

What on earth has that got to do with anything? There are many businesses now that operate from home, some with very high turnovers too. Welcome to the modern world.

Its not uncommon in sport. The problem is, that's exactly what they want and too many people do it.

You are wrong on this because there are an awful lot of people whose opinions have changed given the subsequent events.

Actually, with the way the teams are built, it is quite difficult, although I accept what you say. There are previous meetings however where Wolves lost by only 2 at Brum, still with most the team not really contributing.

The way business was done was one promoter who wanted a 45 pt limit, but knew he had a great team lined up for a lower limit anyway, secured the support of the mug promoters who wanted the lower pts limit by agreeing to go with it. I'll give you a lower limit if you help me stitch up the evil team who beat us in the Playoff final. Sadly the mug promoters went along with it and thus are completely to blame for the continued deterioration in the sport and the league.

I'm sorry E I Addio, but Lakeside have been party to these events with their rolling over with regards to the infamous postponement earlier in the year and their rolling over with regards to the illegal riding order Poole tracked against them last season.

Sam had his best season in a while in 2004, upping his average from the low 6's to about 7.5. Got back up to heat leader standard.

Not making excuses Pinny, thats speedway. My only point is to those suggesting that the rest of the team didn't do their jobs, which in the main they did.

It appears what Barry the Cat is saying is there are issues with the scripting on the Birmingham website, issues that have been pointed out to the webmaster in the past and that haven't been rectified. These issues, with increased traffic cause a far bigger demand on the servers than they should do, or it seems other clubs websites do. It appears from the Birmingham side of things there is animosity between Birmingham and AP Media and they are suggesting this is a deliberate act. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Here's an example of exactly what I meant. For some reason foik were expecting a career 6.5-7pt guy to be rattling up big scores every week. It is they who were wrong, not the rider who did as he always did.

Diplomatic as always.. but Maths isn't his strong point.

Correct, but I'm not talking about what happened before, I'm referring to what happened on track. The Wolves 2nd strings and reserves scored a LOT more pts than in previous encounters with Birmingham so they did raise their game. 7pts from Tai Woffindens replacements over 2 meetings simply could not be covered for in a side built with two big hitters. Those are the breaks, Birmingham took advantage, no issues there.

Again, we have no reason for why he was a poor signing, or what he actually failed to do.Johno became a scapegoat that season for the ill feeling between the promotion and Wolfcry. Add to this he started the season in a blaze of form, so what when he returned to normal and had a few bad meetings some folk turned on him. He averaged 6.65 in the role that the likes of Adam Skornicki, Graham Jones have been asked to fill over the years.. both of whom had season after season around that figure. What exactly were some fans expecting from him that season? I'd like to add, I was no big fan of him either. I just don't buy into this theory he was a disastrous signing as he pretty much did the job he was signed to do. We've had far worse riders.

Although, lets not forget, Sam averaged less than Johnno in the same season, plus was a higher starting average... The treatment of Wolfcry was a very different issue though and I agree with your points there totally. The issue with Johnno was quite simply, for whatever reason some fans were expecting him to be an 8pt rider.

This! it seems we're getting a constant diatribe of propaganda from Sportowefakty. Frankly, the organisers of the SEC have shown themselves in their true light with their handling of the Woffinden affair. It's common knowledge that much of Polish/Russian speedway is controlled by organisations with links to shall we say 'dodgy' organisations. I would suggest this is one of the reasons it became easy for them to organise a round in Russia too!

True, but its no good harping back to earlier injuries in the season. The facts are simple. Tai's injury was the killer, it doesn't matter if we still had Proctor and Thorsell, getting 7pts over 2 meetings from Tai's rides we would have lost anyway. Had Tai not crashed with Gollob, he'd be World Champion already and Wolves would 95% certainly be in the playoff final. The rest of the Wolves team did their jobs (bar Fred to an extent in the 2nd leg but it was all over by then) so in essence they did peak at the right time. Our reserves outscored theirs in both meetings. The second strings + Adam also scored more then they would normally do against Birmingham. An average Tai performance would have seen a fairly comfortable Wolves win.

Ah that old chestnut, Johnno, the 6.5-7pt guy we signed.. who averaged about 6.7 for us. Not bad for riding a lawnmower in a far higher standard league than we have now. The problem then, was not with Johnno, but the man whose place he took. That being Sam Ermolenko. Edited to add, Johno averaged 6.65 for us that season.

He is currently the Worlds No 1 rider. After the weekend he will hopefully be World Champion. Hence my wording Very true. If only as it would have been very very different.

They would.. but would either have actually been picked ahead of NKI? Darcy maybe.. NKI was the rider everyone wanted, it just didn't happen for him on the night. Cook.. that was desperate.

Totally understand that, reality is though, the tie was handed to you on a plate by that stage by the performance of Wolves 2 guests at No 1. The 2nd strings of Wolves actually scored more than was expected. You're not going to find Darcy Ward scoring 7 pts over 2 meetings so will need to step it up another level against Poole. It's a shame in a way that such an anticipated clash was ruined by Woffys crash in the GP. It really could have been something special. In saying that, from a Brummie point of view, it is and was something special, you can only beat whats in front of you and you did just that and now can enjoy your place in the final.