Aces51

Anybody who loves the sport as Steve obviously does can't be all bad. He's just misguided and has been lead astray by the dark side. I'm just hoping he's not feeling too suicidal on the long journey home. One defeat in a day is bad enough but two!!!!

It's more to do with track shape and width but the best races shown tonight were all from Belle Vue.

That's good news Steve. They share out all the confiscated food and drink with us poor northerners. Next time though could you make it salmon paste or corn beef butties and a few cans of bitter. Our stomachs are used to this effeminate stuff. The wife thinks I've turned gay.

It's excellent news for Swindon, the EL and the sport in general. I'm pleased for all the fans. Isn't this primarily a greyhound stadium so I suspect they will have to do the best they can within the confines of the greyhound track. Hopefully, there will still be the opportunity to design a track that produces good racing, I'm sure there will. Wasn't there talk of modelling it on Cardiff.

Poole certainly weren't poor even though they didn't do as well as, King's Lynn, Leicester, Wolves or Swindon but they did keep the scores as close as Coventry. Seriously though, they put up a good show and kept the scores even from heat 8 onwards. Newman, Ellis and Andersen were their best riders in the first half of the meeting but faded and Holder and Kurtz were their stars in the second half. Pedersen even managed to pass Jacobs for a win, from memory that's the first time I've seen him pass anybody. For the Aces, Zagar, Fricke, Cook and Jacobs all rode well. The Worrall's and Nicholls need to get back to their best if we are going to win the league. It was a brilliant meeting with lots of close racing and passing in front of a big crowd. Hopefully, all the casual and new people there will want to return. I can sympathise if Holder has toothache and doesn't feel her can ride at Leicester but Jacobs rode on Wednesday with a tooth abscess which is even more painful.

Newman, Andersen and Ellis not lacking speed, Holder riding the wrong lines. Aces are just the better team up to now but plenty of races to go, Poole could easily turn this round.

Idiots on here made fun of Gordon and Morton visiting lots of tracks abroad to make sure they got the track right at Belle Vue. Like anything in life you have to listen to others and do your homework to make sure you get the best possible result.

It was certainly more than a coupe of hundred, my guess would be about 1,000. Not good but King's Lynn were not expected to be strong opposition, how wrong that proved to be, we are already pretty much safe for the play offs and people are probably saving their cash for the more attractive visit of Poole on Monday. Traffic in the area was also gridlocked due to Manchester City's match and an accident and that may have put some off.

Well that wasn't in the script. King's Lynn fully deserved their victory. Lindgren again showed his liking for the NSS, Lambert confirmed what a talent he is and Huckenbeck was superb. It was good to see Rory back on a bike after yet another serious injury and he was certainly worth more than his 2 points. It was one of those nights for the Aces when 6 of them all had an off night at the same time. There was no lack of effort but the track was unusual, having only an outside line and once riders were on that it got more difficult to pass as the meeting wore on and the line moved out close to the fence. The only exception was Jacobs, he rode really well as witnessed by his three wins. No need to panic yet. Subtracting points lost at home from those gained away we are still +22, Poole are+11 and Wolves +12, so we still have some leeway to retain top spot. I'm sure Mark Lemon will get them sorted ready for Monday.

It speaks volumes for the lad that he takes time out of his busy schedule to visit those less fortunate.

That's the best page in the MEN, everybody reads the personal ads. Bank holiday usually gets a big crowd anyway and with Aces fans being able to smell blood now that Poole are in decline I think we shall have a decent turnout. Let's hope some Pirate's fans get get up early enough to get here. They're not used to being up at 6am when the factory sirens wake us up in time to get our clogs and flat caps on ready for a 12 hour shift up at Mill.

Crowds have been in decline since the 1980's,long before any top riders left in the early 2000's and it has continued since their departure. Have crowds increased at Swindon with the arrival of Doyle this season? The facts staring us all in the face is that nothing that has been done since the 1980's including the play offs, has even arrested the decline let alone reversed it.

I have no doubt that if we paid more than Poland most of the GP stars would be queuing up to return, regardless of whether we had fewer meetings or a fixed night for the EL. The important question is whether any increase in crowds these stars would attract is sustained and not just of novelty value. The evidence is that crowds were dropping long before they left. It would be interesting to know if crowds have increased at Swindon this year following the signing of Doyle or dropped off at Poole after the departure of Magic.

Max is 20 so not really spent the time to be a slow burner. This has been a breakthrough year for Max. His form was excellent everywhere prior to his injury in the SWC.

He jumped and made the start from gate 4 but rode like a novice and was in the wrong part of the track and got passed by both Swindon riders.

I blame the parents.

That sounds to me as if it could be right. There was certainly a deep layer of loose wet shale on top. I'm sure Colin Meredith would have tyre packed it knowing the forecast but I don't know much about his replacement and to be fair to him he must still be finding his feet. I can understand what Gresham 78 is saying and why but the drains are excellent and have dealt with prolonged heavy rain on a number of occasions, the British Final, the World Cup race off and the Leicester meeting spring to mind. I recall a really heavy downpour shortly before a meeting and literally within 10 or 15 minutes the water had disappeared. I travel quite a distance and from previous experience fully expected the meeting to go ahead and can believe that the promotion would as well. If the meeting had been at the old track I wouldn't have set off. Interestingly, Tony Steele and the track curator walked the track a while before the JAPS went out and nothing was said then about calling it off, that only arose after the riders had an input and the blade was brought out.

Brilliant racing track, top of the league, successful World Cup, looking to the future with a NL team, the academy to come and a fantastic signing in Dan Bewley, securing income from events organised for the Peter Craven suite and a new NSS website up and running to encourage further bookings. I think you're right, they haven't a clue. Of course mistakes have been made and more can be done, although I think last night was mainly down to a lack of experience with the new track and believing the excellent drainage would be able to cope. I think that is why the track was left when the rain stopped, they expected it to drain and dry as it did in the WC race off and the Leicester match. Unfortunately, this time the volume of water was just tooo much. It was a mistake but it was reasonable to think the drains would cope based on the limited previous history. The Glasgow promotion do seem to be leading the way with their professional approach and in increasing local awareness to build up their crowds. Lessons can be learned from them although, my concern there, if rumours are correct, is that the publicity campaign is costing in the region of £180,000. Not many, if any, other clubs can afford that sort of budget and importantly, is it going to be cost effective? You will have to get a lot of people through the gate to recover that sort of outlay.

When I arrived in the stadium at about 6.40 I was surprised that the track had not been bladed. You could see it was smooth with plenty of shale down but although there was no standing water I could see but the top surface was saturated. They sent out the men in black, who were down to race in the second half and the announcer said it was to see if they would turn over the top surface and help improve the conditions, pretty much as we often see after a few races on rain affected tracks. After their three races it was plain to see that riders were making their views known at the pit gate and it was then that the new track curator brought out the blader. It was obvious that it was not going to work. The shale was so wet that it was collecting in clumps which the tractor and grader could not break down. On a number of occasions this year the track has shown that the drainage is so good that the track can survive heavy rain. It seems that the promotion thought the drains would again do their job this time but they got it wrong and have apologised. Maybe we should remember that with a new track it's a learning curve. Nobody knew just how much water the drains could cope with given a few hours of dry weather before match time. There was good reason from the experence to date to believe the drains would have coped but they didn't. They now have a better idea of their limitations but there are so many variables, the volume of water absorbed, the temperature, wind speed that it will never be an exact science. I certainly have sympathy for the new track curator. He can't at the moment know how the track will react to the various weather permutations and it will take time to gain that experience. I have no idea what is happening with track covers. Various rumours, delay because track dimensions had to be checked again after the track alterations, manufacturers got the measurements wrong and not commercially viable because number of postponements will be few because of the drainage. I've no idea what the real story is and the management need to let us know. It is never good when matches are postponed with fans in the stadium. Fortunately, given what happened, it was a poor crowd, although reading reports on here and elsewhere seems to have contained an unusually high proportion of newbies. If true, that is doubly unfortunate. I didn't meet any of them but if I had would have explained why I thought it had happened and that the NSS has proved on a number of occasions that it is better able to get meetings on than most tracks in the UK, so certainly worth another visit.

It's no less credible than anything Tai has said and at least we can understand what he is saying. It's a gracious, response wishing Tai well but making clear he is not going to beg, which has to be right. It would seem that Tai didn't give Rosco any explanation so it seems everyone is in the dark about his specific reasons. Do we know what this successful business is that Tai has created?

I've not heard that. It has certainly been reported that the BSPA paid for it and didn't Rosco say the same when on TV for the Swedish GP, I think on the Saturday when they were filling time before it was called off or, did I imagine that. Tai said he didn't go to Croatia because he had already made other arrangements to be elsewhere, nothing to do with money. You also have to consider the EL clubs running NL teams. It certainly isn't being done to make money, maybe in the hope they produce British talent for their EL side but that also feeds into Team GB. Plainly more can be done but my point is that it is untrue to claim, as some have, that nothing is being done by the BSPA.

I suspect he sees it as an opportunity to earn a crust as he is not riding abroad. Anyone who has suffered the misfortune of a broken rib knows the agony everytime you take a deep breath, let alone ride a speedway bike. It is bound to affect him but as we know he certainly doesn't lack courage.

We still don't know the facts so perhaps not wise to be forming judgements. We do know that we have the Poultec programme up and running, the Young Lions set up being supported by the BSPA and the pre season training camp in Croatia paid for by the BSPA, so certainly not true to say nothing is being done. What I do dispute is that Woffinden is unequivocally best placed to determine what we should be doing because he is presently our best rider. He may be but equally, he may only know what works best for him and that may not work for others. Cook has a fitness programme, it may not be what Woffinden does but may be better suited to Cook. It has not usually been the best riders who have made the best administrators, managers or trainers. Rosco and Middleditch, not a former World Champion, were chosen as national team managers and the most successful training programme to date was run by Dent Oliver,a good rider but never World Champion. The point is that determining how best to produce the next crop of world class riders requires different skills than being the best rider. Tai may have those abilities but it is certainly not a given that he does. My guess is that if you asked a group of world class riders you would get different answers as to what GB should do. I am sure that Tai would make a valuable contribution and should be listened to but that does not necessarily mean doing everything he wants.

I agree we need the full facts before anyone, those defending him and those being critical, can make an informed judgement. Whether we shall ever get the full facts from both sides is another matter. I must admit I am surprised both by his decision and the cryptic tweet. Does he really expect fans, other than those who will blindly believe he must be justified in his actions, to understand what has happened to cause him to abandon his country of birth? It must be something he considers really serious and important but what? You can't make that sort of statement and then back away. Riders like Cook and I am sure others, already have a fitness programme. The BSPA are supportive of the Poultec programme, Belle Vue are setting up their academy and we have all the work being done with the Young Lions,so it is certainly not as if nothing is being done to nurture new talent and become more professional. Could it simply be that it is not being done his way? I don't know.

For my money Steve Worrall is the EDR that has made the most progress. A NL rider when it started and now an established EL second string and top PL rider.