spin king junior

Honestly, don't even pretend you'd have the same reaction if this was to benefit Ipswich. Do I think Josh Bates should be a rising star? Probably not, but thats not my decision nor is it yours. Its down to the promoters and for whatever reason they've decided Bates should be apart of that list. So if you've got a gripe with the list or the requirement to be a "rising star" don't just bury your head in the sand and pretend its a Sheffield problem. Your promoter had some say in the list as did every other promoter in the league.

Im glad the Sheffield promotion were the only ones deciding who the rising stars were. Would've been a shame if those other pesky promoters would've gotten in the way. Also great to see its not just the Sheffield fans that are absolutely thrilled to bits to see Josh sign on as our rising star

Obvious signing as soon as the rising stars were announced. Long as Bates can stay injury free he'll be one of the best at 7. Be interesting to see how the rest of the team shapes up.

Bad photoshop job here. Someone just trying to stir the pot.

Two massive signings for Plymouth. But what average will Bjarne and Crump be on? Can't leave them an awful lot to work with

So it seems the general consensus on here is Josh Bates should 100% be on the rising star list? Glad we all agree then

Which again, you'll con the very few hard-core fans left to buy in at those prices because we do care. But its going to be tough to convince any casual to buy in for that sort of money.

Hes right to an extent. I've said it for years now but speedway can't rely on the die hards anymore. There isn't anywhere near enough fans anymore and with the quality dropping you are going to struggle to bring in the casuals with prices being the way they are. At max I think you can price the current standard of the premiership at £15.

Agreed. For myself I just saw the potential of what was there. For me, the really interesting bits were the eastbourne incident and the insight they gave after the scunny meeting. But it wasn't the focus. If the majority of the documentary was focus on the racing, the results and giving us that little look behind the curtain of what goes off in the pits between the riders and management then it would've been excellent.

If you liked it, then that's great. I just found it a bit boring. The quality of the documentary is up there and there was clearly a hell of a lot of effort put in. But as far as it being entertaining or informative. Nah not for me.

From a speedway fans stand point. It the most polished thing we've had. Once again, glasgow have gone above and beyond in terms of their media and marketing. But from a netural stand point, by god was it boring. Its essentially an hour and half of "look how bloody fantastic Glasgow speedway is!" There was very little focus on the riders and literally other than a brief explanation of the points system there was very little focus on the racing. Just a little Glasgow beat [insert team here]. And literally the only interesting thing that happened (the Eastbourne incident) they cut away from! I hate to say it, but it was an absolutely pointless documentary. I dont really know who the documentary is for. It cant be the diehards, as we already know how much Glasgow have pumped into the speedway and how the season unfolded. It can't be the newbies as it has very little focus on the racing and action. It just feels like a 'look how big my d*ck is' hour long special. The biggest problem is it felt was done by a child with ADHD who'd just downed his last bag of skittles. It was all over the place and just couldn't focus on one subject. What it should have been is a focus on what fans care about. The racing, the riders and the drama. Which was touched on briefly, but only very briefly.

Yes, you said should we all just step up and walk away, and I answered that. If you enjoy the sport in its current state then that's great. If you don't, then don't go. No one should feel pressured into paying into a sport just because people want to try and scaremonger. It's really simple if you read my reply :-)

No. If you enjoy the product in its current state then that's all good. Have at it and you keep going. But if someone like Najjer or anyone else doesn't, then they should vote with their wallet. Speedway isn't a charity, it's a sport and a form of entertainment and if you feel like you're not getting your money's worth then don't go! My main point is that speedway is on its arse. If speedway was a person, it'd be on life support. There isn't any any quick fix for the sport and there are an absolute load of problems that can't get addressed in one go. But one thing that absolutely will not save the sport is use it or lose attitude for more than one reason- 1. It doesn't entice new fans because they don't give a toss about speedway, so they couldn't give a rats arse if the sports ends or not and just makes everything look a little bit unprofessional. 2. The current fan base isn't enough to hold up speedway to begin with, so whether the diehards show up or not, it's not going to save speedway long term. It's a short-term solution and is only effective a minority of the time as a quick fix. 3. It let promoters get lazy. Rather than addressing the (many) problems speedway has, let's just blame the supporters! It's their fault for not showing up to the meetings. Not the promoters who run the sport.

Absolute rubbish. It's fans that take it as it is that are killing the sport. If it keeps going the way it is, then it'll never bring in new fans, just p*** off the existing fans and the so called "die hards" that'll accept any lazy promoting and the general dross that's shoved our way. Maybe rather than trying to scaremonger the loyal supporters to show, they should work on the sport itself and promote it? Because 'use it or lose it' doesn't work, will never work and is just slapping a plaster on a gaping wound.

I think those who've seen him round Owlerton would understand. He just seems to have a really knack for riding Owlerton. With Auty, he's just never particularly good round our place over last few seasons. Whether that's down to how the tracks preprared, machinery ect I don't honestly know. But all I can say is from the perspective of a Sheffield fan having watched Auty and Berge round our place I would 100% have Dimi over Auty.

So Todd it is. I do hope he ends up our number 7 as he should do the business for us there around Owlerton. He's probably been saddled with an average just above what I'd expect of him in this league, but with Todd you've got a rider who can really pull it out of the bag at home and beat riders you wouldn't expect him to.

I think Todd could do the business round Owlerton, but he'll get found out away from home. It depends what we have left over. Say the last two signings are Bates & proctor then we'd only have 4.01 in which case we couldn't fit in berge regardless. Although I agree, Dimi would be a fantastic signing at reserve for us lot.

Could do. But I think you have to bare in mind that's 5 fees that need paying to other clubs. I can't imagine Holder nor pedersen will have come cheap, so we need to recoup the costs somewhere.

Ok maybe swap Bates and Howarth around! After all the belly aching he did last season about being under constant pressure from the fans, I definitely wouldn't have Proctor back next season. It would actually fit though once you account for Bates' 2.5% reduction

1. Pedersen 2. Bates 3. Grajczonek 4. Howarth 5. Holder 6. Nicol 7. T Kurtz. Would be surprised quite frankly if this isn't our 1-7 next season

I hope Bates has a good season. On his day he can be absolutely box office and pulls off moves where you have to cover your eyes hoping he comes out the other bend on the bike. He's got all the talent to easily see a point and more on that average. But I do worry for him. He's picked up some awful injuries over last few seasons and to see him still hobbling and wearing a neck brace at the back end the season, for me it's sad to see someone as young as he is in that state. Speedway is a very unforgiving sport and I only hope he can have an injury free season and get back on track to where he was a few seasons back.

I think Zaine will really struggle to get a team place next season. Awesome round Owlerton, but woeful away.

If you consider Garrity a good signing then you're utterly delusional. Absolute unprofessional.

Christ alive. Y'all haven't half made a mountain out of a molehill. If you're going to walk into the path of a bike, then expect to get hit... And a headbutt? Where?

Could've dropped Nicol and MacDonald and brought in Kurtz and Smith.