King Jamie

Just like the one at Swindon a few years ago?

Funnily enough, I was thinking about that yesterday after I posted. Once the Newcastle meetings are removed, Complin won't have 10 meetings to his name. Therefore, does he revert back to the assessed 4.00 he started the season with, or will the powers-that-be fudge some random figure based on a handful of laps?

Don't forget the 2.5% UK reduction, which would bring Mr Blobby's dream team back under 42.00. However, obviously, it won't matter anyway if the limit is 40.

Danyon's rolling average is showing as 5.83, so his last 10 meetings must've been better than his season overall (5.39, as above). Was he at reserve during that time? I have no idea and can't be bothered checking. Sorry!

I remember asking the question a number of years ago on the Chatzone re the club's name, as in, "does it have to be 'Edinburgh Monarchs'?" My reasoning was along the lines of, over the years, we've also been 'Coatbridge Monarchs' as well as 'Scottish Monarchs'. City of Edinburgh Council didn't want us (presumably still don't), so why not change to Armadale Monarchs or something similar? Does it really make a difference? Some of the replies were 'interesting' and it seemed quite a few posters were completely against the idea. Roll forward to the present day, and assuming CEC are still anti-speedway, I don't really see what other choice we have. Change identity or die a death

Sunny Armadale is apparently set to be flattened soon. Last night, it felt like the demolition men had arrived a few weeks ahead of schedule. The People's Champions, the table topping Leicester Lions, were relentless in their pursuit of first leg victory. It started with Morris dancing into the lead in heat 1 and Monarchs fans certainly knew their side had a Mountain to climb when young Connor passed the hapless Sam Masters to secure the 5-1. Fireman Sam was found wanting against top opposition (not for the first time) and he followed up his heat 1 failure by almost sticking Lasse Fredriksen in the pits on the first turn of heat 6. He did pretty much the same thing in the corresponding race last Friday. What price team riding? He then posted two decent rides before being bullied into submission (and third place) by the classy Richie Worrall in heat 15. Not good enough from 'the league's best rider'. Like a number of others, I was hugely impressed with Connor Mountain, who made a molehill out of all the home men, with the sole exception of Josh Pickering who had to work overtime and a half to force his way into second in heat 11. Part of me actually wanted him to achieve his paid maximum as it would've been a suitable ending to a performance I would rank as one of the best from a visiting second string throughout the entirety of sunny Armadale's existence. It's always a delight to see Max Clegg scoring well, his only defeats coming from his 2 outings off gate 1. Well done young man. For the Monarchs, when the glue that is Kye Thomson has an off night, it's never a good sign. He looked a pale shadow of his usual self all evening, not helped by the Italian plumber also failing to rise to the occasion. So, well done Leicester. Let's hope you finish the job in the Final and sporting justice is done. Say no to artificial, Americanised, climax-chasing razzmatazz. You're the 2022 Champions in my eyes, regardless of the end result. er, roll on Friday...

Is your tractor interfering with your keyboard young man?

I tend to disagree. Winning 2 or 3 cup ties at the end of a season is nowhere near enough to ensure 'deserving' Champion status. And Monarchs definitely do not deserve to call themselves Champions in 2022. Only Leicester have earned that particular accolade.

Monarchs' recent results at Leicester: July 2022 - 47-42 Sept 2021 - 47-43 season 2020 - n/a July 2019 - 47-42 Absolutely nothing to fear. However, I hope we do our civic duty and bow out at this stage. Leicester finished top of the table and, therefore, deserve to win the title. Meanwhile, we finished a whopping 14 pts behind. There can only be one rightful winner in this tie.

There will be absolutely no weather problems tonight. Sunny Armadale will live up to its name. Scorching rays from the late afternoon skies will see a picturesque scene and stadium temperatures of minus 26. Ah, the joys of a Friday evening in West Lothian's plushest venue

You're looking at the August averages (both 8.40). For September, Kennett remained on 8.40, while Barker dropped to 8.00. The guest assumes the average and team position of the rider he's replacing. Looks like a typo.

i can see where you're coming from, especially in relation to race night and rider security. If Monarchs don't run in 2023, they'll lose their Friday evening seniority and face hosting a number of home meetings on 'off nights' if / when they return. And obviously a ground share at Ashfield would mean a move from Friday in any case, hence why it won't be top of the any potential 'choice' list.

1996 at Shawfield, the company made a loss of £60K (or perhaps £66K, can't remember). The impact of that is still obvious in the balance sheet even now. Granted it was one big league at the time and hopefully any potential repeat wouldn't incur quite so much financial damage but I'm not convinced it would be first choice among the directors. As you say though, needs must.

Mixed thoughts on this. Part of me is thinking the Council are correct to look after the area's interests as they see fit. I read about how they put the land up for sale for Monarchs to buy and yet it was mentioned the club was more likely looking at a lease purchase. A bit of a difference in terms of incoming cash flow for WLC. If Monarchs couldn't raise the funds to buy outright, why shouldn't the Council sell it to another party who apparently can? Meanwhile, another part of me is thinking, I guess that's what happens when people vote Labour.

Interesting to see Monarchs giving up their 'advantage' in the play off QF by deciding to host the first leg instead of the second. An obvious admission that having the first leg at Redcar (as should've been the case) would've led to a deficit that many would see as irretrievable, hence potentially lowering the attendance figure. Smart fixture planning

Just like the bloke at Cardiff who, at one point, I'm sure announced him as 'Nick Bloomberg'. Quite pathetic. Not to mention disrespectful.

Not sure how that's worked out. The rulebook states that, where two riders have the same average, whoever was higher in the previous issue would retain seniority. It also says you don't go beyond the second decimal place. Neil Watson stated the rule was written badly and riders are separated beyond two decimal places on occasion. He also proved that Tom Brennan was 'higher' than Ostergaard on this basis (both were 6.62 in the green sheets). Despite that, Ostergaard retained his previous seniority throughout August and Glasgow were able to use guests for him after he picked up an injury, as third heat leader (Brennan no.4). Fast forward to September and we have: Edinburgh - Lasse Frederiksen (4.00) retaining senior status over Jacob Hook (4.00). This is correct, as LF was originally 5.00 at the start of the season. JH has never gone above 4.00. Redcar - Jason Edwards (4.39, previously 4.85) retaining senior status over Kyle Newman (4.39, previously 4.31). Again, this is correct. Poole - Daniel King somehow becoming the new number one (8.26, previously 8.29) ahead of the previous incumbent Steve Worrall (8.26, previously 8.48). For the purposes of consistency, Poole's first opponents in September should lodge a protest and have the line-up adjusted accordingly

We won't know how much money has been raised for 'the pot' from sales of assets until the final report is issued. If the time scale for this is similar to Newspeed 2003 Ltd, we're probably looking at next year. There are no 'secured' creditors in amongst the full list, which means everyone will be scrapping for whatever is left but, as you say, by the time the liquidators take their fees, I wouldn't imagine that will amount to much, if anything

Within the Statement of Affairs, on the Summary of Liabilities page, there is an amount of £8,872 owing to 'consumer creditors'. I would guess season ticket holders are included in that figure?

Looking at it another way, the 5-1 from James and Jacob in heat 2 is the difference between the sides going forward. Really enjoyable meeting on Friday. Highlight for me was Michele Castagna posting a 60.1 in heat 14, thus equaling Mark Loram's Powderhall track record. Yes, I know, I'm easy pleased! Re Fireman Sam, he spent most of the evening piddling round the white line. No change there. We're well used to it by now. No criticism from me. At least by the time the second leg arrives, he'll be two weeks further along the fitness trail and will be able to extend his hose further. Roll on Friday...

Yes, defo see you there. I'll be the one with a bed sheet over my head

Where does the sun sit in relation to Oxford Stadium? As in, will it be shining in our faces or will it be 'hidden' behind the stand? I've not been down yonder since a British Final many moons ago and can't remember if I fried that night or not. Given the forecast for Friday, I could very well melt

Interesting meeting. With the top 2 not quite scoring at their usual rate (hats off to Richard Lawson for a decent effort though), Monarchs were never comfortable and it took yet another heat 15 5-1 to seal the 3 points. There were some vital contributions from the supporting cast, including heat wins for both Police Sarjeant and Dr Hook. We were even treated to a victory lap from young Lasse after finishing third in heat 10. Never seen that before. The glue that is Kye Thomson turned in probably his most dominant display to date, showing a new found aggressive side and some excellent passing. Perhaps he should lose a chain in his first race every week! For the Gladiators, after two races, it looked like they might need to call upon old friends Hunter and Jet. However, they already had the Wolf man at number one and his part in the heat 3 5-1, alongside the brutally inconsistent MPT, turned the meeting on its head. Of the rest, Ben Barker/r posted his best sunny Armadale score since, er, no idea. HNA really is a classy performer but he doesn't half give up easily. And Ben Morley did what Ben Morley does. Paid 9 was good reward for his evening's work. Unlike last week, there was no controversy. Not that there was ever any chance of that with the best referee in the sport in charge. Thank you again for 2014 sir Roll on a week on Friday...

Ostergaard ranked third in the averages, ahead of Brennan. Who'd have thunk it?

Pardon my ignorance but when was the go fund me pot set up? As the only available accounts are up to 30 Nov 2020, could it have been later than that? If so, then the director's loan would be separate. The so called last meeting was in 2021 so, unfortunately, we'll most likely never know what happened to the income from it. Swallowed up by stadium rent, etc, presumably? The liquidator will prepare a Statement of Affairs, just as they did for Newspeed, followed some time later by a final report. As I said yesterday, I await these with interest...