King Jamie

If it's a straight choice between successful manager Oliver Allen or his hanger-on, non-entity pal Stead, there really is only one winner.

An interesting reaction. Your original post said it was a simple solution. All I did was attempt to work out whether it could be feasible. I'm more than happy for you, and everyone else for that matter, to disagree with what I posted and point out where I'm going wrong. Your idea may well be feasible. Who knows? In no way was I trying to rubbish your plan. I was simply trying to work through things logically. Anyway, supper time for moi. Where did I put that apple...?

Does that work financially? Example - at the moment there are 7 riders per team - 3 heat leaders, 2 second strings and 2 reserves. In 5 rider teams, let's say there will be 2 heat leaders, 2 second strings and 1 reserve. You may be thinking differently, but I'll go with that for now. Now, I know absolutely nothing about pay rates in speedway but let's just keep it relatively simple and say: Heat leaders - £100 per point Second strings - £70 per point Reserves - £45 per point Currently, in general, the top 3 cover 14 rides between them (3 x 4 programmed, plus 2 nominated), the middle order 8 rides and bottom end likewise = a total of 30 (15 heats). Therefore, the base cost 'per point' would be: Heat leaders - £100 x 14 rides = £1,400 Second strings - £70 x 8 rides = £560 Reserves - £45 x 8 rides = £360 Total = £2,320 In your suggestion of 5 man teams, as I said above, I'm guessing we would lose 1 'heat leader' and 1 'reserve'? For consistency purposes, I'm also giving the nominated rides to the top 2. Now, using your example, the updated base cost 'per point' would be: Heat leaders - £100 x 14 rides = £1,400 Second strings - £70 x 12 rides = £840 Reserves - £45 x 4 rides = £180 Total = £2,420 That looks like it would end up more expensive. I have made the assumption that any current second string becoming a heat leader will want heat leader status and paid accordingly. Likewise any current reserve who becomes a second string. Other points to consider: Is riding for one team enough to earn a living? Take a current number 1 - he can have 5 races in the Championship and at least 4 per meeting in the Premiership. He can also take a Tactical Substitute ride so, say, on average 10 rides between his two teams. Cutting that down to 7 rides for 1 team - what does it do? It takes a potential £900 off his top line (£100 per point x 3 rides). In fact, it may even be higher than that, depending on which league's pay rates are being taken away. What I mean by that is, using the example of Sam Masters. My pay rates used above are for the Championship. As I said, I could be well off the mark but they're only for example purposes. I would also assume Sam is paid more by Wolves than he is by Edinburgh. Therefore, is it up to the Monarchs to compensate him and give him a pay rise because he's missing out on 3 rides per week? Number of teams - currently: Premiership - 6 teams (20 meetings) Championship - 11 teams (20 meetings) National League - 6 teams (10 meetings) Of the NL, only Mildenhall are a standalone team. Therefore, let's add them to the pile and we'll have one league of 18 teams (6 Prem, 11 Champ and 1 NL). Race each other home and away = 34 meetings, which is 6 less than 'Sam Masters' was eligible to compete in in 2021. Promotions will save on travel costs, due to less riders in the team and less fixtures taking place both home and away. Will this e enough to offset the increased pay per point? Riders may incur less costs for repair and maintenance of bikes, etc. Will this e enough to offset their potential loss of earnings? On the last two points, I'm thinking 'no' would be the answer but am happy to be proven wrong. Anything else I've missed, which could tip me in favour of the idea?

Think I remember reading on here that Poole may be struggling to sign him next season, due to the Wednesday race night clashing with Denmark? If Friday availability is any better, I'd happily take him! As Gr8scot said, no meetings left. Just my poor attempt at alternative humour ---‐‐‐---‐----‐------- In other news, I would also like to add my congratulations to Mildenhall on their National League title win. No need for play off nonsense. Always good to see. Hugely impressed with young Nathan Ablitt. The lad can't gate for toffee but he's good to watch. Decent lines, very aggressive, attacking the track. Nice wee style too

If I'm thinking of the correct race, Masters and Schlein had another game of tiddlywinks (second one in two attempts). Nobody down on that occasion but the 'incident' occurred just before Kemp fell, hence all 4. Strange afternoon. Felt nothing at all like a national cup final. No cheerleaders, no fireworks (ok, I get why that wouldn't work in the daylight!), no pipe band, half empty terraces. Just an ordinary day out. Another dismal failure by our top 3. 5 race wins out of 14 may well have been an improvement on last night but it's still unacceptable. Quite honestly, I wouldn't let any of them wear the Monarchs race jacket at sunny Armadale again in 2021. Star of the show was Benjamin Basso. He and Danyon Hume drilled another couple of nails in the trick track myth. Hats off to Poole. Always pleasing to see Rory on track. Happy retirement when the time comes

I've been to Poole twice. First time it was rained off just as we were getting drenched on the putting green. The other was Poole vs Peterborough. Was delighted to see Ryan Sullivan race in a League meeting for the first time since Powderhall days. Think he may have been with Poole, which felt slightly strange seeing as he was a Panthers Legend. Overall, I seem to recall it was a bit of a dust fest and somewhat disappointing. I've seen a number of good meetings at Poole on TV but, sadly, that night wasn't one of them

Don't retreat on my behalf! You're right, a lot of people say the same about Edinburgh. Trick track, home advantage, etc. It's usually a lazy claim, backed up by little or no evidence to support the opinion and make it fact. Long live small, technical (not trick) tracks, including Eastbourne It was a p1ss poor performance from our top 3. Only 3 race wins from 14 outings. Unacceptable. They'll need to win at least 10 out of 14 tomorrow to give us a chance of gaining a decent result. I guess, if we have to endure play offs in this country, at least it's the top 2 contesting the final. On that basis, the aggregate score was justice and the potential of a 'tainted title' for Monarchs has been put to bed.

3 draws and 2 defeats at sunny Armadale this season. Only 5 wins as well, the equal lowest in the League. What exactly is this "substantial home track advantage" you speak of?

I do understand that but I can't help but feel the Promoters have kinda caused their own problems. If you think back, each track had their 'base' crowd. The hardcore. The Mr Campbell's of this world could sit down each Nov / Dec and think, "right, we've x season ticket holders for next season. That's £y. Now, we can have a directors' meeting and decide who we want to sign and what contracts we should offer those riders." Back then, the base crowd was larger than it is today. Now, I'm aware there are several reasons for this but I can't help but think that one of those is that the integrity of the sport remained intact. Every League meeting meant something in the grand scheme of things and the table toppers were crowned Champions. Even sides at the bottom didn't race in front of empty terraces. Changing that mindset to allow a team below first to lift the trophy also changes the paying customers' philosophy towards the sport. Why buy a season ticket when only 2 or 3 fixtures truly matter? And instead of routinely turning up, some may now think, "hmm, Berwick this week. We usually beat them and we're almost certain of finishing in the top 6. I'll save my money and go to the important meeting next month instead." Now, when that fan then repeats their thought process to their mate(s), they in turn then think, "och, Mike's not going on Friday, I'll probably give it a miss as well" and, before you know it, your floating punter numbers have nosedived. Lower season ticket numbers also affects the thinking of Mr Campbell and his friends. "Our base budget is a lot lower for next season. I don't think we can afford Jock McTavish, which is probably just as well given the lower points limit. We can blame that if anyone asks." This then leads to the floating punter thinking, "look at the points limit. How low can you go? What are they doing to the sport? I'm not going to watch rubbish. I want Jock McTavish back. At least he was top quality." And so it goes on and on. Let's just hope it's not too late for some kind of salvage operation.

Cheers chaps. I probably shouldn't admit this but I woke up at around 4am, remembered the 'play-off team' rule and realised the stupidity of my original post. I wonder if Worrallloadofrubbish had a sleepless night.

Why? If you're thinking of the 8 day rule, he's allowed to ride for his team and guest for another within that period. Two guest visits wouldn't be allowed though.

That's all well and good but take the example of the 2003 season... Edinburgh won their first ever title. We went top of the league at the end of August after a victory at Glasgow (sorry Weegies, I had to mention it!). The following Friday (5 Sept), we raced IoW (or PoS as I used to call them) at sunny Armadale and the place was packed. From that meeting on, 'til the season finale on 31 October, crowds were well above 'normal' levels. 9 meetings' worth of barely being able to move on the terraces. Compare that with your play-off scenario above. 2 home meetings. 3 in the Championship. And also add in the fact that you've diluted the League programme into qualifying skootaboots, it's hardly surprising the casual punter doesn't turn up 'til the 'business end' nowadays. It wouldn't surprise me if the play-offs actually cost clubs money every year which, in turn, leads to the dropping of standards across the board at all levels, which in turn leads to even lower crowd numbers, etc., etc. Poole Pirates - the people's Championship Champions 2021.

I have to admit, my initial reaction to your post was to chuckle. However, I'll attempt a reply. I would disagree that track size is the important factor. Variety is the spice of life after all. A quick scan of some Championship venues (and I hope these measurements are up to date!) shows: Edinburgh 260m Redcar 266m Now, you obviously don't enjoy sunny Armadale but do you not enjoy Redcar meetings? I've always thought the racing there was pretty decent. Then consider: Glasgow 302m Newcastle 300m I think it was Jaizer who said Newcastle has suffered due to modern engines, and yet it's only 2m smaller than Ashfield! And, just to show size isn't the important bit, Berwick is 368m. Nowak scored 0 there if I'm not mistaken? Over the years, I've witnessed some fantastic racing at the likes of sunny Armadale, Mildenhall, Trelawny, even Arena Essex on occasion. All small tracks. As I said at the beginning, variety is the spice of life. Sheffield is my favourite track in the UK and I enjoy my trips to Poland with its big tracks aplenty. So it's a no from me on the question of minimum size. Indeed, on the basis of the above, I think the argument should be centered more around track shape. All hail sunny Armadale

A dominant display from the Monarchs gives Rory Schlein another appearance at sunny Armadale prior to his retirement A couple of early crashes left me even more unsure as to whether we could pull the deficit back. However, when Anders Rowed into the stadium and stuck his oar in to deliver an excellent heat 6 victory, I settled down a bit. Mixed fortunes for our young German superstar. Unceremoniously dumped on the shale in heat 1 before 2 wins, 2 third places and 2 ducks. More than acceptable for a reserve. Hats off also to young Edwards. A vital heat 12 win, with the 5-1 completed by the glue that is Kye Thomson The Weegies didn't have the best of nights. Certainly Mr Karlsson was looking a tad uppity at one point, invading the track with the riders already at tapes. Not entirely sure what that was about. Young Brennan put yet another nail in the trick track myth. Outwith the predictable heat 15 cheating, I was very impressed with his evening's work. Talking of heat 15, why did Cook stop racing? Poor refereeing putting the red lights on before Worrall crossed the line at the end of lap 2. Could have and should have been awarded instead of us having to win the tie twice. On to tonight and, I must admit, I'm not overly fussed either way. As I've stated previously on here, we don't deserve to be in the play offs and really shouldn't have any chance of being Champions this season. Don’t get me wrong, it's good to beat Glasgow in any competition, but it won't ruin my winter if we don't emerge victorious.

Many riders like sunny Armadale. It's most certainly not a trick track if you approach it with the correct mental attitude.

Edinburgh can lose by 12 and still qualify

Will the third attempt at running this fixture be the first ever Tuesday night meeting at sunny Armadale? I'm struggling to think of another one.

Nicola Out!

Flawless refereeing performance from Sir Jim. One in the eye for his detractors.

Last I saw MPT, he had his pinkie stuck in the neck of a bottle. I hope the fire services were successful in freeing the poor chap.

It would be nothing short of farce and a major embarrassment for speedway if Edinburgh were to win the league this season. I know we must all bow down to the insane American obsession of back door winners and second chances aplenty but any team finishing a distant fifth during the qualifying campaign shouldn't even be given the opportunity to plunge yet another dagger into the heart of a once beautiful sport.

Of course! Not sure how I managed to get that wrong

If that's 2016 you're referring to, Glasgow staged the first leg at Ashfield on the Friday night. The second leg took place 24 hours later at sunny Armadale

I trust the one leg of the cup match against Glasgow would be the away leg? Given that we're not at Birmingham 'til Wednesday night, it wouldn't exactly leave much time to produce a programme for Friday, let alone trying to sell hospitality space, etc. Regardless, the BlueBus Bears will be in town. Roll on Friday...

If he was struggling and losing money at the start of September, it follows that he was also struggling and losing money at the end of August. Therefore, if he wished to quit, at least have the courtesy to do it before the deadline and give us a chance to replace him. Good evening Mr Bagpuss. For the avoidance of doubt, I did like Nathan Greaves. I was happy when we signed him. "He'll do a job" I thought. And he did for a while. Seems like the crash at Beirut was the beginning of the end for him. Told you it was a second rate ploughed field