szkocjasid

I totally disagree with that, what about people who have planned holidays etc or those swap shifts because they work different hours each week? If it's a rain-off you begrudgingly accept it, but it would be far worse to have a holiday messed up than to watch an understrength team.

What is Schroeck's excuse gonna be this time? Kildemand is back & Brennan did an acceptable job as a guest. I wouldn't rush to get rid of Tungate, as they have points to play with if he moved to a second string position could that get him back to last year's form? Problem is there isn't an obvious rider to drop, Gusts has been promising, if you replace Tungate with a higher scoring number one, rest of the team still looks average. That's if you can find a new number one. Kildemand has hardly ridden, so he may need more time to show what he can do.

That would only work if teams wanted to get promoted. In every sport being in the top division should be the aim for all. Whether it's costs involved or race nights, clubs not owning their own stadiums, there's many barriers to stop this happening.

I've got to give credit to the clubs for arranging restaging dates so quickly. Despite only having two days to race on, far quicker than Championship clubs at rearranging postponed meetings.

Reading on FB it seems like it's acceptable for Belle Vue to call a match off for wet weather, but not acceptable for Birmingham to do the same thing, just because they are weakened? I know us Speedway fans can be as suspicious bunch, but why automatically assume it's been called off for team strengths rather than the weather? If Birmingham called off every match when they looked weak, they would never run lol!

I can't remember exactly how it worked, but yeah there was a time when teams got an advantage in the play-offs due to league positions. Was it not 2nd vs 5th (home leg only) Then 3rd vs 4th (home leg only) Then 2 winners in the semi final, highest place team at home. Then a two-legged final against the team that finished first? Could also have (or as well as) been top 2 to semi finals, 3rd vs 6th & 4th vs 5th home legs only / points advantage. I feel like that was changed, because the team finishing top had a long wait for the final, when others were racing. I'm sure the season(s) they had a points advantage to the higher placed team, it only occurred in the semi finals. The finals have always been even between both teams.

What pre season predictions? The NDL / NDT doesn't get anywhere near the chat the top leagues do on the forum / FB etc. I couldn't say who everyone was favouring like I can for the Prem & Champ. Since Steelers have changed their side, I'd rate them odds on favourites for the title. Since Belle Vue's changes, I'd rate them favourites for the wooden spoon. I may not have said that a week ago. Mind you with Foord missing & Rushen guesting, Middlesbrough should've been capable of the win.

24th May is the next Saturday both teams are available for the restaging. But with Glasgow hosting a big event would they race that day? After that 31st May is provisional for the KOC against Glasgow, but can't race that till the Edinburgh tie is decided lol!

Remember he's only a 6 points rider. Got a tough gig at number 5. For Plymouth to avoid the wooden spoon needs to find his form of a few years ago. Lot of pressure on him imo.

I think Poole will romp the group. This result does mean Oxford have a chance of best second place though.

Gotta give a lot of credit to Max Perry, didn't expect a score like that. Well done lad.

After seeing Hagon not beating an opponent in his first two rides for Berwick against (statistically) the weakest reserves in the league, I take it back, it was the right time to drop him. I don't know if it's confidence or ability, but best stay away from the Prem for now.

I disagree with that, it is a sport & if you're not performing, can't demand a place all season. But I do feel, and this is for all riders, there should be a minimum amount of matches ridden before you can be dropped, maybe 8, at the very minimum 6 imo.

I thinks it's harsh & too early for a couple of reasons. 1) Hagon hasn't had any Champ matches yet to compare his form to Gilkes. 2) Leicester "reserved" Hagon as their RS, meaning no other team could secure him in the draft, to then drop him seems odd. To "reserve" Hagon rather than hope someone better was available when it came to their pick, must mean they had a lot of faith in Sam's ability, where has that faith disappeared to?

But they won't always be racing a team with reserves as good as Scunthorpe's. Should be stronger than Glasgow's reserves, but could be the second weakest reserve pairing. There's a real mixture this year, some teams with 2 good reserves, some 1 & some none.

Comments from Schroeck in the Speedway Star: "Acknowledging the below-par nature of performances, which included a 40-point hammering at Ipswich, the German boss has vowed to carry on searching for a solution to their poor early season form" Is it possible it's not poor early season form were seeing, just that the Spires are too weak for their opponents? "Dan (Thompson) came in and did a very good job and I was close to putting him in Heat 15 but it didn't really matter that much in the end. "I needed to give our No. 1 (Rohan Tungate) an opportunity. He gave it a go but it didn't happen for him in the end. I'm in a difficult situation at the moment trying to keep everybody happy. "It's what I signed up for, so I've got to carry on. All we can do is pick ourselves up, go again next week and see what happens." That last part make me think they're not looking at making changes, at the moment hoping their form improves?

I'm not sure I would say "I feel for Hagon" he wasn't forced into the position, he wanted it. If it's gonna harm his confidence all he has to do is step down & come back up when he's more ready. As for the RS position, if clubs struggled to fill the positions, then I'd totally agree, get rid of it. But as long as there's riders willing to take the spots, I see no reason to get rid of it. I know I'm not in the majority from what I read on here. But I'm a massive fan of the RS system.

"except in British speedway" Not exactly true, take Polish Speedway for example, have to have U21 riders at reserve. "it doesn't matter how good you are" I'd maybe word that differently, the best 7 rising stars (in theory) will be picked, so it does matter how good you are. The best "rising stars" going by their Champ aves: Flint, Jenkins, Edwards, Boughen, Gilkes, Ablitt & Joe T all have 5+ Champ aves & are at least second strings at Champ level (well they would be if someone signed Ablitt). I'd argue one of the issues is clubs picking riders who aren't the strongest, which could be why Mulford, Killeen & Hagon are struggling. But that's the fault of the team selection, not the RS rules. You could also argue there are similar issues in the Champ where reserves are picked because they have 2.00 averages rather than because they are good enough. What's to stop the same thing happening in the Prem if the RS system is dropped. No offence to Danyon Hume, but he was picked because Sheffield wanted a strong spearhead. Get rid of the RS system & you could have the likes of Flint & Jenkins dropped for weaker riders, just because the alternatives are on 3.00 averages. I do think that's one big benefit of the RS system, a 3.99 young Brit has a better chance of gaining a team place than a 2.99 Brit!

Nothing I've seen from the Oxford promotion makes me think they know they have a weak team. Of course they've got to be positive in public, but match reports & articles always suggest they had bad luck or just need to iron out issues / riders need track time. Maybe once they've had their full 1-7 out & keep losing (if that happens) they'll look at strengthening up. But don't see anything happening soon.

I get your point, but 2 points away defeats are very useful when all the trophies are decided by aggregate victories. I thought Scunthorpe would be a good home team so before the match, would have settled for a 2 point loss (and a 4 points home win). But having 12 race wins, will no doubt feel like an opportunity lost for the Bears. Don't expect Workington to do any better away from home, so think it's advantage Bears in the BSN group.

Declan Kennedy scoring 8 points is a great home debut.

Cheers, in that case, I can't argue with the wild card pick.

Who's the reigning German Champion? Or was highest ranked non GP rider?

Yeah, that would be my suggestion too.

With Glasgow called off early, Sam McGurk would no longer be needed to guest for the Colts.