szkocjasid

I totally get your point, having strong reserves is ideal for winning trophies, but it's not that simple. Last year Glasgow looked to have solid reserves, but it meant weaker second strings. Plymouth probably had the strongest reserves all year, but it didn't do them any good as they didn't have top end strength. I'd say Scunthorpe had the best reserve situation, starting with Ablitt on 3.5 & Harrison on 2.00. Ablitt ending above 5 & Harrison nearly 5. These are the figures that should win trophies, strong reserves because of improvement, but Scunthorpe then fell apart elsewhere in the team, when it mattered at the end. If Hagon & Foord go well at Glasgow, I'd look at including them along with a 2.00 rider you expect to up his average.

I'm not saying they wouldn't be good signings, just that of you use up 8.5 point at reserve, doesn't leave much for the top 5, especially with Harris at one. Wether it's a 38 or 40 limit, makes a big difference.

If they are the reserves, would imagine it would be a weak looking middle order.

I honestly feel they've really ruined the league this year. You'll always get people who say "Sheffield are the true Champions" even though they're not. Whereas (correctly) Belle Vue are the Champions. The reasoning being, everyone knew the rules before the season. But this year as they just made up the play-off pairings, I find it hard to celebrate Belle Vue as fair or deserving winners. Belle Vue should have beaten Leicester in the semi-finals & if they met Sheffield in the finals, would've won that too. But the doubt of would Ipswich have beaten Sheffield in the semi's & therefore met Belle Vue in the final can never be answered. You shouldn't have to have a discussion / argument over wether we have rightful league champions, is they simply just followed the rule book.

I would say Speedway already has a system to stop the same clubs finishing bottom every year, it's called the points limit. This should mean teams start equal each year & the richest club can't sign all the best riders. I see no reason why the bottom clubs should get an extra bonus of first pick of "rising stars"

They should be used to the British weather by now, can never guarantee when the season will finish. Besides some still have Championship fixtures to complete anyway.

They were gonna try that with the jubilee league, but changed their mind, probably because they thought they wouldn't get a good crowd for a neutral venue. I don't think 1st & 2nd would be happy that everyone gets an extra home match except them!

Firstly, I merely asked if Leicester should take Joe T back? Secondly, as Joe has gone from a sub 4 average to a 5.77 average (both while at reserve) does that not show great improvement? How has he "basically stalled his progress"? Thirdly, Sam has had a very decent season too, upped his average & got into the top 5 for Poole, but I'm sure every Poole & Leicester fan would admit his scores have dropped, that can't be denied. All I said was he had struggled recently, I didn't say he had struggled all season.

Would you not hope that the outcome is he's already recovered & 100% ready to finish the season?

I 100% don't blame Boughen, I'm sure he tried his best. Still a poor performance obviously, but as a club Scunny need to blame themselves for not sticking with r/r. Over the two legs, Poole still would easily win, but a shame for Scunny fans to end their home season with a performance like that. Just read the comment about why they went with Boughen, so I guess it's less of a daft move. Ideally would've got a better guest in.

Horrendous performance by Scunthorpe, not helped by the odd decision of guest at number one. Can't understand how they can be strong at home all year, yet completely fall to pieces when facing Poole / Oxford.

I would like them to increase these meetings, if clubs don't race a NDL team, they should have to hold a full scale individual meeting. With the lack of matches for NDL riders, they could do with more matches on a greater variety of tracks.

I would've preferred r/r to Boughen.

It didn't matter, he was already world champ. But he showed his class & ability to win the meeting after a slow start.

My initial thought (before replays) was Bewley saw Dudek coming, realised he couldn't stop him, so tried to get in front of him & laid it down to get in the re-run. After seeing replays, Bewley has to be excluded. Compare Bewley's decision to go down (I think he could've stayed on) to Kubera, Dominic maybe got a "fright" when Zmarzlik came through, but composed himself, then chased down & passed Bartosz

But knowing a rider in second needs first for example, makes it more exciting imo.

Very easy & correct decision from the ref there, Bewley had to be excluded.

The downside of this scoring system, yes there's many, is it's hard to keep track of what Lambert / Lindgren need to do for 2nd, likewise Holder & Kubera for 6th. When every point counted, could just keep a running total. Takes away something from the meeting for me.

If thinking inside the box, means putting a GP on the best track I. The country, then I'm glad they did that. Personally I don't see why anyone would be against this round, if they prefer Cardiff - just go there!

You'd imagine the best 2.00 riders would avoid the team Cairns has signed for, so if that's Poole - they may have to start with the weakest rider in the league?

I don't think it's daft at all, allows riders to race on 500cc machines at a competitive level at 15, without the pressures of the higher leagues. Don't forget he'll still be at School too.

All these thoughts are sensible & I would agree, except as Oxford used both Boughen & Killeen this year, why wouldn't they next year? I wouldn't be surprised if Killeen didn't ride NDL next year if he's in the top 2 leagues.

I know they did, but the last part explains why. It was still a rediculous thing to do & I don't understand Schroeck's logic at all. But it would be even worse if Oxford don't start with Boughen & Killeen. As I can't believe a manager could be THAT bad, that HAS to be the plan. So just can't see Killeen riding for Leicester next season.

Now he's had a better Championship season & Hagon has struggled (recently) should Leicester take Joe T back as their "rising star"?

Finally catching up with this match on BSN. I think Berwick could be interesting if they raced one lap dashes, but 4 laps with no chance of an overtake does get boring.