Brummie Boy

If Edward Kennett is the next rider announced on Saturday, and I have no evidence to support this except for the comments on this thread, then I can see Seb Ulamek being back in the team. If not, then I would guess no Nico Covatti in the Brummies line up next year. To let Nico go elsewhere in my view would be a major mistake.

Doyle could still end up at Leicester, Eastbourne or Poole, as well as Wolves. Who knows he might even be back at Birmingham!! Stranger things have happened in speedway.

Noaksey, probably you and a number of other clubs.

Swindon allowing Jason Doyle to go to another club; Rosco must be mad!! Jason was Mr Reliable at Birmingham last year and improved his average in the process. I can easily see Jason adding half a point to his average next year (probably more with the weakened EL teams). I am sure the fans at Birmingham would welcome him back in a shot. The very best to Jason wherever he decides to ride in 2014.

Crazy Robin, if Newman was the asset of another team you could bet your bottom dollar he wouldn't be on the draft list.

In Joe M's parting email of the 19th Nov he stated arrangements had been made with Alan Phillips to get the website active in the next few days. Perhaps it will go live again tomorrow with the "big announcement". However, knowing our recent luck with everybody logging on at mid-day to see the big news the website will probably be overloaded and the server will crash. Let's hope the news tomorrow is worth waiting for...........

Perhaps Josh Auty might be heading back to the Bees. His average of 4.90 would fit and he is a Bees asset. I think the Brummies would struggle to include both Auty and Covatti for 2014 and as Nico is an asset he would probably get the place at No 5..

Seems King's not Brandon bound as only 5.31 left for the fifth rider.

In the article Bech says the EL track he is considering going to is a "difficult track to ride". Based on the state of the Wimbourne Road track most weeks it is obvious he is talking about joining Poole........

That would be some good news at last.....

He's gone now! Another day, another resignation. Look on the bright side, if enough of the trouble makers leave perhaps King and Morris might consider returning. Really depends on how much money is going to be put in the kitty for team building. Drury waiting to hear ho much he has available to build a team. Rumours are current owners looking for a buyer or someone to operate on a lease basis........some hope in the current economic climate!

Phil, I have said in previous posts that it was a disgrace the way Birmingham pulled out of the Barker deal, especially after leading the fans to believe the transfer had been completed. Irrelevant of who was at fault in the past, a transfer is going to require an agreement between the clubs and there is too much animosity between the two parties for that to happen. Danny is likely to have his choice of clubs to ride for as he fits in well with the new 2014 regs, so I don't think he will be desperate to ride for the Bess if the there is going to be a long drawn out transfer wrangle. He'll want to get things settled quickly if he is going elsewhere. Anyway, I think there is still lots of water to flow under the Perry Barr bridge before we finally know who is going to run things at Perry Barr for the 2014 season.

What's happened to Patchett, anyone know if he is leaving the sport? With his connections with the Brummies, could he be considering buying out the promoting rights at Perry Barr. He is not the most popular man at Perry Barr, but give him his due, he put together a very competitive Brummies team when he was in charge.

If the Bees want King won't they need to pay a transfer fee to get him as he is a Brummies asset. I am afraid transfer dealings between the Brummies and the Bees don't seem to work. I would have thought it more likely for King to be headed for Leicester. Saturday track and I don't recall Danny having many, if any, overseas commitments.

And frankly that's all that matters at the end of the day. All these ridiculous comments about the Brummies "morally" being the champions because they finished top of the league table is just plain stupid. In the years when Poole finished top of the league, yet failed to win the play-offs, which team was celebrating after the play-off final? I bet there was not a smile to be found in the Poole pits. Speedway riders are professional sportsmen and having a "good season" is cold comfort if you don't end up champions. The Brummies have had a fantastic season and have done themselves proud, as the team has performed well above expectation. Unfortunately nerves got the better of them last Monday night when it really mattered. Watching the Sky recording back on Tuesday I could see the nerves on Danny King's face when he was being interviewed before the start. Then JD's tape exclusion in heat one just underlined the fact. From that point it was inevitable that the "big event" superior experience of Greg Hancock and Darcy Ward was going to win out on the night. The only negative comment I have to make about Poole was that I was surprised to see the awful condition of the track on Monday night. This is Speedway's grand finale event of the year and I would have expected the track to have less of a resemblance to a ploughed field. I cannot understand why the track was so poor, because the weather was not that wet leading upto the final. Still taking nothing away from Poole they were the far better team on Monday. I will still be hoping for a huge miracle this Monday and believing we just might be able to do it. The good thing about this Brummies team is that they have a team full of racers and won't give up until the end. The only upside of being so far behind is that the pressure will be off the home team, as we will be massive underdogs on the night. Without the nerves I think we should perform a lot better and at least come out winners on the night. We should also see a better prepared track......... Even so, I expect Poole to be the team celebrating at the end of the night!

I don't see rider replacement for Tungate being such a huge advantage for Poole as it is also a big risk. With Tungate out and Newman the second reserve, there will be absolutely massive pressure on Josh Grajczonek tonight. If he is not quite upto the mark tonight the Brummies will hold the Pirates very close. The Poole fans better hope he has saved a couple of good engines and things do not get too rough out on the track tonight. I would never wish harm to any rider, but appears it appears Poole have a lot of eggs in one basket. If JC picks up any knocks early on then the Pirates will struggle to cover for him. Let's hope for a great contest, some close racing, no injuries and a tight finish to keep the interest alive for the second leg. COME ON YOU BRUMMIES!!!

Funny, I used to hear that said about cycling in the UK. I well remember all those know it alls saying nobody would ever want to watch road racing on TV and "the kids are only interested in motor sports these days" or "a brit will never win the Tour de France". Strange how things have a habit of changing.

Sounds to me like a league that sits somewhere between the Premier and National League. How many are really going to vote to water the Elite League down to that level?

Not sure where you have gathered that, as from what I have heard and seen his bikes and equipment appear to be first class. Provided Martin gets into next year's GP; BSI may yet decide to use Iversen's spot to get someone like Gollob back in, I think Smoli will do justice to his inclusion. Maybe not a top eight, but probably there or there abouts. He can ride both big and small tracks (except those odd ones like Eastbourne and Lakeside) and should regularly score points. Given the right backing from his German sponsors he should definitely be competitive equipment wise.

Just shows what a massive effort he is making to support a fellow rider's testamonial. On occasion Hans gets undeservedly bad press, but he's earned a big round of applause for doing this for Danny.

Last night I just happened to watch a bit of an interview on TV, it was with one of the past senior administrators of Rugby League in the UK. He mentioned how in his time the attendances have significantly increased at rugby league matches, now called the Super League, due to the modernisation of the sport. I thought I would take a quick look at whether RL have made many rule changes recently. See link to changes made for 2013: http://www.therfl.co...-2013-confirmed Read a couple of those and try and understand them. Funny these changes do not appear to be putting fans off the game, just the opposite, crowds are on the up. Super League is attracting national sponsors like Stobart's and Heinz. Sky sports televise matches and seem happy to continue. Speedway is like all sports, they have to change and innovate if they are to continue. Most of the major rule changes being complained about seem to relate to the double points rules and the league points system. However, these have been made to make the matches more entertaining and to keep the league title race alive for longer. This has been done mainly to try and bring more casual fans into the sport. I find the statement that fans have stopped attending speedway because they cannot understand the rules to be ridiculous. There are many reasons why attendances are falling, but I don't agree the rules are one of them. The only rule speedway has a problem with is the guest rule (and yes a new fan may find this strange), but this has been in existence for as long as I have been watching speedway and unfortunately there is no other answer to replace missing riders. The fact that riders are missing far too often is another matter.

Got to agree with Bwitcher on this one. Its not the rules that are the problem it is the ability or the willingness of promoters to manipulate them which is the problem. Your average fan of any sport only really understands the basic rules of the sport. The basic rules of speedway have not changed that much over the 45 years I have been watching the sport. Team made up of 7 riders, scoring 3,2,1 points depending on position in the race. Four riders in a race and they have to turn left at the end of each straight for four laps of the track. What more do you need to know. Okay so a few things have been tried on double points, tactical substitutes, etc, but not that much. And let's face it for most casual fans they want to see a hard fought match, close scores and possibly a last heat decider. Does a new fan of the sport want to see the home riders winning every race, races over by the first bend and the matches effectively over by the 8th or 9th heat. Of course not. Would you prefer that we go back to riders rolling at the starts and the top riders picking the best gates every race? Rules governing the make up the teams are the ones that change the most (or get manipulated the most), but most casual fans are not that bothered about how the team gets put together. Who really understands the new financial guidelines coming into football as regards who a club is able to sign. I even seem to recall even footbal trying a golden goal rule in some matches and how satisfactory is it to decide a cup final on penalties!! However, the new world of TV money has forced all sports to change (rightly or wrongly, but that's life). How complicated are the rules for Formula 1 racing? They change the rules governing the engines and car design every season, Who understands all these rules? However, the sport is still as popular as ever. It is only the fanatics of any sport that want to get into the detail and the pureists who inisist on resisting any change. Sport will always change as new ideas come along or the world in which they operate changes. Stop complaining and running down the sport we all love. If you don't understand the rules then buy a rule book or ask someone.

Undoubtedly. But that was being widely contested by many posters on this forum (mainly due to Tai's previous attitude and issues) until Tai's recent showings in the GPs. However, Tai must have taken a long hard look at himself and decided to focus on proving himself on the track. I have not heard many negative comments about him recently. It appears that Darcy is also starting to take a slightly calmer approach to life in the last month or so, probably as a result of the bust ups he's had in the last year. Both Craig and Ben need to sort themselves out and get these stupid petulant streaks out of their system. They both have talent but need to be harnessing any agression in a controlled way on the track. If they don't then they may never achieve what they are both capable of.

When was that?

If we had choice of track, it should have been Coventry. Only Iversen of the Danes seems to have any consistent success round there; add the fact Woffinden, Harris, (Nicholls - if he could have been persuaded to ride) + either Kennett, King or Barker know and ride the track well and I think we might have had a better chance of going straight to the final. Not sure how Craig Cooke would go round there.