john birch

Does anyone know if Craig Cook is riding tonight ?

Wow this is a tough one. You have seven teams that look like they should be in the Premier League. Coventry and Belle Vue half decent but Bees can never seem to beat Pirates at Brandon and the Aces don't have Kirky Lane to worry them now. I can see Poole running the table and winning all 28 matches. As for Leicester, I was going to say the lineup reminds me of Oxford 2007 except that had Protasiewicz in it. Even if you went to your local specsavers it would still be difficult to see where the race winners will come from!

I can't believe people are suggesting Friday as one of the fixed race nights. In the last two years out of eight meetings at Lakeside and Coventry, how many did Craig Cook race for Belle Vue. It was either one or zilch. It has got to be Wed/Thurs, with any track unable to use the stadium on one of those nights having priority in the fixtures for the other night. The standard should be the same as it is now until the viability of it is established. But I will ask again - why is Poole so successful. Yes the promoter works hard and the demographic of the area helps, but the race night allows him to attract a good team. His team are always there. The away team are always there (not racing for one of the up to eight teams in action on Fridays in the PL). The whole thing is therefore more likely to retain fans and sponsors. Mondays (B.Hols) aside - don't make me laugh- first day back at work! Two days consecutively and not clashing with the Premier League. Two home and two away and unwind doubling up to force Garrity, Howarth, Lambert et al out of the PL before British speedway disappears altogether.

In my opinion there has got to be some form of compulsory u23 gb rider at reserve. Also no foreigner to have an average drop below 5.00 EVER. Cast your eyes over these names: Edberg, Garcia, Berge, Stichauer, Konopka, Benko, Barrett, Maassen, Siisis, Castagna. Please can we stop filling the bottom end of Premier League teams with riders like this and instead next year have: Wajtnecht, Carr, Blacklock, D.Greenwood, Greaves, Perks, Wilson-Dean (and not on more than 5.00), Spiller, Owen, Wood, Shanes, Ayres, Stokes, Kinsley, Bailey, Mountain, Hughes, O.Greenwood and Payne. Ok not all u23 and one NZ but you get my drift. For pities sake just do it!!!

Eight teams two X home and away on Wednesdays and Thursdays only. Same team strengths as now including fast track for at least one position in the team or minimum requirement of 2X english in the team. Anyone only able to race on one of the two nights due to stadium availability must be given preference or maybe every fifth week left blank to accommodate this and rainoffs. Riders must be available for all weeks between 15 March and the playoffs except for the World cup. This is the only real change that hasn't been tried and must be. And don't tell me anyone would rather ride in the Allsvenskaan or Danish league as opposed to 28 matches here. Coventry, Lakeside and Leicester on those nights is a complete joke with doubling up / FIM events etc.

I'd say Plymouth could win out and in any event get probably eight points from remaining away matches. Ipswich could be in the last chance saloon at Somerset, though another loss for the Rebels could make it a two into three scenario rather than strictly a battle for sixth. Workington - you have to be joking. Not a single away point halfway through August. Love the adoption of the old Swedish elitseries formula - should be loads of thrilling match ups compared to the dull as ditchwater dogs breakfast of the last two years. (that's the qualifiers prior to the final, I mean.)

Firstly top flight speedway is untenable on Fri/Sat due to doubling up and FIM meetings. Have everyone race on Wed and/or Thurs. Scrap farce track and instead have minimum of two GB riders per team but do have compulsory Brit reserve at No.7 in the PL. Get rid of tactical ride. Core fans loathe it and anyone watching at home must think it laughable. Instead give team six behind choice of gates and which rider to put where and allow the point scoring system to do the rest. Maybe one old style tac sub when team is at least 8 points down. Give us back the old race formula. Heats 5 and 6 - absolute joke - there must have been north of 50% of the former ending in predictable 5-1,s overall in the Elite League. Squads not tenable but introduce grading. Just ludicrous that Poole couldn't replace Ward with Holder and I'm a Bees fan FFS! Change rubbish playoff formula in the PL and replace with Swedish league version Ie 6 v 3, 4 v 5 winners meet top two etc.

What doesn't work well is the playoff format. Two years running a team has lost it's first home match and we get left with dead rubbers like Berwick v Worky. Why oh why can't we have the Swedish formula where top two go straight to semi final to meet the winners of the next four round. Allowing team finishing third to choose opponent you could have had Ippo v Scunny, Worky v Berwick - all win or bust and maybe attract a few travelling fans instead of the daft groups and too many matches we have now.

What I wan't to know is why the Premier League has this absolute rubbish play off formula (twelve matches at group stage and one group was effectively killed stone dead when Ippo I think lost the first match at home last year) when you could have the Swedish formula. 6v3, 4v5 winners versus 1 & 2 in the semi, much more on each match and less to arrange as only eight matches before the final.

A set day (Monday) is an absolute priority. It feels like Bees have had about one home match since who knows when. World cup would only effect one week and there would be no doubling up or international absences. Teams could race each other home & away on Bank hols. inc Easter Sunday.We don't need 5 GP riders per team but not the ludicrous fast track either. You only really get 12 heats for your money now with not only ht 2 + 9 a joke but the ludicrous heat 5 which must have resulted in home 5:1's in about 50% of meetings. Set a sensible points limit and have 3 GB riders per team. Get rid of the farcical tactical ride. Instead allow team 6 points down choice of gates and leave the current match points scoring system to do the rest. And for pities sake scale back aforementioned doubling up - for the umpteenth time this is the real reason Team GB are so bad. No one since Bridger offer than Woffy and Lambert have gone full time EL. It' s not rocket science!

I said some years ago that consecutive nights Wed/Thurs with any team unable to do one night or the other given priority of night with open weeks built into the schedule also to cover rainoffs. But Denmark seemingly having taken over Weds, it'll now need to be Monday's only. Suggest 8 team league 2 home + 2 away or 10 team with league cup (2 groups), possibly KO cup, anyway circa 16 home matches before playoffs. Could race home and away Easter Sunday and the other Bank hol. Mondays. No need for teams to race any other matches. Strict points limit in the first year and go from there. It MUST be tried - it's the only thing not tried in the last 30 years. Alternative: matches at Leicester, Coventry and Eastbourne with riders either racing in the P.L or on the continent. Eagles fans seem to have already voted with their feet. Tai won't be the only one not back next year unless things change neither will I. And especially if there are only 8 teams, bring in three English riders per team rule not this rotten fast track scheme with riders not even capable of getting in Premier League teams. An absolute farce.

Looking forward to Peterborough beating them later in the month.

Looking forward to doing some Storm matches this year. However I think they will be hard pushed to beat Cradley. I think the Heathens have the better reserve pairing and Storm are a little short in this department. It's really to do with potential in the reserve department that might decide this league and Cradley have it with both their riders IMO.

All part of pathetic attempt to reduce immigration. We can,t stop Eastern Europeans coming here so we stop commonwealth citizens instead. Who are not likely to claim benefits and are likely to put a British tax disc on their vans. Anyone with any common sense should vote Ukip. (incidentally my employer has started asking us all to prove we have the right to work in the UK - you can't make it up!)

Does anyone know if doubling up has been scrapped? And if hopefully so what will the likes of Cook and Barker do now that there are 36 meetings in the Elite League. Formula should be simple - just revert to that of 1988, second reserves race in ht 14 and top scorers race tacked onto the old 13 ht formula. Anyone under 21, British and a current el average under 5.00 should be eligible. Can't see how a draft will work - why should Kings Lynn give up Lambert or Lakeside Ellis. One choice by club, the other by draft maybe. How can a rider be made to ride for someone that they don't wan't too? And what happens if two or three riders beat not only their contemporaries but also take points off the top 5 - are they eligible next year and for how long. Tai rode in the third tier is British and was still u21 when he rode in the GP. Would he still have been eligible to ride at reserve? More details please!

STOP them doubling up for not just the sake of the sport but theirs too. Got told the other night that one Polish match was worth as much as five Premier League meetings. If this is the case just who the hell is advising the likes of Craig Cook ? On a more positive note, a compulsory U21 Brit in each PL team and a total of three UK born in each side.

They will be supposedly doing what I have suggested for years - leaving one week a month free to quickly restage any rained off meets. Expect 40 meetings but less pay per points therein. I read that in Poland that riders on tac.SUB riders would be paid at half their normal rate. An idea for here worth trying. Double points rule is a total joke®.

Interesting webcam from West Somerset rly. We are/were planning to make a day of it with a visit to the steam railway followed by the Oak Tree arena. Sympathise with Monarchs fans.

Absolutely not. I had a letter published in SS recently where I pointed out that since Chris Harris/Danny King went full time we've only had Tai Woffinden do likewise and make heat leader status let alone an impact on the world stage. Try watching at Coventry on a Friday night when four PL tracks operate - you are lucky to ever see two teams at full strength. It's a complete joke , the PL needs to be de-strengthened and the elite league likewise and it's fixtures increased. As i pointed in the SS Craig Cook got a maximum at Leicester in 2011- shouldn't be in the PL and neither should Barker or Doyle.

I'd have the top six but use the Swedish formula instead of this dogs breakfast. 3 Vs 6, 4 Vs 5, winners to face 1 and 2 in the semi's etc. Might generate more excitement and crowds too.

I live within earshot of the bikes at Brandon but wouldn't attend on Friday due to the makeup of the Swindon team. Got rewarded with a fantastic match at B.P. Would have preferred a Lions win, but speedway was the real winner with the match showcasing everything good about the sport at it's best.

Haven't seen the incident on the TV at home but I thought the track more than Freddie was responsible for the crash. And Vaculik should have gone with Tai - crashes independently IMO. Two man rerun with Freddie and Nicki would have been my decision. Would like to have seen KK ride full four laps around the outside in the final. Could only have cost him one point at most and seemed faster than Emil. Thought he (KK) had the best package of gating and top end speed throughout the meeting. Hadn,t gone since Bomber's win and thought racing wasn't that good.

Dudley look like having the edge at reserve. Would like tohave seen a 15/16 hotshot at reserve for Storm.Top five looks decent though.

Just waiting for the Superbowl to be shown,then gone.Elite league without Gps not worth the money with Swedish league a much higher standard on Premier sports.

One thing they need to do with individual meetings like the British Final is go back tothe old 20 ht top scorer wins formula.If they must then seed Nicholls,Harris,Woffinden and A N Other into ht 20 and draw the gates out of a hat.At last years Brandonapolis Mick Horton tbf put together a decent line up.The result-a 2.5 hour borefest waiting for the final.