Speedball

Realistically I can't see any hope of the playoffs but at least this burst of life keeps the season alive in some shape. Can't see us picking up anymore away wins apart from maybe the re-staging with Leicester. Also we don't know how many meetings Niels will be missing. Any away match without him pretty much means no chance of any points.

Don't think Jake is our asset anymore. Sure we sold him to Sheffield when he signed for them in the PL.

Beautiful evening for it. Hoping Josh, Tom and Ryan can claim some good scalps tonight. Think the Young Stars all round strength should come through but if Cradley do keep it close to the end, it could be painful. Good luck to Lewis on his full debut.

Team change for the Young Stars with Lewis Whitmore coming in to replace Layne Cupitt. Layne is heading to Cradley after Wednesday's meeting. Have to say I'm pleased with the change. Had high hopes for Layne this season after a winter in Australia but he hasn't really progressed as I and I'm sure he would have liked. Maybe the move away from Lynn will do him good as he has more experience at Wolverhampton. Lewis did well in tricky conditions when he guested for Buxton. He was well on the pace with far more experienced riders. Great prospect, just what the NL should be all about.

I actually agree with your whole post but my problem is that I don't think rules should be applied on a team by team basis. They should be applied equally and consistently to all teams. If he could ride for Buxton then he should be able to ride for Birmingham. I don't like the idea of it because you are right, they are just taking the mickey. But if it's within the rules.....

That is great, thank you

Any details for this meeting. Saw MK won 19-17 but haven't seen any heat details. Can anyone help?

Think Halsey is out of the country on a pre-arranged holiday. This fixture was re-arranged at late notice so wasn't in the original fixture list. Really looking forward to it. I'm sure it will be a much tougher test than Stoke provided.

And so has MPT so I've seen.

Toying with making the trip but the weather doesn't look great with rain forecast early morning. Where would be the best place to park? Guess stadium parking is limited?

Looking a lot better when you have a top 4 of Iversen, Batchelor, Lambert and Mads. Not sure how meetings Niels will miss, but at least we have a chance of competing now.

Will wait and see if they make an offer on admission. If it's full price I'll stay at home and watch on TV.

Thinking of making the trip up to Sheffield as there should be 4 Stars/Young Stars representatives in the final. Has it been confirmed that Robert Lambert is taking part? Think it all depends on what licence he is riding on this year. Seeded riders: Robert Lambert, Adam Ellis, Josh Bates, Max Clegg, Zach Wajtknecht, Oliver Greenwood. Qualifiers from Kent semi-final: James Shanes, Connor Mountain, Josh Bailey, Danny Phillips, Ryan Kinsley, Nathan Greaves, Ellis Perks, Danno Verge, Jack Smith, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn

That is (or was) exactly my situation After Thursday's meeting and with another EL meeting on Monday and Young Stars Wednesday. I work full time but nearly £50 on three meetings plus programmes in a week is pushing it. As there was no offer of reduced admission or some other incentive to make it worthwhile attending on Monday I'd decided to watch on TV. But with the coverage cancelled, I would have bitten the bullet and turned up. Don't know the reason why it's cancelled but I'm sure Buster and co. wouldn't have been impressed after already bending over twice to accommodate Sky dates. I wonder if Sky pulling out of covering the meeting meant they wouldn't receive the necessary recompense for reduced crowd etc and with such late notice, felt the meeting would end up running at a big loss. It's not so much the meeting being called off that annoys me, it's the lack of transparency as to why. I think most fair minded people would accept and understand if there is a genuine reason to cancel the meeting. Treating people like mushrooms is never going to end well in the long term, more people will just walk away.

Kai Huckenbeck has been at Lynn practicing with Robert Lambert so maybe him? Great talent but not sure that's what we need right now. Be good to get him as an asset I guess but we'd be so weak, especially away from home. Bjarne is the obvious option now but bet he won't come cheap as he knows we're stuffed. Let's just cancel 2016 and start planning for 2017 now!!!

That's what I'm hoping for

On the Coventry website Mike "A NEW date has been agreed for the Buildbase Bees' Elite League 'A' fixture at home to King's Lynn. The meeting, which was to take place on Friday April 8, will now be staged at Brandon on Monday April 11 (7.30pm). Additionally, the Bees Elite League 'B' visit to the Adrian Flux Arena, which was scheduled for Thursday June 16, will now take place on Wednesday June 22." News is a mixed bag for me. Was planning to do the away fixture on the 8th but can't do the 11th. On the plus side, I'll be in Lens for the England v Wales game on the 16th so chuffed the home fixture has been moved to the 22nd.

Like Wilko so wouldn't be unhappy with that change

Thinking of going to this for the first time. Is there normally a collectors fayre as part of the day?

Considering Dale Allitt tweeted Crumpy this morning asking if he fancied a comeback, it's safe to say it's highly unlikely he's returning - https://twitter.com/daleallitt/status/694488473231847425 The one thing I would say was IF Crumpy did fancy a comeback, you know it would be because he would be competitive. He wouldn't be happy with going through the motions. Just can't see it happening but wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. Would certainly add some interest!

The T8 boxes that are mentioned above, are they the ones from Droidbox?

Zengota's one of those asking for mega bucks. Think he's pricing himself out of British speedway. To a degree I understand why, he's in demand and there's not much supply plus he knows he's not going to score big points from No 1.

I'd change tact totally and have some fun. Set up a shell holding company and make Matt Ford an offer he couldn't refuse. Then appoint a dream team of Dave Helmsley (track & team) and Len Silver (entertainment). Then set back and watch the carnage unfold from the Maldives ;-)

Let's face it, there isn't a big signing just waiting to be announced. Nothing to be gained from keeping it secret as sure they are well aware of the current mood amongst the fans. We're probably on Plan Q by now, desperately hoping someone will have a change of heart or a situation changes at another track. Good job the NL team looks good on paper this year

On my lunch break so having to rush these thoughts down. Premier League promoters have been equally culpable as those in the Elite League in employing poor foreign riders to the detriment of British riders. Probably hoping to uncover the next Hans Nielsen but 9 times out of 10 getting a Simon Nielsen instead. I do accept that there is a lack of riders of quality British riders available and like that the EDR scheme is trying to tackle this. However. in my mind, the FTR/EDR scheme should have been implemented in the Premier League first not the Elite League. From what I understand the Premier League promoters were not willing to do so. To my mind there should be a clear progression from National League to Premier League and then onto Elite League. If you are good enough i.e. a Robert Lambert then of course you can make the jump up but for most, it should be about gradual progression. Riders such as Kerr, Garrity and Newman have undoubtedly progressed but on the main they are racing against riders they are facing in the PL. Riders like those should be taking the Number 7 positions and riders such as Rose, Clegg etc continue their progression in the Premier League. The Elite League shouldn't be full of 4 or 5 point PL riders, the riders moving up should be of Premier League heat leader standard. Premier League teams should start the season with two British reserves, one of which should be under 21. Each EL team having to include a minimum of two or three British riders and at least one under the age of 23. As I said at the start, this is my quick thoughts so not had chance to work through figures/ages of current EDR riders etc so sure this will get plenty of holes picked in it. My overall point is that until all leagues start pulling in the same direction and giving British riders a clear progression path, we'll never solve the problem with 2/3 year sticking plasters. Sweden and Poland seem to manage to be able to bring on young talent without having to go through such complicated and controversial procedures.