pointsmeanplayoffs

WHAT A TEAM! WHAT A PERFORMANCE!! WE'RE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE!!! (off to lie down now).

I'm delighted we have saved our pennies tonight, and booked the WORLD CHAMPION on Thursday night : )

Not a bad replacement for Kenneth : ) Well done Buster and Rob, excellent promoting/guest booking. I suggest all speedway fans get down to the Norfolk Arena on Thursday night, it's going to be a storming meeting!!!!!

As you know GRW, I am a pragmatist, a realist whereas you are more of a romantic, a dreamer! There is no way, even with Jarek Hampel guesting for Kenneth, that we would take a point from Lakeside. Why waste the cash tonight (and lets face it it is in limited supply) and instead use it too book at top guest for Thursday as that meeting is much more important. Would take a 20 point defeat tonight, if it meant a 7 point win on Thursday. That said, if we can get something tonight I will be as happy as anyone. AND if we are R/R for Kenneth on Thursday then I will be fuming.

That has made me LOL.

Can see Tai guesting for Poole in place of "Darcy Holder". And on the SGP showing, that could be bad for Lynn as he looks to be back on form. What would have been a comfortable win for a full strength Kings Lynn now looks a much tighter affair with doubts over Kenneth and Lewis Rose. Should be a cracking meeting, and a last heat decider looks inevitable. Whoever at Sky chose to show Lakeside v Stars and not this meeting wants their head testing. BUT, no TV should mean a good crowd which always helps.

Would rather we go R/R tonight (as let's face it we never get anything there) and save the £££ for a guest for Kenneth on Thursday night. Had we have been at home tonight, I've no doubt that we'd have booked a guest for KB. Just worry about what kind of psychological damage which could be done to the team when we get a battering tonight. Any news on Lewis Rose?

Thank god someone is actually talking about facts. Yes, Davey has had a few bad meeting against Poole but they are a decent team after all. You look on speedwaystats.com and you'll see he's averaged around 7.50 versus Poole home and away since he left them. Give the guy a break and I'm not just pro-Davey as he was sublime for the Stars last night : )

Speedway needs ALL the media exposure it can get. Sky is a good route to getting our sport in front of peoples eyes. Bet365 is different, it's not going to promote our sport nor attract new supporters. I'm sure the lost income from the minority of fans who choose to watch the meetings online will be outweighed by the money the clubs get from Bet365. I don't think it's a big deal really. It may even lead to more sponsorship opportunities from betting companies? The 'Bet365 Elite League' perhaps? Nigel and Kelv could be like "Darcy Ward is up next in heat 13, and at 3-1 on to win represents decent value to us - have a bang on that" : )

The word is 'tweeting' GRW : )

Rory stayed down tonight, and Lambert won the re-run which changed the meeting IMO. And as for labelling Liverpool as chokers, stick to speedway as you clearly know little about football.

You need to get down to the Norfolk Arena and watch #teamlewis!!! Niether of them had ridden EL before this season (yes Kerr did have a couple of guest bookings), and they are mixing it with the second strings every meeting. In fact, I would say that some of the most enjoyable racing this season for the Stars has involved our two FTD riders (and young Lambert). The crowd love it seeing their young stars making a difference, it's great stuff!!! Basically, the criteria for the FTD riders was clear at the start of the season, and KL got a good deal as they have invested in youth development for years now. Whilst I feel for Swindon and the problems with Josh Bates which hamstrung them to an extent, the rest of other teams just need to get on with and quit whinging as it's getting boring. Instead of criticising and saying Kerr is too good to be a FTD rider, you should be applauding him as an up and coming BRITISH rider who's making things happen at his local team.

I agree, it may well be the case but it doens't need to be said. In fact, aren't ALL speedway riders 1 bad month away from being sacked?! Loyalty towards riders has never been that high on promoters agendas (some are more ruthless than others), so we cannot expect that to suddenly change where the FTD riders are concerned. It would be good if they were all given a chance for sure, but this is a results business and therefore short-termism will always supersede any long term planning.

Am telling my 'speedway non-believing' colleagues and friends to watch Sky Sports tonight as it should be highly entertaining and a good advert for the sport. Great weather forecast too all day so Buster will ensure that the track is prepared for racing and with visitors like Kildemand and Batchelor, it's going to be a close and exciting meeting. Pressure is on Niels to deliver with Kenneth being out, but Niels eats pressure for breakfast so I've no worries there.

Didn't realise we were without Robert at Leicester. Replacing Lambert at Leicester will be tough, but won't he have a 'proper' average by then? Isn't it 4 home and 4 away? He'll do his 4th away meeting at Brum on Thursday by reckoning. On current run rate, he's due to have a 6 point CMA (well done lad!!!)by my maths which should mean we can bring in a decent EL guest or have Porsing, Rory and #teamlewis cover his rides as R/R Not till June though so I think I'm getting ahead of myself!

It's just a case of bad timing, I was going to make the trip on Thursday, but am not now. Sure a few Stars fans will feel the same and instead save the money for an away trip when we can actually watch a team full of our own riders. Hopefully the meeting will be on Bet365 and the boys can continue our good form and take some more away points.

Whilst this time last season I would have agreed with you, the FTD now makes it more appealing to 'own' young riders as you are ensured first dibs on them come draft time. This is where King's Lynn benefited from having Kerr and Rose, and where teams like Poole have suffered. There may be some life in the old outdated asset system yet, but with teams investing in young talent rather than older riders.

If he can trap like he usually does when riding AGAINST us, then I think he'll be a wise guest booking. In all honesty, the long distance weather forecast for Manchester looks AWFUL and I will be surprised if the meeting takes place which is bad luck for me as I am in Manchester on Monday : ( As for the other Bjerre-less meetings, would love to see us have Mikkel Bech for one at least. Danish Dynamite that lad.

My first trip to Leicester speedway last night, a nice purpose built stadium. Racing was a bit all over after the first corner though (except a couple of nice cut backs) but only one real race of note between Barker and Cookie the outcome of which cost BV a league point. Good crowd too with a decent amount of BV fans making the trip. Seemed to be a really good feeling about the place, the Lions promotion are obviously putting their all into their club to make it a success. A welcome addition to the EL. Hats off too, to the little lad in a Lions race jacket on the first turn who just ran around in large circles all night pretending to be a speedway rider which I'm sure I probably did when I was a kid : )

Gutted for Kenneth, he’s been on great form of late for the Stars. Seems like he’s having an op so as to be back in time for the Finnish SGP on Sat May 17. So he will certainly miss; Belle Vue (A) on Monday May 12 (Wolves v Swindon also on same night) Swindon (H) on Wednesday May 14 (Poole v Lakeside also on same night) Birmingham (A) on Thursday May 15 (no other EL fixtures that night) Then it’s the Finnish SGP on Saturday May 17. Realistically, will Kenneth ride again after that until the Czech SGP on May 31? If not, he will then miss; Lakeside (A) on Monday May 19 (Belle Vue v Brummies, Wolves v Coventry also on same night) Poole (H) on Thursday May 22 (Swindon v Leicester also on same night) Poole (A) on Wednesday May 28 (Brummies v Leicester also on same night) Coventry (H) on Thursday May 29 (no other EL fixtures that night) Then it’s the Czech SGP on Saturday May 31. Are we able to bring in an EL outsider as a 28 day injury replacement for Kenneth a la Poole/Holder or is that only allowed for No. 1’s? Might be costly too. I’m sure we’ll go down the guest route as we can bring in the likes of Mads, Mikkel Bech, Kildemand etc and we can then bring back Kenneth as soon as he’s ready.

Is this a deliberate attempt to wind people up? If so, I'm sure you will get your wish. Getting rid of the 'protected rider/asset rule' would penalise the clubs who have been investing in the very thing that the FTD system is trying to promote - good young British speedway riders?!?!

I agree. But then we have got two superb reserves who have come through the ranks and are local lads doing well. Not every side is in that position, and with the new race format making the FTD riders so crucial to the outcomes of meetings, then any sense of loyalty/sticking with the riders so that they can develop etc simply goes out of the window. Short term-ism comes into play, with a need to win the next meeting comes to the forefront of a promoters mind. And as we have seen this week, this is where the 'dark arts' come into play. I do think the only allowed to ride for a team as a guest 4 times is nonsense also, there are enough riders on the list now so that a rider should only be allowed to guest once or twice.

I'm just glad Lee Smart has been found! Has a reason for absence been given yet?

Another 3 points, but went home quite down after Kenny's fall. Straight away it looked like a collarbone, he simply couldn't do anything about it. Doyle and him were so close and neither was giving an inch but with Doyle pushing him wide, there was simply no where for Kenneth to go. Hard racing, Any idea on how long these things take to heal? Don't want to rush Bjerre back but his heavy scoring potential is an essential part to the Stars machine. Fair play to Leicester, they were battered early on but used the tactical rides well to gain momentum. Good travelling support which is always good to see and should be applauded, a welcome addition to the EL. Finally, Mads was sensational : )

I understand, it will be interesting to see what happens when Holder's 28 days is up. Will he be given another fixed length replacement deal to give Darcy enough time to build up his fitness gradually by only riding in Poland and the SGP's?