BuzzCagney

That was only to see if he could have one of his doughnuts!

Jeez you want loan fees now! Whatever next

Funnily enough i drove past that earlier. It looks as if the building has been burnt out! Besides, I reckon people will only be willing to park that far for the big matches. And we don't even know if we'll get them once we lose the big and accessible Abbey. I do hope there are some smart people watching out for the speedway during all of this.

The centre green parking was always in the proposal but its intended to be used for the market etc on non-race days not for speedway parking. I just took a look at the piece in the Adver and its unclear as to whether that is still the case! I'm assuming the centre green will have a hollow in otherwise viewing is likely to be restricted somewhat! What a bloody daft idea! I'm afraid i'm with those that see this new stadium as being nothing but problematic for the speedway. Just at a time that we could do without any more problems.

AS long as Stead wants away then i'm sure you'd have little trouble in tempting him. Certainly we always had no trouble tempting guys in this direction.

I think you'll find the sponsors are the owners, Matt !

Careful, some will think you are being serious!!

Well, all i'm suggesting is we will have to lose the very top boys and that won't leave us with 'wobblers'. Lets face it the top boys are all leaving anyway so why not embrace it and leave them to Poland and the GP circuit. Once a fortnight sounds all well and good but the reality, with rain-off's and other commitments is we will end up with 4 week breaks and a mad panic to cram meetings in the last few weeks. And people will have lost the habit by then and, even if they haven't, won't be able to afford 6 meetings in a month. This is very much the experience at Swindon. And Tonyd is so right- shake up all these idiotic rules! 2 points for a win. 1 for a draw. And if i'm honest i'd love to see a bit of rolling allowed at the starts too. Nothing better to get the fans going!

Ah, did not realise that. Interesting. Still wouldn't be at the top of any lists that i'd care to draw up.

Nah, Mads is just too much of an enigma for me. Up and down like the proverbial tarts undergarments. Besides, didn't we sell him? And it looks very much as if we are going to try to go with our own assets this year. If we are planning on dipping into the rental/borrow/just take even without permission market again I don't think Mads should be at the top of any shopping list. I will acknowledge that Mads is a good guy and popular here and, on his day, exciting. I just think we can do better.

Speedway survived and, at times, thrived before SKY. It can again. So we may have to lose the top riders to cope with the loss of money- ok, lets do that. Do away with the frankly only-there-to-satisfy-SKY play-offs. Yes, it can provide a spectacle but it also leaves the sport looking rather daft at times to the non-fan. Go back to 13 heats and a second half. Get a local sponsor for the second half every week and it will help cut costs.Happiness can be 40-38 again. Have one cup competition that carries real prestige and try to get a big name sponsor to add weight to it. For preference a national newspaper for the publicity. Bring back the Golden Helmet match races. It will add interest and excitement again for minimal expense. Get some energy into the presentations. Some clubs are better at this than others. Try to keep admission prices as low as possible, of course. People just cannot pay £100+ a month in admissions. If this all sounds like speedway 30 plus years ago then you are right. It is. Back then speedway was exciting and attracting crowds. Speedway should look to its past to create a future. SKY didn't prove to be the answer after all and the money they paid in just made for a sport all too prepared to sit on its arse rather than look at what it has been offering. Given some brave choices speedway can survive. All imo of course.

Nothing ignorant about expressing a preference.

No Mads. Been there, done that.

Hans is a top bloke and racer and I love him but he seems to think he deserved the award for the meetings he didn't turn up for? Oh Hans, if you want an award, chap, you are supposed to earn it not get it because the side might have done better if you'd turned up!

Oh it'll happen. I just hope the Club is in a strong enough position financially to have some say in the development. We, and speedway in general, are looking somewhat vulnerable to being swept aside as unimportant.

Well done indeed, to both clubs. Shame we could only have one team as champs because Brum have been excellent this year. Very pleased for them. That said, well, them Pirates are always there or there abouts aren't they!

Is it confirmed Patch has gone? If it is I think its very sad for him that he went out on something of a low. He deserved better. We couldn't have asked for a more passionate Promoter at Swindon. As to where it went wrong, well, I think the problems started to set in with all the rain-off's last year. Too many people got out of the Abbey habit after week after week of no-action. The promotion clearly recognised that they needed a good team to tempt the punters back this season but it would appear they overstretched themselves as the public continued to be disinterested, which was strange given that the Robins were Champs! And last winter did leave a bad taste in some fan's mouths. Whatever the rights and wrongs of what happened it did look terrible unseemly. Nobody came out looking great and Speedway was the loser. Well, here we go again into another winter of uncertainty. The only saving grace is that Tel and Rosco are still about. Whatever happens I think we can trust them to make the right choices.

Come on Brum. We need to see the best team over the course of the season win it. Never could stand these play-off's!

Why should we be grateful? We've taken riders off your hands who didn't want to ride for you and are paying you for their use. Its called business. I don't post about how grateful I am to Sainsburys for allowing me to buy their groceries. Seriously, you Peterborough fans need to get a grip.

I expect he's bored of all the Peterborough bellyachers. Christ knows I am.

Don't riders talk balls when they sign for a new Club. The proof will come if he becomes one of the few who don't actually want away after having spent time there!

I've come to realise Simon was pretty adept at making himself look a bit of a victim. The deal at Sheffield was wrapped up incredibly quickly after Swindon 'dropped' him so quite why he felt the need to act all shocked and upset about it is a bit of a mystery. Bottom line is for 95% of last season he was pants. Of course he made that invaluable contribution when it mattered most but I think it was a good decision on his part to go to Sheffield. He'll do well there and i'm sure he'll do a decent enough job as a d/u too. Not to worry, i'm sure we'll know of somewhere where we can cherry pick discontented riders on the cheap.

The Stadium management operate the car parking stewarding, and charging for the use of, Chalkie- as far as I know at any rate. Well, Scott was just a poor fit imo, and he had the worst possible act to follow too, didn't he. Almost impossible task following Leigh. Oh, and add to that Scott was $hite too!Thanks god for Hans.

Work unfortunately kept me away. Sorry to hear it didn't sound like a great night. I hate to say it but Speedway is on its uppers if this field can't attract a good attendance. Unfortunately it does rather look like the Club is in some difficulty if its having to start charging for kids.

Bloody minded is when you are clearly not going to get your own way yet you continue to muck along, in a sulky strop, holding out hope that it will all go your way. Far better to see it how it is and then make the best of it. Look, we are all going to be tribal about this so there is very little point in continuing the conversation. If Swindon are seen to be in the wrong then they will have to pay the penalty. I'm sure they have considered this. I'd have preferred they'd just paid the money, if only to shut you Peterborough fans up, but they saw a way out and, not unsurprisingly, took it. As I say, its hard to blame them if Peterborough didn't want to play ball. We'll see what happens I guess but all I know is Troy looked good in purple.