The Voice Of Reason

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^ 100%!

I think any fly would like to be in attendance; particularly given the amount of utter sh!t that's undoubtedly going to be coming out.

I just wonder, as discussed elsewhere on this thread, when Rossiter will be bleating on next about "the lack of British youngsters progressing within the sport". I also wonder, albeit doubt, whether the interviewer will have the gonads to chuck this scenario straight back in his grinning face? I also wonder, as mentioned, whether Mr. Batchelor will now witness and end to his 'mechanical gremlins'? Wouldn't that be so wonderfully advantageous. I also wonder how a particular Mr. Ward can be deemed to be 'the ultimate professional'? To my mind, nothing could be further from the truth. But mainly, I have to wonder how Speedway Supporters minds now work? A group of people that I have always deemed to be the fairest, honest and most sporting of fans now seem obsessed with this win at all costs mentality. These values now appear to have been sadly discarded. Just listen to yourselves (some) Swindon fans. You should be bloody ashamed. Your team has sunk to the depths of the charlatans from Dorset, and yet you seem overjoyed to have signed a rider with Ward's history; in place of a loyal young British rider who has now lost, for the time being anyway, a significant part of his employment. Alan Rossiter, by these actions, is an utter disgrace to British Speedway; particularly given his position of 'Team GB Manager'.

Didn't you know that 10 is Sky's favourite number?

During my time working at Lakeside, complaining about our safety fences and air bags seemed to be his priority.

What an utterly, ill-informed, patronising post. Most of us on here are TRUE Speedway Supporters. Unlike many other 'various sports' supporters, we hold our particular sport close to our heart. In most cases, I'd suggest that we have been Speedway fans since a VERY early age, Irresepctive of the teams, or riders, that we support, the last thing that we EVER want to see is riders getting hurt. Simple reason is, as Speedway Supporters, and despite our dislikes, the LAST thing that we want see is rider injury. Basically, to suggest otherwise Orion, you truly are a complete and utter CLOWN.

Re: Arya's further (completely misinformed) resonse: 1. I may not have been spot on with my estimates but I don't expect they were very far off. My programme profit margins will have been spot on. - Ermmmmmm....actually, you are so far wide of the mark by.....around 200%. 2. Our business does very well thank you! It's a good thing we don't have arrogant closed minded people working for us - I can only assume that your business is not selling your headgrear! 3. The point I was making from square one, which seems to have gone well over your head was; yes Coventry will have made a loss that night, yes it will have affected their cash flow and is far from ideal, but it really isn't as bad as some people are making out. The play offs will bring a big pay day for the Coventry management and this blip in their season will quickly be recovered from. - But your initial financial forecasts are based upon pure speculation and fiction; not FACTS. Hence my respose. 4. Coventry will not be leaving the Elite League next season, it is simply a case of the management wanting to strike a blow back as they have been disadvantaged and are clearly rather bitter about it. - Again, as you are disagreeing with Coventry's Promotion, maybe, just maybe, you'd like to state FACT rather than rhetoric? 5. If you have more accurate information on Coventry's costs for the evening then it would be far more useful to contribute rather than to make ambiguous comments and jabs. - With all due respect, it is not ME that is stating the financial loss v subsequent recompense arguement, but YOU. Prove your words with evidence or fact(s) - not hyperbole. I am asking YOU to substantiate YOUR statements. Quite clearly, as you have provided (given your responses) MINIMAL understading of the costs incurred by a Speedway Promoter, I am asking YOU to prove your previous rhetoric upon this particualr thread. If you can't, then basically, don't even bother to bore us with your repititive and meaningless rhetoric any longer. There's a good girl. x

Responding in bold font is not anywhere near as meaningful as getting your facts correct at the outset. However, many thanks for responding. It simply reiterates my point that you are actually quite clueless as to the extent of Coventry Speedways losses from that night; coupled with a lack of any knowledge around many other aspects of the sport - e.g. who's responsible for paying riders' point money; costs of other overheads (such as programmes, etc.). You say that you are familiar with running a business. For the sake of that business, I assume, and hope, that you aren't their accountant.

Okay Arya, lets take it point by point. 1. £10,000 isn't that much money. - So you've said. However, without knowing the financial situation of the Coventry Promoter, how can you make such a judgement? 2. And if they get through the finals, which they will, then they will make that up and more in Sky money alone. - You've completely missed my point. This isn't about what they will make in the play-offs, its about what they lost out on financially last Monday. It's not about recovering a loss, it's about their expectation to make a profit on potentially their biggest gate of the season; coupled with additional monies accrued via the play-offs. Surely you can see that? 3. God some of you talk some nonsense. - Pot/Kettle. 4. Let's be realistic here for a second (Edit: sorry but I had to laugh at that comment). Coventry had to pay their stadium rent for the night, appearance fees and points money for their riders (bearing in mind they were only paying 22 points). - Ahhhh, I can feel some UNrealistic guesstimates coming on........so Coventry only had to pay 'appearance fees' and 'points money' for THEIR riders did they? Errrrrrrm, rrrrrrrriiiiight. Okay. If you say so (shakes head, hand on forehead). 4. (Continued) Now say there was around 100 - 200 people attending, thats anywhere between £2000 - £4000 when you factor in programme sales. On top of that they would have recieved their appearance money from Sky. Now do you really think they lost more than £10,000 that night? I doubt it was even that much. - So, in order to form a balanced judgement, maybe you could enlighten us with the costs for their stadium rent; riders wages for the night; staff costs; utilities, etc. Because, let's be totally honest here Arya, unless you know what these costs are, then your argument is based purely upon supposition and rhetoric - and subsequently completely and utterly flawed. You don't even know how many people were in attendance to support your own case; nor what percentage were cash-paying customers! So, let's (as you suggest) also factor in 'programme sales' - what do these cost to print? What's the profit margin? I know the exact answer to that one actually; but maybe you'd care to enlighten us? 5. Sure, a loss isn't good in any circumstances, but the reaction from Coventry has been nothing short of embarrassing. Do you think you're the only club to have recieved the short straw with Sky? - Coventry aren't my club. I support Lakeside. Next. 6. No, only every other club didn't whinge and moan and start demanding rematches. - Personally, I have not mentioned the re-match aspect of Mr. Horton's statement. Suffice to say I think it's a totally unrealistic request and unfair on Poole. 7. If Coventry make it through the semi and grand finals, which they will do, the attendances generated from the publicity of this spat and the payments from Sky, will cover the £10,000 they lost that night and a hell of a lot more. - Where is the additional attendance going to appear from exactly; or is this yet another statement that you cannot substantiate with anything other than guesswork? SKY will cover their £10k loss will they? Really? Mr. Horton will be delighted. 'And a hell of a lot more' eh? How much exactly? What will the attendances be? 8. So why don't you ask yourself what planet you're on and apply a little common sense. - I try and base my arguments upon hard evidence and facts - instead of fanciful, ill-informed (and incorrect) information and rhetoric. That to my way of thinking IS INDEED applying common sense.

"£10,000 isn't that much money"..............really? And irrespective of whether it was £10K or possibly more, just in case you didn't realise, business is about making a profit - not recouping bloody losses and breaking even! Seriously, what planet do you live on?

Not sure mate. But here I am, sitting outside Waterden Road since Good Friday since 8pm, and not a soul in sight! Surely, with so man of us regular, loyal Speedway Supporters, our clubs haven't closed down?

Edit

I've re-read that statement about 6 times now. I'll leave the last words to Rene Taylor............. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_3jdAKaoMwQ

We were concerned by the weather forecast for Monday and informed the Coventry management we needed to speak to them on Saturday morning to potentially postpone the meeting. Unfortunately, we could not get hold of the Coventry management at that time. 1. Let's consider, and park for a moment, the terms 'SATURDAY MORNING' and 'AT THAT TIME'. Our agreement with Sky Sports is that, in the event of a poor forecast, we can give them the option to postpone 48-hours in advance at little or no cost to the broadcaster and at the same time we would offer the staging club another TV date. Win, win. However, once the 48-hour threshold had passed, every effort was made to stage the meeting as Sky were committed to the broadcast. 2. Now, if a meeting is due to start at 7.30pm on a MONDAY, isn't 48 hours in advance of that time 7.30pm on SATURDAY NIGHT? Why is Mr. Russell so specific; stating that 'we' (whoever 'we' is?) attempted to contact the Coventry Promotion Saturday MORNING? If indeed they couldn't contact ANYONE associated with Coventry, were no messages left? Were no emails or texts sent? Indeed, why was contact only attempted

Whatever the rights, wrongs and wherefores of last night, one issue is clearly evident above all else. The meeting should not have gone on - end of. SKY Sports, and their obsession to get to Heat 10, have made an utter farce of our sport. In my honest opinion, and upon last night's evidence, they are actually bringing the sport into disrepute. I wish, I oh so dearly wish, that Mick Horton AND other promoters, take a stand NOW. I'd dearly love to see Mr Horton BAN SKY from Brandon. What better way of making your point - whilst causing them the utter embarrassment of not being able to transmit one of the play-offs and let's be honest, given Cov's form, potentially one of the legs of the league final. I am pretty sure that he'd absolutely pack out Brandon with supporters, both Bees AND Neutrals (I certainly include myself in that) for those particular meetings. This isn't about being anti-EL, anti-Poole or whatever. It's about us taking back what was once ours. Words on forums such as this are just that. They will fall on deaf ears. The ostriches at the SCB and BSPA will simply bury their heads in the sand, as the sport deteriorates to the point of no return. Please Mr Horton, make a stand against this utter circus of inept clowns NOW. And hopefully, just hopefully, we can start rebuilding our sport again based upon basic, common-sense principles of fairness, quality of racing and an awareness of paying customers' needs. It will also provide your sponsors with a return for their investment. Last night clearly didn't. It's time for the fair-minded speedway supporters of ALL leagues, to demonstrate some 'people power' and reclaim the sport that we hold, or have held, so dearly to our hearts. And I say all leagues because it's about strength in numbers. It's about us all collectively fighting back against the utter imbeciles running this sport from Rugby, and making a stand. It's about us displaying strength and unity against the stranglehold that SKY Sports currently has over us as Speedway Supporters; it's entourage of clueless hangers-on sucking the very lifeblood from our once great sport. WE need to fight back. WE need to fight back NOW!

Another vote for my all-time speedway hero...........BARRY THOMAS. Undoubtedly, the most exciting rider I have ever seen on a speedway bike. Despite all the big names, I can't honestly think of anyone that I've ever seen, in over 40 years watching this sport, that had such a 'never give up' attitude EVERY time that he took to the track. And such a decent, normal bloke - as is clearly evident during the interview within this clip (starts at 2:30):

You cannot argue against the value, nor the logic, of what Jon Cook is suggesting. Communication is key in all aspects of life. However, I think that there is enough feedback already upon this (and club) forums to be getting on with. At the end of the day, we can communicate for eternity; but it's already abundantly clear where the major problems lie with modern-day speedway. This thread alone contains the majority of concerns. What is needed is ACTION. Stop the talking and actually focus now upon delivering some significant changes to try and take this sport forward. Otherwise communication will not be deemed valuable - it will simply be deemed utterly pointless.

To be fair, it must be a very difficult decision at times - given that a referees box is generally (and definitely in Lakeside's case) located straight in line with the tapes and provides a completely unobstructed view. Reminds me of the time at Wimbledon when Frank Ebdon excluded Paul Whittaker (who'd been blatantly shoved off) whilst not even watching the race; preferring, heaven knows why, to be engaged in conversation with Russell Lanning. As it was an outside, open-air box that evening, I don't think I ever remember my old man, in his 60's then, getting so 'vocal' in condemnation of two fellow human-beings. Mr Ebdon in particular looked quite embarrassed following a tirade of such choice vocabulary from the east end. Happy days, eh!

Good for Ben last night. The Lakeside forum is asking similar questions about Ben v Adam. With all due respect to Adam, he isn't delivering upon the potential that he initially demonstrated. In contrast, towards the latter part of last season, Ben was returning some crucial race wins at home. And it is consistently our poor returns from the reserve berths that's costing us points - particularly in those meetings at home, involving close scorelines such as last night. Well done to The Aces on a fine away win. It may have been a makeshift team but you can only beat the opposition - albeit the terms 'Lakeside' and 'Opposition' don't really sit very comfortably together this season. Our away performances in particular, have been woeful since Rico passed over in my opinion. There just doesn't seem to be any passion, commitment or leadership. And now, here in 2015, a raft of teams are visiting our 'trick track' (whatever one of them really is) knowing that basically, we are there for the taking. Roll on 2016.................and hopefully The Premier League. We wouldn't need to make many team changes, would we!

So, Bank Holiday Monday, and the chance of getting a handful of first-timers or relative newbies through the gate. And what are they going to get served up with? An utter farce of a speedway meeting. Paying 18 quid for the privilege. As a Lakeside Supporter may I offer Wolves fans my sincere apologies for the debacle of a team we are putting out tonight. Because, rest assured, nobody else will.

Never been 'chokers'? What about that end of season final when Mr. Fraud, despite not being choked, kept the champagne in the fridge and the fireworks locked up in the shed? What about two years ago (this month) when Fraud called off the meeting with Lakeside, because both he and Middleditch knew you'd potentially get your @rses kicked again, given that we'd beaten you at Wimborne Rd. a fortnight earlier? Never been 'chokers' eh? Respect for 'a better team'? Really? Don't make us laugh.

See, that's the problem with this namby-pamby society these days. The truth hurts. Particularly it seems, when it's aimed down at the cheats in Dorset.

Regarding the issue of 'sick notes' and UK Employment Law. There is, as stated, nothing to stop an individual returning to work before the cessation of a sick note. That decision is purely up to the individual. In a similar vein, it is then the employers responsibility to perform a return to work interview; and during that interview assess whether the individual is fit to return to work. This could involve the input of further medical advice, for assessment on whether the individual is fit to return immediately to their former role; or put onto temporary 'light duties' - with an agreed recovery plan that should be re-visited at least weekly to check progress. If however, an employee returns to work within the period of their sick note and subsequently, at any time thereafter, goes off sick again (even be it the same reason(s) as their original absence), then this is more often than not counted as a completely different period of sickness/absence. However, quite what this has to do in this instance is irrelevant. Because, quite simply, it's clearly, yet again, a further blatant attempt of, well let's just say, a particular club gaining an unfair advantage. And when that particular club has so much 'previous' it's extremely difficult for the rest of us to convey any sympathy; nor for an element of doubt to raise its head. Only the true Poole psychophants will think (or say) otherwise.

I also remember a couple of seasons ago (May 2013) when Mr. Fraud, aided and assisted by the carrot-top lapdog, called off their meeting with Lakeside as they 'couldn't put a team together'. Despite the fact that they could very well have as there WERE sufficient replacement riders available; given that the BSPA gave Fraud the option of reverting to his originally declared 1-7. Lakeside's Promotion basically handed them the pot of grease, and bent over. The Elite League is simply a complete and utter farce; and whilst the puppeteers in Dorset continue to work the strings, don't expect it to change any time soon.