E I Addio

To put the t/r rule in its proper context and to give it the importance it deserves they should do away with the black and white helmet and the rider on the t/r should come out in a clowns outfit with a red nose and riding a unicycle. I f that doesnt' work just give up and abolish the rule completely.

For as long as I can remember there has been talk over Arena being swallowed up as pat of the Thames Gateway redevelopment and one day it very likely will go the way of Hackney, West Ham ,Crayford and Wimbledon but we all know that talking is one thing and doing is another. Plenty of vested interests working against it at the moment even though Thurrock Council have given it the so-called green light. .Won't be happening in 2014 though. IMO the scarcity of building land is the biggest threat to all speedway in this country but I wouldn't say Arena is under a bigger threat than Coventry or a number of othjers.

That's hardly surprising. He came into the side at short notice with a reputation as someone who couldn't ride small tracks and he applied himself to the task and progressed brilliantly. To be fair, he had a lot of help from Dave Watt off track and a lot of shepherding on track from Lewis Bridger who at times team rode quite brilliantly to let Richard pick his line while Lewis backed him up, but Rich is still a deserving winner of Rider of the year and one of the few highlights of a disappointing Lakeside season. Well done Richard

That statement about as stupid as the idiot who told us that diving round on a motorbike stoned out of your mind is what all young people do these days Jealousy might be normal behaviour for you but I can't think of many speedway fans I have met that suffer from it. It seems that you and The Know seem to have this problem in trying to convince us that you are a cut above the rest and that because for geographical reasons you support a club that is successful it somehow makes you deserving of respect, although yo made no contribution to that success yourself. Not jealous. Just disdainful of an immature and unsporting attitude, by s small number of supporters.

I would say Darcy is probably the best rider in the world around Lakeside at the moment, but that is only one track. Judged over a variety of tracks its different ball game. Not fair to judge Tai on single guest appearance at Lakeside this year when it was only matter of days after injuring his shoulder. Bit of a futile argument to say who is best. Horses for courses, but as I said before Tai has jumped through all the hoops to claim the title, Darcy hasn't done so yet. Enjoy them both while you can.

Yes. The surgery Tai had done on his ears was very similar to the surgery carried out on Starmans brain.

Woffinden also needed surgery-twice !How do you think the screws and steel plates got into his collar bone ?

Szczakiel's win was an obvious Stitch=up in front of 170,000 Poles who would probably have rioted if a Pole didn't win. You can't go by EL averages because the balance of the Poole team means Darcy is able to team ride more often so BP's probably artificially lower his average. Averages are not really an accurate comparison. Personally I would just about pick Darcy in my dream team ahead of Tai to compete in the EL but the fact is that Tai has jumped through all the hoops in the GP's and Ward hasn't as yet. He might achieve it one day, he might not. There is very little to chose between them. Darcy is spectacular and exciting, Tai is more of a thinker. Speedway needs both types of rider. I don't think you can compare more closely than that.

Seems like The Know has been awarded the Order of The Brown Nose for services rendered

Well Gavan has clearly rattled your cage for you to go into one like that so maybe there is an element of truth in what he says.

Oh come on. You were not asking him his age you were asking if he was eight ,when he is clearly an adult. That is attacking the poster not the post. and lowers your own post to a level of childishness you were accusing Gavan of. Simply describing a post as imbecilic is not attacking the substance of the post. It is name calling. All the more ironic because you are the one that is always on here preaching to the rest of us about how much you pride yourself about never resorting to name calling.

That's strange I could have sworn there is some sort of forum rule about attacking the post and not the poster. I seem to remember some pompous individual lecturing Gavan about it recently. Anyone remember who it was ?

Read my post again. Unless I have missed an odd post or two I don't think anyone has said that Matt Ford as a BSPA member is anymore responsible for the collective shortcomings of the BSPA than any other promoter, the criticism of Ford is pretty much restricted to the way he runs Poole. I don't think many would disagree with that proposition. If you look at my post again the bit about telling us how poor the other promoters are was in specific reply to Steve Shovlar as he is the one that continually peddles the line about Matt Ford being the greatest thing since sliced bread while at the same time complaining bitterly (and childishly) when people like Gavan put up the other side of the coin. It his clear from his posts that he knows very little about what goes on behind the scenes in terms of the way a club is run so his comments really have to be seen as an attempt to destroy sensible and informed debate. He is not the only one but he is a serious culprit. In short. people who don't like taking it shouldn't dish it out. Finally, my post that you referred to did get a "like" from The Know so I guess it struck a chord somewhere. Fair play to him for that

It cuts both ways, Gavan knocking Poole and you and others going the other way and over-egging the pudding, telling us Ford walks on water. To be fair to Gavan, a number of posters have said he makes some good points even if he doesn't always present them well. We seem to have pattern that Gavan makes a point forcefully, Starman as usual misses the thrust of whats being said and defends a different point then the Poolites jump on the band wagon. Then we have these claims that no other promoter works as hard as Matt Ford when you haven't a clue how much other promoters do or don't do. Matt Ford doesn't spend hours on a tractor like Dugard or Chapman for example, so when it comes to workload the truth is you haven't a clue what's involved or what local difficulties other promotions have to deal with, so those sort of cheap shots are as disingenuous as you claim Gavans are. Like I said, tone down the cheap jibes and other fans will likely give Poole a break. You are deflecting the point. The one issue that probably takes up more bandwidth than anything else is the collective shortcomings of the BSPA and nobody is singling out out Ford for special criticism on that front. But consider this=: why do you think there is not thread after thread criticising the likes of Chris Van Stratten or Rick Frost and the rest ? Its not because people are jealous of Poole, its because apart from the collective shortcomings of the BSPA none of the others are constantly on the edge of controversy the way that Ford is. Speedway fans tend to be tribal and support their clubs come what may, Not many are jealous of other clubs success, only irritated by the way it is SOMETIMES (but not always) achieved. He might have been a good sponsor but his posts are a bit "Gor Blimey where,s me 'ob nail boots" in tone, and at times deficient in grammar so we can see where Gavan is coming from

If you replace Stevebrum and Gavan with the words "Shovlar, and Skidder 1"and change the words" anti-Poole" to "Pro Poole" that statement would be just as true. If the blue=rinse-tints brigade don't like it, the remedy rests with them. Stop sneering at other clubs and you may well find other fans take a more benevolent view of yours.

Whats wrong with "Ethnic Minority Jacks and Jills" you bigoted misogynist?

Lees previous convictions are in the public domain. Most speedway fans know about them anyway and its highly unlikely that a non-speedway fan will be looking on here. The jury system is very robust and you can't stop others talking about a case. Nobody is suggesting he has any relevant previous history of similar offences/

As I pointed out on another thread, Greg was only there because he lost his team place in Poland and needed a job. Philip Rising has said elsewhere on the forum that its highly unlikely that Greg was on a better deal than Holder so he was just fortunate that a top rider became available just at the time Ford needed one. Can't complain about him getting Greg but its not really a case of "he had to get him" . the deal practically fell into his lap. As we have both said before, you need luck to succeed in any sport and once Holder was injured getting Greg was Matt's lucky break.

There is abit more to it than that.

Load of bunkum being posted by the barrack-room lawyers on here Nobody has posted any facts that prejudice the case. If they do the mods will remove them. Until then we have freedom of speech in this country and are entitled to discuss the fact that it is indeed an unhappy episode in his life, and there have been other unhappy episodes, none of which are relevant to this case and therefore discussing them doesn't prejudice it.

Matt doesn't go out and get the sponsors. He has an agent that does that who takes a cut of what he brings in. At least one other club uses the same agent but if you speak to the person concerned he will tell you that by the nature of the area its easier to generate sponsorship around Poole than certain other areas.

Exactly. Let's not forget that the omly reason he was here in the first place was because he lost his job in Poland when his Polish club dropped him in order to save money once they were out of the play-offs. Matt'sThree Stooges have tried to dress it up as part of Fords so-called promotional genius but the fact of the matter is that Poole were lucky in the sense that Holders injury just happened to coincide with Greg needing a job. If it had been Neils or fast Freddie that was injured Greg would just as easily have been KL or Wolvs or anywhere else who needed someone on his average at the time he needed a job. Fair play to Poole for getting him, but it was because the cookie crumbled their way at the right time and the only way you'll see Greg over here again is if and when he doesn't have a place in Poland or Sweden. Nothing to do with Ford's alleged promotional skills

What tripe ! So to take that argument to its logical conclusion, you are saying that if Lakeside had not complained about Eddie Kennets illegal silencer two years ago that would somehh justify what Kennet did?

You must live in a complete dream world if you think anyone on here believes for one second that you have any knowledge of Poole's finances and whether or nor they have bank loans. Do seriously expect us to believe Matt Ford tells you anything about the clubs finances ? Dream on. It would be very unusual if any business in this era of low interest rates did not have a bank loan, but whether Poole Speedway do or don't have a bank loan, you for sure wouldn't be told about it about it. Steve Shovlar = Walter Mitty Mark II

I am not so sure about PK not being back. I didn't think he would ride again but according to SS he still wants to carry on and according to one source very close to him he says he wants to return to Lakeside if a financial deal can be sorted out. Having said that, a lot a fans would be more than happy to see Fast Freddie at Lakeside. For all the tongue in cheek banter about the track and him being known as "Mr Boring" in Duggo's programme notes, Freddie has developed quite a rapport with the Lakeside fans in the last couple of years and he would be a popular choice. Can't see it happening though. Freds at a bit of a crossroads in his career and maybe the time has come to cut down his commitments and focus on upping his game in the GP's. Personally I feel he under performs in the GP's and if he doesn't kick on next year he could miss the boat completely