E I Addio

No news one way or the other on the Lakeside site so possibly a late fitness test which is not usually a good sign. It will be devastating to the Hammers to go into the meeting with R/R for Ed in view of his form over the last couple of months,it will mean a reserve taking at least one of his rides which is not good. Swindon already in the driving seat since Lakkeside lost AJ , if they lose Ed as well, it will be a near impossible task

This is the A fixture that was rained off months ago. Rider availability caused the delay in restating. Both sides had a rider committed to the GP's and SWC, and Swindon have a number of riders committed to PL clubs that race Friday's. This has to change next year. If there is a rain off and it can't be restaged within say two months the clubs will have to go with what they can muster

They should join forces and field a combined team in the Play offs Doyle Lawson Kennett Tungate Nilsson Sedgmen Bridger. Hmmm... Still not the team you'd put money on to win.

More chance of stevebrum becoming a Coventry fan !

I totally agree. The whole report was poorly written but going by what the reporter wrote it's difficult to see what the ref did wrong. Amazing that Paul Ricket blames the ref for enforcing the rules, when he should be blaming above all others the team managers. Incidently, the follwing report of the NL match between Isle of Wight and Eastbourne, written by the BSF's own Bryn Williams is an excellent unbiased report that tells the reader what he wants to know. Wel done Bryn!

Agreed. I see that loud mouthed half wit Muddlo has been sounding off in Speedwáy Star this week about Craig Ackroyd (that's Dans long lost cousin Starman) . Under the headline "Middlo Fumes" The Wimborne Windbag haurrumphs " That was disgraceful, some of the worst refereeing I have ever seen in my life " Was it really that bad ? Hardly got a mention on the BSF thread. Foreverblue, one of the more fair minded Poole fans, concedes he was not saying the ref got it wrong. The Dean Machine says one decision was 50/50. The texter on Speedwáy Updates says one decision was debatable but in another one that Muddlo bleats about the texter says it was an easy decision to exclude Newman. So at worst we have the referee calling it as he sees and Motormouth seeing from a totally different angle and a less advantageous position claiming it was "absolutely disgraceful". It seems though that it was not disgraceful enough to protest or complain to the SCB. The point is not who is right or wrong, it's a team manager going off crying to Speedwáy star with OTT accusations against a referee who, because of his position can't answer back. No wonder referees sometimes feel they have had enough. Strangely the only person that seems to agree with Muddlo is ....er ... Starman !

What a stupid post. What Bryn was alluding to if you bother to read his post properly was the track checks required prior to a meeting, for example making sure the airfences are securely fixed and the safety fences are in good condition. People might not realise this when they are sitting back looking for something to moan about but there are clubs running on a shoe string where some equipment is close to borderline and the ref can at times be under a lot of pressure from the promoters to turn a blind eye. Another thing is calling a meeting off mid way when rain makes it unsafe, often a controversial decision and frequently the ref doesn't make the right call but IF a rider was seriously injured the referee, as the person with overall responsibility could be called to account. There are a myriad of other things people don't think about like making sure track staff are correctly positioned. It is a job that requires quite a high degree of concentration.

I hardly call myself a Poole fan and there are a string of stunts that Ford and Muddlo have pulled over the years that I have criticised but looking at last nights match in isolation I don't see what the Poole promotion have done wrong. The team can only beat whats put in front of them and they were facing a club that have not been well managed for the last couple of years, riding without their No1. The Stars are descending into complete disarray and need some serious repair work in the winter that's not Pooles fault. I thought it was an OK meeting , not particularly great and not particularly bad either but the unfortunate thing with speedway is that it is very much a live sport and being there with the noise and the atmosphere is much better than watching on TV. Hence people who were there are always going to think it was better than those who weren't, but we always get the same old moans after nearly all Sky meetings from people who don't have a life and therefore sit watching something they don't like. Pity people cant be more constructive in their criticism.

Guaranteed ££££'s makes plenty of sense.

Which, when roughly translated into English from Poolese means : Somehow we have finished up with an over the hill Dane making a mockery of the EDR system because he can't cope with the 1-5 and even at reserve gets tonked by PL rider Michael Palm Tree.

It's more a question of whether he would be worth it. He has not ridden in this country since the new silencers were introduced and they take a lot of getting used to and setting up on tracks like Lakeside. He would probably be a lot of money and it would be a big, big gamble. I woukd say NKI as a guest would be the best bet, if he would be prepared to do it and if available.

I think they can sign a replacement but the problem is who are you going to get for perhaps one meeting? Even a good rider needs time to get used to the track, and they are hardly queuing up to ride in GB anyway. Might have to finish up having to vgo with r/r. The old Lakeside injury curse strikes again. I can't remember a season under the present promotion when they didn't lose key riders due to injury, all of them injured riding somewhere else. Very frustrating.

Well, let's say it's plausible or possible, but that doesn't mean to say it's true. I have no doubt that Steve Shovlar is giving us the account as it was given to him but we don't know where that person got the story from or whether he has all the facts. It's possible that money came into it somewhere along the line but we don't have Tai's side of the story so we don't know. I don't think Tai is bound to release a statement and I don't really see why he should, but equally it was a bit of a dumb move to float a titbits of information in the public domain and not say any more. It was bound to fuel speculation that will not help either his reputation or the sports. In the meantime, in true BSF fashion the rumour mill will go flat out, and people will convince themselves the truth is whatever they want to believe. It would make much more sense to wait until more facts come out before jumping to conclusions.

Amazing heat 15, with Ben Morely rewarded for a paid maximum in his 4 reserve rides, by not only being given a ride in the nominated heat but riding in red off gate 2 between Batch and Ivesen. Last off the start, "Southend's Finest " quickly disposed of Ivesen, and spent two laps dicing with Batch , briefly leading at one point, before it all came to a premeture end in a big heap on bend 2, lap 3. Cracking stuff from a rider who is only a reserve at PL level. Apart from that it was basically the Speedwáy equivalent of a first round knock out in boxing.

Nearly everyone at Lakeside would have welcomed Rory with open arms a few years ago. He has been a great guest for the club and has been incredibly popular there, but sadly I think the moment has passed. I really wish him well but I think injuries have probably finished his time as a top flight heatleader. He still has something to offer, maybe in the PL , but not as a match winner in the top league. Speedwáy can be a tough and unrewarding game at times, and Rory, like Adam Shields has been prevented by injury from achieving his full potential. A great shame because he is great bloke.

Perhaps he wants to get in Jon Cooks good books for next season. He must be running out of clubs that will have him. If he can prove to Cook that he is no good on away tracks he could be just what Lakeside are looking for.

So, a point for the Hammers at Kings Lynn keeps them hanging in to the play-offs by their finger tips and suddenly this becomes another "must win" with everything depending on it. You can never say never or get too confident in this sport but the Stars probably have less prospects of winning at Lakeside than probably any other club except Leicester. Looks like Ben Morely will step in at reserve for the injured Rob Mear. Bridger and Lawson likey to do much better than at Lynn, Huckenbeck and Porsing likely to do much worse. Kim Nilsson back in the Hammers squad and has been on good form of late. Neils is the only Star that really rides Lakeside well, and even he is not quite what he was. Should be a comfortable win for Lakeside but the Play-Off situation will make it very tense.

I think that was a typo. They weren't asking if you and chris4gillian were the same people, they were asking if you were and chris4gillian were sane people.

Ben Morley now replaces the injured Rob Mear at Lakeside for the rest of the season, making it an even more uphill battle for Lakeside to get that essential away point at Kings Lynn than it already was. The only EL track that Ben has ever really ridden well is Lakeside. He should go well enough on his home track to scores a few but it looks like the Hammers will very likely fall a point short of Swindon, even if they ride to form and get 3 points in each of the two remaining home matches. To be brutally honest it looks like being between Wolves, a Pirates and the Aces, with whichever one makes it out of Swindon and Lakeside being there to make the numbers up. To my mind it's anybody's guess. Belle Vue look best on paper but you can't always guarantee they will all ride to form or that Zagar in particular will hit the ground running. Poole also have riders who can ride above themselves one week and underscored the next,whole Wolves look the weakest on paper to me but you can't ignore what they have achieved so far and you can't ignore Peter Adams record of championships wins even though some at Wolves think he is past his sell by date. Difficult to pick one, but if forced to choose I woukd say Bell Vue but it is very open IMO.

Yeah, we all believe promoters are going to give their confidential thoughts to someone who is going to blurt them all over an Internet forum. As for one millionaire not putting money into Speedwáy, the other side of the coin is that there are plenty of people worth a few bob that do, in both EL and PL. The sport couldn't survive without them. As for promoters squabbling with each other, most people on here have known that for years. The winter of 2010/11 was a case in point.

Nothing wrong with ex-fans giving an opinion, but the trouble is most of them can't say what they want to say and leave at that, They have to keep repeating the same old points again and again and again. Boring. The other thing that applies to the majority of posters, both present and ex-fans is that they come out with these bright ideas with no thought to the cost side of things. Every idea has to be funded somehow and nobody wants to pay more in admission.Then we have the classic "think outside the box" as if there were viable ideas out there waiting for someone to find them. Most promoters worth their salt have at least one, sometimes two fans forums a year where they meet their paying public face to face. That is the ones that count, that pay to go through the turnstiles and are sufficiently interested to turn up. Of course some fans can't make it due to work etc, but these forums usually contain a pretty fair cross section of those who put their hand in their pocket opposed to those who sit behind their keyboards moaning for the sake of it (I.e. Moxey 63 etc). I would have thought the test is whether the promoters can be bothered to meet the fans, not whether they trawl through the build on Internet forums

Kelvin said at the fans forum at the start of the season that he wanted to make the home track a fortress, which he has pretty much done except when a few of the team went to sleep against the Poole select. It's the same every year though, irrespective of who is in the team, someone always seems to go awol at the away matches they could realistically get a point, even riders like AJ , and Peter Karlsson who can usually ride anywhere have had duff nights when if they rode to form there could well have been a point in it. As you say though , it's pretty good business in the sense that the home crowd do get behind the home team pretty well, and the riders do seem individually popular with the crowd. Overall, you get far less complaints about the team on here than you get from the fans of any other club so it must have something, although I am not quite sure what. When you have riders like Scott Nicholls and Craig Cook tweeting or saying they liked the atmosphere when they visited I suppose that says something. I think allowing the fans in the pits before and after the meeting to see the riders up close helps. As far as I know, no other clubs allow that. I don't see things changing much on the road though, unless they can find a good reliable second heatleader who can ride most awar tracks, someone like Adam Shields in the sort of form he was in around 2008/9/10, until injuries took their toll. I don't think it is home track advantaged so much as the tendency to pick riders who are good on that sort of track. Riders like Ed Kennett, Dave Watt and PK always rode the track well even before they were Hammers. I suppose it is a question of knowing what your fans want. Some of Ed Kennets passes round the boards this year have been absolutely brilliant. It would be nice if he could do it away as well but does it really matter if I am not at the away track to see it? Rich Lawson is a better point scorer overall and has beaten some big names on away tracks, but he is more of a gater and if he hasn't made the pass by bend 2 he often doesn't make it whereas Kennet can pull out some great passes even on the last lap so he basically is the one that pulls the fans in (therefore rider of the year 2015) . An enigma though.

The weakness of the EDR system . If your reserves can't cut it you are more or less stuck with them for the season.

The original fixture was rained of and with the congested fixture list at this end of the season it was either take the fixture or forfeit the points. Maybe forfeiting the points would have been the better option.Or maybe forfeiting Lewis Bridger.

The trouble is, as with a number of other teams, who are you realistically going to get in on the right average that's guaranteed to be any better than what you already have? Riders are not exactly queuing up to ride over here. I think Kings Lynns problem is not riders so much as the track. It's been gate and go for a long time and getting progressively more so. With all due respect to Rohan Tungate, there is no way he should be scoring 14 on a decent track. Neils was moaning about the poor quality of some UK tracks last year, and was reluctant to return this year but if he is not at a home track where he can score points he may well decide he's had enough. Also Rory and Troy. I know they can be a bit erratic but they are not bad riders, both experienced at home and abroad at the top level, and need to score points to earn a living. Far better to work with them than gamble on some untried foreign rider, but from what the KL fans say, and from the results we see, there does seem to be some serious disconnect between KL management and the riders. This after all, is not far removed from the KL side that was a serious contender for the Chamionship a couple of seasons back, and on paper should be doing better than this. What happens at KL should be a worry to all fans because we cannot afford to lose a single EL club , but other than Leicester KL seem to have the most discontented fans in the EL and that is not good. I hope for everyone's sake Chapman gets his act together.