E I Addio

Where is your evidence that spending £3k a week, week on week throughout the season, would bring another £3k+ through the turnstiles ? After you take off VAT and average out concessions, kids for a quid etc the club get around £13 for each punter through the turnstiles. If you spent £3k on advertising you would need another 250 through the gate to get your money back. If you spent another £3k next week you would need original 250 to come back plus another 250 on top of that. If spending £3k a week on advertising worked it woukd bring in an extra 3500 or so punters over the season, on top of what you started with and the sport would be saved without the need for star riders Maybe you have hit on a suggestion to save the sport or maybe it's another daft idea that hasn't been thought through. The best form of advertising us word of mouth. If people like what they see they will talk about seeing great racing and newbies will be encouraged. If people go to work moaning about standing in the cold with nothing happening, cancellations for no explicable reason, teams winning 65-30, cheating, poor refereeing and all the things that annoy the existing fan base then all the advertising in the world won't make a difference. Top stars on their own won't bring the crowds back but they are an important part of the package.

Don't be daft. There's usually more than that in the que for Jon Cooks autograph !

The fool would think it's hilarious.

Lakeside have for years tended to race Coventry at home on a Saturday and always seem to get bigger than average crowds on those nights, although it's difficult to say whether it's because people are more willing to go out on a Saturday or whether it's becsuse Coventry are usually a pretty decent side to watch (well they often are at Lakeside anyway ). Jon Cook has said that he would always have a Saturday race night if he could but obviously recognises the impracticability of it all the time if he wants top foreign riders. Probably the crowds would be better on a Saturday than a Friday, all things bring equal, but throw Jason Doyle into the equation and build a half decent side and I dare say more would be tempted to see that sort of team on a Friday than a losing side on a Saturday. Surely the logical thing would be to try a mix of Fridays and Saturdays and see if there is much difference. Lakeside have always managed to find a couple of Saturday's when riders committed to Poland on a Sunday could ride. The problem arises when they are all Saturdays.

Average age of the crowd to be about the same !

Lakeside have been a six main team in the last two meetings with Rob Mear struggling, although he was excellent against Kings Lynn. One can only hope that it is mechanical gremlins rather than a collapse of confidence. Also the two Lewis' seem to be struggling with their Team Revolution Jawas , trying to get out of the gate, and also power seems to be coming in at the wrong time on the bends causing all kinds of wobbles. May take a while to get them sorted Meanwhile Poole seem to have more or less hit the ground running and should have this one in the bag.

Ulamek was dire at Lakeside in 2013. The few points he did score was because Swiderski was shepherding him home. He is a real nice guy but sadly 4years past his sell by date for British Speedwáy. Walasek has a history of not bothering if he doesn't feel like. His performance at Lakeside last Friday and last season was diabolical, just pulling off the track after less than a lap in every single race, then driving back to the pits with no sign of mechanical failure. One has to look at the Leicester management. Norrie Allan is not the easiest person to get along with and seems to have a talent for rubbing people the wrong way. Look at Swiderski, dropped around two, nearly three points off his average at Leicester last year, then last nigh he was back as an away rider and took 8 points off his old club. Same rider,same bike, different frame of mind. I very much hope some team strengthening can take place, for the sake of the fans and the sake of Speedwáy

The irony of that comment stands out like a sore thumb!

I hardly think "performance " is the right word. He didn't complete four laps in the whole meeting let alone in a single race . Just dropped the clutch, did half a lap and pulled off the track, which is exactly what he did last year. Disgraceful. I think some mention should be made of Patrick Hougaard and Paul Starke. Patrick again showed his liking for the track, and was the opposite of Walasek. Well done to him for putting on a decent show and springing a few surprises. Paul Starke really surprised me. He seems to have really progressed since I last saw him. Decent starts and riding a good line, I felt he could have done a reasonable job as a second string in some teams. As for Adam, his gating was just brilliant, especially in the first half of the meeting , but what was also noticeable was he was riding inside and outside lines instead of being stuck mid track like he was last year. Speedwáy is a confidence sport and he is riding high on confidence just now. I just wondered how you formed your expert opinion on the reason for his progress when you have hardly seen him ride in the last 4 years.

Just remind us when you last saw Adam ride at Lakeside ( if ever )? The new Lakeside forum you've just got a ban from for abuse ?

Good. Give Chapman (sorry still can't call a grown man Buster ) credit where it's due. Plenty of people especially around Oxford , Reading and Cradley would be glad of a stadium like the NA, even if the team struggled. Too many people have adopted the Poole mentality that the only thing is winning. Not so. From memory I don't think Hackney won anything ever, if they did it wasn't much, but there are plenty of people around who will tell you it was the greatest place on earth. It's all about attitude. And what a great side that was. One of the most entertaining sides of recent years IMO. Unfortunately Peter Adams has now gone senile and lost the plot and the irreplaceable Peter Karlsson seems to have finished his British career (sadly).!

Lee Richardson, Richard Lawson, and Lewis Bridger all didn't like the track when they joined the club. They all had to work at it and put mind over matter, and turn the track from one of their worst to one of their best. Similarly Freddie Lindgren is on record as saying he didn't like Wolves when he first went there but he knew if he mastered it he would be a better rider. If a rider goes round saying he can't get on with a track he'll never get in with it.

......but there fans are not as good as most. Biggest bunch of pessimistic, glass-half-empty, faint-hearted, unsupportive moaners in the Elite League. Worse whingers than even Coventry or Swindon fans. Two years ago they were telling us Chapman walked on water, now we have one poor result against a strong team and they want to walk away. Sport goes in cycles. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. Belle Vue have had their share of losing in the last few years, as have Lakeside, Leicester and Wolves.

You mean the same team manager as his team mate Hans Andersen whose high standards and potential were realised in his massive four point tally guesting for the same team as Adam in the same match tonight ? What did the people close to his team mate Hans Andersen (4 points at Swindon tonight) tell you about the team manager then ?

They beat Kings Lynn by 20 so should be aiming to do at least as well if not better against the Lions.

It doesn't prove or disprove anything except for the fact that Newman will say what needs to be said to feed the local rag with a story ( and nobody can blame him for that ) . It doesn't give any information on what deals were done behind closed doors when the teams were built, and doesn't prove Newman is better or worse thanGarrity or more or less ambitious. It's just a page filler in the local rag. (And it doesn't prove Matt Ford doesn't stink of wee as alleged earlier on the thread)

Oh, dear, Starman the Spineless doesn't have the guts to answer SCB's challenge to his name calling. Starman the Spineless= worse than a maggot.

You did. You said "that tells you the state of the rest." Lakeside are one of the rest. 22000 doesn't sound very cracking to me.

Lakeside have no ambition because they didn't sign Buckowski ? You really are a complete nincompoop. One might argue there are some shortcomings in Lakesides team building and there might be question marks over their ambition but failure to sign Buckowski isn't one of them. I cant think of a less likely track for him to cope with now that Eastbourne has left the EL. I think all he has ever done at Lakeside is make holes in the airfence. Is there no end to the shortsighted drivel you post ?

Kings Lynn nor as bad as some of their pessimistic fans are saying. The weak links were Robert Lambert and surprisingly Rory who usually goes so well at Lakeside. The scoreline looks bad but, apart from the aforementioned heat leaders I some of the lesser lights were really prepared to get stuck in and have a go so I think the Stars have potential. In particular I was impressed by Lewis Rose who was pretty good from the gate and pretty fearless and overall rode well considering he is not particularly familiar with the track. Huckenback also did well considering had has never seen the place before. On the pace most of the time. Mads was probably the best I have seen him ride at Lakeside. Pity it unravelled for him a bit in heat 15 but he did well for a second string without much heatleader support. Neils was pure class. No other way to describe it. For Lakeside, good performances from Lawson and Nilsson, especially Kim coming from the back to beat the seemingly invincible Iverson, and Rob Mear seemed like he had never been away. He managed a couple of cut backs that were straight out of the Peter Karlsson text book . Swiderski didn't put a wheel wrong. The two Lewis from Team Revolution were both trying a big to hard and getting into a tangle at times but once they settle down they will be fine So comiserations to the Stars who were better than the scoreline, and a solid start for the Hammers.

That is exactly what Jon Cook said in SS but BCD conveniently ignored that point when he made his predictable and tedious anti Lakeside dig. FWIW I don't think Lakeside will finish top, and I doubt if anyone else does. Jon Cook almost certainly in his heart of hearts knows that Lakeside will need a fair wind to finish up top but far better a promoter to at least show a bit of confidence outwardly than be seen to be throwing in the towel from day one. Fair play to Mick Horton and Colin Pratt who also backed their teams to finish top against the odds, but of course BCD doesn't mention them. His constant childish sniping towards Cook is says more about him than it says about Cook. If Lakeside finish bottom again someone has to be there. That's the way sport works

I think you are too pessimistic. The Stars are usually quite dominant at home and Lakeside are not usually good travellers.

Well, let's not go down the road of re-discussing what's already been said on the BV thread. I don't have a strong dislike or Chapman, apart from the fact that there had been occasions when his behaviour has been pretty appalling mainly his tantrum when Peter Karlsson was laying on the track with a broken back, and I can't bring myself to call a grown man "Buster" which is really a nickname one associates with a naughty schoolboy, but let's not go there for the moment. The one thing I do get wound up about is when words or phrases are not used properly, especially in official documents. We have endless trouble in this sport with officialdom being unable to express themselves clearly and in plain English. It's not difficult. Yet they still can't issue a simple and uncontroversial statement like the post AGM summary in a few sentences without it being contradictory or vague. You must notice it every year. I posted on the Lakeside thread a few months ago that having heard Jon Cook interviewed on Essex Radio I couldn't understand what was talking about, it was so garbled and full of ums and err and word whiskers, and there are others as bad , notably Rosco. These are the people running the sport. So when we come to the rule book which is so important if the sport is to have any fairness about it at all I think it's a valid point to say the words should have there literal meaning and not some ambiguity that means whatever they want it mean. I would hope that Keith Chapman sets the example on this. There has been too much trouble over rules for too many years. As I said in my last post maybe we are jumping the gun on this particular point as we can only speculate on Busk-Jacobsens role at the moment but if it does transpire that this is yet another rule that says one thing and means another it will drive me a step further towards giving up on the sport, and I amprobably a more regular fan than most. I dare say many others will feel the same way.

Why do you think that ? In plain language "Any Team Declaration" means what it says. It doesn't mean any Elite League Team Declaration. The new BSPA chairman had a massive interview in Speedwáy Star telling us all he was going to sort the sport out including the rule book. If he is now seen to be leading the way in twisting the rules to suit himself then he is going to lose any remaining shreds of credibility he may have left after the Belle Vue fiasco and his subsequent statement. Had better wait until it becomes clear what is happening but a lot people will be keeping a close eye on this.

Really ? Plenty of wealthy people wanting to back Speedwáy clubs ? Plymouth missed a trick there then didn't they? After the succession of fiascos culminating in the farce that was Belle Vue last week I doubt if even Starman in his wildest dreams believes there is a que of wealthy people waiting to pour money into a sport that doesn't even understand its own rule book and can't even hold on to the average Joe in the street let alone attract a string of wealthy backers.