DC2

That’s it, Craven Shield. I liked that.

Is there any reason though why a different format could not be tried for the KO Cup? I liked the three team tournament from ten years ago. Something a bit different is interesting.

They should attain 7 point NL averages as a minimum before going into the CL. Henry Atkins wasn’t ready.

No. What did he say?

Four man heats for me, but with staggered starts, so the best riders have to overtake rather than just gate.

Is that the official Poole view?

Why don’t you just look at the green sheet averages? You can clearly see riders’ respective abilities reflected in their actual averages. No need at all for an inferior system such as grading.

Well, I hope Boro don’t lose Andersen, Wright and Nicholls to other teams on their low averages.

Apparently the whole Eastenders cast is glued to this thread now.

Peterborough certainly need to show a bit of ambition. They’ve got some good riders on low averages and are perfectly placed to build a good team.

Spot on. They’ve spun the results of a multi-question quiz that dodged the real issue: would you prefer PL or CL? That surely would have been 90-10. Instead a “luke warm endorsement” has been turned into “the fans choice”. Nonsense.

Just trying to work out the logic of this. Speedway is in Matt’s blood, but ... ... he’s escaped to the chateau. Sounds like he’s given up on speedway.

Was there a straight choice between CL and PL? If not, let’s not pretend that the fans have chosen the CL. They haven’t.

Fan responses? Was there a straight vote of PL v CL? You’ve got to be kidding! And there aren’t more meetings in the CL.

Just trying to give Matt and Danny the benefit of my business acumen.

Yeah but the NL would give Kurtz and Holder a chance to build confidence.

I know. Terry’s telling him the NL would be cheaper.

Is this your own post or did you check with Matt and Danny first?

The starting grid idea is good. It makes passing rather than gating the real art. Why not try it in the KO Cup?

Yeah, but you’ve stopped going now. It’s November.

And yet a month ago you reassured everyone:

A little bit of what you’re saying is correct, but most of it isn’t. Sure, the best two riders, by and large, ride at 1 and 5 and have tough heats 13 and 15 which can suppress their averages, although they are generally well matched. The other team members have to ride against a mix of superior riders at number 1 and 5 and inferior riders at reserve. No second string would expect to finish higher in the averages than the best two riders from other clubs. Look at the top twos in the final averages this year: Fricke & Bjerre, Doyle & Batchelor, Masters & Thorsell, Kurtz & Holder, Lambert & Cook, NKI & King, Wright & Tungate. Only the last two pairs were unexpected (instead of Chris Harris and Hans Andersen) and had disappointing averages. The rest finished top two as expected and averaged more than every other second string/third heatleader, except for Rasmus Jensen and Nikolai Klindt who had exceptional seasons after a string of middling ones. Grading is far more subjective and inaccurate than actual averages.

Hang on, £50k isn’t worth having, but £40k in lost sponsorship has made Poole go bust?

I agree that the AGM won’t agree a 46.34 limit, especially as they will be dictated to by the weakest and least ambitious clubs who have no intention of signing a big name rider. That said, if Cook had stayed, they had kept their two 5 point reserves and Hans Andersen hadn’t been injured and had ridden to his starting average, Peterborough would have been in the play offs. They were one of the fancied teams at the start of the season. Indeed, even now, if they brought in Zagar for Ostergaard they would have an attractive team with potential, even if they were 4 points short of 46.34: Zagar Nicholls Tungate Hans Andersen Wright Garrity Proctor

I don’t know how hard Peterborough looked. Ipswich persuaded NKI and it seems that Sheffield might have attracted Nicki P. I bet you would have said those signings were impossible!