Hamish McRaker

With Douglas being, according to some, a nailed-on certainty to be Lions' no.1, they're dragging their feet somewhat in making the announcement! KL, Sheffield, and Belle Vue (probably) have all named their no.1's, so what's holding up Leicester from doing likewise?

What happened to Ashton Boughen? I thought he was supposed to be the new big young thing.

Ffs this is getting like The Prisoner. Who is Number 5? Who is Number 6? Ipswich is Number 5! No! Ipswich is Number 6! Who is Patrick McGoohan? Who is the all-seeing Controller? Round the Boards? The Top Drawer? (or they actually the same person)? And what is the giant white bubble that comes out of the sea? Why - of course - it's Northampton, complete with Brady Kurtz at Number 1!!

Never over till the fat lady sings. She's not even on the stage yet

Has Kurtz even been provisionally announced by any side yet? Can't recall Dougie having been likewise by Leicester yet, either. Let alone being part of a full 1-7 officially ratified by the SCB

But in such a cut-throat league as the one we could have in 2026, with 5 teams and the 37 points limit, there will be a premium on riders able to increase their CMA's, even by small amounts. Fricke could increase his average, but not by much. Kurtz on the other hand could put a point or more on his, a huge advantage to whichever team he's with. Likewise Doyle, if he changes his mind about doing UK league. Could Dougie push his average up? Hope im wrong but I doubt it. Dan Thompson definitely should, Masters maybe by half a point.

World no.2. 8.97 Bargain average compared with others both above and below that?

With the other teams naming high-profile number one riders, will there be a change to Leicester's apparent team-building approach? Could there still be an Australian wearing no.1, but not the one being widely tipped?

Just calm down and take your medication, Mike. Nurse! Nurse!

Could be one last, final case for "We Buy Any Speedway Club.com"

Sometimes holidays give the chance to reflect on decisions and get a different perspective, especially to knee-jerk and emotive ones

Has C. Louis emigrated to Oz or is it a holiday?

I agree. The signs being put out by the other 4 clubs (although BV seem to have been a bit quiet) indicate the 5-team league will go ahead. But there's clearly still not 100% resolution with "Team 5" that would enable BSPL to make the announcement they'd otherwise like to have made by now. Its hard to think that Team 5 could be anything other than Ipswich, but of course you cant be certain until its announced. Personally im in the "one league" camp and highly skeptical about the Premier league being viable, but the BSPL have made their decision for 2026 and so all we can now do, is to hope their plans and efforts succeed. It could be that anything more definite won't be announced until the AGM. But they must get their collective backsides in gear asap to develop a new plan for 2027 otherwise the whole circus will disappear over the cliff edge it's currently clinging onto

I'm just thinking back to the points limit setting for the 2025 season, where if I'm reading correctly between the lines, there was a division between those wanting 40 and those wanting 39. In one corner was i think Birmingham plus another/s, in the other was Ipswich plus other/s. And the 40 limit was greatly advantageous for Ipswich, as it allowed them to have Brennan and keep the rest of the side mostly intact, and strong. So it would appear that Louis got his way, there, along with others, perhaps at the expense of others and maybe at the expense of a more competitive league? However, I do accept what a huge favour he did the league and for the sport in the UK by bringing Sayfutdinov here, especially in his first two seasons when Emil would have put extra numbers on attendances everywhere, and I understand how much hard work he put in to make that happen

Has a bit of a loose jaw, does Josh!

Surely for a rider to be called an " out and out number one" he should have an average close to 10? 9.50? "Number one" : 8.50 - 9.49 "Number one because that's the highest average in the team": 0.00 - 8.49

Whilst not willingly and deliberately by the promoters, could the Premier league effectively turn into a loss leader unless they get their collective act together?

Is there a risk, unless its already the case, of the Premiership therefore becoming a "loss leader" whereby a product will be financially "sacrificed" as to its profitability in order to act primarily as a marketing tool ?

That'd give Drew Kemp more incentive to complete 4 laps!

Its like having an old mate who you can see is into irreversible decline, but you still keep hopes that he'll recover and get back to being what he used to be. So you keep on visiting and saying "we'll have that pint one day" (or whatever) - you know its unlikely, but you cant let go of keeping some hope

Im just wondering, with Kemp seemingly not back at Berwick, if he and SD have "gone their separate ways" and an experienced rider with past success at Leicester could be a better choice at 6?

What would Justin Sedgmen's average be now?

Agree with you 100% there, but I suspect the 5, some more than others, already have working agreements in place with riders. So its hard to see how any "team 6" will be anything but sacrificial lambs. No disrespect to them, but we're looking at the likes of Douglas, Pickering and Brennan being the top dogs and they'll have got their first and backup clubs already sorted out, won't they?

Ah, but they are far-sighted! The rise of the economically inactive over-55's and Gen Z's aversion to night clubs and alcohol will mean Monday night becoming the new Saturday night🤫

Either that, or the UK Government has stepped in to avert a crisis using confiscated Russian assets as collateral. Why else would Starmer have been meeting the Belgian PM today, hours before the BSPL announcement?😂