Hamish McRaker

Dressed in black and wailing & weeping at the bill

Complete nonsense to cancel events except for yesterday and the funeral day. Why cancel the last night of the Proms? Stage it as a tribute, cancelling is costing the BBC (i.e. license payers) a bomb. The World's a very different place now, why are customs employed in an age gone by, being applied now? What are people going to do - draw the curtains and sit at home in the dark for two weeks?

Yes indeed you would need to. And it probably doesn't require much by way of additional factor/s to tip the balance over the edge with these type of occurrences.

Peterboro track being oval shape and flat, does it exert stress on these tyres which take them beyond their tested limits, so maybe should not be used there and instead provide Mitas tyres ?

Has the time come to just regard the two leagues as separate entities, with slightly differing rider eligibility criteria and different sets of race nights?

Seems to be too rigid on the bike this season, like he's trying to arm-wrestle it and perhaps this makes him less capable of making those split-second adjustments you need to do for passing.

I had a PE teacher (a long, long time ago) who "encouraged" us to climb over, jump across, run faster, etc. by promising to give some "TLC" to anyone lacking in effort and ability. This was followed by the brandishing of a large plimsoll shoe (these were the predecessors of trainers) with "TLC" written on the sole. I think he later became quite a prominent basketball coach, so it didn't do his career any harm, unfortuntely.

Fair enough, so it sounds like Mr Dickson has a project on his hands, I wonder if he will succeed?

Back in the good old days you'd have riders put up against each other in second halves or even in match races to decide who would be given the last team place. If Connor Coles and Max Clegg were put into such a situation, I'd have to say that Clegg would be the winner

Why is the Birmingham team manager only capable of using football manager-speak from the 1980's? Is he stuck in the past, or is he actually Ron Atkinson using a pseudonym?

I think the appropriate word begins with a w rather than a b

Employment terms and conditions such as these couldn't even be made up by Jacob Rees -Mogg. I suspect the last paragraph applies to the performances of Bjarne Petersen during his brief time with the Lions.

Very astute - although what would be the basis for the 28 day guest facility? Rowe doesn't seem to be witholding his services, but if he is, then he's going to be unable to ride for a few weeks and he'll be wanting to start with s new club asap. There must be some other facility Leicester will be making use of.

If I was a Brummies fan, the bit in that club statement about not wanting to get on the wrong side of Adam Ellis (because yer never know, he might return or even come back as a guest) would have been the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Not because I'd hold any grudge against Ellis, but because I'd feel like I'd had sand kicked in ma face.

Should be available for the playoffs. For Plymouth, though.

"The coming season" in this case refers to Easter. It does not mean the speedway season.

I think the problem is Tuesday when he is due to be riding for both Dackarna and Birmingham.

Leicester riders will not be sitting on their bikes tonight due to aching backsides.

Your team manager is not up to the job, unfortunately. Time to hire Mr Rossiter

There'd have to be a cap put on the number of times a rider could guest for a team under the arrangement, and they could even use r/r on occasions if it suited them. I think also the facility should probably be limited to clubs which are in their first season in a league (but not the likes of Poole who drop down a league), and to clubs which have a genuinely new and approved promotion company and have stayed in the same league, it would reduce the pressure on those clubs for their first season, which is always crucial and can be difficult to recruit a team.

There is an easy solution to this, which is to allow teams to opt for declaring a permanent, season-long guest rider for any team position. The club would have to set the average for this team position to apply for the entire season, and would be permitted to use the services of any rider, at any time, who has an average lower than that figure. This would allow flexibility to meet different circumstances, especially if the facility were used for the team's "number one" position. For example if the priority is to keep costs down for a particular match, put an NDL level rider in, whereas for a match it is important to win, and a large crowd is needed, bring in Richard Lawson or even Tai Woffinden. I think this has to be the way forward and will help clubs whose finances are tighter, to be flexible but also use opportunities to generate additional income where possible

Reminds me somewhat of Swindon dragging Miedzinski over to the UK a few years ago to ride in one match, in which he "scored" 000. Can't recall the exact circumstances, and I'm not making any direct comparison whatsoever with Cussing/Birmingham!

Could Jason Crump be persuaded to change his mind and swap the job at Oxford for one last tour? He didn't do himself justice last season after the pre-season injury and the prang at Monmore. All that's needed is someone who can get out of the gate and get some heat wins at home and occasional ones away. Plymouth were to a bit short-changed last season so it could be a chance to put that right and for Crumpie to have a better season as his riding farewell.

It sounds ok in theory but the riders would use lower quality machinery, take the guarantee money, and only contribute mediocre points. Would that really add enough prestige and value?

I wonder if the exciting ADDITION is the same as Birmingham's new exciting talent?