Hamish McRaker

Have had a great day, thanks. Went out early and grabbed a couple of local neighbours' cats and dogs and ate them for lunch. Real tasty.

I thought that Max Fricke and Sam Masters "stole the show" by their brilliant riding in heat 15, which won the match for Leicester

Fricke lost control because he received a big lateral shove from the rider in gate one as they were about to enter bend one. This probably occurred because all four riders by this stage were aiming for more or less the same piece of track. Therefore what happened subsequently could not have been prevented by him and the decision to re-start the heat with all riders was correct.

Are you Kevin Keegan?

Slightly curious to put it onto the SCB website, and not the SGB one as is usual I think. And only saying the date of receipt but not date of issue. All a bit fishy. But this may have been done for "commercial considerations", of course, and Leicester don't really have a case to have the result changed to 39-51, and the second leg will still be worth watching😄

Not for certain - but riding for Torun on the 8th would indicate a certificate didn't exist to cover that day, or it had been revoked. And the SCB statement clearly says the 10th. So I'd say it's reasonable to conclude there was quite possibly nothing covering the 9th.

Yes. And no certificate covering the 9th. Therefore no guest allowed. Interesting that this SCB statement has not been posted onto the SGB website, as it would normally have been.

Tuesday the 10th? So what was there, which covered Monday 9th? And if the answer to that is "nothing", then would Ipswich have been entitled to use a guest rider? If not, the points scored by Kvech or Brennan would need to be expunged?

I think maybe the BSPL need to dismiss him asap, before the NFL's lawyers get to work. It may just save their bacon, but even if they do it, they're now vulnerable.

Exactly! And Morris should have simply given the rationale as being the situation with the OB units. But that would have been considered as being too risky of negativity about Eurosport, which is an absolute no-no, and so we have been treated to this charade instead. Complete cockup which was made much worse by the entirely erroneous reference to the NFL. And it would not surprise me if the NFL get their lawyers involved.

I previously tried to defend Phil Morris, but his performance to camera yesterday made it 100% clear Eurosport has dictated the playoff schedule. If this is put within the context of what he said in the recent podcast, the priority is now, by far, to please Eurosport, other broadcasters, and other sponsors. Doesn't seem like there's any option for anyone else, promoters, riders, supporters, except to accept that situation.

Is this the ideal chance to revive The Border Trophy?

Had a listen to some of his interview on the Podcast. The phrase "commercial considerations" would best sum things up, in terms of his approach to his role. We are in a far, far different world now, one in which numbers of "views" of online content and associated exposure to brand names, dictates what is done and how it is done. Mr Morris has built himself up to be an indespensible person in terms of what he can offer and bring to the sport's promoters as their main link to this world. It's not a world I personally partake of, but I'm old and set in my ways, and I'm not speedway's future "consumer" because I'm not a social media junkie. Understanding and tapping into the ways in which the majority of the population now and increasingly "consume" their leisure interests is something that Mr Morris has built up an expertise in. He's clearly a highly intelligent man and the promoters are probably now quite dependent on him.

It looks like that is effectively what has happened, so why not make it official in the future (if there is one)?

A panel of experts should be convened, to decide the results of any league matches not staged beyond the cut off date in any season. The matches could still be staged but the panel's decisions would be final as far as deciding the league table and the playoff matches.

If that really is the case, then it is time to cut professional speedway in the UK down to a small handful of venues on a semi-pro basis.

But do the Polish clubs have a problem with their best riders being at Kings Lynn because they are concerned about them getting injured there?

Too much of this sort of thing going on. Riders doing the TeamGB/Union Jack thing before they've done enough to prove their ability at club level. For example, how come Dan Thompson wasn't one of the GP reserves at Cardiff?

I think those questions are now well past being relevant. Signing both of Milik and Pawlicki was probably a last resort option. For all of the preseason trumpet-blowing by BSPL etc about the return of "world class" riders to the league, a combination of a savage injury toll, Polish control, and poor performances have resulted in the actual product being poor and Birmingham has unfortunately been the worst victim along with Kings Lynn and Ipswich. Despite all of the fanfare, this league is only capable of running competitively with 6 teams, reducing and hopefully eliminating the need for charlatans like Pawlicki to be hired.

Fell out with Keir Starmer and joined the Tories.

Who would have been the recipients of a loan fee for Kyle Newman. And for Nico Covatti?

It's got ridiculous, professional sportsmen dropping out of events because of wives etc. having a baby. Best to send her a bunch of flowers with a note saying "all the best, can't be there because my employer needs me to be working for them and I need to earn some dosh so we can buy food and pay the mortgage".

Clubs should remove their TV match from being included within season tickets. That would allow them to charge season ticket holders a special rate for that match, and to anyone who has paid to get in at other non-TV matches within the previous 12 months (obviously with proof of purchase)

Think they'll need to find some suitable land first. Unless there's a stadium sitting hidden away somewhere that nobody knows about.

He was getting too involved with the track work, at one point running around with a shovel, when there was no need to. There were ample staff and he could have been in control without needing to go around like a blue arsed fly. He'll end up in hospital unless he calms down.