Hamish McRaker

GoSpeed sort the deal with Sky don't they. I don't think promoters are involved but could be wrong So GoSpeed are basically middlemen, are they? Acting on behalf of the promoters? And the promoters give them a completely free hand? Even more incredible!

So, what are the exact terms of the agreement between Sky Sport and the Elite League? It sounds like it gives Sky complete control over whether or not a match goes ahead or is called off (before the start time anyway), and over how the track is prepared. How incredible! Did the promoters really agree to such terms? If they did, well they have no cause to protest when this sort of thing happens. I don't know how long the current agreement has left to run, but it looks like the promoters should grow a set of balls in any future negotiations and not give so much control to Sky Sports. Its all very well for Mick Horton to bemoan his ill fortune, but surely he should know full well what could happen under the terms of the agreement, something which he surely would have been a party to?

Agree with you. Far too much post-race chumminess these days and the sponsor-based "kinship" stuff has added to this. Rivalry should be genuine and at times fierce.

The UK can no longer afford to operate the current Elite League. And it is no longer a practical proposition. There still needs to be more than one level of league, but in the present times, the UK is far more suited to the top level being approximately the level of the current PL. And if the higher-priced riders don't like that, then tough, we should have the balls to say goodbye and we will go with something that is more suitable. That should put an end to issues about race nights. If any of the current EL clubs don't like that, and think it would be a backwards step, then they should look at forming a european super league or something like that.

So has any action been taken against the referee, who from the opinions of many could have done more to nip the problem in the bud (maybe he was more concerned about getting 10 heats completed)? And what about the management of the teams involved (especially Cradley) for their overall responsibility? Scot-free? That carpet at BSPA/ACU HQ must be getting pretty lumpy, with everything that it's had swept under it. Needs a bit of blood spilling over it perhaps!! But what do i know........bugger all

From the sound of things, the situation would have been better handled by a ref like Dave "chuck em out" Robinson.

The Cradley club seems to have a "win at all costs" mentality which includes building a ridiculously strong squad and wishing to trample (not literally) over all of their opposition. This has not been good for the sport at NL level. So it is hardly surprising when such attitude feeds through to the behaviour of its riders. Greaves and Phillips should be "looking forward" to long bans, and perhaps Sarjeant needs disciplinary action against him also. But maybe the management of Cradley should also hang their heads in shame for creating the climate whereby these actions by their riders came about, and the club should be banned from all matches until the end of the season.

Predictions for this season could be thrown into disarray when new averages take effect and teams make changes to their declared teams. Whoever can fit Nick Morris into their re-jigged team, could move rapidly from also-rans to hot favourites. Let us hope and pray that he doesn't have to replace a long-term injured number one. So, which team is most likely to be welcoming Mr Morris into its 1-7, around June time?

Bearing in mind that I'm a bit "remote" as far as being smack up to date with things is concerned, I'm wondering if theres been any news about Joe Screen's future involvement with speedway following his retirement as a rider? He seems to come across to me, as someone of great potential value to the development of young british riders.

Alex Edberg!!

Sheffield has already declared Stead and Roynon. With Morris added, would leave only about 16 points between 4 riders. Could be done I suppose, would then need to wait for Roynons 7.8 average to drop (and possibly Stead's too) before making further change.

In two words - Air Fences!

So will this formula,when agreed on, also be adopted by the PL? With gathering uncertainties over the ability of 2013 NL teams to operate in 2014, young british riders will also need guaranteed places at 6 and 7 in the PL across all teams to protect them from being bounced out of the team due to pressure created by under-performance of the top 5 riders.(e.g. Branford, Sarjeant). Surely it makes sense for the EL format to be in place at both leagues/levels, to create a proper progession structure? As for the match format, we currently have 3 heats, which are either reserves only or reserves+second string. (2,7,14). Will the new format add further heat(s) of this type? If so, will admission prices be adjusted accordingly?

Cheers WK - sounds daft to have a separate AGM for NL but must be some rationale!

What I suspect (and hope), is they have had to state the reserves should be "NL riders" to avoid getting into trouble with EU Employment Laws. The definition of "NL rider" will, I expect, be a wide one, and include any rider who has ever ridden in NL, BUT with exclusions based on age limit and established PL average (eg. under 24 and not having a PL average of over 7.50). Hopefully this will widen the potential field a bit. Any British rider who is,say, over 24 and has earned a PL average over 7.50 would be expected to occupy a 1-5 EL team place. The problems are going to be for some NL/lower PL level guys being unable to combine midweek racing dates with work; and what are the doubling-up (and even trebling-up) rules going to be? Unless the EL-bound guys can ride PL too, that will just result in the PL being too full of lower-grade foreigners again. Also, the AGM statement was notable for the asbsence (unless I missed something) of statements about the NL. How many will be running? I'd also expect that one or two tracks suppposedly running in 2014 per the AGM statement, don't actually operate.

Simple new structure for 2014.. "Top league" - 2 teams; Poole and Poole. No team points limit. Ride against each other every week for the whole season. Playoff final is guaranteed Poole v Poole. Sky cover all matches, which will be much cheaper for them, as they can just instal basic facilities and leave them there. Just need a nickname for the "other" Poole team. "Second tier" - all tracks (except Poole) with airfences. No riders doubling-up with Poole allowed. Minimum number of British riders in each team. Maintain current team points limit. "Third tier" - any other track, running outside the jurisdiction of FIM/SCB, "the dark side" - a "Pirate" league (not to be confused with Poole) largely amateur but payments can be made at promoters discretion, no team points limit, strictly unofficial, many riders using false identities to avoid lifetime bans from the other leagues, and any payment strictly in cash and handed over in an unlit car park.

Yes,quite right, people who figure out which buttons to push in order to get results are indeed clever. It is down to those who "take the bait" to learn and not get caught out again.

Ben Barker seems from all accounts to have the knack for being able to "push buttons" and get others to react, so he probably likes to play little games, in the style of a little boy who's yet to mature fully into an adult. This trait is far from uncommon among males, especially those in their 20's. Craig Cook, from what I've seen of him, is quite a focused young man, in fact very focussed indeed and in that respect rather different from the majority of British riders. That's why he's good, and Barker knows that and he's carrying a fair bit of envy around with him against Cook. The best advice I can give to Cook is to keep up the focus and intensity, and learn to not allow the game-players to get to you. Also, it could help if you were to chill out a bit more (I'm talking about speedway-wise here) as being 100% focussed can be counterproductive at times!

Helloo and hope it is warm enough for yous. If yous need things to get a bit hotter, try setting fire to some lumps of charcoal and grill a few bits of greasy meat, that should do the trick. This is the final "percentage table" from me, since from now onwards it starts to lose significance as teams begin to catch up on each other in terms of matches played, and the actual "scores on the doors" becomes a truer reflection of how things are. 1. Edinburgh 74 2. Redcar 64 3. Worky 63 4. Ipswich 60 5. Newcastle 58 6. Somerset 57 7 Leicester 49 8. Scunthorpe 40 9. Berwick 39 10. Plymouth 33 11. Sheffield 19 12. Rye House 14 13. Glasgow 10 However, just before I go, here are a few items to provide further grist to the mill. Assuming that Plymouth, Sheffield, Rye House and Glasgow are out of contention - this would be the final total for each team, were they all to gain maximum points from their remaining home fixtures, added to existing points (as of Sunday 14th), and with no future away points added: 1. Ipswich 47 2. Edinburgh 46 3= Redcar 44 Worky 44 Newcastle 44 6. Leicester 41 7. Somerset 38 8. Berwick 33 9. Scunthorpe 32 Now the number of away matches remaining for these teams: 8: Scunthorpe 7: Somerset, Berwick 6: Edinburgh, Redcar 5: Worky, Newcastle, Ipswich 4: Leicester I think that Edinburgh, Redcar, Worky, Ipswich and Newcastle are in good positions to clinch playoff places, providing nothing drastic happens to them. As Berwick have a tough set of away matches left, I'm ruling them out of contention. The two teams with the most to potentially gain, are Somerset and Scunthorpe. Scunthorpe may have left themselves with too much to do, but they are currently in good shape albeit now with Mr Birks inconvenienced, but three of their away matches are on one single northern road trip which will be tough. I think they will go close but not close enough. Which leaves Leicester and Somerset. Based on the season so far, i think Somerset will get the 6th place. Cheerio, and happy roasting!! Hamish

After the recent exploits of the mighty British/Welsh Lions and young Mr Murray, plus the anticipated successes of Mr Froome and Cricket England, can Team GB clothe itself in glory in the Speedway World Cup?? Anyway, here is the latest Real Table, up to and including Sunday 7 July, and including Redcar's extra "Pijper point". 1. Edinburgh 74 2. Redcar 63 3. Worky 63 4. Newcastle 61 5. Somerset 57 6. Ipswich 56 7. Leicester 48 8. Berwick 41 9. Scunny 38 10. Plymouth 36 11. Sheffield 19 12. Glasgow 11 13. Rye House 10 Do I detect a separation between the top 6, and the rest beginning to emerge? Next week, I plan to assess the potential for teams to improve their standing by looking at the numbers of home and away matches they have left.

It saddens me to hear that Leicester could be falling apart at the seams. Karlsson, who was scoring bucketloads in May, seems to be struggling with an injury that is restricting him badly - but the worry is, it seems to be dragging on for too long now. I'm sure that a fully fit Karlsson would be back to his high scoring - but when?? Nieminen looks like he is tailing-off badly at the "business end" of matches. Doolan does ok in fits and starts - doesn't seem to be predictable and too many of his points are in the "soft" heat 14. Bjerre is either brilliant or poor in terms of his overall match performance. Reliable reports are that the Leicester promoter laid into the team after the loss at home to Somerset. Karlsson's struggles and Nieminen's problem werre key factors, and Somerset seemed exploit all of the inherent weaknesses in Leicester's team structure and laid them bare for all to see. I heard it said that Hemsley almost ripped off the gate to the pits as he stormed through it, so it doesn't take a lot of imagination to work out what happened next. So where has this left the team manager's position? Bollockings are important to hand out, but at the right time, to the right people, and by the right person? Is Taylor not capable of doing that? Hemsley perhaps doesn't think he can - and if that's correct where does it leave things? Rossiter at Swindon dishes out effective bollockings becuase he's the team manager, and he can judge best when, how and to whom. When the promoter starts wading in, the team manager's position becomes untenable. The the team morale sinks, goodwill goes, and riders become disenchanted and lack motivation becuase their team manager is being undermined and they don't know where they stand. I don't know if that's what has happened at leicester, but it's a fair guess. The riders' body language in and around the pits at BP on Saturday will tell you everything. You have got to keep all fingers crossed that Karlsson's injury problems get resolved, beciase that must be the key factor, and that the relationship with Hemsley is restored. If I were him, I'd apologise in person to the riders before the match, and allow (and expect) Taylor to carry out bollockings in his own way and choosing. If Hemsley wants to give bollockings, he should limit them to Taylor. Tinkering with the team wouldn't do much good, unless there is a cast-iron No.1 available to come in (and I don't mean Eddie Kennett).

My humble apologies to the Diamonds and thank you Diamond Rock. I really shouldnae do the maths on a Monday morning, it takes longer now for the remaining brain cells to warm up, especially up here in the wilds of the outer isles!! Ipswich's advance is not as meteoric as first supposed. 1. Edinburgh 74 2. Newcastle 66 3. Redcar 61 4. Worky 60 5. Ipswich 60 6. Somerset 57 7. Leicester 52 8. Scunnie 40 9. Berwick 37 10. Plymouth 33 11. Sheffield 19 12. Glasgow 12 13. Rye House 8

up to and including Sunday 30 June; 1. Edinburgh 74 2. Redcar 61 3. Workington 60 4. Ipswich 60 5. Somerset 57 6. Newcastle 56 7. Leicester 52 8. Scunthorpe 40 9. Berwick 37 10. Plymouth 33 11. Sheffield 19 12. Glasgow 12 13. Rye House 8 Main movers (upwards) are Ipswich. Scunthorpe starting to close the big gap Leicester down to their realistic place

Cheers for the interest, folks! Well obviously this table only starts to become useful, once most teams have had about 6 matches completed. I say "most", because Rye are on catch-up. But it gives a rough guide to who the "imposters" might be, and the realistic gaps between teams. hamish

Expect to see Somerset move upwards, as their precentage starts to improve over the next few weeks whilst the percentage of one or two teams currently above them reduces. I will update the table, hopefully weekly, Hamish