Steve Shovlar

Absolutely a choice. Poole management always trickle feed riders throughout the winter. Has been the way since Matt took over in 99. Pretty sure as Stevie Wonder once sort of said, the team is signed sealed and will deliver in 23.

If Danny is heading to Brum it will not be through choice. But he does ride Birmingham very, very well and as a real number one will no doubt give them some serious clout at the top,end.

So that basically confirmed Steve Worrall and Richard Lawson. Both Cooks is 4, so three riders to be named. We know that Ablitt and Drew are not likely to return. Three new riders IMO.

Let’s be honest. Other teams aspire to win a fraction of the trophies Poole have won in the Ford era. Glasgow even tried to buy most of the previous seasons Poole team but failed miserably. There’s much more to it than just putting together a decent looking side. Last season proved it. When it came down to the playoffs and end of season action no one else was even close. The bad news for the rest is that in 2023, it’s all going to be so familiar with Pirates romping it when it matters. Sad to see Danny King move on. Served us very well in his time with us. He must be gutted but with the low points limit we could never keep all three heat leaders. Good luck to him with his future club.

The last rider to get a guarantee at Poole was Greg Hancock. Riders get paid points money and any sponsorship they can garner.

That’s a pretty rubbish Berwick team. I was watching Rory at the press conference last season when he had “finished”. Everyone was,patting him on the back and saying to him to enjoy his retirement , but his body language and facial expressions gave off a completely different vibe. I always thought it was a couple of seasons too early and clearly it was. He has sat at home in Aus brooding and missing the racing. Riders are a long time retired. Clearly Rory thinks he still has enough in the tank to continue and so he is back next season. Surprised? Not in the slightest. Berwick though? A strange choice but if they have made him a decent offer, why not?

Has to be believable to work though. Why would we release our top rider, who we have just swapped Basso for, to go back to Glasgow?

Thank god Nigel Leahy has had a lot of practice with it.

Not now. Too much water under the bridge and the team is built with top heat leaders in their prime, backed up with second strings and reserves who have to put points on their starting average. As much as I like Kyle and was disappointed when he lost his place, the club has moved on.

Poole would never go with 2 two point reserves. They would be there all season, no chance of reserve swaps if one of the top 5 had an off night. Need one decent scoring reserve.

Not enough meetings. 11/12 is not enough meetings. Means many weeks with nothing going on. Should have been two home and away. Scrap group comp. Dear oh dear very poor call.

Think Danny Hume lives in Hertfordshire.

Ben Barker at 3. Danny King at 14 below Brennan. Think you need a better algorithm.

Heat 14 Drew lost most of his spokes when Thompsons footrest smashed through them.

Agree with this, even though Poole used it twice at home this season.

Agree Steve, it means the away side doesn’t give up am]nd chases the bonus point. Doing away with it could leave to average manipulation as away sides lower their averages.

The reports of the Leicester track and the reason it was aborted, wasn’t because of what it looked like after the work had been done. It was because it was spongy going into the bends and therefore not safe for the riders. With no chance of getting this moisture out the decision was made to move it to Kings Lynn. Reported on BSN on the stream.

So you are saying a promotion would illegally stream from BSN? I don’t think so! Image if they did and word got out.

If 100 Leicester fans had turned up at the clubhouse to watch the screening, the promotion might have been liable to £1195 to BSN.

Tough decisions to be made but let’s savour the moment. We went through the whole season without a single change to the lineup and our heat leaders were pretty much rock solid. Our second strings were exactly that with up and down meetings (mostly up) and our reserves battled. People have been on Drew’s case as he seems to take every race defeat as a personal insult but he has increased his average by a fair amount. A shame he couldn’t keep his early season form going. Don’t think riding in the premier league helps him to be honest at this stage of his career. He needs to be concentrating on getting consistent in the Championship and build his confidence.

That’s very true and I was one of the dissenters. He won me over with his attitude and professionalism and after having a few short chats with him in the pits, he came over as a likeable guy who had time for the fans.

Tell us more Gordon!

Yes well remembered. Knew the name in the back of my mind but was struggling to place it. 98 is a great innings and most of us would take that if offered. RIP.

Poole are not the highest payers. But they pay, and riders know they are in with a shout of a title. Richard Lawson said last night that was the first trophy he had won in his career and it means a lot to him. Imagine going through a whole career but no trophies to show for it? Nearly all riders in their career win very little individually. A very few win the odd title. An even smaller amount win a national title and we are in to thin air with world championships. To win a club title is very important to most riders, and they know if they are lucky enough to join a club like Poole they are in with a chance of just that. For riders like Kemp, Ablitt, it has come early in their careers but might not happen again. When they retire they can look back and remember they were part of that team. Poole don’t pay a guarantee. They do pay riders points money which is affordable to the club. As for some on here saying the playoffs sg]hould be scrapped and it should just be top of the league is champs, imagine if Poole next year went through the card and the title ws decided in late June. We would have clubs putting out weakened teams at away meetings to save money, robbing the public, because the club have no chance of catching the runaway winners. The playoffs have been going strong for 20 years and will not be dispatched with. They bring in huge crowds, keep the league alive and keep the fans interested. And I for one love them. As do many others.

Nathan is a nice likeable lad and not scoring doesn’t seem to get him down. He is young and raw and it’s no surprise another promoter would take him on if we don’t.