Big Al

Anyone who was out in countryside surrounding Leicester on Friday would have seen how small streams had become raging torrents several times wider and deeper than normal. Any notion of a nearby speedway track being useable within several days, even without further rain, was for the birds. Fair play to the workers who tried but the odds were hugely against

I don't have detailed facts at my disposal so can only put forward a guess to explain why so much time has elapsed - is it possible that Leicester and Oxford had to await other fixtures (probably including ones involving themselves) to be completed before they were the confirmed finalists? Add in the inevitable postponement or two, and you get to this situation. More a general lack of urgency perhaps?

I'd be amazed if the track is fit for speedway racing on Sunday. I know they bought extra equipment in from Swindon during the winter but it'll be a lake now. All of the riders should be back next season and hopefully all absentees recovered from injuries so why not stage the matches next April?

You can ask, but I doubt you'll get an answer. And surely, the question of whether or not a bung has been made by one party to another, is a largely irrelevant one. What is really getting up people's noses is the apparent total resignation by Buster Chapman to there being any future for speedway in Peterborough and his "advice" to everyone to do the same! The lengthy statement contained so much self-serving guff about how grateful everyone ought to be for being given a competitive team, no matter how late in the season that was, it was almost enough to make me throw up my dinner. And it was a smokescreen.

Pep Guardiola!! Come off it. The only tractor you'll see that bloke driving is one of those huge Mercedes, and as for helping to clean the bogs.....

If we take it as being true, that attempts were made to sign Robert Lambert and then Artem Laguta, at least the management/owners were trying to rectify the downward slide. They couldn't influence what those riders decided to do by way of other options. Even the hugely persuasive Martin Rogers came within a hairsbreadth of signing Peter Collins in 1982 only to be thwarted when PC had an eleventh-hour change of mind. So in the end, more was needed from Richard Lawson and Richie Worrall than they were able to deliver, and I'm fairly sure that both were limited by injuries which impacted on their contributions. Has Nick Morris ever apologised?

Let's put the blame fully and squarely onto Sir Peter Soulsby (elected Mayor). Anything s**t that happens in Leicester is always his fault

Of course! It's an undercover Eurosport agent putting crushed sleeping pills in Leicester's pre-match tea urn.

Yes, probably the very unfortunate timing in the way events unfolded has been a very big factor in this case, together with his high level of susceptibility.

But presumably he would have had the option of saying no thanks to Leicester, on the basis that he didn't feel ready or able to take on the additional work at this stage?

It happened in April 2011, but those were very different circumstances!

I'm sure they'll want them both in, but that's as far as it can go. The riders, the team managers, the promoters and indeed the owners are not going to try to rig anything.

He's probably not finished growing yet. Maybe need to wait till he's 18 before knowing that he's small/light enough to possibly become world class, because those seem to be prerequisites these days

The problem with making a mistake, is trying to correct it but in doing so you can just make another one, which ends up by making the whole situation even worse than it was originally. Unless there's a stunning signing in the pipeline such as Wozniak, it's now in the hands of the riders to get Stewart Dickson off the hook and maybe actually they "owe him one".

Maybe just have one race suit including all clubs logos (shouldn't have a problem fitting them in next year) with "rider for hire" down the outside of each leg?

The performances of Max Fricke seem to act as a barometer which the rest of the side respond to. When he was flying, it was happy days. Now he isn't providing enough heat winners. A no.1 needs to set the standard for the others. Not happening at the moment. Also, having a key rider whose participation from week to week, can't be guaranteed, can't be helping much.

For a piece of state-sponsored vandalism, it would be hard to beat the unnecessary destruction of the Bree Louise pub, near to Euston station, London. A wonderful place for a pint or two before getting the train, meeting up with people, just a very sociable place where strangers shared tables. And now gone, because of some plan to build a new rail terminal which now looks like it will never happen. The phrase "rebuild brick by brick" should apply in this instance, too.

To say that Harris was "sacked" is over-dramatising things. It was a consequence of Nick Morris getting into trouble, compounded by Stewart Dickson's mistake of signing Troy Batchelor, that two team changes needed to be made. What Leicester needed to avoid, was Jake Allen potentially having to move into the 1-5. If Chris Harris has never been "let go" before, he's having perhaps his first experience of being made redundant, something which happens, sometimes often, to people who have to do jobs which aren't hobbies. Welcome to the real world!

Ruthless + shrewd judgement + business acumen generally gets it done. And a good dose of luck. Leicester since 2019 have generally had all of those, but Poole have been the masters of them for a long time any no-one else has got close - yet

Doesn't it depend on how "ruthless" the Lions management decide to be, in ambitions to take this season as far as possible? They've already done it a couple of times so far, but doing what some are speculating with regards to Lawson, would be a different level. Personally, I'm not keen on them doing it, but as to what might happen it's not up to me! But you could have inside knowledge of the management's intentions of course.

Lawson out would it give Leicester up to 8.15 for a replacement?

Like a good Kangaroo steak

Maybe up there, but from my windows I can see for miles and it's looking very dodgy!

Sheffield and Woffinden avoiding an embarrassment by him missing this one and starting at the NSS instead. He struggles to ride the more technical tracks now and probably needs to arrange a practice day at Beaumont Park before tackling anything on the tighter side. Wouldn't look too good being beaten by Troy Batchelor and Kemp/Allen whereas Mountain probably will score more

Pretty well snookered, then☹️