Big Al

When will Morris have his case judged - is it the 23rd? Until then he is just suspended, so whilst there's even a small chance of him being cleared, it's still possible he could return and is something Leicester have to factor in, no matter how slim the possibility is. However with the team changes deadline being the 28th and Batchelor struggling so far to make an impact, looking at another option must be on their agenda.

Does anything matter?

I think it was Damien Bates who said, not too long ago, that Leicester more or less runs itself and that employing Stewart Dickson had been the key to that. He may have also mentioned the invaluable and voluntary time contributions by certain others. I've no idea how much day to day, direct involvement that Marc Bates may have taken on since then albeit that his name appears as Co-promoter alongside those of David Darcy and Dickson. When he puts "health" as the main reason for the decision by the Bateses for seeking a buyer for Leicester, I wonder whose health he's referring to. Is it his own, or that of others?

I can see this being staged at Leicester!

I continue to harbour the delusion that somehow Szymon Wozniak with his 5.8(?) average will somehow be allowed to return!

So can Stewart Dickson "work a miracle" and coax Batchelor into producing consistent points? If he can average 5.5 I think it will be a big achievement. I see this as a similar situation to Proctor in 2019. Of course it's ultimately down to Batchelor, but Stewart does have the opportunity of working on him up to 4 times per week. I think Leicester's chances of success in the playoffs now hinge on this

I just about remember going to Monmore some time in the early 1970's to see a GB v Russia test match. It was of course a drubbing. Most of the Russians probably hadn't been there before. But it was quite entertaining. I think they mostly got round ok but only just.

Far more to pro sports than what you can see on the immediate "field of play". It's why so much TV and media coverage is given over to discussions, why books are written, blogs posted, online forums where people waste their valuable time.....

Does Chapman's price vary according to who the interested party is? But surely he's not so deluded as to think there could be others interested in buying?

He was talking a couple of years ago about wanting to sell that place, that buying it had been a mistake and it is very vulnerable to flooding. Don't know if he actually did. Seem to recall seeing something about his in-laws now having a place in South Humberside, so it could be Scunthorpe's now his "local" UK track?

Interesting timing by Woffinden, to mention the desire to resume racing in the UK. Presumably he knows about the dire state of things and that, even if there is to be a "premier" league or even just any league, there will be probably be no takers at his required pay rate. Sounds like someone who is expressing a wish to do something he knows is very unlikely to happen.

I don't agree, because that would entail a rider being unduly penalised for being ill and lead to unfair situations. 7 days is a reasonable time to use, to allow recovery, but obviously there will be instances of more severe illnesses which require extension of that time. The use of the word "ban" is generally overdone and used inappropriately. A ban is something imposed when someone has broken a rule or regulation. Being ill isn't doing anything unlawful (except on occasions when it's done fraudulently or to gain unfair advantage, but even then, proving it is difficult).

Unlikely that Buster would publicly incriminate Alex (he wouldn't want to jeopardise his chances of resuming stewardship of KL when he's able to), so what could he do? There really wasn't an easy way out except the fudge-up job, which unfortunately turned out to be extra-fudgy with sticky toffee. The interesting thing to know, would be when the booking was first put into Chris Harris's diary. I'd wager it was several weeks ago!

Could it be that on this occasion, the current KL management is an innocent party, albeit rather incompetent and bungled? The rider and his agent, and his Polish club, would know perfectly well that an "illness" certified medically will get him a 7-day exemption from having to ride in the UK. KL probably knew all along this was going to happen. Possibly it was all "agreed", informally of course, when negotiations took place around the time Laguta signed. Maybe KL management at the time said yes because they were desperate to get the deal over the line? Maybe the current KL management inherited this, but they haven't dealt with it very well. They maybe knew he was going to cry off, but there was uncertainty over the actual reason which was to be used?

Terrible choice of guest. Much better choice for that track was riding for Belle Vue last night but their gain was KL's loss.

Onus is on Joe Thompson now to at least out-score Sam Hagon, or else.....

Excuse my lack of knowledge, but in which capacities has Mr Brady exited from KL? Team manager? Promoter? Sponsor? Or a combination of those?

I reckon there's about 20percent chance that he can perform to the level KL need.

I think your key man is Klindt in that he is now effectively the replacement for KK and needs to score more than KK. Pickering having his injury issues it couldn't be worse timed because you really need him at his best. When Laguta gets himself sorted out those three should be a strong trio but will it ever actually happen?

Poole have undercover agents deployed around the country and keep tabs on anyone suspected of spreading scurrilous propaganda. I found myself sitting next to one at a snooker tournament in York last year but I sussed him out fairly quickly.

Announcing Simon Wozniak joining the side on his previous CMA wouldn't be a bad piece of news!

They need to get on with it tonight. Northeast wind blowing cold and some rain around from 8.

Early days maybe but is pressure increasing on Jake Allen who, although able to pull a surprise win later in the match, needs to be a "banker" for a win in heat 2 at home? Not being helped by Max Fricke taking time to get the hang of BP (he needs to have a chat with Emil S?) but Lions ideally need Sedgmen to be at 6. Allen hasnt been helped by lack of action in Champ so far or in other meetings whereas Sedgmen has at least been riding a bit more. Hopefully over the next few weeks that situation will change and he can start getting wins in heat 2.

More like the ground hasn't dried out enough from autumn and winter yet, so it's softer at this time of year anyway, but this year it's worse than usual. Plus, at present the temperature drops steeply once the sun has gone and that produces dangerous track surfaces as moisture rises to the surface - like it was at Swindon a few years ago when Martin Vaculik had his early season crash. Once the ground is generally more dry as the weather (we hope) warms, rainfall should be less of a problem unless it's torrential of course.

Due to be a item on East Midlands Today this evening. Fingers crossed a big football story doesn't break and wipe it out (When I say "big football story" I include something like Notts County signing some unknown Peruvian)