Hamster00

Think that’s harsh on Edinburgh, they were probably the team with the biggest variables pre season but certainly one with plenty of potential and they’ve delivered on it tonight. In the same breath I would agree it’s poor from Glasgow, a team that on paper looked as good/better than most. Luckily it’s only Berwick next week so should be a fairly comfortable bounce back, I imagine Sedgy’s phone will be ringing for a guest booking for one of the Bandits heat leaders.

Paco I believe was due to ride abroad on Sunday therefore couldn’t fill a spot in the CLRC but also withdrew from the Pairs due to a crash he had at Armadale on Friday.

Where did you get that information from? As far as I can see he hasn’t ridden in Poland for a quite a while now, he also hasn’t ridden in any of the pre season individual meetings across there either. The reason he can commit to Berwick is partly due to his lack of overseas commitments, by the looks of it he is only committed to Britain and Denmark currently and the Danish season hasn’t started yet.

His results at Berwick speak for themselves: 2024 - 2 from 1 (Withdrawn) and 4 from 4 2023 - 3+1 from 4 2022 - 2 from 3 2021 - 5+1 from 4 His average mainly comes from superb home form at Scunthorpe etc.

I do enjoy a good chuckle. We’d be far better off with R/R or a 75% Guest.

No point worrying, it’s over, he won’t turn a wheel for the club. Far easier just to move on and see if there is/who is the replacement, Cook was always a major risk and maybe it’s better getting this out of the way in April rather than further down the line.

I think it’s because it’s past the point of “Worrying” writing has been on the wall since he was replaced at Leicester because he’s uncontactable, I think this was a foregone conclusion and the statement is merely confirmation that Cook won’t turn a wheel for Berwick whether it’s written that way or not.

I expect you’ll see a different Freddy Hodder to the one that Berwick persevered with last season, he seems to have plenty talent just didn’t have the confidence last season unfortunately. Glasgow fans should be expecting to come away from this season with at least one trophy, anything less would be a disappointment given the team they’ve assembled.

Why do people go to Poole then? In a sport where riders are basically self employed surely money will be a fairly important factor? Yes other things will inevitably go into a decision but I’m pretty sure it’ll a large part of the conversation for many of the riders. I’m pretty sure if any of us were to be offered a new job tomorrow then money would be a fairly important part of the discussion, why would it be so different for Championship level speedway riders?

Definitely confidence I would say, you look at the setup he has, sponsorship, three bikes etc etc and it all looked fantastic. He had an early season tumble in Poland and never seemed the same after that, was very cautious in first bend traffic and really looked a different rider from the one that turned up against Workington in the Border Trophy. The last few meetings of his season he definitely seemed to be getting back some of that confidence, it is just a shame as many have said that we persevered and game him the runway to work through it and he has repaid that faith by chasing a few more dollars. As disappointing as it is for us I don’t particularly blame him, we’ve all chased the money at one time or another, I just hope it works out for him as I can’t imagine the Glasgow management will have as much patience and it’s clear that the fan base expects nothing less than silverware this season either.

Agree with this, Kildemand has only ridden in Denmark the last couple of seasons and obviously isn’t the force he once was but it’s the best option on the table given Rory’s withdrawal and I am pleased the promotion have given it a go rather than going down the route of someone like MPT for instance. Cook is and always will be a question mark, how Borke comes back from that injury is the biggest question mark for me given the nature of the injury and the fact that 6 months down the line he still seems to be in rehabilitation mode. The other 4 are good signings imo, Hagon and Kemp especially.

You are wasting your time replying to him Blobby.

He ruled himself out of Glasgows team due to foreign commitments so unless something drastic has changed that would rule him out of Edinburghs too considering they ride home matches on the same night.

I think you are doing Trent Leverington a disservice, he had a hell of a lot less experience than Ivacic when Glasgow took a punt on him and looking back on his record in his first season, he fared as well or better than him and improved continuously for the first few seasons across here. He managed to carve out a solid if unspectacular 7 year career in the middle tier of British speedway, I could name dozens of riders off the top of my head that Berwick have signed who were much worse or bigger disappointments, I’m sure Glasgow fans will have their own lists too, although maybe less frequent these days under the flash the cash banner 😂😂

Certain fans need to calm down with the argument about who’s embarrassment of riches is better 😂😂 They’ll both make the play offs barring a disaster and then we’ll see which one, if either, lifts the trophy.

Charlatan

Hopefully Mr Dickson has Blobbys number on speed dial for a mid season change then if Dayle isn’t up to scratch.

Of course it’s a massive drop off, the team that finished last season needed to have 6.49 points taken off of it to make the limit for this season. They will still have one of the strongest teams in the league and will be challenging for silverware even if they pick Paul Starke. The continual hand wringing concerning whether the team will be strong enough really is boggling my mind.

The league is being split the past few seasons into the haves and have nots, unfortunately Edinburgh along with Plymouth and Berwick seem to be in the second category. Edinburgh have at least tried this season so far with Palovaara and Grahn to bring something fresh, unfortunately the big hitters often stay put or chase the money elsewhere. They might pull a rabbit out of the hat, there is still time yet.

I can see Nicholls slotting in nicely as part of a double change if things don’t go as planned. The reserves are both exciting prospects, Masters is one of the top three riders in the league and I think Jenkins will keep improving. It will be interesting to see if Heeps can be as successful as he was last season, Knudsen has been nothing short of a disappointment in the last couple of seasons at Berwick and Redcar after a promising start but he has plenty promise, Gilkes is pretty meh for me but plenty people seem to rate him so I’ll maybe be proven wrong on that one.

Someone’s been on the Christmas tipples tonight 😂😂

Dayle will be elsewhere in the championship I think.

I’m surprised Ace Pijper isn’t in it, as he was in the other 98.

I think Paco and Kye are a very similar level but both are a tick above Lasse at this stage of there careers imo. I think it’s harsh to ding Paco for riding at 4 when Kye was 3, they ride in the same heats 3/4 times and then face their opposite number in the last heat and depending on that teams riding order it could be the next strongest rider after the 1 and 5. For instance when they rode Berwick Paco would predominantly ride against Drew Kemp last season who was 3rd in their averages whereas Kye would ride against Jye Etheridge who was 4th/5th.

Lewis Kerr will be fine, exactly as fine as he was at Oxford when he had Masters and Nicholls to share the load. Along with Lawson, Rowe and Cook it will be one of the strongest top fours in the league and I have no doubt the whole 7 will be a match for Glasgow (If the rumours about their team is true) at the top of the table. I do enjoy a chuckle at some Poole fans worries at the team won’t be strong enough, I can only dream of my team having those worries lol. Barring injury woes or some drastic underperformances then I’d pencil the Pirates in for the play offs and probably the BSN and KO cup finals, semi finals at least.