sparkafag

Yip, all the tweets are on there, that website is Twitter.

British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 25 mins25 minutes ago So here we go with the Tier 2 picks... @WolvesSpeedway have selected British U21 Champion Josh Bates. British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 21 mins21 minutes ago And joining @poolespeedway in 2015 will be Paul Starke. @SwindonSpeedway to pick next. British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 20 mins20 minutes ago @SwindonSpeedway have selected Lewis Rose. British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 20 mins20 minutes ago @OfficialCovBees have selected James Sarjeant. British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 19 mins19 minutes ago Three picks to go, @LeicsLionsSpeed will be next British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 17 mins17 minutes ago The second pick for @LeicsLionsSpeed is Simon Lambert. British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 16 mins16 minutes ago We move on to @TheAces who will welcome back Stefan Nielsen next season. British Speedway@SpeedwayGB · 15 mins15 minutes ago And completing the draft, Joe Jacobs will be joining @officialKLstars

Looks quite well balanced this year. Lakeside looks the best pairing IMO. @speedwaygb didn't miss out any picks

Poole have Newman, Belle Vue Steve Worral and Kings Lynn Kerr, it was tweeted before the 4 other clubs tweet. Leicester Auty

Jorgensen for me

Jorgensen would be a good signing. He scores well at most tracks, I don’t think it would take him long to get the hang of Berwick.

Carr and Mogridge were far superior riders when they returned. Carr was (for the most part) a decent journeyman before his retirement he was never at any stage the dominant race winner he was when he returned. And while Mogridge was always an entertainer before he retired you couldn’t trust him to finish a race, he was, like Carr, a better rider when he returned. Wilshere managed 3rd in the World but it was unexpected, when he returned he was a consistent performer in the EL, The World Cup and Grand Prix Series. All three performed better after their time away from the sport. Bear in mind that this is riders who spent years retired, not a couple of months like Alden has. Pijper and Harrison both turned in the odd strong season mixed in with some absolute dirge before they retired (Pijper at Berwick). Since returning they have found a far more consistent level of performance.

Peter Carr, Alan Mogridge, Todd Wiltshire, Lee Complin,Theo Pijper, Rusty Harrison of the top of my head. It depends on the rider. Jason Doyle, Chris Holder, Simon Stead, Sam Masters have all missed bigger chunks of their careers through injury (or other reason) than Alden has retirement, it isn’t like he has been away from the sport for 5 or 10 years.

I was being facetious in reference to the point that returning riders rarely capture their former glories.

If Berwick are going to continue with strength in depth and Bellego leaves that is a lot of race wins lost at home, Alden would be the ideal replacement. Riders have been injured for a shorter amount of time than he has “retired” or missed a season due to work permit problems (I would have Kozza back in a heartbeat and he came back from his injury well) it is hardly a Peter Carr or Alan Mogridge stuff, although both of them were okish when they came back.

If his team mate gated in front of him he would sit behind them, absolutely, all 3 of the Czechs were pretty good at that. I am not taking anything away from them for it, or the riders who do it, but doing that while 50 yards in front and leading out the 2nd bend is pretty basic IMO. It isn’t in the class of the American riders putting the bike in backwards to stop an opponent and make space for a team mate to come through, and there is nothing wrong with a Berwick rider not doing that around Shielfield as it would be close to impossible. I am just of the opinion that I wouldn’t judge a rider these days because they don’t team ride. It isn’t a concern of mine while watching Vissing, and nor was it with Alden, they team ride no more or less than the majority of riders in the league. Out with the occasional positive report relating to either Barker or Cook I am genuinely struggling to think of riders in the PL who do it often, Stuart Robson?

It is pretty much an extinct skill now, and nor does it contribute to 50% of a riders skill set or job description . The phrase “team riding” has been a meaningless saying by fans for the best part of 10 years. To single out a rider and say that they shouldn’t be signed because they don’t team ride is hardly a realistic gauge, given that very few riders actually team ride now. Out with the likes of Ward and Holder who are absurd talents and can hardly be used as a gauge for every other rider, the best you will get out of most riders is a hard 1st bend where they help their team mate now and then. Expecting PL riders to move each around and position riders for the benefit of their team mates as they go down a straight at tracks like Berwick going 70mph is a bit farfetched, far more likely to injure a rider then help a team mate.

Don’t sign a rider because they can’t team ride! You are excluding about 97% of modern day speedway riders.

Milik just averaged over 6 for Poole in the EL, good luck getting the next Czech talent to race PL speedway. Given what I have watched this season he really should be.

Fly in for Glasgow, stay over then go home I would have thought.

Vissing has won 8 of the last 9 races he has completed at Berwick which is a better bet than the 0 turned in by Sedgmen a few weeks ago. I wouldn’t imagine Ipswich would be in any great rush to agree to guest bookings for their number 1 when they are still in with a shout at the title either.

By that time of year riders want to be home with their family, they have travelled all summer. Asking riders to stick around another week when they really don’t have to, or fly back into the country and hang around airports again, is pretty harsh when you can just have it on a Friday night "It is their job, stick it in their contract" etc and so on, sure, or just have it on a Friday and it is a win/win.

Berwick race on a Saturday night, booking an event a year in advance on a Saturday night when you could have Play Off meetings, Cup Finals etc is nonsensical.

I would rather go with R/R

Barker Wethers Bellego Jensen Vissing Edberg Roynon

The sport is in a mess. It is bleeding slowly, so it is better to stick a plaster on it to nurse it through until things improve. Evidently doubling up and down isn’t the ideal situation for the sport, but sometimes you have to negate tricky situations. If you took away doubling up/down rules there wouldn’t be enough riders to fill teams at the start of the season. If a rider was injured there wouldn’t be NL replacements out there to come in and guest as they would be racing as heat leaders and second strings in the PL. Such is the unique nature of the sport that guests and R/R are going to be part of it, probably in the short, medium and long term. Unfortunately you can’t introduce rules that stop riders from getting injured. Without the doubling up/down rule the riders would be able to ask for absurd money because they would be so high in demand. By “creating” more team places and “creating” more riders, it means that clubs can share the riders around, and even more beneficially share the costs. DU rules are implemented it is actually one of the fan, rider and promoter friendlier rules there is.

If there aren’t enough riders going around (there aren’t) I can’t see how doubling up/down and duplicating riders could have made it worse?

Was it the entire stadium? Is it Berwick fan after fan giving him abuse on Twitter? I don’t (didn’t) mind Cook as a rider but his attitude has made it very easy to dislike him. The majority of speedway riders simply haven’t taken to Social Media very well at all. There are a few exceptions though and the ones who are good at it are actually very good at it, Nicholls being the absolute standout. There might well have been perspective sponsors, or people at Berwick ready to invest in a rider like Cook. He is a young (ish) Brit, making his way in the sport, the kind of rider someone may have wanted to afford some financial backing to. He is rapidly decreasing his chances of making that happen if chooses to alienate sets of fans on the back of the opinion of 5 (7 or 8 at best) fans. Cook isn’t alone in this, but he is certainly one of the leaders of the pack when it comes to acting like an arse on social media. Social media is a platform to showcase personality. A handy tool to use to show what you are about, like his attempts on the World Stage though, it has all been a bit of a fail for Craig so far. If he continues to act as he does on social media, it shouldn’t come as a shock to him if some stand smugly aside and enjoy it when he fails. Why not act with a bit of class and dignity now and then and he might see a bite more good will afforded his way? as it was by the majority of Berwick fans when he performed there earlier in the season while trying to make his way in the GP’s. I am sure he couldn’t care less though.... mind you I might be a potential sponsor who was ready to invest thousands of pounds into a rider and might look elsewhere, so I suppose it is a win/win situation isn’t it as I couldn't care less for him now either. Having said all that though, the comment did “troll” the fans who have decided to read the twitter feed so I am sure it was all worth it, because that is ultimately what it is about .

I think that Doyle is the first rider since Stonehere who has been a true product of the PL to reach the GP. I understand that many riders who have raced in the PL have qualified for the GP between the time the two have made it but the likes of Holder, Ward, Pedersen and even Harris were all somewhat childhood protégés destined for stardom from a very young age. While Doyle was always a nice rider to watch during his early days over here with the Isle of Wight I don’t think many had him down as a guaranteed GP star of the future. More power to him, he is the kind of rider every PL supporter would have wanted to have come through their club. That might all be broken biscuits but it is my thought process and I am sticking to it.