Sings4Speedway

Any team who signs Bacon will have a major trump card. JPB is clearly quality and Smith has loads of potential and couldn't have better backing. Blast am I talking up Brum? If Kings Lynn could sign Hume along with Cupitt that would be a pretty potent reserve pairing also.

The Stoke exodus continues with RTD following Armstrong & Payne rumoured to be heading to Belle Vue. A few new faces may help the cause but who is left?

Looks a very solid top 5 with Greenwood, Carr, Knuckey, Dwyer & RTD. Hts 13 & 15 should be particularly formidable. Two decent reserves (I suspect Halder will be one) and its got to be a play off spot team.

You would be amazed what riders have said over the years to get out of riding for Buxton! A solid year for the Colts and fingers crossed good crowd turn out would be a result for Belle Vue. That said the early pictures of the track look awesome so could be a real home advantage to be had? With the MDL team and a northern position there are quite a selection of new riders to be selected. Not sure what the minimum team building limit is this year though?

50p says Tom Woolley is at Belle Vue this coming season.

Im more than happy to be proven wrong (as many Birmingham fans will know) however I prefer riders who graduate to the NL to come through the development league ranks and serve a bit of an apprenticeship rather than the odd meeting against select opposition (with the exception of experienced & proven grass/long trackers). However that is just my personal opinion.

Agreed. I can see Ollie Greenwood @ 6 with Zac Waj @ 7. Would give a decent reserve pairing with loads of points left over for the top 5.

Crumbs!

Big shame if that is true. Both Moggo & Neale really grew as riders this season and I thought they would be in high demand for the coming season. Fingers crossed its just the one year and best of luck to both of them.

Not necessarily a star of the future but definite experience and guidance for the potential younger team members. If he can fill the Jon Armstrong void in that respect he will be worth his weight in gold.

Im not convinced. Reasonable prospect but hardly exciting and has been led a merry dance round Somerset by the likes of Govier. If both Phillips & Anderson got 11 and Saul Bulley scored 6 who the heck did Wolves put out?

Fully deserves another season after his performances last year but its going to be tough to improve on 5.44. I hope he proves me wrong but its a big step up into the main body of the team.

Whilst IOW shouldn't break the bank in their opening year its a pretty dull team so far. Govier & Saul could be the worst NL reserve pairing in the league. I think Widman is almost a certainty and a change might do him good but so far it seems to be a team of stagnant riders and Owen & Perks wouldn't change that.

Very good signing. A lot to live up to after his debut season but has the right backing and mind set to succeed.

Ive been saying this for years. I just do not see how Campos has had such a long NL career. Probably just had his best season for a while and that was pretty average. Signing a near identical team just looks lazy? Stokes, Bailey, Kinsley & Cupitt all deserve another year but some new blood would have freshened up the team nicely.

Matt Saul? Really? I would probably put this down as the worst NL signing for some while. Saul was half a lap behind Sheppard mid season at Central Park and Sheppard wasn't exactly setting things alight last year. Whoever made the recommendation to IOW clearly doesn't like them very much.

If that's true then that would be a major coup for Cov and a painful blow to Kings Lynn. Cant see Sarj being overly impressed either.

"Although he aims to earn a place at a higher level later in the season, Morris is fully committed to trying to help the Heathens regain the National League title" The above statement would worry me a little as a Cradley supporter. If Ashley picks up an EL reserve berth then no issue but if a PL team comes knocking it will mean he is unable to continue with Cradley and will a 9+ point hole to fill!

Agreed it might be a little bit of a swipe but all the above riders deserve a crack at the PL. Whilst all have had chances in the past some may find it easier this year with less pressure on them and less fear of being replaced by a cheap foreigner. Once the season is done it will be interesting to review the results as some will flourish, some status quo and some will undoubtedly flop.

Plenty of signings to be made yet. That said first season back I would think a team that is solid / mid table would be considered a success? Win most at home, avoid any embarrassing results and start to build the fan base back up I would suspect is the priority.

Im sure I had seen somewhere that Bowen didn't think NL would be viable for him financially? Saying that I think its NL or nothing for him this season.

Actually think its not a bad signing. Was going well around Kings Lynn before injury ended his season. Should clock double figure most weeks at home which is what you want from a number 1.

I suspect there might be a couple that 'step down' if they find themselves struggling. That said I don't think Josh will be one of them providing he can cope with the amount of meetings and retain the engines he had for the latter part of the season.

Purchase 4.7 ?

Yep despite the team being signed by end of December. Great news. Was a little worried about the Raiders this year. Hopefully they get a run out as a youth / developing team and not worry about actual results.