PaulS

It's been a long, long, long winter...glad I could finally take Mrs S to the Speedway again. Having both thawed out now, a few thoughts... Firstly well done to Workington for pushing so hard for a near victory. The sensational performances of Kenneth Hansen and Ricky Wells, plus 3 Diamonds retirements and the loss of key Diamonds man Tero Aarnio, were key factors in tonight's result IMHO. Regarding the Newcastle performance: first of all, good to see a strong debut from our star number 1 Robert Lambert. 13/15, dropping points only to Kenneth Hansen who was on fire tonight, and Ricky Wells who is pretty much sure to be s**t hot around Brough Park amongst other tracks. A pleasing start for Lambert who seems to be on a pretty brutal schedule; and he's likely to improve even further on what was tonight a strong performance in the number 1 race jacket. Rose scored in all of 6 rides, so another strong start for a rider I'm pleased to see in Diamonds colours again this year; I think Rose will kick on this year. Danny Phillips: the lad put a lot of laps of practice in, so it's good to see 4 points on the board on his home debut. Also nice to see Matt Williamson of Workington battle out 2 points in his 6th and 7th races after not getting on the scoreboard in the previous 5. I think the jury is still out on the 3-pointer rule but certainly tonight both of them battled hard and ultimately got on the scoreboard. Matej Kus: rotten luck tonight, especially considering he shed a chain when leading the previously-unstoppable Kenneth Hansen. Welcome to the team Matej - looking forward to seeing you banging in more points shortly. Lindgren: after two second places and a retirement, my favourite Diamonds rider reminded us that 'it's the man not the machine' by easing a restarted heat 14 on a borrowed Danny Phillips bike. Some bad gates but time to work on them and it looked like a lot of the issues were bike-related. At the end of the day if a team has a number 4 as talented as Lindgren then it's not wildly unreasonable to suspect they might win something(s) this season. Worrall had bike issues tonight, but is top-notch and another signing we should be glad to have. The riders mentioned above have a lot of positives - the final piece in the jigsaw (other than riders getting their bikes sorted) would seem to be a fit-again Tero, what a breath of fresh air he was last season... Tero's injury pre-dated today's fixture; nothing to do with Brough park. He rode one heat and realised he couldn't continue. My wife asked me why he seemed so slow to walk up for the parade lap. I said it was probably his steel shoe...well let's just say Mrs S was right and there was more to it than the steel shoe...

Sounds like Ludde's fee was rather less than Kus? So, yes it makes sense to try to use it! Cue my usual comments about favourite rider blasting round the bends etc...

Well, we can't complain if he gave it until December. Perhaps a break from UK will work well for him and he can perhaps return as a rejuvenated asset in the future. Anton would have been a credible plan B if perhaps not universally popular given the 'waste of team building points' (I would have been happy to give the lad one last chance mind especially given how strong the team looks overall...) - so who exactly could be a plan B? Our does Mr Havelock now have us over a barrel?

Kus (not a Newcastle asset) seems to get a mixed reception in this forum - and that's only relevant in the event we get him. Who is available from the asset base? Anton had a poor last season but if he gates more will surely score better than last year? I know some readers might say waste of points limit, but nil transfer fee and should improve. Also riding in a very strong team may help him. Just an idea, given that rider #7 seems to be well and truly stuck - I think some readers have doubts about both riders but one will cost you nowt. Christian is in theory another asset who might be better around Brough than Kus but given he has a testimonial booked in it seems the back injury is the last straw for him? :-( Robbo would have been ideal and finished off a team sure to win silverware, shame he could not be tempted back.

An unfortunate post for you to have submitted. I would suggest that someone who seems to have a great deal of Speedway knowledge is a LOSS to this forum. You should also learn how to use your spell-checker before you have a pop.

Merry Kusmas everyone.

It's hard to imagine that a deal won't be eventually reached. So I have no idea on Plan B meself. What's a 'dusey', please - even the mighty Google doesn't know it..?

Very pleased to see Lewis Rose back. Simon was exciting to watch and also visibly improved last season and under the previous rules would likely have been retained. Good luck Simon, thanks for some cracking races and perhaps we will see you in black and white Kevlars again one day. I'm thinking the final place will be either Richie, Robbo or someone completely new I've never heard of. Rosen could miss out here as he would not 'use up' the available points and had a disappointing season - furthermore he may attract interest from other teams as he is 'undergraded' on his current average.

My post was pointless because as you say the team isn't even complete yet. But 4 cracking signings so far - personally I am a Ludvig fan but the other 3 signings are great choices and getting RL is a great coup. 3 more signings that good and I am sure you and many others as well as some brand new fans will be along next year.

You're right! After one half of mild too many, my frustrations that a non-winning football team under no threat of closing get a guaranteed 50,000 no matter how far Fat Mike sticks his dick up their arses, came out. Anyway, it was a pointless post because the Diamonds are already four-sevenths of the way to a trophy-winning team. 3 more good signings and I can well see some of the stay-away fans posting to say the team looks good and they will be coming to watch. Robert Lambert in his own right could get people who have never been to live speedway before through the turnstiles. So, it's pointless raking over that old chicken-and-egg debate of big crowds/winning team between signing 4 and signing 7. Because the promotion has already given a clear indication that in 2016 we will be going down the 'winning team' route. No need to have a pop at people for not watching the non-winning team because they will already be on their way to watch the winning team! Worth mentioning on 'value for money' though...there were some amazing races in 2015. As to Robert Lambert being a Diamond...the first I saw of this rider was pulling off a hard move to get a brilliant victory in his first ride of the World Cup race-off, as part of a very impressive performance. So he was one to watch out for when Peterborough visited this year. In his first race, he was literally throwing the bike around in his efforts to get out of third place. After that race I was actually shaking and wondering how we would hold this guy off (we didn't, and lost the meeting by 2 points!). I didn't see him signing for Newcastle coming. You would think Robert and his advisers would have learned from the fallout of the missed matches for Peterborough and that this will be a fresh start for him. The lad's potential seems limitless and with no Cook around is an obvious contender to finish as the top PL rider. With a number one who is capable of wiping the floor with the opposition, the Diamonds could be just 3 signings away from a team that just keeps winning.

To be honest it's just nice to be discussing the remaining 3 places of what could be a silverware-winning team (Robert Lambert is a Diamond, pinch yourself folks). It's also noticeable that when a strong team starts to be put together, the naysayers on this forum are nowhere to be seen. I could name names but his favourite response would be 'You need a trophy winning team to make me and other glory hunters come back, arsehole...'

Yes but perhaps he needed a bit more experience to be ready for PL.

Sorry but at that time I was giving my money to a greedy cash-hungry ogre called 'football', where the players roll around in agony when an opponent accidentally brushes their eyelashes. But hey, we all make mistakes...

A choice of 3 good riders at 6. That team could be credible challengers. Aarnio was a breath of fresh air and Rosen surely cannot fail to improve on 2015.

Well done to the promotion, an exceptional talent for our #1 spot. I predict Simon, Anton and Dan Greenwood for the remaining slots.

Would fit the bill but will surely sign for Ipswich. I strongly expect Ludvig will ride at #3. After a decent 2015 season on presumably heat leader pay it would be strange for the lad to sign for second string pay. Anyway a very welcome if predictable signing - I look forward to watching my favourite rider blasting round the fences next year...

Kenni Larsen then?

3 cracking signings, just give Lindgren a chance by not putting him in the #5 race jacket... Let's await the exciting signing of our new #1 so that Stevie can clean up at #5...

Cracking team. Although I see from reading elsewhere that a lot of forum members reckon the difference in ability of the eligible 3-pointers will be a huge factor in how teams fare.

Yes Kenni Larsen and Kenneth Bjerre would have been my 2 'fantasy speedway' choices for the number one spot but I suspected both were just unrealistic. The question is, who is an out-and-out number one that the promotion could actually secure and afford? Add said #1 onto my team list there and maybe that team will do well enough to get the necessary 50-100 extra fans through the turnstiles… On a sadder note: does anybody know whether the GRT Media DVDs will continue? i.e. were there business partners involved who could carry the business forward, or perhaps a buyer for the business?

Kenneth Bjerre Anton Rosen Ludvig Lindgren © Tero Aarnio Steve Worrall Simon Neilsen Liam Carr ​

Kerr just riding at all in 2016 is great news. Much closer to home for him will suit with a baby on the way. So Kerr goes with our best wishes for a successful resumption of his career. I would have been happy to see Lewis Rose back, however as that's not to be, perhaps the entertaining Simon Nielsen can continue at reserve plus our mysterious 3-pointer, as Aarnio surely is good enough to ride at #4? Lindgren - surely nailed on for a team place. Rosen - under-achieved last season after time out injured and struggling with gating and perhaps confidence, but, good value on current average if you believe he is capable of doing better. 'An out-and-out number one'. Rosen Lindgren © Aarnio S Worrall Simon Neilsen 'A three-pointer' Exactly who #1 and #7 would be, would make or break that team.

I would definitely like to see Carlos Wilkinson in your team, as I think that more Spanish riders in the PL can only help the sport reach out to a wider fan base. Seriously though: fingers crossed that Scunthorpe can enter in 2016.

Ludvig has done a good job as a #5 captain. I expect he will be in the 2016 team, in who knows what race jacket.

Actually, isn't Lambert injured... Rose for Henry means only 1 guest needed for Kerr though and we will then have 7 riders which usually helps... Ah yes of course deadline was 28 August wasn't it? But Lewis R still an option as returning from injury.