GregoryM

Indeed. I doubt it could be put any more succinctly!!

It does make you wonder about fixture planning I agree. Were the FIM dates known before the Premiership fixture list was compiled? If so, why were any Premiership fixtures arranged at all for this night anyway? But, on the other hand, why is the FIM arranging fuxtures on one of the UK's priority nights? Surely the GP qualifiers should be held on non-GP Saturday nights?

It will be interesting to see how the R/Rs work out from the no.1 position. Etheridge at no.2 can only take the heat 15 R/R which will be the hardest of the four rides to cover. So, if Aces want to save that ride for Wright or Zagar, then Brennan will need to take one of the other rides which will mean partnering Etheridge. That could be difficult too depending on which Ipswich pair is in that one. As for guests I believe Ellis and Holder are in the GP qualifiers too, so that would narrow the choice considerably. Wonder if NKI was approached but wasn't available for one reason or another?

Agreed, it is a stupid idea. If what I saw last night at Old Trafford, it isn't just the 'old uns' who don't do modern technology, and Manchester United at least acknowledged the smartphones part of it. I bought a ticket for the FA Youth Cup and it arrived by email. The email was encouraging me to download my ticket into my digital wallet and produce it at the turnstiles on my smartphone. There was though the option to print at home for 'those fans who do not possess a smartphone'. A good job there was that option too. Looking at those in the block where I sat, there were as many folks of all ages clutching printed tickets as there were holding a smartphone as they located their seats.

TTT at it with his Russian comments!!

A team that had Bjarne Pedersen in it, and are cr*p this year without him.

The sort of reply I'd expect from an abhorrent human being such as you obviously are.

Indeed it is .... and also very true!! As for your 'invitation' for Mikhailov and I to visit the Showground tonight, we're otherwise engaged in Rawtenstall helping a refugee Ukrainian family move into their accommodation. Whilst you were making jokes about Belle Vue signing a Russian, we were helpng a family escape them.

Well, my Ukrainian neighbour and I are very pleased to hear you did. As for the feedback, you're welcome TTTy.

No surprise you've missed the point completely. Oh well, carry on making your banal comments.

Stupid comment, moreso with your Ukrainian flag avatar.

Absolutely true!! But who is actually right and who is wrong? Posters have interpreted the same rules & regulations in different ways. The speedway governing body has sanctioned several things that surely must be within the rules as they meant them to be applied - or have they? Anyway, there's certainly a strong 'split' of opinion on whether they have or not. The only 'opinion' that counts in the end, though, is that of the speedway governing body. It won't stop the debate, but perhaps everyone from both sides of the argument should be lobbying for the rules and regulations to be worded in clear, straightforward and unambiguous English. And, anyone who might say they already are .... well, maybe that's case of 'none so blind' too?

Perhaps Roger has not been following the thread? Otherwise, I'm sure he'll have noted the irony of Mike's entire post.

Is it by the authorities though? We'll soon see if they themselves understand it to be administered in the logical and well worded way you have explained it. If Zagar's signing is ratified then it is not, and is being administrated with a different interpretation.

The regulations governing the sport are laid down by the governing authorities. Whether clubs are adhering to them or not is also down to the governing authorities, not us the supporters. If Belle Vue's signing of Matej Zagar is ratified, it is obviously within the way the governing authorities intended the regulation to work. If not ratified, then it isn't. As supporters it seems we're divided and debating on whether our own interpretation of the regulation is correct. As suppprters, perhaps our 'displeasure' ought to be aimed at the authorities for having regulations that, from the outside looking in, are seemingly open to different interpretations - rather than against an individual club in this case Belle Vue?

As at least one other poster has said that allowing a rider to be signed for 28 days doesn't seem to fit with the 25% rule. He is right, and you are right about Jake Allen not being injured. His short term contract (presumably ratified as such by the authorities?) has expired though. So, is there anything written in another rule which compels Belle Vue to offer another contract to and retain Jake? What happens if Belle Vue chose to, or were compelled to, offer Jake a new contract, but he didn't want to stay? Surely there ought to be a water-tight rule to cover all scenarios surrounding short-term signings which also wouldn't conflict with the other rules? This would then end at least end all speculation, though it'd be one less issue to debate on here.

What a ridiculous reply!! Just shown both your replies to a former poster, and he laughed. 'Reminds me why I don't post anymore, this Steve fella is another on this forum who can't debate without resorting to insults'.

Thanks for the condescending clarification. As I said, I hadn't read the rule's wording - and, I agree, it would be pretty daft!! But then, as Patryk Dudek says to begin virtually every interview, ....'this is speedway'. I know Mark Lemon attracts quite a lot of criticism - and I haven't agreed with his decision-making all the time - but has he broken any rules by taking so long to finalise his team? Obviously not if the signing of Matej Zagar has now been ratified. So, what exactly is the different kettle of fish entirely? Whilst the lack of concrete information coming out of the NSS might well have been frustrating for the Aces' fans, Lemon obviously chose to bide his time as he wasn't under any 'deadline' pressure to complete the line-up. We do know there were discussions to try and bring Dan Bewley back into the team (as Lemon himself discussed in full in the matchday programme) and also Tai Woffinden (as Tai himself went into great detail about more than once at the PCMT meeting). It must have then been decided to approach Matej Zagar, but his availability was subject to him obtaining the necessary visa - so Lemon signed another rider, Jake Allen, for a 28-day period to fill the team place whilst this was being processed. All within the rules it would appear. The League Cup has seemingly been 'sacrificed' so that all this could happen, and the Aces slipped to two home last heat decider defeats. Jake obviously hasn't had the start to the season he would have wanted – but other riders in the team have struggled to find consistent scoring too so far. So, in fairness to him, the losses haven't all been down to Jake's scoring - or lack of. Anyway, we now wait to see if / when the other 5 teams start getting the same kind of criticism that has been levelled at Belle Vue, and Mark Lemon in particular. If we find one or more teams making a change after 25% of their league matches, then maybe they'll attract criticism for signing up poor-performing riders so quickly, and some might say that they should have taken more time to assemble their team in much the same way as Belle Vue have??

Genuine question - which rules have Belle Vue broken? You say rules (plural) rather than rule (singular), so I'm assuming you're saying that two or more have been broken. I'd be interested to know which rules, as the only rule I've seen mentioned that might have been broken is the '25%' rule. I’ve not checked the exact wording of that rule, but has even this been broken? As other posters have pointed out, signing a rider on a 28-day contract doesn’t really fit in with the ‘25%’ rule, but Belle Vue are not making a change to their declared 7. After Jake Allen’s 28-day contract expires Belle Vue have a team vacancy, and so only have a declared 6 rider team. Matej Zagar comes in to fill that vacancy. In this scenario, Belle Vue are not ‘dropping’ a permanent rider to bring in another. So, as such, the 'change' would not even be a 'change' as the '25% rule was intended to prevent I would have thought? But, if Belle Vue are breaking the rule to fill a vacancy with a different rider to that rider whose temporary contract has expired, then is a team that replaces an injured rider (and, say, out for the season) before 25% of the league fixtures have been completed also breaking the 25% rule? I suppose only the exact wording would give you the answer on both counts and, even then, is the rule written in such a way that it is open to an interpretation argument?

No sure what your point is. Manchester also has the biggest British football team with an empty trophy cabinet. Greater Manchester also has one of the biggest British Rugby League teams with a currently empty trophy cabinet. Maybe it's just simply a case of 'hated or adored, but certainly never ignored'.

.....Agree 100% with your opening comment. Alternatively, however, and tongue-in-cheek here, maybe a team exploring all options and playing the long game until the League season starts - and then you for 'incompetent' you can read e.g. 'clever' or 'astute'.

And, in the interest of balance and fairness, I couldn't agree with you more on two of your other comments. "1 outstanding 4 laps by Kurtz when he surged beneath Masters then rounded the previously untouchable Worrall does not make up for heats 13 & 15 when he was so far off the pace, it wasn't fathomable." Trouble is, that is fairly typical Brady Kurtz. We've often seen him look so fast and aggressive in one race, only to be followed by another when he's looked like a novice. I'm not confident we'll win too many last heat deciders if we need a heat advantage in heat 15 if we have to rely on Brady. "Fricke, awful for #1, two 1-5's conceded at home in 2 matches, didn't get any better." And, quite ironic that the tribute to Nigel Pearson (RIP) included the playing on the PA of his & Kelvin Tatum's commentary of the Keep Your Eyes on Fricke! - YouTube heat v. Somerset in 2018. We've not seen anything like that Max Fricke yet .... here's hoping he's just having a slow start to the season and he comes good for the first league match.

Were you doubting yourself with your second comment? Given this is speedway, I can see why if you were!! Any logic would surely suggest you were right with your first comment. Allen was signed to fill a team place vacancy for a period of 28 days. After that contract expires surely Belle Vue can sign another rider to fill that team place vacancy again within the team building average limit? As such, the 'change' would not be a 'change' as defined by the '25% rule'? Knowing speedway, though, and its interpretation of its own rules, it probably isn't today, but will be tomorrow.

Wrong on both counts. Ryan Douglas scored 13+1 from 5 rides at the NSS and was beaten only by ......... Charles Wright!!

Question on this afternoon's 'final chase' :- 'The Belle Vue Aces are a premiership team in which form of motorsport?' The chaser got it right!!