Dandelion

Merry Christmas everyone, have a good and safe new year, see yous all in 2019

I would personally have Pavlova as our third heat leader, with Matty as his partner and Nike and Thomas 1 and 2, would be a very strong and exciting 1 and 2 pairing imo... 1. Thomas Jorgensen 2. Nike Lunna 3. Victor Palovaara 4. Matthew Wethers 5. Lasse Bjerre 6. Danny Phillips 7. Max Clegg Lunna and Clegg in heat 8 would be strong, and it would mean that Danny at 6 would be partnered mostly with Lasse, a strong heat leader, so he's less dependant on winning himself and can just focus on getting back on track with his riding... Really pleased with this years team, even without Ludvig, I'm disappointed he's not back but maybe it's for the better for him and the team... Good luck in 2019 Newcastle Diamonds... And all riders around the world, Merry Christmas and a happy new year Quick side question, who is our captain? Haven't seen that information yet... Dunno what some of these riders are like leadership wise...

There's plenty of young 2.00ers to take a gamble on... Massive fan of Rene, it would be a dream come true for me if he came back, good luck to him, whatever life brings

I like Danny, he rode well for us the season before... I just fear his injury has taken it out of him tbh... Sad really Young British rider, career knocked back like that and all people can do is take the p!ss out of him... If it happened to someone like *cough* Dan Bewley... Everyone would be devastated... I know Bewley is probably on for bigger and better things anyway, but it's the same principal... And just to let you know Phil, this isn't directed at you so much, it's directed at anyone else who spat on him while he was down... Problem is then, who would our number 5 be? Nike? Victor? I think we do need a second big rider in the team, like Lasse or similar... Which leaves us with just a reserve place to fill... And I do like Ben Hopwood Even before he signed for us... Enjoyed watching him in the NL, seems very solid and gives 110%... And has already experienced Brough

So the team lines up as follows before the big night... Our two final riders to be announced tomorrow... Fill in the blanks 1. Thomas Jorgensen 7.66 2. Nike Lunna 5.63 3. Victor Palovaara 6.25 (correct average, I got it wrong the other day, 5.80 was his average before he signed for Edinburgh last year) 4. Matthew Wethers 5.78 5. 6. Max Clegg 3.17 7. 9.51 left... Who will the blanks be? Danny Phillips and Lasse Bjerre seem the popular choices, but who knows... I still think we have a decent looking team, might not look the strongest on paper, but I am really looking forward to watching the Diamonds next year, with a lot of new faces and a lot of entertainers... Watching Nike Lunna fly around the outside will be reminicent of watch Rene Bach back in the 2010/2011 seasons... Maybe Rene can be that blank at 5? Maybe he needs money to look after his kid, and speedway is the best way he can make it...

Wouldn't he be minimum 4.00? Thought all of these new rules were to support the Brits? I mean fair enough, I like Paco and Fernando, but at least Ben's British, and you can't exactly call me racist or whatever because I'm not even British myself, just seems a bit pointless trying to set all of these rules to help young Brits, and then getting Italians and Argentinians instead... I think it should be the fast track reserve rules like what was in the EL a few years back... Just NL riders in the Championship and Championship riders in the PL, and they stay there all season no matter how their average grows and so on... And it just means Paco and Fernando would be at number 2 or something instead

Ah fair enough, good luck to him Wondered why no one had picked him up yet tbh

Yeah, Hopwood might not improve much, but he was great to watch, steady, never looked like falling and you could see he gave 110% in every ride, I mean riders like Jordan Jenkins might be better potential wise, but is he likely to sign for us? Probably not... And Danny Phillips wont improve much past 4.00ish imo, which I believe Ben can reach too tbh... Ben Hopwood is a nice, steady choice who would beat the other 2.00 reserves in the league pretty steadily, even if it's just staying on his bike... Chessell for Glasgow, Garcia for Berwick, Castagna for Birmingham, Lawson for Edinburgh aren't exactly a young, up and coming riders... The team needs a little bit of experience as so far, Matty aside, it's pretty young

Ben Hopwood 2.40 is the best choice imo Also, just because the league is weaker, doesn't mean it'll be less entertaining... You could get 4 wobblers and the still have an entertaining 50 pass race, but a race against the top 4 in the world could just be gate and go...

I think Lasse would be a slightly better Ludvig Lindgren away from home, but not quite as good at home... But if it's away form we need to improve on... Maybe it's the right direction to take... I think with the other riders in the team, we'd definitely be good at home anyway, even if Lasse struggles to hit double figures every week

Riders retire and come back all the time, wondered if he was thinking about it or not... I'm sure the Diamonds website said 5.80 at one point like... Maybe they've realised and changed it... Because it ain't there anymore... So if we did get Lasse... With 9.51 left we'd then have 2.43 for the final rider? Are we going to find a 2.40 rider (Ben Hopwood 2.40?) Or just a 2.00 rider and 'waste' them points... Seems strange with such a low limit to waste that much, but hey... If we can find a perfect 2.00 rider (Jenkins?) fair play to the promotion

Welcome back Pavlova Proper strength in depth... With a decent number 1 too... Thomas Jorgensen 7.66 Victor Palovaara 5.80 Matej Kus 5.63 Matthew Wethers 5.78 Nike Lunna 5.63 Mikkel B Andersen 4.29 Max Clegg 3.17 Does Matt Williamson still ride? As he, with his 2.5% reduction fits at 6 instead of Mikkel? Or how about a 5.20 rider? A surprise? Oliver Berntzon?

A sensitive mong apparently ...Nah sorry like, didn't mean to be a mong myself, just a bit of wind up in the long off season

How do we know Lasse has signed yet? Don't get me wrong I'd love him to, but no one has said yet? Finish the team with Lasse, Ludvig and Connor Coles please?

Honestly... If Glasgow went up into the Premiership and persuaded (money talks) one big rider like Emil Sayfutdinov, Artem Laguta, Patryk Dudek, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Maciej Janowski etc... to come ride in the uk... And have them love it (hopefully) it might paint a more positive picture of British speedway... Especially with the likes of Doyle still in the league... Sitting in the second tier winning every year won't be doing much... Birmingham in the NL was getting a bit bad... I'm glad they moved up... Onto bigger things as a club... If these big names like it, at least they might persuade their u-21 countrymen to come over here... Young foreign talents are always exciting to watch... Pawel Przedpelski would have been great in this country if he was persuaded to stay after his pile up... Riding difficult uk track would be a massive step in their careers and I'm surprised more don't do it...

Not a monk... A mong

Ludvig Lindgren, Lasse Bjerre and Connor Coles would be nice imo 1. Thomas Jorgensen 7.66 2. Nike Lunna 5.63 3. Ludvig Lindgren 6.47 4. Matthew Wethers 5.78 5. Lasse Bjerre 7.08 6. Max Clegg 3.17 7. Connor Coles 2.00 Total: 37.79 Got to admit, I'm pretty upset we missed out on Tero and Ashley, but Thomas Jorgensen and Nike Lunna are two very exciting prospects and I am looking forward to watching both of them over the next few years hopefully... Makes up for it imo... Of course Ludvig won't be a popular choice and not everyone will agree... But I think even in this slightly weaker league he will be a decent heat leader (At home) and very entertaining (At home) And the rest of the team is more than capable of carrying any of the other riders if they have an off night... Matthew is a very solid rider and came up brilliant for us last season... Very unexpected signing but I knew he would prove us all wrong... He's too consistent to do otherwise... Lasse Bjerre might not be in love with the Brough Park track, but his older brother certainly was (not that I got to see this happen ) and if he gets to ride it week in week out he will quickly come to grips with it I'm sure, with his talent... The reserve pairing of Max and Connor can't really get much stronger in this league, with such a low limit I think we should just be glad it ain't 2 2.00ers with zero experience, Max will definitely improve imo and if Connor rides like he did in 2018... He certainly will too... Next question would be... Who would be the captain? Good luck with the future Lewis Rose... Wonder whether a promotion in desperation coming knocking made him release that statement? Or maybe he's just letting it be known publicly... What is his business, out of curiosity...

Will the final riders be announced on the 22nd? I can't wait to find out

Young Redcar Cubs rider last couple of years, just moved onto the 500s but already looks pretty quick on them, might take a few months to really settle into the NL pressure, but he has heaps of potential imo... Nice, level headed lad too so I'm told, mature and thinks with his head, not his over reactive throttle, seen him at a couple amateur meetings and against the Gems as a 125 rider and saw him once as a 500 rider and was surprised how far he'd come in such a short time, he's the rider who needs no pressure on him though to start with to let him settle in, hope the other 6 a ready to take a bit more to help him out...

I make it as 3,13? But if it is 3.67 or 4.04 Carl Wilkinson please, or Danyon Hume if Wilko doesn't fit, would like to have seen Tom Bacon? Maybe Kus, Bacon and 5.05 left (I think) Which means someone like Grondal, M.Riss, Wajtknecht or Shanes (dreaming) can be our last rider, leaving Bacon and Clegg at reserve (Very strong) With a decent number 1 in TJ and a very entertaining rest of team with Nike, Matej, Matty finishing our team off 1. Thomas Jorgensen 2. (Grondal, Riss, Wajtknecht, Shanes?) 3. Nike Lunna 4. Matthew Wethers 5. Matej Kus 6. Tom Bacon 7. Max Clegg Dream on... Glad you're willing to see Thomas for the rider he is and are willing to support him, I have to say, I don't think he was the most popular man on Tyneside at one point, but I'm sure all that will be put behind us when he starts banging in the points for us... I do like Thomas' style, seems like a very solid rider who gives 110% always... Very similar to MPT, just with a smaller average so I'm even happier, just never saw him signing for us in a million years... Nowhere better

Michael Palm Toft 7.96 Nike Lunna 5.63 Matej Kus 5.63 Matthew Wethers 5.78 Thomas Jorgensen 7.66 Max Clegg 3.17 2.00er 2.00 ????? Really glad to see a rider like Thomas sign for us, very unexpected tbh but glad Welcome... And please can Tsunami and you hug and make up, or I fear for these threads... Tsunami waves will come... With Nike, Thomas and Matthew in the team, there are some proper entertainers already, maybe our management treating riders so well is getting around the grapevine

I'm also warming to the idea of MPT leading our team next year, although every rider I've said that about immediately gets signed by someone else so maybe I should be quiet...

Damn... There goes the little bit of hope I had left lol... Oh well, plenty more Spuds in the sea

Oi I don't bite... That's clearly Errr... Ruff I think even if the league is 'watered down' in terms of name stature... We might get better value for money than before... As at the end of the day a race between 4 even matched amateurs would be better than a race of Jason Doyle Vs Ruff, Grumbler and Tsunami (Although that might actually be hilarious to watch xD) I don't watch speedway to see big name riders ride, I watch it to see 4 hard working lads give it their all to come first, and that's generally the entertainment value, to me anyway... Was there rumours a few months back that the Gems would go National League? I know obviously that's not happening now, but it would be really cool to see a team of the likes of Josh Embleton, Danny Phillips and Ben Hopwood every other week at Brough with the Diamonds in between too... Back to speedway every weekend from March to October then...

Interesting that Aaron Summers isn't on the Championship announcements on the SGB website, has he not been confirmed or have they just forgotten to add him? http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/championshipannouncements19