Sidney the robin

Did averages ever come into your way of thinking Steve? i can't quite get my head around that part of the discussion.Hans for example from 1977 he was a good rider until he broke his hoodoo to win his first title then he was a outstanding rider did averages influence that decision i think not He was .the best of his generation mainly because of his longevity, also i felt in yesteryear a lot of the teams had three heat leaders Ex)( Belle Vue Collins,SjostenPusey. Ipswich Louis, Sanders,Davey Kings Lynn Betts, Lee, Turner, so that high standard of rider showed just how good some of the number one's were.

My experience Witcher i never really went on averages and reputation more on what i felt individually.Me and you have differed on this subject endlessly but i know your points are good and they could well be right.My take on things was that in yesteryear you really looked forward to a classy no 1 being in opposition often you might only see him once a year and maybe another individual meeting if you are lucky.Steve Roberts see Nielsen in his prime everyweek i did 84/87 so he knows more about Hans than me or anyone at Oxford.I don't disagree with you Witcher also your input on Ermolenko ( like Steve you know Sam's career) is interesting you see him for a long period and you are really qualified to comment.

Anything is nearly as good as we have it now ?. i expect more our Country is capable of so much more and prospering/ or failing by our own mistakes.

Don't bother you talk aload of crap especially on the Brexit issue.

I would of had Lidsey in the top five as he will be decent at home and Berge/ Auty at reserve all year.Wells i believe is the weak link and even at reserve i believe Auty is better than Wells at the NSS.Therefore i believe they could of won all there home matches and build from there don't see the fascination in Wells not exciting to watch and for me Wolves is his home( granted he is good there).

Borje Klingberg was a huge disappointment for me, had a good pedigree just didnt happen for him.At Swindon Sumner Mcknight who had good aquipment struggled terribly.

Last year there was carnage with restarts, sometimes 3/7 restarts a meeting.As long as you dont touch the tapes anything goes then it is up to the referee to get the tapes up quickly.

Maybe you will find out your full team on press day madness.

My wish for 2019 is for the racing to be enjoyable for every fan and for the night to be over by 9.30 minimum.No restarts up with the tapes and if the rider guesses right good luck to him keeping the meeting rolling.

You dont get under my skin, your posts over the years on yesteryear i have found very enjoyable and will continue to read them.

You and Iris are like a couple of old washer women in your crusade against Gustix.Yes we get it he gets under your skin sometimes move on get over it.

Let me get the sick bag Steve / Chunky whoever you are ? disappointed in you thought you were better than this.

This guy was pretty special remember Collins saying how good he was and what he could achieve.

A good rider at all disiplines always felt he could of been even better at speedway if he had taken seriously as his number 1 priority.

I only see Sverre ride the once, so i never saw him in his pomp but for me Sverre/ Toby Harrysson have a similar prophile as in without horrendous injuries they both would of been battling for world honours.Eide and Lovaas to were great riders Lovaas was very good at Hackney good in the wet remember him challenging for the Golden Helmet.

Swindon do well they really try hard to encourage young kids to get interested Lee Kilby has done a great job in that respect the kids in the pits with there parents before the start great to see.

Those riders i named were revered because the simple facts were they were great riders four of them World champions.I don't remember them because they were getting a 15 point max at Exeter on Monday night and then only dropping the odd point here and there giving them inflated averages.Poland of course now is a very high level and yes it is great to see , but going back to Chapman had he took a chance on some sort of big league maybe even regional i believe the product could be good.More fixtures riders of similar ability facing each other hopefully making for closer racing that chance was lost.Was that a last chance scenario missed who knows? as we have it now we have a top league in name only giving us about 15 home meetings a year.

So Steve just a example in the BL anyway and these are just no 1s , Top boys from 1980/83 Penhall, ,Lee,Nielsen,Carter,Jessup,Sigalos, Sanders,Gundersen, S.Moran/Kelly. Now in 2019 you said the big boys i imagine would be ? Doyley,,Lambert, Fricke, Masters,Thorssell, Bjerre,Batchelor,Kurtz,Holder, Musielak.

I don't actually think you can even compare today to the days of those that we have spoken about Steve..The big boys are not there anymore in the UK Doyley,Lambert, Fricke are for me at this moment in time in the top thirty riders in the World.The other two league's in the U.K. are very close and yes it could create a good product if combined as one big league.

I actually think now apart from Doyle /Lambert if you had a bigger league and more teams the riders now are quite evenly matched.Therefore there would be different results in alot of heats that is why people now believe the one big league should be tried again now the level between the first and second tiers are closer than it has ever been. Look at it whatever way you want to but my instinct tells me that Fundin,Craven, Briggs, Mauger, Olsen,Michanek,Nielsen,Lee,Collins,Gundersen, Ricko, Jason.etc) would be top stars in any era and in whatever format.

All i really wanted waytogo28 was the three thing's i mentioned, and getting a structure in place that give us a continual string of fixtures with at least 20 home fixtures.For me one of the problems speedway has is the fixture list is sparse and when fans get used to not going and do other activities it is very hard for the sport to entice some fans back.

I agree but why is speedway so different to other industries ( ie) not listening to the paying customer.? Alot of fans want different things so i know it is not a simple thing to address.But there are a few things in recent years that could of been changed that supporters wanted and would not of cost any money yet nothing changed.( 3 examples) 1. 7.30 start means a 7.30 start meeting to go through promptly. 2.If a rider does not touch the tapes referee made to release the tapes no call backs. 3. Kids get to see the riders before the start and mingle with them hopefully persuading them to be the next generation to replace the oldies.

Most of us just feel frustrated because we know just how good the sport can be.And let's be honest Biker is there any evidence to suggest the two frontman of British speedway listened to anyone anyway.

I really believe even in the good old days Swindon could be slick and dusty especially afternoon meeting's.I can remember a England v USA test match being very slick my memory from the late 60s early 70s the track was good and renowned as one of the best tracks in the Country and had dirt on it.Riders like Briggs,Crump, Ashby, Adams over the years knew you could always pass at the Abbey but i would say since Leigh's last year the demise of the quality of racing has deteriorated badly at the Abbey.I think now possibly with the set up of the bikes now with more speed and more unpredictable ( etc) the straights are now to long for that track? Swindon now has become quite a technical track.

It was quite dusty if i remember rightly? and I can remember another year semi final at Swindon where Rosco qualified.Going back to Silver he along with Shawn McConnell were real crowd pleasers great value.