STEVEHOLS54

Yes maybe I read the BSPA comment to literally on Friday when they said they would release news as they got it. Your last comment doesn't bode well then. Anyway all will be revealed (hopefully) in the coming day or so. Lets hope at least part of it is an indication of a way forward for the sport

But doesn't the BSPA AGM also include matters Champ as well as Prem ?? I cant see why snippets of news cant be released such as. Breaking news - Prem team limit for 2018 will be xxx or Fixed race nights agreed details to be confirmed - or XXX and YYY will be joining Prem League to make it a xx team league in 2018. I cant believe letting a little bit of news out after 2 days of meetings would do any harm. Would have thought most/if not all Prem matters took priority before they move on to Champ issues as they are probably a lot less to discuss then the Prem. Maybe there is some fall out big time internally which is why nothing to report. Anyway lets hope some news breaks soon as we have the rumour mill in full flow such as T.N.T who either has a hot line to the top or is maybe guessing ?? Its not like we want the whole meeting comment, just something to mull over while they complete proceedings.

Yes the silence from the BSPA is deafening. Would have thought that Prem biz already sorted over Fri/Sat. They could have released a bit of positive/good info for the fans to show that at least progress is being made. Maybe not gone/going as well as we all hope. i.e No league sponsor - no firm TV deal - not enough take up of clubs wanting to come up. BSPA who only announced on their twitter (I think) for the first time yesterday that the BSPA annual AGM was taking place in Tenerife this Fri/Sat/Sun, also said they would release news as they got it. Of course hope I am wrong, but just a few lines on some changes already agreed (if any) would go down well with us the supporters who pay to support these guys. Makes me laugh that despite the potential problems the POL EXL were imposing on riders for 2018 on advertising etc, they sat down with the riders prior to the end of the 2 week transfer window, listened and sorted those issues and we had an exciting close of window. Everything done and dusted in 2 weeks. Yes there is more money involved ultimately but they are light years ahead of how UK runs the sport. Not only in POL EXL but also in Nice 1 and POL league 2. The 2018 transfer windows early & mid season are also set and that's it. Anyway we await the news of any kind as to the future of our sport and team building limits/overseas rider GSA's etc/ sponsorship/TV (if any) and how many teams will make up the Prem (and other leagues) in 2018.

I agree. Too much pressure put on youngsters like Jack. Some forget what he achieved when riding for Peterborough in Champ last season which was a step up from his 1.5 seasons riding for Plymouth. Also look what he did in those end of season POL EXL meetings. Any young rider who can make it into the Torun team for next season in my book is good enough and should continue to improve. Additionally some may not realise but Jack scored 27 bonus points from 26 meetings which was the second highest bp of any rider in the Prem in 2017. BP are not incl in the GSA but in effect it added a point to his GSA in real terms. I agree he let his frustrations out at times but he is still young and wants to do well. He can do without undue pressure and in a team where other riders do the job they were employed to do (and 2017 was not a good season for that at poole with some riders), then I can only see improvement in the guy. Especially if Chris also signs.

A number of his Saturdays may well be taken up with World U21 again if he wants to give it a real go as think still qualifies as just turned 21. On top of that will no doubt try for the SGP qualifiers and various National team events both U21 and seniors. But that's the life of a class speedway rider. Look at the lines of Niki Pedersen who does leagues in POL/SWE/DK also did SGP and SEC in 2016 on top. Also factor in other World team events - Danish Champ and other tournaments. As PK says he gets 6 months off and it goes with the territory of being a professional speedway rider I suppose. Some of us don't disagree with this possible choice. We assume the 2 Brit rule will still apply which brings in Ellis and Shanes. Its the Batchelor slot which is the one that is not so obvious. if you go for a high GSA heat leader then you have to adjust lower down or go for a more strength in depth look. One debate would be are you better with say Batchelor against Andersen ?? They have similar GSA's (0.12 between them). If you drill down their 2017 scores its Andersen for me. Reason being as below. Hans home av was 8.00 or 8.55 incl bonus points Hans away av was 7.58 or 8.30 incl bonus points Troy home av was 6.79 or 7.03 incl bonus points Troy away av was 8.27 or 8.80 incl bonus points I don't think Batchelor has been so good around Poole over the years and for me I would prefer Hans. Think he would be a better team man as well as a motivator and mentor to younger riders. Also at the first sign of rain Batchelor was more about self preservation then going all out for the team. This is my opinion based on what I have seen of the guy over the last 4/5 years.

Hancock for me only interested in who pays biggest pay check. Signed for a guy who has purchased a 2nd Div team and wiped all their debts. Think he is going to get paid plenty and will have at least 2 seasons riding against inferior opposition even if they get 2 successive promotions before getting to POL EXL. I didn't think he would sign for the 2nd Div team but obviously some big bucks thrown his way to keep him in Poland. Maybe also his chums at Monster also expressed a desire he kept the Monster flag flying in Poland as it would have been farcical having a SGP rider not riding in the biggest speedway Country in the World. One less rider for UK to look at.

Its maybe easy for many to be judgemental when looking from a distance. But consider the following. Chris almost lost his best friend - soul mate and kind of young protégé in Darcy Ward. They were like 2 kids at times but the bond was close. Following on from that and not far behind was his split from partner Sealy and the mother of his son Max. To add further salt to the wounds was that his engines were not firing in 2017 and there were tuning problems with Alan John's engines and well documented by John's himself. I am sure all factors may have also hit his confidence because how can a guy who was so comfortably in the top 8 SGP riders for so long plus was third in GSA only to Doyle and NKI in 2016 fall so far so quickly. Have said countless times now that he deserves this year at SGP level as well as with Torun and whichever UK Club he signs for. If he screws it up this year then he only has himself to blame as he can't use the previous years issues to haunt him forever. If he messes it up in 2018 then he may well lose his SGP place - His UK team place and also most importantly for his Bank Balance, his long term place for so long in Poland - Torun.

I was critical of Buster when things all kicked off following the Holder situation and then it seemed a crusade against all things Holder after the Peterborough saga. With the hindsight of a calm close season we need to look forward. Many were happy to see Buster take the roll of BSPA Chairman and saw it as a way forward. This is not a sport where we are blessed with multi million mega sponsorship and the sport has been going through a difficult time in the UK. Maybe we all need to get behind Buster. Mending British Speedway is no quick fix. He has no doubt spent a lot of time and effort to try and get it pointing in the right direction. Yes there have probably been some mistakes and controversy, but such a role comes with not making easy or always popular decisions with some. If we are going to move forward then let's appreciate that overall he is doing his best to get the sport going forward. Its no easy task and unless some entity with millions to spend on the sport is going to come forth, then lets all get behind the guy for the efforts he is trying to put in for the benefit of British Speedway. I am sure even for him its a learning curve being the man at the forefront who will always have the gun pointed at him when things are not going too great. Hopefully the bigger picture will show his appointment long term as a positive one.

Love the banter between the main 2 Southern clubs. Let's just keep the racing good for both teams and hopefully we can keep the league in the South. Prefer South Coast Poole but if not let it be Swindon and not those Northern Clubs :-)

Welcome back Swindon Forum fans. Been a bit quiet with you guys recently but suppose not too much going on ;-) Its never easy when you win the league and you are rewarded by having to drop part of the squad to meet the points limit for flwg season. For me Doyle and Morris have to be the start point. Losing 4.74 points is a fair chunk so Rosco will have to be at his best in the team building. Could be worse though as Wolves who won nothing have to shed 5.44 assuming its 42 points next season. Keep hearing rumours that Ellis was purchased as an asset by Poole but nothing has come forward and that was some months ago. Having said that even if he didn't stay that's only 5.56 points so not a great saving in points once he is(if) replaced. For sure it has to be Bellego or Musilak and the Pole was arguably better at the end of the season so do you try and stay with the form man ?? Lots to ponder for you Swindon fans as the AGM draws nearer and the Poles/Swedes also close their transfer windows. Good luck with the juggling of points.

Yeah but most of that revolved around the slow and painful death of the stadium sadly. Believe me they are sadly missed by all Speedway fans I hope, and leaves a hole in he sport. Have lots of memories of Coventry from way back in 1970 onwards when I first turned up as a 16 year old at Hackney my home club in those days. Coventry Bee's were a great club and enjoyed watching many of the greats of the day riding for them until they also sadly closed in 1997 during which time they changed from Hawks to Kestrels. Believe me nothing saddens me more to see the sport die club after club. So important we support and promote those cubs that do survive and whilst I adopted Poole as my team of choice in modern times, I will never lose sight of those great clubs no longer with us who gave me so much joy and excitement for so many years. Long may the sport continue.

But Gav Remember this is a Forum. Something us Speedway supporters use to give us some fun in those dark and dreary days of the close season. it allows us to rumour/ try and guess and maybe even dream of what we would like to see for next season. This is why we have 104 pages of forum and rising on the subject of Poole 2018 compared to near enough what all the other Prem league clubs have posted put together regarding 2018. So we will continue to latch on to any piece of news regarding quality riders because one would hope ultimately one or more of them may come our way. In the meantime we will continue to dream on and keep the forum on Poole alive. Thanks for your contributions though as many of them if nothing else are entertaining ;-)

How many multinationals would want to see their names plastered around run down and ageing stadia that in the main have not had major investment for years. Excl the new BV Stadium that is. If you look at places like Lakeside (who were in Elite/Prem until this season). It was like taking a walk back in time. I remember taking my son there 30 years ago and when I went in 2016 it was like nothing had been touched. Supporter facilities poor - Toilets that stank to high heaven with overflows and seemingly not touched in decades. Little to no seating/stands. Can you imagine if Coventry had stayed in Prem in 2017. The stadium was poor. I would cringe if I was a large company seeing my banners plastered around such a dump. Maybe that's good enough for the spit and sawdust Stocks & Bangers but do major nationals or companies really want their brands advertised in such conditions. The World is a different place to the sixties & seventies but where most organisations have moved on, unfortunately most stadiums are still caught in this old time warp. An unfortunate fact of life we are all stuck with.

Not fickle just sound business sense. He wasn't signed as his high GSA under new calc for 2017 would have meant problems further down the team. Probably right decision considering Holders poor form for so long due to engine tuning issues well documented also by Alan Johns on the main Polish website in last week. However with a 7.16 GSA for 2018 one would be barmy not to try and sign the guy bearing in mind he was third in the real GSA's to only Doyle & NKI in 2016. Considering NKI would come back with 9.04 and Holder with 7.16 for 2018 then surely common sense dictates Holder is worth a gamble in trying to get back to near or on to his 2016 GSA. Of course much will depend on IF he can get the gremlins out of his tuning problems of 2016 as with the Darcy loss of 20165 as also his personal breakup with his partner and Max's mum soon after should now be behind him so no excuses on the emotional front for me for 2018. Hopefully if he also has young bro Jack alongside he can also take on the mantle of mentor just as he will be doing so for Torun and also recognised by Torun in recent press releases after following their signings. Have said earlier he deserves next season to HOPEFULLY prove the doubters wrong. I do not defend his actions at that meeting at KL in 2017 so don't get me wrong, but he was suspended/sacked and then banned and fined so the situation is over in that respect come the start of 2018.

Gonna take a long time for Chris to get that monkey of his back huh ? ;-) As for Jack I think he has a decent future. Interesting looking at the POL EXL rider stats for 2017. There are 55 rider stats listed for those regular riders in 2017 (no idea why 55 when 8 x 7 - 56 riders. Anyway. If Jack were to finish in the top 35 he would only need around 5.4 av excl bonus points per 4 rides. Such an av puts you ahead of Kildermand/Walasek/Thorssell.Musielak/Andreas Jonsson. Of the 24 unclassified riders who rode in a few meetings, Jack was top and Brady second. Jack form 4 meetings and Brady from 2. Perhaps one can see why the top league in the World wants to sign such potential prestigious talent for 2018. I still think Matt would be crazy not to sign Jack alongside Chris. I think Chris will be mentor to Jack in UK and POL and both can tap into the prestigious Monster Sponsorship deals as well. Having Chris/Jack and Brady all signed by POL EXL cant be bad. Especially when you consider riders such as Cook can only get a POL Nice 1 place despite having qualified for the SGP. Its what we build around these guys which is important in my book.

Yes Rybnik were very clever when they drew up Fricke's contract. They made sure if they got relegated they would not lose out. If he stays good chance they will bounce back with riders they have. If anyone thinks he is worth it then they have to pay up. Believe at least one POL EXL team still thinking about signing him before window closes in 5 days. But obvious that some of the Poles still not convinced he is top flight material with consistency at that kind of money. I think he can hold his own as he did last year. He was 27 out of 55 main players (excl riders who did a few meetings such as Jack Holder). Not bad for his first season in POL EXL.

Hmmm could be. Hans A 7.75 Brady 8.08 Chris 7.16 Kasper W 4.65 Shanes 2.95 Ellis 5.56 (if now an asset and also covers with Shanes the 2 Brit rules) Jack Holder 5.82 Total 41.97 or if Klindt 5.78 instead of Jack Holder = 41.94 just shot of the 42 points if that's the limit. It has a solid look to it IF Holder Sr performs this year. Allows for Woryna to push on from his low 4.65 - Jack to improve without too much pressure and with Chris alongside him in the pits. of course many want a so called true heat leader so no doubt the rumours and opinion will continue. Andersen also maybe not so expensive these days ??. He has lost his Swedish place and as it stands hardly any slots left so may miss out. Perhaps he may even consider doubling up in UK if he doesn't which may also keep costs down for travelling etc ??.

Just announced Magic has signed a new 2 year deal with Wroclaw. Deal was near enough in place but on hold while the riders and authorities sorted the new rules they were trying to impose. Those were sorted today. Still no clarification if they are only allowed 3 leagues incl home league if riding POL EXL. Yes BUT there was talk about the Poles relaxing maybe for 2018. They had their meeting today and sorted all the rules the main riders were holding out on and not signing contracts. BUT still no news if that rule regarding how many leagues (incl your National league) you can ride in. Magic signed his new 2 year deal (just announced) as the main problems were resolved, but still no news about how many leagues POL EXL riders can ride in, which I thought was part of the agenda ??

Before anyone gets carried away with any rider who is not British or Aussie and is riding in POL EXL and Sweden. Have the Poles relaxed their rules ?? I just saw an article on the main Polish website stating that a lot of the onerous rules upsetting the big stars had been either cancelled or amended/clarified after a meeting today, but couldn't see anything clarifying if the Poles have canned the 3 league rule (incl your home league). That menas for NKI as it stood POL/SWE/DK and NOT UK. Can anyone clarify ??

The main reason for me that Chris was not firing in 2017 was due to his engines. If you look at the likes of Zagar he had similar problems for a lot of 2017 until Johns (I think) managed to come up finally with a tuned engine/s that enabled him to suddenly fly and win 2 end of season GP's plus also had him flying in Sweden. Think you will find he is not the only senior rider who had problems (especially on John's tuned motors). I think there were numerous World class riders who suffered similar problems although admittedly Chris suffered more that a lot of them. I did read somewhere Johns had a problem with his springs supplier (or something similar) and that was evidenced by the lack of Johns tuned engines being in the top SGP riders list this year. Was even a recent article about the issues on the main Polish Speedway site recently. For me Chris deserves his chance in both the SGP and Poole for at least one more year if he can get his tuning issues sorted. Come on guys think about it. In 2016 his GSA was 12.53 - third only behind Doyle and NKI. Or 8.95 in normal language. Even Janowski in 2015 was only 8.97. If you look at Magic's scores for example in SWE in 2017 it was hardly setting the World alight. Just over 8 from 4 rides. If I look at the Polish stats his 4 ride av (excl bonus points) for me av out at about 7.41 per 4 rides. (Correct me if I am wrong). I would argue that although Magic did well in the GP's this year (until his last third of the season where it collapsed) His league form wasn't so good. I think Chris on PROPER tuned engines giving their true speed is better than his GSA this season portrays. Now of course the $64,000 question is can Chris get his tuning gremlins sorted so he can fire as he did in previous years. Pls remember that he probably has one shot at a Wild Card with all the pressures of all the younger riders coming through. Similar also with Pedersen and Hancock who are getting on. He is also in my opinion heavily under pressure to get his finger out with Torun (who are allowing him to stay in the hope he does rediscover some form ) also to be a mentor to Jack and other young riders coming thu at Torun. Maybe similar with Lejonen this year. Also for sure Matt Ford will only tolerate so much underperformance from Chris and his brother who at least has an excuse as a developing young rider. For me Chris deserves this year to hopefully prove the doubters wrong. I could be wrong and hope my faith in his ability is rewarded. The Darcy situation and his personal split from Sealy are behind him now. He has to knuckle down on his riding to show us all he is the rider who won the SGP a few years ago.

The article also said this rule was already in effect anyway but had never been implemented. I think its more aimed at making sure riders do not ride elsewhere when they should be riding POL EXL. Having said that could one really imagine a rider giving up a POL Exl meeting to ride elsewhere ?? I think these kind of rules are to insure the Worlds most highest paying league does not have its riders taking the pee. They have every right to impose these rules I suppose when you see the eye watering amounts of money they pay out. They are doing what is best for POL Speedway and are over protecting their product. If they lift the max amount of leagues one can ride in then maybe they have already shown some flexibility. Don't forget they are putting their interests at risk allowing a rider such as NKI to ride say POL/SWE/DK and UK which he would given half a chance. Same as he did before the rule change. More chances of that rider getting injured if he is chasing his backside all over Europe. Poland only has 14 league meetings in a regular season. Max plus 4 if you get to the Final or plus 2 for the semi's. Being the big sport it is over there can one blame them for protecting their Crown Jewels in the interest of their league/interests ?? The amount of sponsorship their is massive.

Yes there was plenty of enthusiasm on the Poole Forum about possibility of Vaculik signing but surely that's what the forum is about. A combination of rumour/banter as well as informed and not so well informed comments and opinions. Whether you like Poole or not and same for Matt Ford, as far as the BSF is concerned it generates so many more comments and pages of Forum contribution than any other Prem League team by a wide margin. Those who enjoy having a pop and taking the pee out of premature excitement on the Poole 2018 subject will probably find that Matt Ford has a good team lined up for 2018 and will take every step to insure 2017 is not revisted again. Vaculik may have passed through but there are other riders of possible HL status and many have ridden UK tracks so wont need a large adaption period as Vaculik might do. I am sure Matt Ford has it under control and will let the Poole public and supporters know when the timing is right.

Can you elaborate as to where he has said it. I know he hasn't signed in Sweden yet which was an indication maybe he was considering UK. Many of us have made noises he could be at Poole. I was maybe concerned that a Wild Card in SGP might scupper that, but if he misses Sweden then maybe he will come to UK and hopefully Poole. I wonder what GSA he wil be given although I assume Matt would already have sussed that out with the BSPA/SCB ?? As for Holder and the SGP. I think he deserves his chance as a Wild Card after his ever presence for years in the elite and also as a previous WC. I could imagine all the fuss amongst the Poole dislikers after last season, but it wasn't so long ago he was also close to the top of the qualifiers and comfortable always in the top 8. To me this is the make/break season for him in respect of SGP/Torun and maybe also Poole if he does sign. If he bombs like last season then I think he will be out of all 3 and for sure cant see him being given another Wild Card and Torun will let him go. Its up to him now to prove the doubters wrong. I think he deserves his WC on what has been achieved but just like Pedersen/Hancock I think if they don't get top 8 in SGP this season then the knives really will be out to have the new blood getting them. As previous WC all 3 deserve one last bite of the cherry. Love them or hate them they deserve at least that. I would fully support the out campaigners after this season as they would have used up their WC chances and the likes of the Milik's/Drabiks/Ledbedevs should be given their chances. If those guys don't qualify by right anyway which if good enough hopefully they will anyway. To me its crazy that a rider like Craig Cook can qualify and most people know the guy will probably be another Harris in the GP season. I know he qualified by right but its crazy that a guy who cant even get into a POL Exl side can ride the series ahead of riders such as those named who for me are in a different league. Much as I want to see a Brit in it (besides Tai) for me he will be outclassed. But that's how it is and we have to live by it. Whoever put the final qualifier in some far flung part of Russia where many take at least 2 days to get there I will never know. But suppose part of promoting the series in distant parts of the World.

Wonder if NKI will return to UK if now only an SGP reserve. Cant see DK giving him enough income to cover the shortfall where UK extra meetings probably would. Especially as he also lives in UK. I wonder with all the doom/gloom and dumb down league posters on the KL Forum if he may come back as a HL at another club. Of course there is the possibility maybe that he could go back to KL and Rob Lambert move on ?? The Vaculik position in UK may well depend on the Swedish situation. Find surprising that he was 16th out of 56 in Swedish League but has yet to sign when all the other top stars have. Maybe he has other plans like Uk although perhaps the SGP Wildcard may have thrown a spanner in the works. Cant help thinking maybe even he will be a bit surprised he got one.

Does anyone know on the flwg. I assume a team can sign a rider for the flwg year as soon as the season ends ?? (Even if the team points limit I not ratified until the AGM but almost certainly known well before then). If a promoter wants to sign a foreign rider who has not ridden in UK before or say prior to 2014 can he obtain what that riders GSA will be assessed at before the end of season BSPA AGM in mid November ?? I can imagine their are a few promoters at least out their who are looking around Europe with ideas of who they might like to at least try and sign well in advance of the AGM and 2018 season. Can they get an answer from the BSPA/SCB on what that riders GSA will be for 2018 ?? as they can then consider or discount that rider into their 2018 ideas as they start their planning process and draw up a shortlist of riders they want to maybe approach. The actual team limit for 2018 doesn't totally affect your thinking. For example one may want to sign say a Vaculik/Piotr Pawliki or maybe even other riders who have either never ridden or last rode in 2014. To consider those riders or even say both in your thoughts then surely you must be able to get an idea of what GSA they would be assessed at for 2018 in say Oct. Or maybe not as we are talking about the BSPA/SCB here. I am sure there are some owners/promoters out there who need some idea of a riders GSA irrespective of whether the points limit is 42/43 or 45 points for 2018. It is incredible that the Poles are almost done and dusted on teams even before the 2 week transfer window officially opens tomorrow and looking at an article on Speedway Bloggen Sweden today the 8 teams in the top league are near enough complete with a few odd exceptions incl missing names such as Andersen and Vaculik who are not CURRENTLY included and maybe wont be for different reasons. Andersen was only 40th in SWE av last year and maybe Vaculik has other plans if he doesn't (as many expect he wont) get a SGP Wildcard for 2018. I know the swedes can have bigger squads but normally you are in the main named 1 to 5/6 if you a re likely to figure for the team. Anyway good to hear from anyone in the know on the subject.