21st century heathen

I'd have said King over Kennett with Rico in would have been the way to go. But if Rico is ill then perhaps he has ruled himself out? I guess we'll see on that one if we need a team for the race-off. King is having a good season and I guess he's happier at the Showground than Kennett, though no doubt he (Kennett) is going to want to ride and will give it his all.

Happy with my team. I just need the right captain. Crump as captain for Cardiff please.

1. Penhall 2. King 3. Hamill I understand what you're saying about Greg and Bill but the fact is that they were here at that time so should be included if people enjoyed their early career. Billy was always an entertainer, and later became my fave rider of the modern ear so I've got to include him. Penhall and King go ahead of him based on peaking during the period in question.

You're right. For whatever reason Scott is struggling badly and seems so very very slow. In the last GP he made a cracking gate in one heat, didn't make a mistake but was last on the exit of turn two. Perhaps my post wasn't clear. His scores at Cov in the first two show that he hasn't completely lost it. The British number one is still lurking somewhere. What I meant was that if he were to start to reproduce that kind of form on every track between now and the SWC then it's a no-brainer in my opinion. An on-form Nicholls is a must. I take your point on Kennett. I'd be tempted to give King a shot though. He's in cracking form this season and is a bit of a track specialist compared to our other options.

Pedersen for me please. Gotta fancy Super-Nicki for a spot of revenge.

Genuine question - When was the last time Nicholls wasn't top Brit in the end of EL season averages? If Nicholls starts to ride as he has in the two meetings at Brandon (GSA 10.22 and CMA 11.11) then he has to be in the team. Anyone calling for him to be left out on that form would look foolish. If he keeps having dodgy/crap meetings then perhaps it would be better for him as much as the team if he were removed from the spot light. I always think you should put out your best team. Nicholls Richardson Harris Bridger King Kennett - only because he admits he doesn't like P'brgh and King has looked good. Switch these two if it were any other track.

Love this picture.

No, realistically Greg isn't going to get another one. He had his chance at a second a couple of years ago when finishing second. But he can't quite put a full season together. On his day he's still as good as anyone out there, but he always has a day like last week in him too. A bit unlucky but that's the way it goes. He's got one and nobody can take that away. I fancy AJ to have a bit of a charge for the title this season. I've long since said that if he gets off to a good start (half a season) in the GPs he's got a real chance. There's no denying he's got more talent than most of them as some of his rides show, particularly in the SWC at times. It always seems that others want it more. If he gets to Cardiff, where he's generally gone well, with a good points haul he might just start to realise he's got a shot and go for it. Too true. The GP tracks are absolutely crap most of the time.

Fair comments spook. For the record I don't have really strong feelings for Nicki one way or the other. I'd rather he won it than Crump because I don't much like him as a rider but that's all. I'd be more than happy to the 'Grin' stuff the pair of them.

Yes, I'd seen the comments about Adam Roynon and have just seen the other one too.

What is your problem?!!

I've got no problem with you or your opinion of Nicki as a rider. We all have riders we like, dislike or are indifferent to. It was just when you called him a 'hammy wrestler type' I thought I should just bow out as I didn't want to get into a daft argument. That's why I said "carry on". My use of the word "apathy" was in relation to speedway in general because I wasn't particularly happy with the way the sport was going even before all the latest crap blew up. That's all. There's nothing more to it than that.

WTF???

Not at all. I think you've just misunderstood my apathy. I just think it's being used by some to have a pop at Nicki. He sees it as his chance at the world title being ruined by a poor decision and he let his feelings known. I don't think any other rider doing similar would have got the same response.

Glad we could have a sensible debate. Just because the Nicki hate club want it to be so doesn't mean it is! Carry on then...

I thought both had their back to the camera when they lashed out and whatever was unfortunate enough to be in the way. In any case it's not really worth arguing over. I just think it's going to be turned into an excuse to have a go at Nicki by many on here. I genuinely feel for him because that may prove to have been an important weekend. Nicki was unlucky to be excluded, and Jason was very lucky to go on to score so many. It looked odds on that Nicki was going to nibble a bit out of Jason's lead over him and it could have proved to be a significant night psychologically.

I have a great deal of sympathy for Nicki. I thought it was a ridiculous decision to exclude him and I've got no problem with a rider going back to his pit area and kicking whatever is nearest. I wonder why people aren't moaning about Greg losing it too? It's turning into just another Nicki-bashing thread.

AJ for me please. I'm sure the only thing standing between me and victory is my choice of captain, so lets hope I've got it right this time.

That's a bit better. I'm convinced I have the right team, it's just down to me to pick the right captain for each round. Cocked up both so far. Things will take an upturn when Nicki finds his best form again.

And the tapes weren't held for a long time to suggest they wouldn't release when the ref pushed the button. Sounds like a cop-out for a terrible decision. Worked out for me in the forum GP game though as AJ grabbed more points.

New depths on Saturday. 5 nationalities in one race - genius!! AJ back in is easily the worst decision in GP history. Most of the time things are open to debate and not everyone will view an incident the same way, but this was just a simple decision. AJ dropped it and went straight through the tapes. He should have been elbowed and paid damages for shredding the tapes. I thought the call to boot Nicki was harsh. It was just a case of two riders bumping going in to the turn, in my opinion. I'd have put them all back in. That's it. Don't think anything else happened. $h!te as has become the norm. Cardiff usually throws some interesting thrills and spills, but that apart I won't be spending my hard earned on GPs until the standard of track prep/racing improves.

Thanks again. Always appreciated.

Wild Card (Hampel) as Captain please.

Don't forget he picked up a third in '07 as well.

Based on his ability I agree with you, but it should be added that he's done bu££er all (relatively speaking) whatever the track conditions this season. I sincerely hope he'll 'come good' sonner rather than later. I don't think I can cope with another SWC cock-up.