HGould

you sound like a Man Utd fan in denial of Liverpool's great win last night conveniently forgetting the only professional speedway Club in the South East who are your great rivals. they had the best track man in the sport for decades, although I must say their track not as good when I went early in season as it used to be, although it was freezing cold and early season.

completely different planning circumstances as those houses were built in knowledge speedway was there and would be there as long as speedway / dogs are viable. local Council also far more interested in speedway and to be fair swindon have far higher profile as in PL and on TV regularly.

It's something a lot of us speedway fans never see or really have an awareness of "banking and cambers" I've only had chance to walk on 2-3 tracks but on each occasion been surprised that banking and cambers from on/inside is markedly different from what you think they are looking from outside the track. Any camber that pulls a rider in to a fence is dangerous, but on a straight - thats doubly dangerous. Explains a lot regarding the problems

AGREED we all want Adam to be a roaring success and we all want the Masons to be able to maintain us in this level for many years to come.

agreed I actually said "decent money" not claiming anything too much, excessive; ridiculous; daft....just decent.....strange reaction imho to be told decent is gossip....must have struck a nerve with Mr Bordeaux...

I actually said "Adam will want decent money"...... DECENT meaning sensible ....not sure where the gossip is in that !

Crowds will need to improve as dire so far and this must be a gamble as Ellis will want decent money, hope and pray it comes off as if not situation is dire. I agree about averages , back to simple one average per League no fiddling just keep it simple points and bonus divided by rides.

Newman and Thomsen

Looking at the start line pictures looked a very sparse crowd when you consider vast majority of the crowd are on home straight there. I do think that when Len is charging more that any PL/CL track within 200 miles he has got his pricing horribly wrong. The curfew issues dogged Kent last few seasons and doing so again. No one wants to see riders hurt and there does seem to be an issue there. I suspect older more experienced riders (a) know when to ease off and (b) know how to be diplomatic but even home fans own blog is saying something has to be done b4 someone is killed. Its a great shame as some decent people down there and could be a decent CL team if they could get a few hundred more in but that curfew will deter anyone travelling from too far away.

Ellis and Stoneman it is - didn't feel right to give names yesterday before Club announced but both should improve the side at top and bottom ends respectively. Ellis is a genuine heat Leader and Stoneman an out and out trier.

Leon rides Perry Barr as well as any reserve who will come there this season and will be warmly welcomed back. We are apparently making a couple of Team changes but will be done after the KOC Second Leg match so anything we can get out of this match will be a boost. We have encountered 2 sides with strong Heat Leaders (Somerset and Eastbourne) so far and Berwick have the look of a more solid all round team - a bit more like ours so what where we may gain is more realistic hopes in Heats 13 and 15 - although what has been a strong heat (heat 2 in most meetings) may be tougher with Leon around. We just need a win though from anywhere just to gee everyone round the place up.

Someone ITK at PB has told me 2 signings are imminent -one a returning rider with good PL regular /CL Heat Leader level experience and the other a leading NL level rider for several seasons . I know names but can't divulge but I think supporters will be very pleased.

Wasn't there so hard to comment on specifics but have seen a few clips of the racing and also some of the comments on social media about the size of the crowd at Arlington (again) and the number of kids attending. Coming from NL with Brummies as Eastbourne have, I think most hardcore speedway fans want close competitive racing and last heat deciders and not runaway wins and nothing brings newcomers back more than excitement; incidents and dare I say crashes. Winning 60 points every week like Eastbourne have for years must get boring and this loss will come as a shock to some. Enjoy it embrace it we used to say "happiness is 40-38" well 45 - 44 sounds as good as it gets to me and if a big crowd there to enjoy it so much the better. I wish we could have some of the commercial and marketing excellence that Eastbourne seem to have found at Perry Barr, no disrespect to anyone at PB but we need more supporters coming in and more enthusiasm and innovation. Well done Leicester though I can't see anyone else winning there and they are also losing riders but finding a way round it and no doubt down to the outstanding man manager they have bought in from Glasgow.

Think we may surprise a few doubters on a big fast track like Sheffield - Team is largely made up of fast track specialists ...Ulrich / Zac / James / Paco / Kyle

not for the first time and probably not the last it has to be said, that on and off the track Eastbourne have really attacked and embraced the move up to CL, sadly, on and off the track Brummies are polar opposites. Both Clubs have very similar recent histories but at the moment the trajectory of us is very different.

Perks, Mountain; Thomas ; Morley; Bowtell ; Brennan ; Wood - a great advertisement for the National Development League and far better for both sides to promote British talent (Perks raised in Oz I know). Their battles will likely influence result more than heat leaders.

Look on their website I found one off the Fixtures page (Premier Inn about 1 1/2 miles from track) and did flexi booking so you can cancel up to 1pm on day which is ideal if rain off. That was Good Friday/Easter weekend so may still be availability for non Bank Holiday. My mate mailed them too I think its admin@eastbourne-speedway.com and got a list of 5-6 places in the town and got fixed up on sea front., was very impressed with Guest House and also the help he got.

if Douglas is out Sunday he has to be out Saturday then so will they go RR or get a Guest ? might be worth a trip over from Brum to Leicester if weather is OK.

brilliant post, I'm not sure some who comment actually go to some matches. Plenty of passing as you say from both sides although our lads had to do more of it as they invariable missed the starts. The track looks smoother and less bumpy than it did and as you say once they get some decent shale will only improve. In most races after heat 7 they were the ones "hanging on to places" and the team spirit in 3-4 races where we started to fight back was evident. I agree too about us having to start from scratch, no doubt that Eastbourne had help with Cook taking Lawson, Morley and Bowtell with him, Kennett simply went home, Wood and Brennan already there so in reality only had to source one rider in Kerr. Our task was much harder and having been down there twice this season clear their crowds are at least double those of ours and probably a lot less rent to pay. We have found ourselves in a Shield Group with a team who came down with 3 top quality heat leaders and a winning mentality ; a team moving up with 3 top quality heat leaders imported in and what seems massive positive momentum commercially and energy wise, we will only be able to judge ourselves I think against the likes of Redcar' Berwick and Scunthorpe, no disrepect to them but I believe teams with similar crowd levels and similar battles in the past few years that we are having now to establish a proper base. One win as you say and it'll be blue skies over Perry Barr.

my interpretation of rule changes in winter were that a rider can double up (one level) or down (one level) but can't double up/down (2 levels) and can't ride in all 3 levels. So if Ipswich did come calling he could not ride in NL. Besides every time Ipswich rode on a Monday (most of their away fixtures) he would miss Kent matches. So as an example with my own Club - Zach and James have doubled up, so can't double down.

seen Brennan a few times and heard him interviewed at track, comes over to me as quite shy so not sure where the "arrogance" remark comes from, although have never met or spoke to the kid personally.

I don't think any brummies rider last night can be accused of lack of effort, certainly not Shanes or Zac. If riders aren't good enough by all means accept they are not good enough, but no lack of effort. As for Laurence, he can only use the cards he is dealt. The track was slick but we now have a top track man working on it who has done wonders at Stoke. Must have been tough as they expected rain, it looked like rain all around at several points but it never came so they had to water quite a lot. Agree about the marketing re Kids, should have been done a week ago not a few hours before, almost smacks of desperation. With Lee now full time promoter at Swindon may be we need to bring in someone on the commercial side a bit more focused on Brummies and not elsewhere. I would explain I would have been better saying "tricky" re Workington as opposed to "trick" - a track I have been to several times but always viewed as a "homer"...I agree PB is too fair to all. Don't know what choices the Masons have financially, there are a few who could improve the team but can't think of an out and out No 1 you could go and sign as any available - likes of Ellis; Wilson - Dean ; Campton , Aarnio; Pavalora - are in case of first 2 may be 2nd/3rd heat leader strength and in case of last 3 no better than decent 2nd strings and we have a side full of them already.

Some totally OTT comments from Proudtobeabrummie I'm afraid. I'm sick we lost, I'm very concerned by the crowds and I think we need to make changes but I think we were beaten by one of the better teams in the League, certainly a better side than Somerset. Lawson is a top rider at this level and a No 1 in probably any side but Glasgow, Kennett looked the world class prospect he once was in 2 of his rides, and Kerr is may be one of the better 3rd Heat Leaders. What clinched it for them was they then have 4 of the best NL riders of 2018 - Morley and Bowtell are doing OK in their top 5, Wood is adequate and Brennan looks an absolute diamond. We went for the Workington model 6 riders averaging 6-7 points - problem is we don't have a trick track like Workington did. We need a Lawson or a Kennett to spearhead the side and a Kerr to bang in points home and away. The balance of their team is far better than ours and we have no excuses. Where are they and can we afford them?? On the crowd levels of tonight NO and time for all Brummies fans to rally round before its too late...as more of this and we won't have a team in CL or NL.

I think the sums will be - Leicester may have brought 100/150 with them and we need it dry and sunny to make most of that; but Eagles might bring 20-30 so we'll keep everything crossed and wait til the last minute that we are obliged to pay the Rent b4 deciding.

playing devils advocate here "was having drew a vanity move" when he has to miss every Sunday Fixture as Sheffield will be riding and also a number of Friday and Saturday's when Kent ride away as so many Championship matches on a weekend (Friday - Saturday - Sunday)??