Nickinho

Last night was a great advert for the sport and for BSN who broadcast it but for Glasgow to lose to Scunthorpe over two legs was shockingly bad. Scunny only had one out-and-out heat leader and were a team with Nathan Ablitt riding at 3, Hook riding at 5 and they had a 16 year old reserve who never scored a point yet the Tigers STILL couldn't overcome them. David Howe overshadowed Cami Btown with his tactical ingenuity and the Scorpions were never really pushed. The best heat of the night was heat 11 with Pickering going toe-to-toe with Harris but the best thing about that heat for me is that it was hopefully Mario Hausl's last ever appearance in a Tigers' race jacket. He is undoubtedly the worst Tigers signing in the past ten years. I also predict Anders Rowe will be approached over the winter to sign for the Tigers '27 team.

Ablitt was given the number 7 spot at Poole a few seasons ago simply to fill a 2.00 void. There was no pressure on him because the Pirates had 6 very strong riders to offset his poor scores that year and the fans were extremely supportive of him. He's now averaging almost 6 points per meeting at Scunthorpe and could have another title under his belt at the end of this season. One silver lining for Glasgow is that he's hopeless around Ashfield. He makes strong starts but then seems to completely forget the concept of racing lines and always get overtaken.

He's been detrimental to the whole Tigers' season because with Howarth retired Glasgow needed everyone else to step up and be prepared to fight. I'd rather he didn't come back, if only for the team spirit alone because when he did turn up he always looked gloomy and disinterested. He had two good races all season, both of which he made the gate but in one of them he was pressured into a fall. At the start of the season everyone assured me he was the best thing to come out of Germany since bratwurst but even a sausage on a bike would have been more committed to the Tigers' cause than he is. If he's back next season I'll not be.

Anyone care?

Two of the three riders you mentioned had to retire due to injury

That's a guaranteed 18 points for Sunny then.

Being biased is no excuse for being wilfully blind

I don't know why British clubs don't use tarpaulin to keep off the rain to avoid call-offs. And only the corners need to be covered. It would be so simple yet no club has ever done it. There's no excuses anymore. Here's an example of how it's done in Poland (albeit with the straights covered too) - [Go to 9:45 on the video to see the track covers]

What Harris did was nasty and loutish. He clearly stamped on Ben after pushing him and then carving him off the bike. Disgusting. I've lost a lot of respect for Bomber now.

Congrats to Dan T on finishing 5th in the British final. Well deserved as he always seemed to be in the top 2 in every race bar the semi-final.

Ivacic wasn't too bad but at least he turned up and looked interested in riding. Hausl has been pathetic all season, apart from two rides where he shot out of the gate (although in one he was pressured by Dan T and fell). He's been a far worse signing than Ivacic because at least Ivacic went in time and was replaced by a far superior rider for the rest of that season. This year the Tigers are stuck with Hausl until the end. *and i would love to see Basso back at Ashfield or anywhere in the Championship for that matter as he's one of the most exciting riders of the past 10 years. Nagel was fantastic as well.

With the ineffective Hausl out Glasgow look very strong at reserve with Battye coming in for him. Does anyone know if Kye is fully fit after Poole?

Drew Barrymore would have rode better than Drew Kemp last week

The way Hausl is riding he should be at No 8. Hausl just doesn't seem interested and if he's poor again against the Monarchs tomorrow evening i can see him being jettisoned by the Tigers.

"New signing Edward Kennett – a 28-day replacement for Erik Riss – makes his debut for Cheetahs. Kennett brings a wealth of experience to Cheetahs – the 39-year-old twice finished second in the British Final, while he was British Under-21 Champion in both 2005 and 2007." This was from the 2nd of June so 28 days would have been the last day of June. I'm honestly not sure whether he has signed another 28-day replacement contract (which would expire on the 28th of July) or whether he is just guesting now for Oxford until the situation with Riss becomes fully known.