vog

So, Jaimie Pickard makes it 4 for Stoke. Comes in on a 6.87...no idea where he will slot in or who comes in with him! Glad to have him back though!

Chuffed that Ben is back, I just hope that he has good machinery under him this year, as he showed at the back end of last season what he is capable of. Still no idea who will fill in the gaps! Wouldn't surprise me to see Tim Nobes in as the other reserve, leaving us with more room at the top end.

That'll do for me! I think both Richie and Ash can push on for 9 point averages this season, and should form a very solid top 2. We apparently have a verbal agreement with Ben Reade, although Mildenhall are trying to scupper that, but if he comes back, that is 3 good sigings!

I'd heard the same whisper...but maybe it was a straight choice between the 2?

Personally, I can't see Lambert or Isherwood being back, so thats another 14 points there for 3 riders, and that's assuming that Pickard doesn't go to Dudley (Now that Wolves own his contract) and Atkin is fit and ready for another season! If not, it could be all change. I would be happy with Ben Reade back, and Tim Nobes could be in contention. Past that, who knows.

Top of the league KoC Finalists Pairs Champions British Ice Open Champion (Yes, I'm counting it) I think that covers it for last season

How much did Sheffield win last season? Nothing? How much did Stoke win last season? NL Pairs... 1-0 my friend. And we even used a Sheffield rider to do it. At least he got success at a proper club

I hope you are right. We came so close to winning things last season, it would be a shame to find ourselves languishing towards the lower end of the table this season. Hopefully we can go one step further this year and win something!

Unfortunately, that's pretty much what seems to have happened. I loved Tim last year, and hope that if we do move to the PL, he would join us on a 3, but his average is high when compared to others, and it is an averages game. Richie Worrall on 7.75 represents, to me, better value than Tim. In an ideal world we would have both, but I trust Malcolm in his team building.

Looks like it. Feel sorry for Tim, but we get a loan fee and I would assume that if we are to move back to the PL soon, he will move up with us.

Richie Worrall joins Stoke on a 7.75 average http://www.stokepotters.co

So, Stoke are running NL again next year, and have made their first signing Richie Worrall joins on a 7.75 average, and Tim Webster and James Sarjeant have both been told they won't be required at Stoke next year. Richie should be a good signing for us!

Absolute genius from Rye House. Put Bunyan and Garrity in heat 2 together. Frighten the bejebus out of the rest of the opposing team, win every meeting. Fantastic.

I've been to Mildenhall twice this season, and although it produced pretty good racing at times, during each visit I left thinking that the fence was ridiculously dangerous, and that it was often difficult to pass due to it being dry (A lot of the passes I saw came from riders diving up the inside of someone, as opposed to passes due to pure grip) The fact that they now have an air fence is fantastic, because I was always terrified that the fence was going to cause accidents. As for the track, who knows. So long as it doesn't become a one line procession, that's fine!

Honest guv

I remember doing this last year Then Stoke dropped to the NL! Hope that doesn't happen to you!

Congratulations to Mildenhall. From a Stoke perspective, we never coped with losing Lambert and Isherwood. But, more than that, the track was awful. Slick as a board against a Mildenhall team who had come here 3 weeks ago and beaten us from the gate. Lunacy. End of the season. Had you, at the beginning of the season, offered me top of the league, win the pairs, KoC final...I'd have taken it. The last 3 weeks just leave me disappointed! Still, be back next season, hopefully to go one better!

It would take a brave man to go around Jason Garrity! My heart says Stoke by 14. My head says this could go all the way to the last couple of heats. I hate nerves. Bring back a time when Stoke could be relied on to be awful, season on season

So, the KoC comes to a head this weekend, with the second leg at Stoke sandwiched between the play-off final. What a massive weekend for Mildenhall fans (Though, no offence, I hope you go away empty handed from Stoke!) Stoke trail by 8 after the first leg, and given that Mildenhall won here a matter of weeks ago, they must be confident. However, Stoke got a good practice in last week against a strong Birmingham team, and that should stand them in good stead for this meeting. Teams are yet to be confirmed, with Stoke looking for guests for both Gareth Isherwood at reserve and Simon Lambert at number 1, and injury concerns for Mildenhall over Jack Hargreaves, who withdrew from the Bernie Klatt meeting on Sunday. So, any Mildenhall fans making the trip down? Hopefully there will be a big contingent and the atmosphere will be one that the final deserves. Not going for a prediction, I just hope that Stoke win by 20

I know this isn't really the forum, but there are only 11 riders with a team place with averages over 8 at the greensheets at the beginning of October. SS averages include bonus points.

Steve Worrall is. Rambo was injured at Plymouth tonight

I feel pretty sure that there are 3 pointers out there who would ride for £10 a point, they are not the issue. The riders who often demand more are usually those further up the team I would have thought!

Just to take the point about progression, it does seem to appear that there are teams who want to win, and teams who view their "victory" as seeing riders promoted into their, or others, PL teams. Stoke, for example, will probably only want to take a 3 point Brit if they feel he can improve for them that season, whereas Scunthorpe showed last season that they want riders who are able to progress (And they reaped the benefits this season) So where do you go? A look at Stoke's team shows that we are going to have to lose riders for next season. A young Brit or 2 who have improved well this season will be looking for a new team, and if they don't make the step up to PL, could find themselves scratching around for work.

Only have Brit's at reserve all season is an interesting one that can be done one of 2 ways. Either say that both reserves at the start of the season must be British (Or declared to ride for GB...again, Byron Bekker etc) and they stay at reserve all season, irrespective of average, or say that you're 2 reserves at the beginning of the season must be British, but if their averages change to above the top 5, they move up. As for 3 Brits per team, plausible, especially when coupled with the 2 Brits at reserve policy. The only problem facing the "2 British reserves" potential rule would again be numbers. Currently 12 of the 28 reserves in the PL are British, a couple of which with averages that would make it hard to get a ride at reserve. If you assume 10 can stay at reserve, you are left with looking for 18 new riders, all British, all reserves...

So, limiting PL teams to 3 non brits. There are currently 14 PL teams. Let's assume that they all stay. That's 56 places that have to be filled by British riders (4 per team) There are currently 39 (If I counted correctly) Brits in the PL. That doesn't include riders with duel nationality (Byron Bekker, Dakota North etc) Where would the extra 17 Brits come from? Or, put another way, which 17 NL riders could step up and be good enough for the PL right now. Looking at the averages from the 6th September from the NL averages thread, the top 10 break down as follows: 7 Current PL riders (Howarth, Kurtz, Irving, Lambert, Newman, Branford, Brundle) 3 Former PL riders (Simmons, Armstrong, Atkin) Of the top 10 NL only riders, we have to go down to number 20 in the list to find the 10th best non NL rider. Of those 10, 1 actually now has a PL club (Garrity) 8 are former PL riders 1 has never been declared in a PL team AFAIK (Ben Hopwood) Let's take it one step further. At the last declaration in the NL, there were 70 riders in teams 1-7's. Current PL riders: 11 Former PL riders: 24 So HALF the league is current or former PL riders. Most of the former ones will be riders not looking to step up (Felton, Atkin, Armstrong and the like) By all means, the leagues need to do more to encourage British talent, but simply going straight into "3 foreign riders only" would be a minefield, especially given freedom of trade laws within the EU. There is more chance of starting slowly with both reserves having to be British at the start of the season. EDIT TO ADD: Realistically, the NL finds itself at a crossroads. You have about half of the teams as stand alone teams (Stoke, IoW, Mildenhall, Buxton, Dudley (I class them as stand alone due to very little shared promotion between themselves and Wolves)) who are going to do everything they can to win. You then have the other half using the league as a training league to bring through new riders (Scunthorpe are the prime example this season. The youngsters that they blooded last season have shown the way this year). While there is that clash, it is very difficult for promoters to bring talent through, as this league gets more and more competitive each year.