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Gutted, wanted him at Stoke!

Is it really? I've seen some truly awful meetings in the NL, and some corkers in the EL, and visa versa. To claim that good meetings happen due, primarily, to the league that a team is in is pure nonsense. There are a multitude of factors that create a good meeting, and frankly you can get these at ANY level on a continual basis. I have yet to be disappointed by a Scunthorpe meeting, yet the meeting I saw at Plymouth was awful. In the same way, Wolverhampton is normally good in the EL, but Rye House is normally awful at both NL and PL level. It is purely swings and roundabouts.

There haven't been tactical subs for a while. The last one I can remember was 2008? When the Golden Double was still used, but from 15 metres back? There are, however, tactical rides, but that doesn't change the riders in the race, just the points scored.

They pushed Ricky Wells...we all know how that turned out

Actually, given the new conversion rates, this one is about right. 5 point PL rider becomes 3 point EL rider. He won't do much more than that. The conversion rate in itself is problematic because successful young British riders are punished when trying to move up.

So, according to the local media, the AGM is now the 25th of January! Maybe we can finally get confirmation of a few things!

But Charles Wright now can, even if he gets a PL place, as his average has dropped below 4! Madness!

We lose Plymouth, Bournemouth and potentially Weymouth. That's 27 riders there in theory. Plus 4 or 5 moving up from the u15's gives you the riders.

They have no reason to be professional. They have always gone as far as to state that the forum is separate from the club, and rightly so in my opinion. Do I agree with everything written on there? Of course not, that is the nature of a forum. And yes, I do agree at times various posters can take things too far, but that is their opinion, and this is mine. You can't change a persons opinion, irrespective of how much you disagree with it.

Slightly harsh. Were you there when Dave Tattum publicly berated fans after a meeting because he didn't agree with things said on the internet? Or when George Andrews specifically told a section of the crowd to shut up? This is what we mean when professionalism is mentioned.

As has been alluded to, I think the issue that a lot of fans have isn't so much dropping down into the NL, it's more the manner in which it was done, and the consistent lack of professionalism shown by the promotion. We can't comment on what goes on behind the scenes, as the vast majority of us are not privy to that, but what we can comment on is what we see when we go to meetings. When previously in the NL, you could turn up at the track without any knowledge of who was riding for you that week. The prime example of that, for me at least, was away at Plymouth, when we turned up with, if memory serves, 3 riders (Sam Dore, Adam Allott and one other whose name escapes me) We ended up running R/R, no rider, and borrowing Plymouth's reserve as well as someone who had only turned up for a second half. This is the lingering memory of the national league that a lot of fans have. Combine this with the constant problems when running meetings last season (Close to 4 hours to run a meeting at one point, generator failures, constant grading, sun break then an interval) and it is easy to see why fans are becoming disillusioned with Stoke Speedway in general, and I think the dropping to the NL with no warning was merely the straw that broke the camels back. If Dave wants to start winning the fans back, there needs to be a complete upheaval of the club. It needs to be 100% more professional in the approach to meetings. If there has to be a break while the sun sets, which for rider safety is an obvious problem, don't then have an interval 6 heats later. Run the club as a professional outfit from start to finish. Get friendlier faces at the gate, and in general, treat fans as customers who want the best product they can for their money. Ok, we have had to drop down, but Stoke haven't had a team even close to challenging for anything since 2004, address this and the fans will begin to accept NL racing.

Of course I have, and you know this. You also know that the last poll ran said that 42% of people would continue to go, with a further 25% saying that they would go to the odd meeting. Obviously it is difficult to extrapolate this result over the whole crowd as only 64 people voted, but given the fact that running costs are lower in the NL, and that stock cars are now going to be bringing in an income, I can see very little reason why Stoke will not survive. Certainly, saying that "Nobody wants to watch NL" is a bit far fetched. Yes, there is still anger and disappointment within the ranks of fans, but that doesn't imply that no person wants to go.

If only. A team that has a top 3 of Evans, Roynon and Charles Wright would be looking good!

Don't worry, I know that part of the rules! Andre hasn't got a club as of yet, and it is looking less and less likely that he will! Hence my saying he is the type of rider I wouldn't mind. Stupidly, Charles Wright could now ride in both leagues as his average has dropped below 4!

Awesome news. Another track that is pretty local, and another track that will test the younger riders.

Alas, only Dave knows what he will want to do (And possibly Malcolm), I just hope we can build a team that will challenge at the top. And know, I meant Andre. His PL average this season was 5.97, so could, in theory, drop down on 11.94!

Again, the problem is, Stoke fans can be quite fickle. It looks a solid start to team building, but realistically, none of those riders will be productive in years going forward. I will be honest, I have no idea what the points limit will look like, or what it was last season, but this time around for Stoke it needs to be fresh faces. There isn't going to be the huge loan fees involved in the PL, or the larger wages involved, so both of those will reduce our running costs, and on the crowds we have, if they stay at a reasonable level, we should be able to put a team that is both competitive and captures the fans imagination. The worst thing Tattum can do, I think, is go with all the old assets, as the fans will leave.

I noted that Compton was on a 12, it was just a name that would have fitted the bill had it not been for his average. The problem Stoke have is that when we were in the NL last time, it was awful. Unprofessionally run, same old faces year in year out, and very little in the way of young riders coming through. More fans want a break away from those days, so by using the same names, although numerous years on, it is still a link to that awful past. Evans is possibly the only Stoke asset that I wouldn't mind riding for us, as I think he would do a very solid job as a second heat leader. As for Priest, I think he is still a Sheffield asset.

I thought that IoW's problem was that the crowds at the early and late part of the season weren't enough to run, even given the higher crowds during the summer months, and that the NL was a more viable option because of the lack of meetings at the extremes of the season. As for finding someone to move up with us, great, but I worry about us having the time to develop riders over 2 to 3 seasons. This is arguably one of the most important seasons in the recent history of Stoke Speedway. If we get this wrong, I can see the crowds dropping dramatically.

Are there enough British riders around? Assume that every team who rode last year rides this year, with Stoke replacing Plymouth. The league has already lost Mark Simmonds and Nicki Glanz, so that's 2 heat leaders gone, and I can't see Seemond Stephens riding again. Where are the top end riders going to come from? Personally, as narrow minded as it may sound, I'm not too interested with bringing forward the next generation of riders. In an ideal world, Stoke are only going to be NL for one season, so we need riders who will, hopefully, be able to step up the next season. From what I saw of Armstrong, I feel he could be a rider capable of doing that. Another point, on a slight tangent, is why do we not allow foreign riders into the NL? Make it mandatory to have x amount of British riders, 2 of whom must be under 19, and work from there? Too often our younger riders are protected up until they attempt to make the step up, only ever facing people who have a knowledge of British speedway, and then they hit the PL, with a whole new level of professionalism that is brought about from having a multi-national league, and it appears from the outside to be a huge culture shock for them.

Ah well, not so sure about Koppe with no patriality. As for Compton, he would be a 12 point average, obviously a bit high, but that is the type of rider I would like as a number 1. Someone who can help the younger riders, who has been there and done it on a constant basis.

Stoke's asset list is pretty pitiful at best. Evans, Isherwood, Sam Dore , Rob Grant Jr, Mark Burrows and Dean Felton are the only ones still riding eligible to ride in the NL. Out of those, Evans is the only one I would like to see. No offence to the rest, but I just can't see them being the future of Stoke Speedway. Out of riders out there, I would love to see Tom Armstrong or Damien Koppe (Both Aussies, though I think Koppe has patriality?), and potentially one of the Baseby brothers. I think, more than anything, we need a team that can challenge in all competitions. I would love if we had a big number 1 who rode PL last season, Andre Compton would be a great rider, but I obviously can't see him dropping down into the NL. Jamie Pickard is another who I would be interested in, as he is a solid enough rider who obviously will be looking for a club now Plymouth have moved up.

Lowe isn't a club asset, Brown retired at the back end of last season. Evans is the ONLY asset I would have back. I do believe we need a number 1 who people have heard of who is an old hand to help the younger riders. It has to be run more professionally than the last time we were in the NL, and it has to be a team challenging, or I do fear for Stoke Potters.

I think it being so quiet is a combination of very few Stoke fans normally posting on here, combined with us not being able to sign any riders due to not TECHNICALLY being in the league yet, and a lot of fans still being bitter about moving down. I just hope that we don't go down the legacy that was left to us of the last time we were in the NL, as I don't want riders such as Isherwood, Priest, Hargreaves, Brown, Lowe etc in the team. They were the past of Stoke at one point or another, and this should be a time for looking forward. The hosting of the 2 meetings can only be good for Stoke though, and I can't wait for them.

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