False dawn

Stay home. The forecast is awful.

Let's have a celebration. Get one or two riders back in the team(s) and make this a happy occasion. We all know this cup tie (!?) don't mean a monkey's proverbial, so let's have some fun. I know I want to beat Poole. And I guess I'm not alone in that. So let's shout at each other and have a beer afterwards (I think I owe you a beer SS. And Lisa, I'll buy you one too).

I hope you said this bit with your tongue in your cheek.

For those who weren't at the meeting or didn't stay afterwards you should know some of things Max said in interview post racing. He described himself as "The weak link" and his performances are "Just not good enough". So if anyone thinks he's just collecting the cash and doesn't care about the team, think again.

It's seems inevitable we'll end up with one league. If not next season, then in the next 2-3 years. So why not bite the bullet sooner rather than later?

So "You've gone to the dogs" then?

I remember well when Ole Olsen rode for Coventry (I know, I'm getting old !!). He got booed everywhere and by everyone. He was being interviewed on the centre green after a meeting at Wolverhampton. He was obviously amused by the booing and announced to the fans, "You do know that the louder you boo, the faster I go". Not a bad "put down" I thought.

I really hope I'm wrong. But I have some serious doubts about Leicester "moving up" this year. Of course I want to see Doyley and Emil get beat, nearly as much as I wanted us to beat Poole (not really, bring back Poole, we want to stuff you). Seriously, the Leicester promotion have taken quite a risk They have invested a deal of cash in the stadium and have shelled out for a pretty good team. But moving the senior team meetings from Saturday to Thursday is no small thing in itself. The team have had a large and very loyal following. I hope they all, and a few more, continue to pay to support the second best team in the country. Lions, for now. Bees forever.

We had Tom at a Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club meeting last year. Obviously, meeting a rider and listening to him, at length, in interview, doesn't necessarily translate into how he behaves on track. But I have to say, I look forward to the next time I hear him speak with some anticipation. A consummate profession, who demonstrates all the attributes of a future champion (excuse me, a current World Champion). If he rode for a team near me, I'd go and watch him ride. Footnote: Tom declared his devotion to British speedway, in spite of the obvious temptations of those Polish (sometimes) pay masters. I have no axe to grind when it comes to Charles. But reports of any team mates falling out, in such a public way, seems to me to be rather unseemly. Or am I just old fashioned? (or just old?)

I hope. for your sake, that Jason, Emil and Danny aren't slow burners or your in for serious grief

I think both brothers have shown some real promise. Zach is the lesser light (thus far) but it is very early days. If he was in my team I'd be very happy and patient just now.

I take your point and sympathise with the sentiment. Unfortunately, KK has a track record (no pun intended) of being somewhat, dare I say, very inconsistent going back years. We used to say on arriving at a meeting, "Which KK has turned up tonight?". Personally he drove me mad,

All this analysis is quite fun isn't it? Bottom line we got the "W".

I should make it clear that I really do support Leicester currently.... Leicester actually got away with a 3-3 a couple of times when on the wrong end of a 5-1 due to Panthers mechanical problems. The result could have been a lot closer or could even have been a win for Peterborough. The exclusion of Benjamin Basso in heat 5 was a scandal. Richard Lawson didn't just slow, he all but stopped. How BB was expected to avoid him is beyond me. 4 paid 5 from Nicki's rides tells it's own story. It's ironic. I think the crowd size was well down due to Nicki's absence but Leicester probably won the meeting as a result of him not being there.

The number of bike problems was quite a mystery and as you say, somewhat frustrating for us and I'm sure, the riders involved. You can't really blame the weather/track conditions. In England, neither are usual. Hopefully a temporary problem eh? It was one of those slightly odd meetings, in that the track continued to improve throughout the night despite the fact we had no track grading whatsoever. The absence of tractors was quite refreshing actually. Especially as I started to get quite cold towards the end of the night.

I think you're right. We all want a transparent application of the rules. But how can it be transparent when the rule makers are not sure of how the rules apply in a case such as this. The overall impression is that there was an ongoing "negotiation" between Wolverhampton and the authorities during Monday. The conclusion that has since been announced referring to a reversion back to Wolves original team declaration may have been decided quite late on after a flurry of phone calls trying to decide what to do. OR. Wolves and or the authorities don't understand simple psychology and didn't announce the decision in good time as a result. Thus leaving us, the paying fans, to speculate about this endlessly on forums such as this one. You decide. P.S. Issue 4 of the Premiership Team Declarations, stating that Luke Becker was officially back in the Wolves team, is dated 10th April i.e. Monday

I made no judgement about either case. I was just a bit tired. A bit past caring, if I'm honest. I'll just repeat what I said, "please, can we drop it?"

I read this on the Birmingham Speedway website... "The Curtis Sport Brummies will take to the track without winter signing James Wright though, who crashed during his own season opener at Plymouth last week and is ruled out with shoulder damage." And to their credit... “As it’s a Challenge, we’ve decided to run Rider Replacement for Wrighty and give the other Brummies some extra track time and laps.”

Wolverhampton, Tai Woffinden. Belle Vue, Robert Lambert. Neither will ever be forgotten. And neither do the sport any favours. But please, can we drop it?

As far as I understand it, Bomber didn't guest for Scotty because Scotty hadn't ridden a meeting for Wolves. Instead, he guested for Boris, sorry, Luke Becker, who had also not ridden a meeting for Wolves. As they used to say back in the day, "Confused? You won't be, after this episode of Soap"

I did attend Sheffield on a regular basis for a season or two, a little while ago, you understand. They had a rider back then who wasn't everyone's cup of tea. But my memories of his 4th lap, 4th bend sweeps will live with me forever. Maybe it was his neck scarf, which although almost universal back in day, had then fallen from use. I'm sure some of you will know who I'm referring to.

Is one allowed to ask who will be declared in the Wolves team for Thursday's fixture at King's Lynn I think it might be time to get my coat

In the spirit of finding fault with this fixture.... When did Coventry move to the the northeast. And who thought the word "demolition" was in good taste in the Coventry team name, given the sword of Damocles hanging over our stadium? And just in case anyone thinks I'm being serious, you clearly don't know me.

There is an official declaration on the BSPL website showing Scott in the team.

From what I've seen on updates it looks like a patched up Bullets side put up a good showing. Connor Coles performance, as an ex Cub is not too surprising maybe, but well done "young" man none-the-less. But the stand out performance for Berwick has to be Jamie Halder. Alright he did have 7 rides. But 11 paid 12 from reserve has to make him a candidate for man of the match (and I support Leicester). For the Cubs there were encouraging signs for all the riders. Dan with 15 may not be a big surprise but brother Joe had something of a mixed night. As to the others, there were some tricky moments but they all showed some real promise as well. Really sorry I couldn't get to this one.