greyhoundp

I was hoping we would have heards some news by now, but i need to get some zzzzzzzzzzzzzz,s

I just withdrew a post as it was rightly objectionable, and possibly offensive.

Okay, lets see Dudley sit back and let everyone else sign the best riders, what a load of old cobblers is spoken on here sometimes, do you think the supporters would be happy ? of course not, and Im sure Rob Godfrey informed his riders before today, as June said she knew on Tuesday, so its pretty safe to surmise the riders also knew prior to today. If an NL rider such as JJ cant get a phone call from a PL team, its Dudleys fault i guess. Lets put it this way its British Speedways fault NOT Bl**dy Dudleys, We will work within the 40 points limit, and i expect a 1 over the 8 limit to be in there somewhere. However one cannot blame riders for taking the best package offered to them, to help maintain the best equipment that they can afford to help them try to get a PL place. Nigel Pearson openly admitted riders are constantly phoning him wanting to ride for Dudley, what would you do ? tell them to go to Mildenhall?, its obvious riders prefer to ride in front of a packed house week in week out, and where they get tremendous help from HSSC, with monetry donations. If i knew my Team wasnt riding next season, i would soon make it known that i was going to be available, starting from the Top. What a load of twaddle, which stems mostly from jealousy...

Max Clegg, 1st signing for 2013, Bostin signing, I know 21st will be a happy Chappie.

Little bit of bitterness there June. You lost a Team, but still have a Team and a Track, maybe you should be asking the question, why you have lost a Team ?, another 100 or so watching NL racing at Scunny would have solved it Im sure, look closer to home my dear. Yes Im sorry to see any Team fail to run.... but the NL,s woes goes far deeper.

I really hope something can be done Jayne, either a senior club could invest in some way, or investigate some alternative income streams, possibly a couple of Mobile homes with those lovely views over the peaks. I know its not the whole answer, but at £250+ plus per week, it could make the difference between running or not.

Just a minor point; Tom would have to be at No1 due to his average, but that 3rd Heat leader spot will be vital, and either Dan or Darryl will need to step up in 2013. I am guessing but those that keep linking Dan with Coventry, is it purely bcuz the Main Man connection?, so if we choose not to retain Dan, which would imo be a wrong choice, that would give us just under 6 for our 3rd Heat Leader, or retain JWW and give us 5 1/2 ish for another rider, the permutations are endless, If Rye House dont run in 2013 then young Connor Coles must be tempted to sign, him or JWW ? then it would be young Connor every time. The two 3 point riders are going to be important for us, I can see 2 english riders being in the frame, one whom everyone says wont do NL racing, and another Coventry linked rider must be in the frame. If we look back over recent seasons, Teams who have had progressive young riders at reserve at the beginning of the season, are the Teams who have come out on Top at the end of the season, Im not saying that is the only reason, bcuz you also need good Heat Leaders, but imo thats where Stoke lost out last year, whilst Ben Reade was at No7 they were doing well, when he finally went into the Team there season tailed off, Adam Ellis he almost single handidly got the IOW into the play offs, the previous season Richie Worral began the season at No 7 for Scunthorpe, and in Buxtons year, they had Nick Morris and Rob Branford at reserve, whilst The Heathens ourselves had Tom Perry as a reserve. I know this is not a definitive reason, but hopefully we get the 2 reserves sorted out as soon as possible, otherwise we are going to be left scratching around.

Well, now we can start our Team building for 2013, but before that we need to look at 2012. Adam Roynon; 11.64 Tom Perry; 9.88 Ash Morris; 8.51 Byron Bekker; 7.54 Dan Greenwood;5.90 Darryl Ritchings; 5.84 JWW; 4.88 Total; 54.09 So basically we have to lose most likely 3 riders, beginning with Adams 11.64 to get under 40. Whichever way we go, some difficult decisions lie ahead. strong top 2 with weak bottom end, whichever way we go some supporters will be extremely unhappy. keep Tom and Ash lose Byron, Dan or Darryl and JWW, Tom is an asset, Darryl is Patchetts asset, so both likely to remain, Ash is a Wolves asset, so will we choose Tom over Ash, Ash over Tom. I think much depends on whichever 3 pointers we can sign, if somehow we can get the better youngsters, and we all know who they are, then maybe we will go for an all round Team, if we are unable to get these youngsters, then probably we will go with a Strong top end. I would go with,. Tom; 9.88 Byron; 7.44 Dan; 5.90 Darryl; 5.84 Leaving us 10.84 for three riders. I have sacrificed Ash to bring in a stronger 2nd string such as, Luke Chessell on a 4.59 could well be worth a shout, especially if Janno could iron out his technical faults, cuz Luke can certainly gate, or Connor Coles on a 4.30, who impressed me when he rode at Monmore, then as i said earlier, a couple of 3 pointers, and Im sure The Heathens have a few irons in the fire already with two that readily spring to mind.

Cant do the individual quote thingy, so my replies are in the quotes somewhere.

Dont understand why you cant Pm me, mystifying. Thanks bradtony, dont embarass me further. I just speak as i find, not always right, but sometimes right. Im always available at greyhoundp@yahoo.com

Waco, whilst we have a tremendous fan base, no other word to describe it, I think in the present climate its just a little to risky financially, but once every option has been explored for our own Track, then we HAVE to try it..ie 1 more year, 1 more year. That would probably be best for the promotion to choose, and whilst it wasnt raised at The Fans forum, i do believe another raceday, would be far more supporter friendly, ie Friday nights, or anytime on Sundays, especially for away supporters who want to Travel. With regards 21st saying we dont have our own assets, except TP, then we need to take that step back perhaps, bring in riders like Nathan Greaves, Brady Kurtz, Jack Wozniak, Bradley Andrews, a certain Robert Lambert, and i think there was a young New Zealander Barratt who seemed useful, yes i know they arent all elegible to ride NL, but they are out there, and we need to decide pretty quick, before they are all snapped up, but i have NO reason to believe our management arent on the ball with regards this, but as Malcolm Vasey has posted, there needs to be an NL meeting as a matter of urgency to finalise details, before any signings can be made.

My viewpoint is this, I am IN favour of PL racing but and this is the problem, most of the PL Teams have this season lost money, and i would hazard a guess, almost all the Teams who pay Stadium rentals have lost money, and possibly even some of those who have there own stadia. What several people have said, is Yes they would pay £14 as opposed to £10 to see a higher class of racing which in itself is fair enough, but the point being missed is The MAJORITY of PL Teams have lost money this year, Glasgow Champions in 2011 lost money that season, Edinburgh Champions in 2010 lost money that year, so being succesful is no guarantee in itself of financial stability. So i am NOT prepared to see us lose what we have currently, and for 2013 The Heathens should go all out to attempt to find there own Track, even if it means a standing still or as is very likely step back on Track.Now 2014 is a different matter altogether, should the efforts to find our own home continue to be unproductive, then basically we have to go S***e or bust, go PL and see what it brings with it, because by then we will be up to the 5 year plan, if we continue to be viable then great, if we fail, then we fail, but at least we will have tried. At least two things need to be looked at during the AGM; 1, The riders pay structure, points money has to go out of the window to be replaced with a salary dependant on there average, with a Bonus if they get to Play offs, this way Promoters can budget for the whole season, and not get Hit by massive Points money payments due to there success, what other Sport brings with it financial losses due to success. Travel costs have massively hit everyone, riders and spectators alike, regionalisation can help, but how do you cut Travel costs for someone like Ben Barker who lives in Cornwall ?. This is where Promoters have to balance things out, and weigh up if that particular rider is worth it, can i afford him ?. So its not just about helping foreign riders with Airfares, but when signing riders what are the additional unforseen costs likely to be? again i think the answer HAS to be, offer Rider X a pay package which includes X amount per meeting for riding, and an additional payment for Travel, this to include a fixed Hardship payment if it is rained off, Put simply the rider either accepts the terms on offer or says no thank you. Something along these lines needs to be brought in. Then there is the bigger issue of TV money, if the EL which i doubt, is prepared to share out the Pot of money further then this would help, and definately GO Speed needs to be given the brush off. Put simply what has Go Speed got wiithout Speedway, Go Speeds needs are greater than Speedways need, Speedway can do without Go Speed, Go Speed cant do without Speedway. Breakaway time ? it most certainly could be, will it happen ? I very much doubt it.

Are we saying £3k covers the cost to send 1 rider to Australia , and if that can be raised then we can nominate said rider ?.

Nice to see all these Heathens appearing on the BSF, and knowing our lot, it should certainly enliven the debates. Welcome TH.

Yep, even Cradley fans can blame Dudley now, and definately it will be nice to say Cradley Heathens once again, as i have never had any good reason to associate my local Council with a great Speedway Team, or indeed any Sports team in the area, as they have a record comparable with the worst in supporting Sports Teams, ie lost The Cricket Team and Ground, lost The Football Team and Ground, lost The Speedway Team and Stadium, lost Greyhound racing and Stadium, all in all a pretty poor record, so YES i also blame Dudley...and if you check my posts, never have i said Dudley and Heathens in the same breath. Oh and another item to come out of The meeting was, Nigel Pearson if The Heathens go PL, will step down from his role as Chairman, due to what he sees as a conflict of interests, when asked why/how Chris Louis combines the two, he said it is his decision that he will do that, and as a example he said imagine Cradley v Mildenhall how could he commentate with NO bias bearing in mind the somewhat dissapointing end to the season, imagine Nigel Pearson saying Live "Come On Cradley stick it up those ******** Barstewards" we owe it to um, I did miss one word out.

Yep , overwhelmingly it was in favour of returning to the Cradley name, a majority in favour of PL racing, but the Promoters were only in support of PL racing if the financial terms were favourable, and dependant on what other changes may be made at the AGM they will attend the PL meeting, ruling nothing out, and nothing in, so dependant on that it is in the air as to which League we will be racing in, but most likely that we will remain NL. The promoters said they will not put at risk what has been achieved so far, and basically we are in this for the long haul. The biggest drawback to having PL racing was Cost, and within this, the vast amount of increased travelling involved, but also increased admission to PL meetings which would be pitched at £14 per meeting, and CVS said he didnt see any problem with staging more than 16 meetings at Monmore Wood. Thats a brief summary of some of what was said, basically the main points of interest to outsiders, Obviously Chris Louis, and Michael Lee were mentioned and at that plenty of Boos were forthcoming .

I did not suggest it was my Idea, I was talking off the record to an ex promoter amongst others, and it was an Idea that he said MIGHT work, it was also suggested in the same conversation that maybe a return to Rider Control could work, but the most interesting suggestion was that we have a Bernie Ecclestone type supremo, whereby he formulates a plan for the benefit of "Speedway" as a whole, not just for an individual Promoter, however in MY opinion that could only work if "Go Speed" were to be moved aside, and this Supremo, uses the TV monies for the benefit of British Speedway as a whole, rather than an "Elite" minority. But that has moved from the subject of the PL, and to move it back, the best thing that could happen is for the PL to breakaway from the EL, and negotiate its own TV deal.

On hearing of the losses by PL teams, and viable cost cutting, what are the odds on North & South PL for 2013, brought together with play offs at the end of the season?. Seems on the face of it, not a bad idea, more local derbies, combined with less travel costs, for riders and supporters alike. I think this is one of the ideas that will be to the fore at the agm.

Ando, has partiality, Scottish ancestors, though maybe that is classed as foreign to the IOW . and Ben is back so at least we both got two riders correct. You know its amazing, no one picked up on you suggesting Lewis Blackbird, or Aaron, but as soon as i put NS hahaha.

Its only a close season past time. as Islander named a team he would like to see, i just joined in the fun, Iv no doubts the team will end up nothing like it, well maybe something like it, but with 1 or 2 differences.

1. J. Anderson 2. B.Hopwood 3. D. Warwick 4. D.Stoneman 5. P.Starke 6. N.Stoneman 7. A.Ellis How does that look to you Islander ? Ando is a brilliant Team guy, scores well away from home, will love your Track, Starkey has a great average, Danny & Ben solid with double figure scoring ability, Danny S, get him on some decent equipment and he could get up near a 6 average, and the 2 reserves what can i say about them..full of potential

To be honest, having signed Adam Ellis, they have more than a head start over every other Team, only needs them to get a genuine No1, no disrespect to DW, and they should be amongst the front runners ie improve on there finish this season, good luck to the IOW, great set-up, and more than deserve everything that comes there way, lets hope other Teams get what they deserve, . We cant have the NL degenerate in to another PL as in football. Now let me see, whose turn is it to win something in 2013. Buxton ? cleaned up in 2010, Scunny ? won in 2011, Mildenhall? cleaned up in 2012, maybe IOW in 2013, if it turns out to be that way, I for one wont begrudge them.

Whilst the list seems to be generally a good summary of the riders averages. There is no way Ashley Birks is only seventh best rider, however more worryingly, when you look outside the Top 10 there are several riders who are what i would now term Journeymen, ie they have reached there level, i expect them to be in the same position next season, having been overtaken by the more progressive younger riders. I expect much of the top Ten to push on next season and hold down a PL Team place.

Daft as it may seem Cricket the biggest Sport in the Land ?? now whos daft ? cuz I always thought Cricket was the Summer sport, surely you dont mean those overpaid Prima donnas, who kick a Bag of wind around, the ones we run against on Sunday afternoons, Saturday evenings, Tuesday Nights, Wednesday nights, and Friday nights, during April, August,September and October, Hmmm Yes i think you mean football.

Obviously you cant get over the work commitments Jayne, but i meant Saturday afternoons, Tapes up at 3-00pm Buxton on the afternoon, Then Stoke on the way back for Stoke in the evening .