MrMungo

I don't think Oskar is ready quite yet

It was meant to be announced at 7.45pm, surely?

I get what you are saying Baggy, and clearly his average suggests something is up with his form over here, but his scores on the continent have been good generally from what I have seen, so to me it's not simply a case of not being the rider he once was. Granted the injuries have probably had an impact, but on a 5.50ish average I think you have to take the plunge in a weakened EL. At worst, his average stays the same and he remains a smidgen frustrating, at best, he could push for the #1 position.

Last year, his form in Britain was not good, but he has provided some wonderful entertainment at Saddlebow Road before that. I remember it was only a few years ago when riding @ 1, he had to babysit Iversen a fair few times.

Bjerre announced tomorrow with Schlein going to either Lakeside or Swindon?

Spin King did mention taking the 3 pt reserves out of the equation. Seems like there's 4 clubs trying to sign a rider of a similar standard. Probably Edinburgh too. Kus, N Morris, Proctor, Fisher?

Think all of this stuff could have been avoided if they had the draft a few weeks later, as they have done in the past. It looks like the EL promoters wanted to get the drafts picks done as quickly as possibly, but it has backfired. Would have been easier if they had waited a few weeks to see where the riders were in the PL, and picked accordingly. Hopefully there will be fixed race nights next season, which should help things along.

I agree, Baggy. Bound to see him again when Lakeside are at Saddlebow Road!

Can you be sure it wasn't a free-for-all from the very beginning?!

4.00 PL average appears to have been the magic figure for a few years now. Clegg is under it, Morris is over.

If Morris signed for Wolves, he wouldn't have been able to ride for Cradley?

Noone seems to know who was and who wasn't on the reserve list, so who knows! I suspect this may be one of the reasons why the draft was done furtively. I am sure there are other options out there, as Jon Cook mentioned of a 'Plan B' if Blackbird didn't return. Despite what others say, I think Batchelor is a fine signing, and always performed well at King's Lynn - even when it was wet!

too = to

I was told a rider who rides in either EL or PL, can not ride in NL next year (assuming an average of over 4.00 PL), but have not seen it confirmed elsewhere. Either way, it would rule out a number of potential #1's.

Kerr to go to Lakeside?

Isn't the 'rule' 30 miles, or something similar?

If Leicester were going to change race night, surely they would have done it earlier to try and keep Doyle?

Presume 8.83 = PL average doubled with 2.5 reduction?

Higher of PL average (x2) or old NL average.

It certainly stands out!

Is Bjarne still a number 1 though?

I don't think the side looks too bad at all - I wouldn't expect to see them in the play-offs, but think they will fare better than this year. As a rough guess, 6th or so, but still too early to tell of course. They are banking on Lindgren getting back to his best, or close to it. Whilst he won't be unbeatable anymore, he can still increase his average significantly. Bech down to Masters (2nd to 5th) will probably all spend some time in the HL & SS positions. Potentially one of them may have a run at reserve too. I can see marginal improvements for Bech & Masters, although it will depend on how long they spend in the HL/SS positions. The biggest plus is they should have a high-scoring reserve for the whole season, which is not something they had this year.

I would imagine averages would be a little restrictive there

Surely that facility would only last a limited amount of time?

Could struggle a bit when Glasgow have to use R/R for Worrall (due to EL matches taking precedence). That tail! Should start as big favourites for the Fours already though! Not a bad side at all, but have yet to see a PL side that really stands out though, so should be there in the mix by the end of the season