Ben91

Would explain why nobody has taken a punt on Auty if this is the case. Strange that Poole signed Nielsen on an old average though, Kildemand too for that matter.

He has a Premiership average from last year of 6. something so would come in on that. Still wouldn't be able to use him as a like for like swap though.

Bought Sedgmen a set of kevlars last season and his time with us lasted 2-3 heats. It depends what kind of rider each club is after. Poole clearly want a world class rider. We need bulk changes but not necessarily one stand out rider. Isn't actually achieving his average, but I agree. Just see him as a potential victim of the numbers game.

Harris and Clegg need to go. Summers could be a victim of the numbers and Robbo's quite expensive to have points wise on a 5.8 odd figure. Shanes shouldn't even be in the discussion. Auty on a 4.68 should be a target, he's flying for Scunthorpe. Someone will snap him up and benefit if we don't. I'm not a great fan of his but Kim Nilsson on a shade over 7 could add some firepower too, more than Bomber at least.

Nicholls and Kennett (who has done more laps round Rye than I've had hot dinners) both said last night that there's no longer such an advantage to the home rider at Rye House. I'll believe them I think. As for predicting the result, it was always clear you'd be in with a shot of a point. Really you should have got one even with R/R. MPT and Jorgensen in particular were well off their usual form around Rye, two heats got pulled back when your riders had made perfectly good starts and Kerr fell while comfortably second in one heat.

Speedway in being dangerous shocker.

Not the case. The team was built to have three strong heatleaders home and away, a decent engine room, a strong reserve and Clegg on a "bargain" average. In reality Harris is on the wane, KK is hit and miss. Nicholls is doing what is expected of him. Kennett is struggling, Summers is ok. Robbo got injured and NBJ has been injured too now on a lower average making guests harder to come by and Clegg's "bargain" average is actually a true reflection of his performances. The home track advantage at Rye went years ago with the adverse camber on the second bend. Gone are the days of Rye track specialists such as Neath, Boxall and Bowen who could show almost anyone a clean pair of heels at Rye. Kennett is the last of that breed and as I've said above he's not performing. Other than that we have no track specialists in the side. It is just a small track these days that almost any rider can get to grips with. Its not just away we are struggling. Our home victories have been by narrow margins except last night which after heat 10 was over as a two-legged tie anyway so I wouldn't read anything into the final score.

There is not a massive home advantage at Rye. Hasn't been for the last five or so years. You have the track record holder in your side, Jorgensen and MPT go well at Rye. Proctor and Kerr aren't that shabby there either and both in very good form. If you don't get at least a point against this Rye side then you've under performed.

It's a sport and it's within the rules. The fast track system was good for some riders without a doubt but it's a few rather than the majority still riding in the top tier which is now weaker than it was before the fast track draft was implemented. I'm all for us giving our youngsters all the chances possible to progress but there are other ways. If there is a way within the rules that we can get Kennett at reserve then there's nothing wrong with doing so.

While I wanted NBJ in the team why we declared him with Robbo out baffles me. Kennett at reserve is an opportunity you don't miss. He's not been performing granted but some "easier" rides at reserve and being able to take up to seven a meeting could have helped him ride into form or for the promotion see that he's for the exit.

While there is more when you dig deeper, the simple formula for building a winning speedway team is to sign the team that will improve the most. Poole may be struggling a little at the moment but when you do as well as they do as regularly as they do it goes to show that their model for running the show is the right one. If a rider has no use to them then he goes. I still expect them to turn it around this season too, us at Rye on the other hand, I'm not so sure. KK fell in our lap last season, if he hadn't we would have finished near the bottom, the team wasn't improved in the winter and now we're doing just as poorly as we did pre-KK last term.

Winning home meetings by six points isn't strong.

Wouldn't say it's a lack of ambition but nobody has seemingly taught our promotion how to build a winning team. Sign riders who will improve their averages. Who would Wells replace? Anyone other than Kennett and it's a like for like signing and won't actually mean much. I don't see him putting his average up.

Very poor. Two seasons in the top flight and two pathetic performances in the cup. Changes need to be made. Can't imagine that Tai or Freddie would have any intention of adding the UK to their schedules sadly, either would be a great signing but neither would come cheap. Shanes is a name that keeps cropping up and I have no idea why. He isn't any good at Rye and has gone on record saying he doesn't like the track in the past. He's on an average he wouldn't sustain, let alone improve upon. Seems to be falling into the Newman category of average riders who people fall over themselves to sign because they rode for Poole in the past.

Agreed. For a rider such as Clegg having two rides with Nicholls as his partner who will try to team ride if he can wouldn't be a bad thing either as opposed to a different partner each time he races. Plus the stronger reserve gets heat 8 as you say. Team order can be very important, Sundstrom looks as if he's riding himself into a little bit of form since he's moved to number two for Poole, I'm surprised we've not been using Kennett at number two, particularly at home where he is capable of, and should be, scoring like a heat leader.

Oh definitely not, we know full well "what ifs" are pointless and do even themselves out over time. For me it's more frustration that the team manager should be making the changes that give us the best chance of securing a result and KK for Summers was a logical change to make in that respect. In his time at the helm Shroeck has made some big mistakes so far, ones that John Sampford wouldn't have.

These changes have to be made sometimes whether the rider being pulled out deserves it or not. If they're not and the chance passes by it can be costly as we found out last night. Summers is doing a job for us in fairness to him but if you've got the choice of him or Kasprzak in a heat (especially at Poole) then there's only one winner.

If Harris hadn't fallen we'd have had a 5-1 in heat 13, that would have made it a draw. If KK had been used on a tactical ride it could well have won us the meeting even with Kennett disappointing. We should be out to win at all costs, if riders get hooked from their rides and don't understand why then they're not riders we want in the team. Not Morley. Same average as Nielsen roughly and half the rider. We can't keep going back to him when we need to make a change.

It's not our fans calling them big hitters. Read the thread before commenting and you'd see that. What was the deal with him taking heat 15 for you guys on Sunday? Still trying to get my head around that one, especially as he wasn't on his own bike! I was just to the left of the box on the same stand and thought NBJ had been passed, most around seemed to say the same but perhaps you had a better view than I did. I just don't understand why riders shut off on the run in, if you can hit bend one at full speed for 4 laps, one more time won't hurt to make sure you don't get passed on the line. I honestly think the racing was better before the track changes were made, there was just always a stigma that Rye didn't produce good racing.

We've scraped a win against a six man team. Poole are struggling this year too. First of all, I hope NBJ is ok. It was a nasty looking crash, credit to Grajczonek for going straight over to check on him. Prior to this NBJ threw away a 5-1 when he took the completely wrong line allowing Woryna to pass him as if he wasn't there and Sczepaniak caught him in heat 12 so I'm not sure what the referee was watching there. Harris is a cause for concern, Clegg doesn't look like scoring ever. Kennett looked a shell of the rider who is usually so dominant at Rye. We got lucky that Nielsen, who looked very impressive, packed up when leading heat 14, if he hadn't and the ref had seen the heat 12 finish the same as most of us in the stands did then it would have finished level.

I live in a bouncy castle with a hole in it. There's no inflation. Wages are still below inflation. They may be increasing faster than inflation is increasing currently but they are still not in line with inflation. We have no choice but to put up with that in order to run our homes, put fuel in our cars, pay our other bills etc. but going to Speedway (or any form of sport or entertainment) is an optional and often a luxury. We don't have to stump up so that stadium tenants/landlords can pay their bills, we do to pay our own. Therefore it is up to them to bring more people through the gate to pay their bills, or increase prices of course but it is a fine line and one that cannot be pushed too far before you lose more fans than you gain. Crowds are visibly dropping from where they were ten years ago at most tracks and prices haven't doubled, particularly in the top two leagues. But the prices increasing each year is certainly a factor in people choosing to no longer attend. Speedway is in big money trouble, promotions are often pleading poverty and riders are telling us they need to race for more than one team to pay the bills. That's been the case for quite some time now, I'm not sure how that's passed you by? Increasing prices year on year is a short term fix and soon there won't be many fans left willing to pay more than a £1 a heat which is the case in most places now. It simply isn't value for money and people aren't stupid. Promotors needs to promote now.

So put the prices up and alienate more fans. Then to make a profit there will need to be another price hike to make the sport pay, but guess what? That price hike is driving more fans away too. There's only so many times you can put prices up. Speedway, literally a vicious circle in many ways.

I think that is what was being suggested, not by myself though. But I did say in the winter that we should only have retained one of Harris or Nicholls. Just as fans shouldn't be going overboard with Harris for one bad meeting at Leicester we mustn't also get ahead of ourselves because Nicholls scored a maximum on Monday. As with reduced money from TV and the fixed racenights they're just small parts of the greater problem that the sport has got itself into over the years here. That in itself is a completely different can of worms to suggesting team changes for us, but I think we're in a position where we need to make Speedway a semi-professional sport and knock doubling up on the head. We shouldn't be letting riders have two teams just to earn a living. If the sport can't sustain it, which it clearly can't with riders "needing" to double up/down then it needs to be nipped in the bud. The standard/strength of teams may suffer short term but long term British Speedway and British Speedway fans will benefit.

Never rated Nilsson, too inconsistent. Zagar used to do all he could to avoid racing at Rye when he was at Reading, doesn't get on with the track though granted it's a different proposition these days. Agree that there's scope to make changes though and feel that they could well be needed. Was the reason given for him not being in the side from day one but I'm sure if offered the right deal in the winter, along with having a team spot at Berwick, he could have focussed on racing here first and foremost this season.

We were the side who gave him his first British team spot in 2015. So he'll be plenty familiar with the track. Should have been a permanent fixture in the team since then too in my opinion.