cyclone

Hope the initiative for the Play Off semi-final vs Somerset went well, and plenty of Celtic fans took advantage of the free tickets, and will now become regulars at Ashfield. The Facenna's should perhaps now approach Dermot Desmond for sponsorship, with a view to making Ashfield an indoor arena covered by a Green Dome

Still feeling bitter and twisted wee George (aka The Possilpark Poison Dwarf) ? So that's ex Monarch Aaron Summers getting his P45 now

Agree there were some over-gloating on the fact that it was Glasgow we defeated, rather than concentrating on the overall achievements over the past two seasons within the PL. However the Glasgow FB is not squeaky clean either when it comes to anti-Edinburgh vitriol, with the some appearing to wish the demise of Edinburgh altogether, now that the long term future of Ashfield has been assured through your new benefactors.

The nearer to Edinburgh you get, the greater the opposition to establishing a Speedway venue becomes from pompous, snobby, nimby councillors (including SNP reps also surprisingly) and overzealous, jobsworth local planners & H & S enforcers There is also the further complication that being a Showground site any prospective tenants come under intense scrutiny by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland who are generally not inclined to consider accepting newcomers outwith their industry. Thankfully we are now well integrated into West Lothian where the local authority now consider us as an asset rather than a nuisance to the surrounding environment. Our cousins from the West should be grateful that they are dealing with a Local Authority who do not consider Speedway within the Glasgow City area as some threat to it's citizens and appear to assist them in planning and H & S matters.

Well done the Mighty Monarchs, after being deservedly beaten on Friday, they displayed the resilience that is the hallmark of true champions last night, none more so than Sam Masters who was superb, and gave us all a race to remember as he majestically reeled in Lawson and later Morris in a pulsating heat 7. Special mention to Kevin Wölbert who recently returned from injury and was the smoothest performer on show and ended up the overall top scorer over the two legs, amassing 23pts + 1 bonus from 9 rides Credit to the track staff, officials, and riders from both sides on the completion of the racing on a well prepared/regularly graded surface in under 13/4 hours Consider myself extremely lucky to a have supported a team that have been back to back Championship winners/League Table Toppers, and won an unprecedented haul of the other major trophies over the same period.

Take it you were not at Ashfield last night or you could have carried out the investigation on behalf your Promotion As you will note it was a question I asked as not unreasonably I would have expected your Promotion to have enquired of their paying customers as to their preference. Have you asked your Promotion about this ?

Safe to assume intellectual interpretation is not your forte then if you cannot comprehend my response

For the last three meetings, in addition to the normal ambulance, there has also been a Range Rover Ambulance parked beside the pits area, so possibly this will be the case today. I would assume that since new income streams/initiatives have arisen, such as via the Monarchs Fans Trust, perhaps the financial situation has improved. IMO Edinburgh is less reliant on autocratic owners than those of Glasgow, whose after meeting speech was classless and petulant. If this is how the custodians of Ashfield are going to conduct their business in future, perhaps they will become known as "Jack & Victor Soprano"

Believe that Lord Snooty & Aunt Matilda are heading West tonight in the Smugmobile, while tomorrow, Rab C Nesbitt & Mary Doll are heading East in a stolen police panda car Anyway no injuries, good racing, and good weather (think were already guaranteed that ) to the PL's best two sides

Answer this then, if the non Brits are so crap, why do Promotions persist with them if there are better home grown riders available ? It is ok for the the patriotic grumblers to moan from the sidelines, but do you really think those spending their cash on running clubs are really going to employ foreigners who would cost them more

Hope this talk about PL teams required to track at least one NL rider entering on a GSA of 3.00 is binned. (Would it be a draft selection, and what happens if the guy based in Eastbourne refuses to join Glasgow or Edinburgh if chosen ?) This suggestion, together with a proposal of reducing the team building limit from 42.5, means only one thing, namely a dilution of the quality of the product. The theory that dud non UK riders are preventing the development indigenous talent is risible, unless the home boys are pricing themselves out of the market from the outset. I pay good dosh to watch decent PL fare and I resent some patriotic namby pambys' trying to dictate who should be allowed to represent my club based on their birthplace.

See this link :- http://www.scbgb.co.uk/cindertoshalemuseum

Teams for Saturday as per Edinburgh Press Release:- TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL SECOND LEG MATCH AT ARMADALE ON SATURDAY 17th October (start time 7.00, doors open 6.00) are: EDINBURGH BORDER ROOFING MONARCHS: Craig Cook (capt.), Justin Sedgmen, Kevin Wolbert, Erik Riss, Sam Masters, Max Clegg, Rob Branford. GLASGOW ALLIED VEHICLE TIGERS: Richard Lawson, rider replacement for Kauko Nieminen, Aaron Summers, Nick Morris, Victor Palovaara, Hynek Stichauer, James Sarjeant. Pairing Summers & Morris could be quite a shrewd move as it ensures that their recognised 2nd & 3rd heat leaders appear in heats 12 & 14 and Morris could also cover ht 8 as r/r. The downside is that Palovaara plus reserve appear to be a weaker pairing in three heats, though it does avoid either Morris or Summers having to face Edinburgh's powerhouse pairing of Cook & Masters in heat 13. I believe Dave Robinson will be the referee for this match.

Quite optimistic as he has not impressed in this years World U-21. Fricke, who is only a few months older, has done better in the World U-21 and has had decent performances regularly riding in Poland & Sweden also. (He has also won three Oz U-21s on the trot to Kurtz's nil) IMO Max at this point in time is technically better, albeit less exciting to watch, than Brady. Anyway as things stand, either Smarzlik or Piotr Pawlicki are more likely to be the Champ inside 7 years.

Reckon Tigers will be expecting Sarjeant at reserve to continue his devastating performances from the gate and will ensure that r/r and reserve swapping will be used for maximum effect. Therefore predict that Stichauer will be r/r in first heat and thereafter will given the tougher reserve rides, which is the sensible thing to do. Have the referees for the two legs been announced yet btw ?

Will Friday's meeting be the first time that the floodlights have been used at Ashfield ? If so, remembering the problems they had when they installed a new starting gate, I hope they are fully tested before Friday.

According to a post on Liveupdates the ref was Michael Brecon (Darlington)

The only pattern that is emerging is that you're one of a growing band of Whinging Wurzels who bleat whenever things don't go their way, Bet you weren't at Redcar anyway, oh and btw, the ref was not Scottish either - he resides in Workington, so I suppose the conspiracy theorists will reckon it was one Cumbrian favouring another, The insinuation by some on here that Scottish refs are either incompetent/biased is racist and is one of many reasons why Little Englanders have an unpopular reputation with other nationalities. Rant over, well done Tigers and look forward to a super Final.

Be interesting to see how many Celtic F.C. Season ticket holders will be taking up this offer of freebies for the match :- http://www.celticfc.net/news/9255 Will the Tigers be appearing in green stripes and now be known as the Tiger Bhoys

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Is Rasmus Jensen unavailable on Sunday ?

Teams as per Official Edinburgh website:- TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER PLAYOFF SEMI-FINAL SECOND LEG MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 9th October (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are: EDINBURGH BORDER ROOFING MONARCHS: Craig Cook (capt.), Justin Sedgmen, Kevin Wolbert, Erik Riss, Sam Masters, Max Clegg, Rob Branford. PETERBOROUGH READYPOWER PANTHERS: Rohan Tungate (guest), Michael Palm Toft, Anders Thomsen, Simon Lambert, Ben Barker, Emil Grondal, Rafal Konopka. Although at full strength, Edinburgh will have three riders who might not be fully fit because of recent injuries and illness (Clegg, Masters, & Wolbert), so this match could go either way, especially if Grondal goes as well as his fellow Dane, Jensen did from reserve last Friday.

See the usual suspects fail to answer the question originally asked. You fail to recognise that family groups with young kids might prefer Sunday meetings at Ashfield and could give it a miss venturing to Possilpark on Friday night. Still if it keeps the old goats happy to enjoy a late night visit to the pub on a Friday after the Speedway, never mind if the attendances drop.

Like to back that claim up with impartial evidence , Not aware of any incidents at Armadale stadium requiring police attendance - can the same be said for the Possilpark area surrounding the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium ? In the past couple of years I recall exiting Ashfield at the end of a Sunday derby to find the police controlling crowd movement as they had taped off an area surrounding the Ashfield Bar. Do you or any of your pals recall this and what had happened ?

At the League Cup Final, it was noticeable that there were a large number of young children present. I wonder if anyone has consulted their parents as to whether they would prefer taking their offspring to Possilpark on a Sunday afternoon or a Friday evening/night