marko

A loss at home to Poole in 3 weeks and the Hammers will have only won half of all their home meetings, that is even worse than the Hammers performance from 2006 when they finished bottom of 11 and Big Ron was in charge!

Sorry but the old "riders don't earn if they don't score" has been completely shot down once it was exposed that many of them are on contracts where they get a set amount of points money below a certain threshold, especially when guesting. It was why PK was sacked from Lakeside last season because he was seldom scoring the points they were actually paying him for as a minimum rate!

I always enjoy meetings where the track rewards riders who are prepared to attack it, it completely exposed the likes of KK and Batchelor for type of riders they are but i am not saying they are the only riders in the world like that, there are plenty outside of the grand prix series who are the same and wet themselves every time there is a little moisture in the track.

Batch showing his usual liking for heavy tracks, KK will be just as bad i am sure

Very surprised to read the comments in the speedway star this week which seems to paint a very dark cloud hanging over the future of speedway at Arena Essex, I knew plans were in the pipeline but all of a sudden it seems to have taken a more menacing angle, if the site is not going to have room for the speedway then the four wheeled motorsport must also be in jeopardy, though frankly from what I have heard down the years I would be amazed if the Woodrolf family were to sell up out of choice, I also know someone who frequents the car track quite a lot just to have a burn up and he has never said anything about that being in danger of ending, is this threat real or is it simply another speedway promoter crying wolf because large amounts of their fan base have walked because the state the sport is in?

Absolutely right Gambo but Coventry choose to go the honest approach and are now getting fined for it which frankly i find pathetic, would they have been fined if what you suggested had happened? would they have been fined if Chris and Joonas has gone out then both retired from the race before the first turn?

I tell you what would be really good is if another part of the stadium could be used and a slightly more rounded track installed with a smaller track inside which could be used for the Hagon Shocks academy.

I think Starke for Birks makes Hammers stronger and Watty for Nilsson is neither a loss or a gain, on paper Hammers look like a team that should be able to go to a small track and be competitive but the age old problem of being poor travelers seems to continually haunt us, at this point i have no idea on how many Aces will win by but they will certainly win and more than likely by more than 8, as a neutral best we can hope for is Hammers gate and the entertainment is provided by Zager and Co working their way through.

I blame Bryn, he's jinxed it by saying it's not going to rain Kim was foolish their sticking to the inside, if meeting keeps going, track will be a leveller.

Would not be a sky night without some rain, and looking at the radar its very much on its way

Why not just have a meeting format then of just 10 heats? costs in wages will be less, they can charge the fans less and the fans will not have to stand around for so long. The BSPA and Sky have engineered the whole situation and i for one do not feel sorry for them if they loose money over it. I do feel sorry for the fans though, but its a clear message to all though, if there is any doubt about rain, do not attend!

Only just got in from work so missed all this evenings entertainment, however knowing how the cricket was affected today i had a feeling something like this was on the cards, Sky have an awful lot to answer for, they have done absolutely nothing for the sport, in fact they have done more harm than good but equally i blame the promoters who let them get away with it and possibly even brought the whole scenario on themselves. If the sport can't even get the tracks right on the biggest stage of all, what chance is there for the minnows that the British Elite League.

Said in jest i know but your actually correct, should have never been called Lakeside in the first place!

The problem is the FTR system is really an asset system, if you have good contracted riders you can hold on to them, which means if you finish bottom of the league one year despite having the first pick the next still end up with almost no choices because the other seven or eight clubs have already protected the Garrity's and Newman's of this world. It should either be a free for all which means any FTR rider can be drafted to any track based on who has first pick or some sort of average/grading system should be used because the difference between some of these riders is huge.

Is this the same Jon Cook who was co promoter at Eastbourne often bending every rule in the book and using every trick up his sleeve to screw other teams over including my own beloved Hammers! Now he pretends that never happened and he is somehow holier than thou and wants to put everything right? Too late Mr Cook, sooner he jumps back into bed with the Dugard family the better.

If Jon comes out and says that the Hammers are staying put then for me it is the end of the debate.

Since i will be working i will not be able to attend this upcoming fans meeting but i hope whilst some things will naturally be asked to remain "within these walls" I hope the future will be openly clarified, having the Kent racetrack available on a Friday though is not great news for the simple reason that i cannot see Lakeside Speedway agreeing to it much the same way as Rye House would not want Lakeside to race on a Saturday night, therefore in conclusion i can only assume that the planning permission for a Friday night would be to allow the "Hammers" to change location. We all no how much the doubling up of riders has grown to the size it has but fans doubling or even tripling up has been going on for many decades, certainly when there were more tracks around and so no promoter would want to see true competition by having to race the same night as a geographically close rival.

Curfews are no longer a problem now so long as the match has got to heat 10

Baring in mind the most if not all the management team reside south of the river it will be no great loss to them personally should a move to Kent be required or made out of choice if they felt the net gain would offset any loss. Such a move would not nessesarily mean the end of speedway at the venue, but as far as Friday nights it would, ps I am aware that drift events at the circuit are extremely popular and I am given to believe a lot of these take place on Fridays so maybe that is a potential factor, but my personal opinion has always been Friday night is the worst possible night you could have for this location, call me an old git by all means but I miss the days when Arena were in the then National League, racing Saturday's at 7pm.

Its a common rumor CB252 but much like last weeks election exit poll, nothing is certain until the facts come out.

Even if 200 turn up for these forums, that's barely 20% of the total fan base, mind you if they carry on as they are, that 200 is all they will probably have left. Sometimes rumors are positive, sometimes negative, sometimes there is a element of truth to them, sometimes they could not be further from the truth but never the less rumors and gossip are a part of everyday life, with the best will in the world you will never stop them, take weather forecasting for example, that's effectively just rumor and gossip too, you can't tell a weather forecaster your not allowed to say its going to rain or anything negative because it will put people off going out. And don't forget this whole thing with Lakeside maybe? moving came about allegedly from one of these see called forums!

Maybe a forum on the clubs future is more important than assessing what's gone before? what are the intentions for 2016? If your going to do a Terry Russell on us then at least be honest about it, that way it gives time for prospective businessmen or maybe a fans group to come in and start a fresh maybe using the original Arena Essex moniker like what happened in 1996, if you want to move to Kent then fill your boots but if the stadium is still available you cannot surely object to someone else running an operation from there hopefully in the PL.

I see that the Hammers have booked Rory Schlein for AJ and Poole have booked PK for Janowski and Blackbird for Newman, I got this down as another home defeat. Who would have thought this time last season that we would end up facing a team a year later with Davey and PK on the other side of the pits?

Would be very surprised if Lakeside did not at least complete the season but i do expect it all to end in a whimper than a bang, unfortunately since Stuart Douglas became something of a silent partner its not the same club, he was always very much a fans man and people could see that, what they have left is the sort of people that think they know best and the fans are stupid and not worthy of having an opinion let alone voicing it, you even see evidence of that on here, I think you know who i mean!

Not the first time this season so goes to show they have done absolutely nothing about it, if this is how you treat your staff its no wonder that sometimes they might think twice before breaking a sweat.