CB252

Total farce not to have confirmation of the guest yet.

He beat Bates and Greenwood in his first, Thorssell in a three rider race when the equally poor King fell, got 5-1d by Wells and Blackbird in a shambolic heat 9 showing and slithered to a win over PK in a rain storm in 14. He can and must do better.

I think most will understand totally what I meant by that comment. Musielak got 4 and Thorssell just 1. If somebody had told me that beforehand I'd have expected a win. Any less from Fred and PK and the Bees could have nicked this despite a dreadfully sub par showing from 4 of the top 5.

It'll be intetesting to see how this affects Wolves. Thorssell will no doubt improve at 2 or 4, but will it lessen PKs scoring power being a heat leader? I'd actually put PK at three if I were Wolves, as the fact that he and Freddie were kept apart in the first 14 heats gave Wolves a stronger look and papered over the cracks in the rest of the top five on the night.

Apart from the B fixture last year in which he was the lowest scoring reserve on either team but the Bees still won?! This wasn't lost at reserve it was lost because four of our top five were woeful (including Joonas despite what some are posting). Wolves had two heat leaders that only scored 5 points between them and Wells only got 6 but they weren't made to pay. I do love your match reports Steve. Unbiased to the end (all incidents always the fault of the opposition! ). They remind me of the sort of match report that I'd have written about meetings at Brandon when I was 12!

Bloomin' 'eck woman, give it a rest, how could you tell the track was bad from the radio? It was prepared superbly as Monmore generally is. Great meeting that was somewhat marred by the wet finish that was needless given the forecast and the black clouds overhead that were a dead give away. Why take an interval? Sarjeants absence had little impact as I predicted earlier. The Bees lost this with some dreadful performances in the top 5 (Robbo apart). Still, to be two points down going into 15 when you've ridden poorly is a good achievement. Much better required at King's Lynn or a drubbing awaits.

Don't think you can write the Bees off just because of Greenwood being in the line up. I've rarely seen Sarj do well at Monmore, so he'd probably have only taken points off Bates anyway. I think Dan is more than capable of nicking a point or two off Bates. The key to this is our top 5 all performing and chipping in so as to nulify the importance of the Blackbired v Garrity match up.

One of the biggest obstacles to British rider progression in the UK leagues is the way in which the Premier League conducts its business. It should be compulsory for every team to have two Brits occupying the reserve berths.

Dan is in tonight according to his website. He's also got a PL gig at Rye House. Great news for the lad and richly deserved.

Yep, total farce. Andersen also rides for Lakeside at Leicester and then, according to a tweet he made, misses the Bees match there on the 9th May! Can anyone see any of the remaining wood on the coffin so we can get another nail in?

You can gladly have him back. Would rather run a junior at 1, which we effectively did tonight!

Also, the number one is an embarrassment and should have been put in the stocks on the centre black after the match! Worst performance from a Bees number 1 in the history of the club (including Kasprzak 2013 model).

This shouldn't stop us from qualifying for the Playoffs and our shot at being the losing finalists. Writing ominously on the wall for the rest of the League. I think even the Poole fans are tiring of it now! Worst thing really was the atrocious racing once again (Harris apart) and the total lack of anything resembling entertainment to encourage anyone to attend again.

Pouring with rain in the City Centre.

Just poor fixture planning then, and looking tough for Vue to gain anything at a must win venue.

Is Doyle missing the Pairs to ride in this, or will it be a 6 point PL rider at no 1 for Lions? Where's Zagar? Lost interest already?

Good choice of guests there. Robins should easily see off a poor looking (away from home) Lakeside team.

Last years NL was a total farce due to the uneven distribution of top riders, but this year we seem to have gone completely the other way with all teams I've seen looking little better than MDL standard. We look as though we've got 4 reserves and no heatleaders so far! At least I'll save some money as it doesn't look like away meetings will be worth bothering with!

Hancock is right. He is getting too old and over sensitive. He dealt it back to Pedersen in spades in the final, but thankfully Nicki didn't embarrass himself and managed to shake Hancock's hand at the end of the race. It's a World Final FFS. Compared to what Nielsen did to Tatum in 1990 at Odsal it was childs play. The top riders of the past used to deliver much harder moves than the guff we watch nowadays and the sport used to be all the better for it.

Sky's presentation of the EL knocks the Swedish feed that was taken last night into a cocked hat, as does the Polish coverage I watch online on Sunday's. I've watched 5 meetings in the last 5 days in 4 different Leagues and the NL and EL matches that I attended in the UK were far more entertaining than either Falubaz V Torun on Sunday and the Swedish drivel that I watched last night. The presence of multiple 'work shy' mercenaries does not a good meeting make! I think the real issue that I have with Swedish speedway is that the riders and crowd seem so emotionally detached from the teams that they represent / support. Sure the team line ups are packed with stars, but you get the impression that nobody really cares who wins or loses, which is certainly not the case in the UK or Poland. Having these superstar line ups is all well and good, but team speedway is almost always better when you have a 1-7 comprising riders of varying degrees of quality.

Once again Swedish speedway proving itself to be almost painful to watch, and that was probably the best meeting I've seen in the last 3 seasons! Dull coverage with little or no pit action or interviews between races, and a commentary team that were embarrassingly sub-standard, although did provide a few laughs with their ineptitude. I don't buy into this 'we should just be grateful they're covering it' mindset. That was an utter shambles.

So you'll pay to get into Coventry on Monday then since you won't be working.

Never surprised to be mocked by people that get in gratis and also get their programmes for free.

Agreed. Hope the club aren't going down this route permanently. I've no interest in buying a programme at any meeting. I like to print my own scorecard that goes straight in the bin as soon as I get home. Spending £2 to £3 on glossy rubbish, full of adverts, that often has the scorecard printed on an almost laminated surface is pointless, and the money I save on not buying them at the 3 Coventry meetings over the weekend can get me into Rye House on Sunday or Peterborough on Tuesday. Give us the teams in riding order!

Barring Starke, and to a lesser extent Worrall, your top 5 were useless. That's what cost you.