Fourentee

Good for you, well said. From the outside looking in I'm not going to pretend that it's a line-up to strike fear into the rest of the league, but keeping together the bulk of the team that did so well last season will surely help with togetherness and confidence. My reservation would be the potential damage to that confidence from facing what looks a strong Poole side early on, but if Somerset could at least win the home fixture that would be a good foundation on which to build. I admire the Rebels for stepping up to the top flight, even in its current diluted form. Hope you can make a go of it.

I would imagine it's based on two premises: One, that Klindt is widely regarded as the rider with the best bargain average for 2017; two, that Matt Ford (with far-reaching contacts and asset base) has shown himself willing to make mid-season changes to improve the team. Put those together and speculation will naturally start. Not every post is made from a standpoint of being rabidly anti-Poole, you know.

I don't know if it's still the case, but historically something of the seal of the confessional applied at NSSC meetings in order that those answering the questions could speak freely without too much fear of comebacks. Not sure in this social media age if that's still the case. If so Gambo, unless that post was somewhat guarded, may be something of a marked man, woman or bee...

Howarth is the surprise for me. Is there potential for improvement there? History tells us that fairly radical overhauls -- signing riders with potential to add to their averages -- is the way to go. Wolves preach loyalty and that's to be admired. But is it, ultimately, the path to repeated success? Or to put it another way, are we content with the knowledge that the management get it right frequently enough to bring more titles than most and repeatedly employ riders to such an effect that they become identified as Monmore legendst -- PK Lindgren and so forth? Or do we want to be Poole? Discuss...

I take the point, but if that's what it takes to get these teams to the start line then fair enough. I don't see successful businessmen/women rushing to invest in the sport right now.

Thanks for the updates, much appreciated.

So do I! Edit: Not easy though, is it? Masters would mean some very low averages at the bottom end; no Masters would surely mean less firepower in the top five. Hmmm...

It's not wholly beyond imagination that he might have taken NSS to be Nuneaton Speedway Supporters (Club). You never know...

Hardly that, I would have thought. CVS has always maintained that riders will ride where they wish to do so. It's rare that he continually tries to persuade a rider to sign if he senses initial reluctance. Personally I'm a bit concerned that we might be heading in the direction of one of those 'rabbit from the hat' three-pointers (now two-pointers!) of whom no-one else has heard previously, a la Stichauer and Burmeister. Both gave of their best and there were other reasons why it didn't work out, but even so... I await Stevebrum's bulletin with fascination!

Excellent news for speedway in general and the beleaguered Coventry supporters in particular. Councillor Stokes evidently deserves the warmest of praise from all of us. However...some would say that now is not the time to introduce caveats. I would argue that this is the precise moment to do so. While the sport is seemingly guaranteed for 2017, I fear that unless it proves to be a profitable venture all the old questions and doubts will resurface, notwithstanding the lease being agreed for a further two years. It's hardly my place to urge fans of another club to attend meetings when, through work issues, I see only a handful of meetings a season myself. But unless they do so, I suspect the outlook in the short term -- seasons 2018 and 2019 -- may be put in doubt and the long-term future, concerning an alternative venue, go on the back burner altogether. These are grim times for our sport and I have no wish to be a prophet of doom. Today may be a day for cheer. But it also marks day one of what will be a long slog. Good luck anyway.

That's a dreadful state of affairs. My sympathies to the Bees fans.

Ah ha, you have convinced yourself! I would have thought if anything the importance of reserves has increased, given that they now have to mix it more with other riders higher up the pecking order. Unless, of course, you mean a strong pair is not as important and you can get by with one strong reserve. I haven't explained that particularly well, but I think you get the gist.

More of a ponder given his average and previous Monmore employment, really.

For what it's worth I don't see KK's scoring quite matching what Holder would have got. But the extra value lower down the order should more than outweigh any slight difference. Poole, as ever, shaping up to be a very competitive side. Shame from a Wolves perspective if Klindt does end up at Wimborne Road, always assuming CVS wanted him at Monmore. Obviously a steal on that average. But riders will go where riders want to go, so we deal with it and move on.

Branford a good signing, IMHO. Attractive line-up overall, too. Looking forward to resuming visits to Rye, which has been a rare port of call for me since student days in the late seventies.

For the record, having just looked it up, 3.61 and 5.52. His away average was the same as that of one F Lindgren, though I'm clearly drawing no comparisons here...

Agreed. Can't have your toffee and your ha'penny, as they say up north.

I suspect if you started a petition you wouldn't be short of signatories round Brandon way. Very impressive team building from Rye thus far. You always hope that teams moving up can be competitive from the off.

Wiser thoughts quickly prevailed there, I suspect! Put some form on, then!

Gosh, I had no idea. To think I've missed that. The Swindon thread, you say? I'll be right over in the next week or two.

Given how little you care about what Stevebrum thinks of you, one might be a tad surprised about the length at which you point it out...

Fair point, but in theory you could probably say the same about Monmore (at least from a size perspective) and we all know how that works out. I would expect him to find a way.

At least they didn't return to the previous effort, where the bottom two top-tier clubs (Peterborough and Wolves) played each other for the right to face the top second-tier side (Edinburgh). "What happens if we lose this pre play-off match?" "You get two extra pay days against a much weaker side." Hmm.

Couldn't have put it better. Will be a huge miss to the sport.