wjm

Has that not happened several times over already…. The battle cry on here for a while was that dropping Complin to improve scores on the road was the way to go… A counter of dropping a rider like Complin, who, entertained and scored heavily at home, for riders who would perform steadily away was surely always going to be vulnerability at home…(more so when you have a Number 1 guest who has such an off night). Thus far the experiment and need to score more on the road has worked, respectable enough scores around Glasgow, Redcar and to a lesser extent Edinburgh have been countered by that lack of stability at home a rider like Complin brought. Yet, like a few other things, when it suits, that’s just forgotten about very quickly.. Replacing a rider with the scoring power of Complin on his average at home was always, a: going to be prove difficult, and b: probably going to take more than a few meetings to solve or to truly establish how that experiment had worked. If you wish for a side that is built for “all around strength” and not simply strength at home, maybe best to let them race a few meetings (home and away) to really get a clear picture of how things are going to play out. “social media”, forums, facebook sites etc, for all their strengths really have a lot to answer for, they seem to have created this real knee-jerk mentality in fans..add in shows like X-Factor, and BGT everyone now seems to think you need to make a definitive decision on things right away, either black, or white, no grey, and that’s it and you can never stray from that opinion. Tis especially nuclear on Berwick threads where each week turns into a Lord of The Rings style saga, yet pretty much the same issues persists at 80% of tracks in the country yet their fans seem to move on, or “get over it” pretty quickly…

I can see where you are coming from re the fancy dress thing… The fancy dress/signs thing does seem very PL Darts, where it has worked pretty well, it will be interesting to see how it transfers over….. I have always thought that Sky probably have Speedway pigeon holed somewhere along with PL Darts in their sports catalogue, PL Darts is a decent enough watch which is made all the more engaging by the crowd interaction, it is a pretty well packaged sport which has managed to break into a more main stream audience, something Speedway has never really managed to do. They do have their differences, but if you were to watch them both as a neutral, and take the emotion out of it….one stands well above the other in terms of “I would try that” IMO. Speedway does need to find a “new audience” and “target market” to subsidise the hardcore following, a decent laugh and a night out has worked well with Cricket (20/20) and Darts, it is a road speedway should have went down a while ago.

Is “shop window” marketing not a bit dated? Are Berwick Rangers really a staple to use as an example of how “shop window marketing” does work? At their last home game Berwick Rangers were playing in a match that still had a lot riding on it and attracted a crowd of 627…. The attraction of a Sky meeting will probably do more for “marketing” Berwick than a paper in a shop window would. The pure attraction of a meeting being on Sky will see Berwick attracting more main stream media publicity than usual in the local area you would imagine, thus increasing the awareness of what is seen as a “big event” in the area. Pearson and Co do a good job of putting a positive spin on a meeting and selling it to the general public, more so than a few on here do…..

Being ever the optimist, I will stick my neck out and say Berwick will make a decent enough meeting of this….. Have enough riders to create a bit of interest around Armadale IMO.

I was only factoring in loan fee, there could of course be other contributing factors, Dyer was evidently going to be in more of a demand than Edberg was over the winter, thus could have been in a decent position when it came to brokering a deal (I wouldn’t want to speculate, but there are always other factors). Dyer for Edberg would have fitted in terms of points, I am questioning, thinking of outside factors such as cost, which may have meant it didn’t fit in terms of business plan. I use Sanchez (just as a speculative example) of a rider who could have been seen as a cheaper alternative option to Aspegen, thus to make Dyer affordable. If, for example, the budget was say £100 per the points scored ( I have no clue what riders get paid just speculative figures to show my point). You pay Dyer £60 (again, a guess) and Aspegren wants £60.00, you go over your £100.00 budget, and thus need to look at Sanchez as £40.00 replacement to take you within your £100.00. Is it worth signing Dyer to miss out on Aspegren? I am not convinced it is. I am not saying this is what has happened either, but there are always contributing factors to why riders have, and haven’t signed for clubs. Throw in the spanner in the works late on with Berwicks team building, you have another additional factor as to why the decision could have been made not to retain Dyer at an earlier date (despite his excellent form for Berwick, and form this season, I would say it is obviously appreciated that he is a talented rider).

I would disagree that it is a mistake whatever way you look at….. If the inclusion of Dyer and the loan fee had stretched the budget to the point that it meant, as an example, missing out on an Aspegren and having to go with say a Sanchez, I would have considered that a bigger mistake. (as ultimately across the course of the season the inclusion of a Aspegren and Edberg as opposed to a Sanchez and Dyer would leave Berwick better off). Edberg, thus far is doing a perfectly reasonable job for a rider in a reserve jacket coming back from an injury. The reality is, if things are to pick up for Berwick this season, riders other than Edberg need to up their performances. You could say Berwick should have signed “Barker instead of Ashworth” “Doyle instead of Aspegren” “Stead instead of Barret”, that is stating the obvious, the reality is, that it doesn’t work like that. Promotions need to run their club (and team building) like a business and work within a budget. There is a fine line between doing that, and having a “winning mentality”, it doesn’t take much over the course of a season to knock teams plans of course, it is how you recover from the bumps in the road that will ultimately mould a season.

Reasons for Dyer not being in the Berwick side have already been covered……and logically explained by one of the more informed and respected posters on this form (luluthetiger). Edberg has had scores of paid 7, 8, paid 6 at home and 4 (away) they scores are more than reasonable for a rider signed on a 4.00 average at reserve, despite a poor score on Saturday, the reality is, if Edberg continues to score as he has (at home) and picks up away, he will go on to have a decent season. Thank fook half the people who post on this forum aren’t advisors to Kim Jong-un…., it does come across like a bit of a who can over-react the most contest…

That's because your an attention seeking twit...troll

When you have an actual average that shows you to be one of the better riders in the league, you are evidently one of the better riders in the league, it really isn’t that hard to work out....

Meetings that have happened and averages come in handy for things like that. He doesn’t just have a number 1 on his back his scores are those of a Number 1, I refer to my earlier post, his figure 8.84 is a “Number 1” figure at the majority of tracks in the country in both the EL and PL, only Ward and Holder carried higher RA averages in the EL last season than that figure, I don’t consider the EL to only have 2 riders who I would class as a “Number 1”. Would I put money on him against a guy like Barker, Doyle or Cook home and away, probably not, because the split would be pretty equal, and thus it wouldn’t be a safe bet either way. Around Berwick I would say you would be speaking 60/40 when it comes to Ashworth v Barker, and pretty comparable around, previously Plymouth, or now, Ipswich, the margins are pretty fine when it comes to one off races between the better riders in the PL.

Ashworths average, of 8.84, that figure would see him lining up as number 1 at every club in the country bar Poole, Glasgow, Ipswich, Plymouth, Somerset, Sheffield and Rye (and three of the sides have assessed riders at number 1). Yes, he is a number 1.

Ashworths recent career, and form last season show as fact that he is a “Number 1” he is as “Number a 1” as you are likely to get at PL level, and has actually won plenty of “big heats”. His score last night is out of character rather than the norm, first meeting back since a pretty heavy off, as well as the addition that he is just racing his first few meetings back anyway after a heavy injury last year, possibly he wasn’t 100%, I wouldn’t know (some may be critical if he wasn’t, although some may praise Ashworths commitment to the cause). Berwick seem to have done everything in their power to chuck this tie away, at home and away, same time though, fair play Redcar, that’s a hell of an effort.

Which is an education issue, nothing to do with Darcy Ward..

Yes, it is. Parents lletting it be that their child is saying "Darcy Ward is my role model I want to live my life like him" is a fault of a parent, it isn't a thing to do with Darcy Ward.

And that's a result of poor parenting it is nothing to do with Ward, he isn't a "professional role model"

No, I am grasping it.... There is a difference between a sporting hero, and a role model. I like Darcy Ward I want to live my life like Darcy Ward They are different things.

Bit of a difference between a sports star you like, and a “role model”. A “role model” is someone that you aspire to be like, a good example to follow. Parents who pass of sportsman as a “role model” for their kids, nah not for me. Going to a speedway meeting and saying “be like that guy under a helmet who you know literally next to nothing about, thats who you should aspire to be”. Ward, Holder, Batchelor, they are professional athletes, guys doing a job, that is all.

Olympic athletes were put on a pedestal during the summer, an example to follow, an inspiration, “why cant our footballers be more likely the Olympians”. It is a fair point, Oscar Pistorius was one of the “role models” of the summer. The following article highlights issues far greater than Ward and Holders.... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/olympics/article-2190409/London-2012-Olympics-Drug-cheats-prospering--Dick-Pound.html

I have read the “they are role models” line a few times on this thread, anyone that places or has the need to use a professional sportsman as a “role model” for either themselves, or the children they are bringing up, is off their nut IMO.

#prayfordarcy

Never has the following been more true than the mention of Wards name on this forum...

Ermelenko is rank rotten, he has never added anything to Sky’s coverage, Speedway has been on Sky for 10 years (I think) and it is still uncomfortable watching him. I found the Louis and Steachmens chat about bike setup more interesting than anything Louis has done with the board, should be something they work with rather than lines drawn on a board, works on MNF but not on Speedway.

And after Berwick refused him every club in the PL had the chance to speak to him, and thus missed out, on current form he would strengthen any side, thus clubs made a mistake not signing him. The question you are suggesting be asked is, did you sign a rider because their Dad bought race suits? The answer is No, sure it's a "valid" question. As valid as asking Somerset if they signed Doyle on the basis that Barack Obama is black, ie not valid at all...

And it is a valid enough question, the "was it because of team suits" point however, is ridiculous. Thus far Edberg has been performing well enough, if he is to continue like he has at home and pick up away he will have more than done his job. You could put forward a logical point that every club in the PL made a mistake by not signing Dyer, it is hardly rocket science....

"Rumour" being the key.... Could also factor in asset, countered by a loan fee, cost of getting Dyer over etc... Edberg has performed well this season, already beat guys like Pijper and Ostergaard around Berwick. Plenty clubs slipped up by not signing Dyer, other riders must have had suits closer to the clubs coulours... I mean that's clearly the only logical explanation....