Brummie Kev

Just watched the highlights on Eurosport, what was their reason for totally missing out heats 3 and 4 then Heats 11 and 12. Shambles!! Track looked woeful in the heats I saw, is there a water shortage in Vetlanda as that track looked so dry and dusty.

Adult Admission to this meeting is only £7 OR £19 for 2 adults and 2 children, thanks to an offer by Amazon local http://local.amazon.co.uk/Birmingham-UK/B00KBP37OK?ref_=site_more&cid=site_more#deal Should be a good match, Zmarzlik's home debut and always love watching Peter Kildemand around Perry Barr.

Would have preferred us to go there with a full side, I don't think having Josh G in for Barker weakens us much but not having Paul Starke certainly does. One of the in form reserves in the league.

I'm not surprised at all, the forecast has been dreadful for today and a rain off was always likely. A shame really as, I'm sure everyone was looking forward to the debut of Zmarzlik but that will be at Coventry on Friday or his home debut against Swindon on Monday.

RIP Simmo

I would go for 1. King 2. Covatti 3. Barker 4. Nermark 5. Zmarzlik King at 1, hes done okay in the last few meetings at Perry Barr. I would prefer to keep Zmarzlik away from Nermark , so number 5 it is. Two rides with BB and two with Danny. I just hope Jack Lee puts Covatti at 2, I see hes at 4 again tomorrow which makes no sense . You want your better second string at 4, esp if meetings run close. Nico can be good but can also be bad, nermark done well this year, makes better sense to have him at 4. Lets hope he isnt another Sowka then but from what Ive seen of him he looks really good, just has limited experience on the smaller tracks.

Zmarzlik making his debut on Wednesday against Belle Vue, Jack said after the Eastbourne match that Brummies likely to use R/R for Skornicki. Given our dreadful away form, Im not expecting a point in this but I do hope we can avoid a big defeat.

6.50 Assesed average

WOW! , great signing for the Brummies and the Elite League. Good to see us signing a young, talented rider like Bartosz Zmarzlik and I hope he can adapt to British tracks. Credit to Alan for pulling this off and I hope he's rewarded with a big crowd against Belle Vue on Wednesday and beyond. I'm not expecting big things straight away as its all new to him but Perry Barr isnt a bad track for Pole to adapt to. The Pawlicki brothers, Janowski ,the Szcepaniak brothers have all showed their liking at times for the track, and even Tomasz Piszcz back in the Pl days!! Welcome to the Brummies Bartosz, would be great if we see some of this (white helmet) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxMZmvhikso

Fantastic meeting, some terrific racing all night, so pleased we got all the points after what has been a dismal season. Credit to Eastbourne for sticking with it, safe journey home to the fans that made the trip up. Barkers ride in Heat 15 was one of his best ever in my opinion, MOTM performance. The track was quite slick and dusty by then but it was clear he was hell bent on getting past both Eagles riders and that's what he did. Heat 8 Nermark/Lahti battle was something else, and King passing both Eastie riders in Heat 10 was another highlight, could go on forever . Danny did great but really impressed with Paul Starke once again, really coming up with the goods this season. Looks like Adam is out for about 6 weeks , Alan said when interviewed he is looking to sign someone as a temporary replacement until hes fit. Will be amazed if they pull off the signing of the "top rider" Chris mentioned to Alan aswell.

There was an interview with Alan Phillips on WM this morning, says the club will have to race at a lower level Premier or even National League if the crowds dont improve. I'm not surprised to hear that at all. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01z0n7j - interview starts 49 minutes in.

Had the same thing happen myself, normally I would screw esp with Tai in the final. However with that rubbish last night, it was no mega deal, just saw the result on the updates site. Well Done Matej!! A total shambles, I mean a track with long straights and a narrow entry to the bends is a recipe for a gate and go borefest. Way too slick, Ruts appearing, almost every race with riders lifting violently off bend two. To compound the misery they overwatered the track during the interval which made it way too greasey! !! Not one of the SGPs finest hours and we go to Prague next for more gate and go speedway!

Average field?, who you expecting Gollob, Emil, Hancock to ride. Pretty happy they have asked riders that rode so well for us to come back for thr opening meeting, just hope Smoli and Nico make it.

This Thursday as is the sponsorship, thats what Druey said in the Sunday mercury Regarding the Selco Classic, all the riders that rode for us last year, plus Skornicki and Kennett have been invited, so has Freddie Lindgren.

http://instagram.com/p/kW8TYVKaRQ/ Sneak preview of Brummies new kevs, not much but shows Selco are on them, which is good news

Average too high sadly

I think thats the case, according to todays Mail its unclear whether Selco are continuing with their sponsorship of the Brummies for 2014 season and the announcement of the last rider is being put back until its sorted. When the sponsorship is decided, Im sure the last rider will be announced the same time to give maximum exposure.

Thats pretty much what I hope for, a team that can hold its own at home and a possible 7th/8th place finish. In reality I dont see that, the side is too lightweight at the top end, which will be our undoing. Even if we keep it tight in home matches, if it goes to last heat deciders we are screwed. Look at most of the EL teams, alot of sides top 2 are better than our number 1. Every EL side should have a number 1, currently there are 10 riders in teams with an average of 8 or higher, not one is at Birmingham or Leicester. I think there should have been resctrictions in place so EVERY side has a top rider, no disrespect to Danny King but he isnt a number 1. Its just a farce to me that the likes of Kings Lynn and Swindon can field two 8pters whilst there are team/s in the same league that dont have one. People may say that because Birmingham had big money issues, the intention was to not sign a number 1 at all. Maybe thats the case but it was said in the Speedway Star that both Leicester and Birmingham were in talks to sign Kenneth Bjerre, but he went to KL who already have a world class rider in Niels. Its just wrong, obviously some teams can offer better deals than others and riders naturally will go where that is but what about the teams that arnt in that postion. If rules arnt in place to help the less well off teams, then you will just have a two tier Elite League. I feel we will the whipping boys of the league like Mildenhall were in the Premier League.

Well it looks like he wont be riding in Britain next year, as no PL team can currently fit him in. A real shame as hes an entertaining rider that when riding well is good to watch. So what happened to full time Brummies or full time Premier League next year that was said by Graham at a fans talk in. As an Asset, if hes not going to be part of our team, we should have found him a PL spot. Dont believe the interest wasnt there when he put 1.5 on his EL average last year.

Did he race in the same Polish team as THJ last season?

I think we need to sign a rider that can stick 2pts on his average, as I do worry about the side if we dont. We dont have an out and out number 1 and I dont see significant improvement in the top 4 to compenstate. I understand the need to cut costs but is the sitauation that bad that we cant afford a number 1. It begs the question that perhaps we should have gone Premier League where costs can be cut and possibly a more competitive side could have been put out especially with Covatti, L Lindgren and Rusty Harrison as assets. With all the Midland sides in the El then thats one big reason why we havent but is the PL our level given the crowds we get and the losing so much money even after two sucessful seasons in the EL

Excellent Choice, Smoli went from reserve to number 1 in a season, not many do that, fantastic achievement.

No weak links!! 1. No out and out number 1 2. No rider that can significantly increase their avearge 3. Not the best reserve pairing but may not be the worse either. Either way alot of the better teams also have better reserves i.e Garrity at Coventry, Kerr at Kings Lynn etcc After last season playoffs are never on , its all about building a side that can stem the losses of the last two years. My hope for this year is 7th/8th place and to have a decent home record, whilst at the same time having a better year off the track. Alot will depend on the last signing for that to happen.

Yeah but they also have one of the most talented young riders around in Robert Lambert, would not surprise me if he does reallly well, perhaps not to start with but average around 5 by the end of the season, then look at their reserve pairing which is one of the best. Its fair to say their objective is to win the league and ours is just be build a side with a budget but even still we are both in the same league and gulf in class is scary. Like I said, we could get away with no number 1 but there needs to be improvenent down the order, look at the last two seasons. 2012- Bjarne Pedersen poor number 1 but we had Josh Auty who stuck two points on his average at reserve. It meant we always had strongish rider at reserve and also Danny King went from a 6.41 average to a 7.3 average by the end. The lack of a number 1 was noticeable but we were stronger down the bottom which meant we finished in the palyoffs. 2013- Harris signed as a number 1 but didnt live up to being a number 1. Even still we had Martin Smolinski who put on 2pts on his average, Covatti half a point, Doyle a point whilst King and Barker maintained their average. It more than made up for no number 1 as we finished top of the league. Where so far is that "Smolinski or Auty" type rider that can make up for the fact of no number 1 as has done in previous seasons, hope GD can find it for the last signing.

Pleased with the signing of Skornicki, without a doubt a good honest pro that will a do a solid job for us on a low 6pt average. Theres a part of me thats disapointed with the team as the top end looks weak. Looking at other sides, some teams top 2 are better than our number 1. Danny's had a great 2013 but the one time he strugged was when he spent a short period at number 1 as lets be honest he's a 2nd/3rd heatleader in this league. That would have been okay if we had riders down the order that could stick 1/2 pts on their averages to compensate but wheres the improvement coming from. Barker and Skornicki may stick half a point on their averages but dont see Kennett improving much and other teams have better reserves. Obviously the main aim for the club to get it in a better shape financially after 2 terrible seasons and fingers crossed this side achieves that, but it needs to be balanced with a side that can be competitive and hold its own. The lack of top end firepower does worry me alot, after the first set of averages our number 1 could well be a rider on 6.8 average or something around that!!! Compare that with Kings Lynn for example where Iversen and Bjerre will be on 9 and 8pts respectively, the gulf is too big in my opinion.