Laser558

If you want a new manager who could motivate and give the best advice then look no further than Mark Loram. As for Neil, you cannot blame him for the fiasco. How these so called professional riders could get it so badly wrong and still not be able to make adjustments or do anything in 25 heats beggars belief. The answer to the issue of track advantage is that meetings like these should be raced on neutral tracks. If it has to be held in the UK then use a premier league track and the final should always be at a neutral venue. Why not use tracks in Germany, Holland or Italy. Poor showing for GB and unless the sport in the UK starts to think and put Speedway UK first, things will only get worse.

What would have happened if Smith had finished fourth? Would Middlo have replaced him? This decision just makes speedway a laughing stock. Richardson is a p.ss poor rider at present and should not be given a helping hand. He should do it the hard way otherwise all the other talent further down the scale will need kiss Middlo's a..se to get anywhere. As for Kennett well he is part of that family dynasty and has close links with Middlo. No more need be said. I use to have some respect for Middlo but clearly he has brought the sport in to disrepute and true fans should stand up protest at the highest level in support of Smith who has served the speedway well despite some very difficult times both professionally and personally which is more than can be said for the two mates that Middlo has picked.

If you are looking at a squad then I would want the following available Chris Harris Mark Loram Chris Louis Joe Screen Scott Nicholls David Norris Carl Wilkinson Dean Barker Simon Stead Paul Hurry

Would rider number 9 be Pete Wigley?

If Loram is fit then then someone has to be dropped. They all went well last night and in terms of effort deserve a place in the team but I cannot help feeling that the performances were a littled flattered by the opposition. The Danes are a force but made a few mistakes and apart from some lucky breaks the Czechs and Russians were out of their league. Put the same British team up against the best the Swedes, Poles and the Danes have to offer and the task is much tougher. By all means send the same team but in the spirit of getting experience for the future and then in two or three years with perhaps Kennett and King along side Stead, Harris and Nicholls we could well start to contemplate having a good run of results at international level. If they could have started as underdogs on Saturday the pressure would be off but now I am not so sure. Still we can savour the glory of last night but must not be disappointed if they do not quite make it on Saturday our day will come.

I think you should have eight man teams, eight riders to a heat, two heats of sixteen laps. Points scored are 8 down to 1. Any eight riders for each side would do. ( A bit like meetins before a grand prix weekend) The meeting would be over in fifteen minutes, twenty at the maximum. The aggregate scores of the team riders would provide the result. No re-runs for falling riders. If a rider comes off 1 point is given to the opposing team. Race would not be stopped but simply slowed down to allow the debris to be removed from the track. In event of a draw the fans can nominate riders on leaving the stadium (no postal ballots allowed) and after a recount the following morning the BSPA could declare a result. Save problems with the weather, ballot result could be declared by each promoter having a vote. The paying public would get to see 32 laps of speedway for half the price and still have time to do something else in the evening.

Ivan Miller (Rayleigh) beat Arthur Price (Boston) in a classic race during knock out cup meeting. Rode as reserve for a few meetings J Alexander (Rayleigh) Red Ott Allan Emmett Geoff Maloney Bob Young Hughie Saunders Pete Wigley Terry Stone Tiger Beech Brian Foote Ted Hubbard

Mine would have to include in no particular order Brian Foote Arthur Price Barney Kennett Phil Crump Allan Emmett Dave Jessup Ted Hubbard A mixture of speed, skill and sheer no nonsense brutality

Absolutely brilliant. I would like to show this to all those cynics with 'the first out of the gate' rubbish. I also think some praise should go to the Czechs who dispite the low score were mixing with the best and causing a few problems. What an advert for speedway. Lets hope GB can go all the way. Don't let us down Havvy. By the way which rider invent 'uknow' and who taught them to use it as every other word in the sentence.

Grachan, Thanks for the clip. Absolutely brilliant. Do you have any more archive material. If you do I suggest you open your own website. Thanks again

Just a thought given the likliehood of the same number of teams in the Elite league in 2004. In order to avoid the monotony of seeing the same teams four times in the a league match and possibly twice in a KO cup and then once more in the play offs why not expand on the type of competition and look to attract sponsorship for each event. As an example you could have the standard league matches meeting only once home and away. Then you could have four team tournament using only the top four riders in each club. Add to this a pairs event, rounds to be held at each track and the teams must have at least two pairs of riders in this event. Then have the individual 'Golden Helmet' Championship with one meeting at each track and run on simple points system with say 16 riders in each event. 16 points for the winner down to 1 point for the 16th finsher. Then the knock out cup and finally the inter league cup competition. Add to this an international series and perhaps a European cup for the top teams in Europe and surely everyone will be happy. At least the silver ware might be spread around a bit more and the fans such as those a Ipswich and Belle Vue would have something to cheer for. The chances of a team making a clean sweep would be less and sponsorshp might be easier to come by. Any comments