Panthers programme articles 2009

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I simply can't understand why so many speedway supporters and especially the keyboard Internet warriors, appear to be so negative about our sport and our clubs. Apparently our loss against Lakeside was as the result of " a rubbish track". Our win against ipswich was also as the result of " a rubbish track. I'm staggered by the number of track experts we currently have following our club. In reality, most of these so called 'track experts' have never set foot on a track. I am inclined to believe that ourtrack curator, former Panthers and England captain Richard Greer, knows so lightly more than the 'track experts', he certainly knows more than me. Preparing a track for racing is not easy. It is not a ten minute job. It usually takes all day he and some days we cannot spend as long as we like on the track due to other events happening at the Showground. Much has to be taken into consideration, not least the seven differing opinions of our riders on how the track should be prepared. The weather is a key factor. Will it rain? Well if the majority of us don't know the answer to that, then it is as sure as hell, that Richard Greer and his team won't. We also have the additional problem and of the tools that we are working with. Many of them are tired or just not up to the rigours of modern day he track preparation, in short, this area of the club has been neglected for almost a decade. But, we are addressing it. We have just purchased a fantastic piece of kit that will help in our preparation of the track before, during and after the meeting. We have had to order it from Denmark (well the best things seem to come from Denmark after all) and at considerable cost; I hope that the new piece of kit will be making its debut today. How disheartening it must be for Richard and his team to read the Internet warriors telling him that his track is rubbish, not only if we lose, but also now, even if we win. It's easy to tell him when hiding behind keyboard but I have yet to see many takers wanting to tell him to his face. But it's not just the track. It's every aspect of our sport. Always negative from the keyboard warriors. Never positive, never constructive criticism. I once gave them the opportunity to provide me with suggestions on how the sport can be improved. You know what? I never got one sensible reply. It seems to be a trait on the Internet; it's fashionable almost to be negative. I actually think that if people want negative there won't be much to read, to be honest. Tonight we welcome Matt Ford, Middlo and the riders and supporters from Poole Pirates who have made the long trip from Dorset. Not only are the Pirates the reigning Elite League champions, they are in my opinion the business model for other clubs to emulate. We also welcome back to the Showground to make his seasonal debut, Karol Zabik. For the negative Internet warriors, I should point out that Karol will be lining up for the Panthers and not the Pirates tonight. Let's give Karol a big welcome; he has had a tough time recently in his homeland. As a 23 year old, he has had a lot to deal with. Welcome back Karol.

Bratters Panthers programme introduction April 16 2009.

[Deleted]

Top Talk - The Frost Report

I read Mick Bratley's article in last week's programme and in general I agree with him reference " keyboard warriors". I look at our website regularly and whilst I understand that this is a useful and easy media for you to exchange news and views and is also meant meant to be fun, I would certainly like to see some serious feedback from you all as well. For instance it would be a great help to me and my management team if you could let us know your ideas or views on what we can do to improve your club. What you do and don't like etc. We are here to turn this into a great speedway club for all of you and this is one way to get your voice heard and your opinions expressed. Likewise concentrate your thoughts and comments on the positive rather than negative regarding the our team - win or lose. Negative words, actions and thoughts will always end with negative results. Whilst we have not had a good start to the season, not helped by injury and absence, we are coming through that and things are on the up we have seen tremendous individual performances from many of our riders through this difficult time and team spirit is high. Not once have they complained even though they well knew the task that they faced with a weakened team was a huge burden to carry. We have recently been boosted by the welcome return of Karol Zabik and shortly Claus Vissing will be back as well. Then you will see some results! So please give them your full support at all times, whether it's here at the Showground, on our website, wherever you are. Talking about Karol Zabik, you will all be pleased to know that he is now a full asset of the club. Karol is an exciting rider to watch; you never know where he is coming from or what he will try next. He seems to find gaps, or ways past other riders, that don't appear to be there. His ability and commitment is there for all to see and he is only 22 years of age; he's a further potential is immeasurable as he continues his career. His loyalty to the club and his team mates is 100 per cent, which is so important in what is after all a team sport. As most of you probably know already, I will not entertain riders at Peterborough who are not fully committed to the club and their team mates. One of the most important things at the club is track preparation. We must be able to prepare a track that is both a consistent and as our riders want it to gain maximum home advantage. To this end we have started to replace and update the equipment which I inherited when I brought the club, which was in poor condition and badly in need of servicing or replacement. We are expecting delivery of a new grading blade from Denmark that will ensure the easy and precise movement of material from/to wherever it is needed and can also act as a scarifier at the same time. The Wonder Wheel has been refurbished and another bar grader and new chain harrows added to our equipment inventory. All we needed then was the right man in charge of this work and of course we have that person in the shape of Richard Greer. A Peterborough legend himself he'll know and understand just what the riders want or ask of him and now he will have the equipment to do it. That's all for now so let's look forward to welcoming.......... And wish all the riders a safe evening's racing.

Panthers programme introduction 27/4/09

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"Don't judge a book by its cover" May 7.

It is fair to say that we can all be pretty quick in making our minds up about something, without giving it a fair trial. I am as guilty as the next person for this. During the BSPA Annual Conference in November, the idea of a new league points scoring system was proposed. It seemed fairly hard to understand initially, but once explained, I could see that this could be a huge step forward for our sport, a shot in the arm. The initial reaction from supporters was almost one of hysteria. It would be ruination of the sport, it was ridiculous and it would never work. Pages and pages were written across the forums confirming that the Speedway hierarchy had finally lost the plot. What has actually happened is that this new league points scoring system has actually worked in making a lot more meetings interesting up to the final heat. OK, it's never going to resolve 60 -- 30 hammering's, nothing could but where an away team goes into heat 15 trailing by 10 points, they still have a chance of salvaging a league point. This has kept more meetings alive and not just going through the motions as has been done previously. Unfortunately, only a few of the people who were hysterical about the introduction of the new system have been bold enough to actually say that they were wrong. I firmly believe that this new system will be embraced throughout the Speedway world in 2010. It works. -- Kenneth Hansen is a rider, who if you believe what many people say, comes with quite a bit of baggage. My, how he has rammed this down the knockers throats. His performances have been sparkling, his attitude exemplary and his commitment first class. He is ticking all the boxes. I don't think it is any real surprise either how well he has done in his short time here. Yes, we have looked after him well, but we try to do that with all riders and he has been no different. I put it solely down to our track. Riders of Kenneth's page want to be racing and they want "full gas action. He wasn't getting that last year as Wolverhampton is a small technical track and I firmly believe that if you don't score well at your home track then you don't get the confidence to perform well on your travels. I think rides need to get the speed out of then when they are young and then progress onto a smaller technical tracks around the age of 24 or 25. There are plenty of examples of the "next greatest rider" currently stuck at some of the Elite League clubs. It doesn't take a genius to work out who they are.

Tonight we welcome the management, riders and supporters of the famous Belle Vue Aces to the Showground. David Gorman, Chris Pairman and Chris Morton are doing a very good job at Kirkmanshulme Lane. It's fair to say that what they inherited when they took over was not the best. I get on very well with the Belle Vue promotion: they wear their heart on their sleeve and are never afraid to get their point across at BSPA towers, I like that.

Enjoy the action, Mick Bratley.

However, inside the program on page 27 was this from Mark Plummer (Peterborough Evening Telegraph):

While there is no doubt that the new system does maintain interest right to the end of the majority of meetings, there is something not quite right in my mind. Panthers promoter Mick Bratley was quoted in the winter as saying that the other major Speedway nations will follow Britain's lead and will also introduce this new scoring system. I'm not quite so convinced!

[Deleted]

Top talk - The Frost Report , May 14 2009

" back to business as usual"

Those of you who were at the showground last Thursday would have seen the fine display by all our riders. They all scored
well despite Bjerre and Mads having the mechanical problems and it shows just how good the team is despite the absence of
Karol Zabik. Belle Vue are not the strongest of teams this year but bear in mind that some of their riders know their way
around the showground circuit so it was never going to be an easy home meeting. Thanks to all our supporters who were there giving their backing and encouragement to our team. They well deserved it! Tonight we welcome back to the showground the Poole Pirates. As reigning champions they have had a poor start to the season but no doubt changes are in the pipeline to put matters right. Whether these changes will come into effect in time for tonight's meeting isn't sure but either way we can be
sure of a very good meeting against a professional and well organized club.

" united we stand, divided we fall"

As many of you know, we called a rider's meeting before the meeting against Belle vue to clear the air in the light of recent
events. They were all unsettled by the many reports they had read/seen and clearly this needed to be resolved to restore
confidence and team spirit. I'm sure that was achieved judging by the riders fine team performance later.
Let's carry on this way as a united team and ignore the writings and words of the negative, ignorant and frequently anonymous people who are seemingly trying to divide us.
One point I think needs clarifying once and for all is the team itself. The management spent a lot of time, energy and thought into putting our team together and the changes we have made to date have been necessary for the success of the team. We have
recognized and accepted where mistakes have been made with our original team selection and we have taken the necessary
actions to correct that. The result is a stronger and more united team who work better together. I'm sure you will have noticed the improvement in team riding tactics and a more thoughtful approach to the way meetings can be won if we work as a
team and not a bunch of individual riders. Soon we will have completed the necessary 12 meetings at which point the team average will be raised to allow changes to be made if deemed necessary. Some teams will clearly have to make changes but if our team continue to ride together as I know they can then I will have no need to make any further changes. I will certainly hope that this is the case because all of our riders are my friends also and I value their friendship, so to see anyone leaving would be a sad day for me!

(it finished with a couple of paragraphs and about domestics for the British Grand Prix and the Speedway World Cup)

Enjoy the racing and support your team and club always.

Rick

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Top talk with Mick Bratley 25th of May, 2009

Following our last home victory against Poole, the BMF (British Motorcycle Federation) took over the showground last weekend for its annual rally. Many staff here at Peterborough speedway give up their weekends for this event to assist the many motorcycle activities that take place on the speedway track. The track takes a real hammering during the event, the equivalent of a whole season's speedway racing over the course of two days. So with staff in attendance we can at least help in the maintenance and recovery of the circuit. Always before or following the BMF someone will come up to me and ask why Peterborough speedway does not have a promotions stand at the event? The fact is that we do have one there and have had one for the last three years. The organisers give this to us free of charge and former Panther, Paul Oughton, who is the commercial manager for Swindon and Somerset, brings along a professional display that the BSPA provide. Manning the stand is long and tiring, specially when it's cold, windy and wet, which it usually seems to be. A few club volunteers offer to help out in that respect. This year we had about 6000 at leaflets printed specifically advertising the Panthers next four home meetings.
Previously we have handed these out on the stand but this year the BMF offered to give them out when people first entered the event, leaving us more time to talk to people on a 1 to 1 basis rather than blandly handing out leaflets. It is extremely difficult to measure how successful we are by having the stand but I feel that there has to be a value to it and at the end of the day all it
costs us is the price of some leaflets and our time. If I had £1.00 for every time that someone told me that they used to go to speedway years ago then I would be a very wealthy man. As a sport, our marketing of it is shockingly poor. But there are valid reasons for this, mostly due to the fact that the sport does not have the proverbial pot to pee into! This needs to change. We have a great product and we need to share it. All the clubs need to bite the bullet and contribute towards marketing. We need considerable investment as a collective organization rather than as individual clubs. We need to pool information and resources about what works and what doesn't. It is a sad indictment of our sport that but for the generosity of the BMF for organisers we would not as an organization have been able to afford a stand for the weekend.

This Bank Holiday evening we welcome........................... Lets hope that we give them their annual drubbing!

virtually word for word with some artistic licence.

[Deleted]

Top talk with Mick Bratley - Thursday May 28

We welcome this evening to the East of England Showground the Eastbourne management, riders and supporters. Trevor Geer told me on Saturday that he expects his annual drubbing tonight and I told him that he could count on it. I am sure the boys will not let us down.

I am writing these notes immediately after our close victory over Swindon, and a great meeting it was, spoilt only by a couple of decisions that went against us and this I feel cost us the extra point.

I have an admission to make tonight. Presently, I have no clue as to what the rules are for team building following the issue of green sheets for three of our riders. Poole have declared Hans Andersen in their side using one set of criteria and Coventry have declared Scott Nicholls in their side using a different set of criteria. We thought about trying to declare Nicki Pedersen in our side to replace Karol Zabik and perhaps if we had shouted loud enough and threatened to pull out of the league then we might have got an our own way and in doing so created a third criteria for declaring a team after the issue of green sheets. You couldn’t make it up – actually you probably could. I told the Chairman of the BSPA last week that they were opening up a can of worms, well, the worms are certainly wriggling all over the place currently.

I felt our victory over Poole was a hollow victory and I complained in writing to the BSPA about the manner in which Poole conducted themselves during the meeting. Riders waving their partners by in order that they got the bonus point, and in doing so put their partner out of a job. A rider not wanting to take part in the rerun of a race because his point would assist in putting a member of the team out of a job, who was supposed to not be put out of a job. I witnessed it all with my own eyes, this was not hearsay, I saw what was going on and why the hell should I not tell you how YOU the paying public were cheated on the evening of May 14 by Poole Speedway.

Now on to Karol Zabik, yes it was disappointing to have to let him go. The bond between him and the sick mother is very very strong. Karol came in with baggage and we knew that but I feel that in this instance he is not pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes. He was torn between family and speedway. We all felt sorry for him. The fact that in the circumstances we were not allowed a facility was frankly disgraceful, especially in the light of the shenanigans that have taken place at other clubs over the last couple of weeks. But we must soldier on and I know that many of you are thinking like me that as far as things going our way with the BSPA, it’s a bit like platting fog. I can understand why many think this but I am sure that we will come through this; after all, cream always rises to the top and right always outs wrong, don’t they?

We welcome Ales back into the fold and fair play to him for agreeing to return. I would have told us to stuff it. Effectively we had no other choice – our hands were tied, so thank you Ales for agreeing to return. I look forward to eating a huge slice of humble pie.

I am sure the nonsense that has happened over the last few weeks will be a distant memory soon. I hope that we get some clear definition on the rules and I hope the governing body is strong, for if they are not, the ramifications don’t bear thinking about.

Enjoy the meeting (and you’ll be pleased to know that there is no meeting between now and the next home meeting because the bloke on the mic said so, that was my classic quote of the night)

Mick Bratley

[Deleted]

A £3 two meeting job this week:

Top Talk -The Frost Report - June 4

Hopefully we have now have put behind us and the “will he won’t he” be riding problems we had with Karol Zabik and can look forward to the rest of the season with a happy and united team who are all riding well together and enjoying the racing here at Peterborough. A warm welcome back to Ales. What a gentleman he is for agreeing to return in the circumstances. I’m not sure what I would have done in a similar situation but he is back with us and I thank him for that. One of the most important jobs of management is creating and keeping together a happy team who look forward to riding together as well as for the club. Making sure their wages are always paid on time for example so they can meet their financial commitments knowing full well the money will be in their bank account. If they have other problems knowing they can if they want talk to us about it and so that we can see if there is any way we can help. If they have mechanical problems we now have Michael Lee on board as Technical Director who is available to help any team member at any time, both at the track and at his workshops. Finding good accommodation for them when needed, often with club supporters who are always ready and willing to help riders and the club. The 100 club whose members contribute funds which they can use to help our riders if they decide the cause is worthy of support. In short, it is our job or to make sure that our riders can ride for us with a clear head and thinking only about winning races and meetings. Following on from our fine home wins against Swindon and Eastbourne we now face two more home meetings against strong opposition in the shape of Lakeside and Coventry. Both have beaten us at home this year, which is always more painful, so you can be sure that we don’t intend to let that happen again. Both meetings are very important for us to win and even more so if the idea to limit the play-offs to four teams as opposed to six is approved. That would mean that we have to finish in the top four at least and I see no reason why we can’t achieve that or even the better. One of the key factors in helping to ensure that we get home wins is track preparation. We need to have for a consistent racing surface for our riders for every meeting, meaning one that they like to ride on and are confident that they know the best set up for. We have brought new equipment to ensure that we can deliver this and our track is getting better and more consistent and will continue to improve as the season progresses. As I write this article I am not at liberty to give you the latest news are on the Hans Andersen and Poole situation . It would not be in the bests interests of our sport and those concerned to do so right now but I can tell you that when the authorities have made their decision and gone public I will give you the full story so watch this space!

Then a bit of domestics about Cardiff GP tickets and a speedway world cup tickets!

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Showground for our next home meetings and wish all the riders safe racing. Always remember support your club and your team and – ever faithful (something polish I think?).

All the best to all of you, Rick.

[Deleted]

Top talk with Mick Bratley June 25th 2009

Good evening, I write these notes on the Saturday morning following our two poor displays at Swindon and Lakeside. Poor is probably being kind, frankly we were rubbish. Traditionally the Panthers rarely perform well at those venues. The kind of racing on offer is normally “gate and go” boredom, the total opposite to what is normally served up for us at Alwalton. Swindon has in the past at least provided some degree of entertainment where riders can make some passing manoeuvres, but this season they have removed a lot of the tracks banking and reduced to passing to a minimum after the first ten seconds of any race. A fact not lost on Panthers Swindon asset Mads Korneliussen who after spending much of his career at the Abbey couldn’t fathom the place out. A fact not lost either on a couple of Robin’s fans who told me that although their team and sits at the top of the table, they take no satisfaction in witnessing a processional battering of teams week after week.

How then did Lakeside manage to win at the Abbey the week before, albeit against a weakened Robins side? I think you have to put it down to the fact that both tracks, although differing in the size, are now in many ways the same. To sum up, there were 30 painful heats over two nights that produced just six passing moves after the first ten seconds of a heat. I was sad enough to count them and to be honest, that’s not my cup of tea. But that is not in any way to be taken as an excuse. We expect better from our riders and you supporters rightly demand it. On a year brighter note, at least we haven’t got to go back to Swindon or Lakeside for any future league fixtures.

Much has been said at the recent decision taken to reduce the playoffs from six clubs to four. I am at uncomfortable with changes of this magnitude mid season, but I understand the rationale behind it. I was a supporter of the six team playoffs. My take on it is that as much as many people hate the playoffs, they are here to stay, so let’s make the most of them. Going forward, perhaps we should consider what happens in other sports and have league winners and play off winners. Better still; let’s have some financial inducement for achieving.

Tonight we welcome Chris Van Straaten, Peter Adams, and the riders and supporters of the Wolverhampton Wolves. How times have changed. Last season they were the bottom club but this year they are one of the top clubs in the league. It has to be said that at the start of the season most people would not have put Wolves in as being title contenders. I always thought that they had a solid look about them and but possibly in my opinion they were one rider short of going all the way. I am sure that they will push as hard tonight although Alwalton is not in historically one of their happy hunting grounds.

Enjoy the meeting, Mick.

And the rest is history a shocking defeat at home on a gate and go (although Panthers couldn't gate and go if they wanted too) track in a drawn out meeting, which no doubt was due to constant track work and the radio boys and girls being in town

[Deleted]

Top talk – The Frost Report July 2 2009.

Our recent winning run has come to a halt recently with defeats by Wolverhampton, Swindon and Lakeside. It has been hard to take but in reality Wolves and Swindon are the strongest teams this year and we have never won away to Swindon, something we must change in the future. Lakeside are very hard to beat way also and we knew that we were probably in for a rough ride there. This is not meant to be an excuse but facing up to reality. We next meet Eastbourne and Ipswich at home and there will be no excuses possible if we don’t take maximum points from both meetings to recover our winning momentum. If you look ahead to our remaining fixtures this year I think you will agree that the worst is probably over and we can and will make the playoffs.

The defeat that really annoys me was our home defeat by Wolverhampton and I don’t blame our riders for this. It was partly the fault of poor track preparation and having spent a lot of money this year on new track maintenance equipment and materials I find this unacceptable and it will be not allowed to continue in this way. A new tyre packing machine has been ordered to complete the equipment needed for preparing a consistent track and the responsibility for track preparation will now be undertaken by one of the best in the country. He would also be responsible for training our staff to assist with this until they are
able to achieve the level of competency necessary. I fully except that it is the management’s responsibility to give our riders the track conditions they want for every home meeting and so maximize our home advantage.

I know many of you have wondered what is the truth regarding Hans Andersen and his loan move to Poole and the reasons why he left last season for Coventry before I took over the club. Briefly, Hans was owed around by £60,000 . This was made up of £15,000 sponsorship in 2007 from a company owned by Colin Horton that was wound up by him with the result that Hans was never paid. The remainder was for unpaid wages and for bike covers he had paid for on behalf of the club. A total of around £45,000. When I brought the club from Colin Horton one of the things I did as part of the deal was to deduct from the sale price all moneys owing to all riders, including Hans. As a result Hans was paid all wages outstanding and also the money for the bike covers, leaving only the old Colin Horton debt of £15,000.

Hans decided this year not to ride in England and concentrate his time on the GP series. He later changed his mind in late April, early May and decided he did want to ride in England. Since he is an asset of Peterborough he was always likely to be considered for a return to the club. However we made the decision to stay with the team we had. Hans was told of their decision and given permission to speak to other clubs, including Coventry and Poole. He agreed terms with Poole and that would normally have been the end of the matter but Poole never made contact with Peterborough to agree the terms and conditions of the loan agreement and sign the necessary paperwork. Clearly this is contrary to the rules of the BSPA but nevertheless the BSPA accepted his inclusion in the Poole 1-7 declaration and to this day no signed agreement is in place yet he is still riding for Poole.

Our take on the situation is fairly simple. We have had no wish to stop Hans earning his living but we may possibly need to use him at ourselves this year, in the event of injury for example, and for that reason would only have given him permission for a minimum loan of 28 days which could have been renewed or extended if we didn’t need him. I have no animosity towards Hans regarding this and he is only the meat in the sandwich so to speak and earning a living in the only way he knows how, but clearly the actions of Poole are far from transparent and are in fact dishonest, contrary to the BSPA rules and indeed civil law in that they are using our club asset without our consent and without payment. Watch this space for the next instalment!

Anyway, let’s look forward to some more good results and getting our place in the playoffs. It’s more important than ever now to show your team your support and help get us back on our winning ways.

All the best to all of you, Rick.

[Deleted]

So after getting a mention in despatches

"THE Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) instigated an investigation into allegations of wrong-doings by Poole Speedway based upon an outburst of claims in the Press, Internet Forums and Programme Notes from fellow Promotions."

Here is the latest with only 2 or 3 to go and it's only July

Top Talk with Mick Bratley 23 July 2009

What a brilliant night the SWC event was, here at the Showground last week. The racing was superb and the attendance of over 5000 people obviously pleased the SWC organisers and helped contribute to a thrilling spectacle. Our good friend Buster Chapman from King’s Lynn looked after the track superbly for us. We offered Buster this opportunity way back during the close season and he jumped at the chance. I must also thank all our Peterborough Speedway staff and the additional volunteers who helped on the night; everyone stepped up to the plate and made the evening the great success it was.

As many of you noticed, by attempting to run me over in your vehicle, I was looking after the car parking for the SWC event. This was an important role to get correct for a couple of reasons. We stood the chance of being fined if the traffic tailed back outside the stadium and additionally, we wanted people to get away easily and quickly afterwards, because I know that as much as people enjoy an event, if they have to spend a long time getting out of a car park, then that is all they usually remember. We had 24 people working on the car park, and a big thanks to the Showground staff that worked with us to get it right and bring supporters into the stadium quickly and efficiently and also allowed people to leave afterwards with speed.

Monday 13th July was however tinged with a little sorrow with the sad news that the Scunthorpe team manager, Kenny Smith had lost his battle with cancer. Kenny was a very nice guy, and this was extremely sad news to learn. Rob Godfrey, the Scunthorpe Promoter, had released a heartfelt press article in the week leading up to Kenny’s sad passing. I was unaware that Kenny was ill, and I gave Rob a call. I didn’t really know what to say, but felt I should just call him and lend our support. The guys up at Scunthorpe are good people and Kenny will be missed. We will this evening be holding a minute’s silence, in memory of Kenny. (well organised and observed)

This week we are celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Speedway and all children will be admitted to tonight’s meeting with Wolverhampton, free of charge. Additionally, they will all receive a commemorative 80th Anniversary autograph book as a souvenir. We shall also be undertaking a similar exercise for our meeting on August 17th and we intend to promote this across the city in liaison with the Evening Telegraph.

We welcome to night the management, riders and staff of Wolverhampton, in what is sure to be a tough night for the Panthers. Wolves, on their last visit, gave our boys a lesson on how to gate and ran out comfortable winners on the night. I hope we have learnt from that lesson and I really hope we send them back to Monmore Green, pointless.

Enjoy the action.

[Deleted]

Please don't reply to this thread, use programme chat

[Deleted]

Not very long or interesting this week and Barney Rabbit on the BSF seems to points score on this and has already posted the interesting bit so visit there if you're that interested

[zonkers]

Aug 14, 2009 20:58:20 GMT @rigsby said:

Not very long or interesting this week and Barney Rabbit on the BSF seems to points score on this and has already posted the interesting bit so visit there if you're that interested

I would if I could log in...... Have sent the mods an e mail 5 days ago....still no response.....

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2009 22:19:22 GMT @zonkers said:

Aug 14, 2009 20:58:20 GMT @rigsby said:

Not very long or interesting this week and Barney Rabbit on the BSF seems to points score on this and has already posted the interesting bit so visit there if you're that interested

I would if I could log in...... Have sent the mods an e mail 5 days ago....still no response.....

".....the Hans Andersen issue has now been resolved. The correct loan agreement has been signed by both Poole speedway and ourselves and the loan fee paid by Poole so we can all move on and put this issue firmly behind us."

[Deleted]

Top Talk with Mick Bratley 17/8/09

Good evening everyone and welcome this evening to the Showground for our last scheduled Elite League fixture of the season against the Swindon Robins. We welcome the Swindon promotion of, Gary Patchett, Terry Russell and Alun Rossiter, their riders and supporters, who have made the journey from Wiltshire.
A special welcome also to any people who have come along this evening for the first time, having taken advantage of the free admission for schoolchildren voucher which was issued in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph last Friday, I hope that you will go home tonight as new supporters of our club.

It’s fair to say that both clubs will tonight be desperate for points. Swindon in their quest to finish top of the league and gain maximum advantage in the play off’s and ourselves in our effort to just be a part of those play off’s. I can not hide the fact though, that I believe our side has massively under-achieved this season. We can point to the loss of Karol Zabik early on in the season as a major factor, but I don’t like to make excuses, and in the cold light of day only 1 or 2 of our team will come away from the 2009 season with any credit, in my opinion. It has been very disappointing for me and I know it has been disappointing for you. However, we can take some positives from this season. The 2008 season saw us broken as a club. It has been very well documented and doesn’t need dragging up again. Rick has taken us to a new level off the track and has restored our good name; unfortunately the riders this season haven’t taken us to a new level on the track. Mediocre, their efforts have been. That will change in 2010 as we hope to bring in some young and hungry guys to take us forward.

As we don’t know if we will be contending the play off’s at this moment in time, it is not practical to announce any future fixtures. However, the indications are that play off’s or not, there will be at least one more fixture here at the Showground, possibly along the same lines as the Readypower meeting last year.

Many people have pointed towards the fact that our fixtures here at the Showground could come to a ridiculously early end in mid August. There are a couple of reasons for this and it is catch 22. This year we have been lucky in so much as we haven’t had a rain off (so far, I could be tempting fate, though). The club chaplain has worked hard for us in this department and I thank him for that! Obviously, therefore, we haven’t had to re-arrange any fixtures. We could now easily contest a Craven Shield competition, which has in previous seasons been difficult to undertake because of fixture congestion and availability. At the start of the season, I was really pleased that there was to be no Craven Shield. At the end of the season, I really wish we had the Craven Shield to look forward to. It’s sods law, I guess!

Enjoy the meeting.

Mick Bratley