The Promotion Perspective
Posted 09/12/06

Alan Dick and Stewart Dickson took some time out before the start of the STARs Anniversary Talk In to give a few comments on one or two of the issues Tigers fans were wondering about as well as announcing the signing of Lee Smethills (see separate story here).

Obviously time was limited so no great detail was gone into but the salient points made were as follows: -

• Glasgow were reasonably happy at the outcome of the BSPA conference. They once again voiced their opposition to the TR rule and hope that the reduction from two TRs per meeting to one is an indication that the rule may be done away with in the near future
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• Stewart had put forward the suggestion that the four riders - McAllan, Dicken, Meldrum and Birkinshaw - be treated the same way as last seasons graded reserves as otherwise they would possibly be frozen out of speedway as they were not graded last season
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• Edinburgh have twice refused permission for Glasgow to talk to Robert as they are perfectly entitled to do
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• The promotion had decided not to go down the route of looking for a 3rd heat leader as it would leave the middle order weak at they wanted to ensure David McAllan started the season at reserve
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• Finance is very much in the promotions mind assembling the team for 2007 as they are unwilling to make the mistake of putting the club at risk in the way they did in 2004
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• Acknowledging the past treatment of Trent Leverington, despite his previous experience Trent was straightforward to deal with as he was happy to return again to Glasgow, his other preference being returning again to Stoke if that had not been possible
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• Every effort was made to bring Kauko back to Glasgow and he genuinely wanted to return. However the new Workington promotion made him their number one target and made him an offer he could not refuse - far in excess of anything any Glasgow rider has ever had. Kauko has emphasised that he was very happy at Glasgow and he is looking forward to coming back up to Glasgow to see the Glasgow fans again
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• Its expected there will be a pre-season challenge against Workington on 1st April 2007
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• On the announcement of Lee Smethills signing, Lee lives in the Bolton area but is keen to put down roots at Glasgow. He comes in on a 5.54 average
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• Since Gordon Pairman became involved in the successful buyout of Belle Vue, they have given him some time as it will be taking up a lot of time at the moment. They have still to get round the table and discuss how or if it effects his Glasgow commitment.