Tigers held their 'Meet the Riders' night in the bar at Ashfield on Thursday night despite the cancelled afternoon practice session. All riders and the promotion were present to give their take on the season ahead.

The following is just a rough guide of what was said by those present on the night, posted in the order they spoke on the night and with apologies for the length of this piece: -

Lee Dicken
His short time at Glasgow last time wasn't the best and was affected by injury. It was a bit of a surprise when he got the call from Glasgow but he likes the track and fans and wants to show his worth on the track. Lee is gutted at how low his average has gone but realises it worked in his favour for getting a team slot. The new reserve rulings he feels gives him stability as he knows he will be in the main body of the team all season and at his age he doesn't want to be riding at reserve. Its going to be an important season for him and he has changed a few things to help his performance. The main aim for Lee is to be consistent and keep away from injury. Michael also asked Lee, as a Hull lad, about his feelings over what happened to Hull last season. He felt his bridges were burned at Hull but with his fathers previous connections to the club they were particularly gutted that Hull were no longer running.

David McAllan
David is happy to be back at Ashfield, he enjoys riding there and always had but felt his form away from home had been a problem. Last year he felt this improved a lot and he also learned a lot more about the bikes. Preparations for this season started for him before the end of last season. As he now has a good job out with speedway, everything he makes can now go back into his bikes. Last seasons British final was quite an experience for him with the professionalism and the standard of equipment being an eye opener. Edinburgh were very fair with him last season when he stood in for Robert Ksiezak for only 11 meetings, riding a 12th meeting would effectively have put him out of speedway this year as his average would have been over 6. In addition, Glasgow got an unexpected bonus when bonus points were dropped from his starting average for this season. He is pleased not to be at reserve as he feels more psyched to be in the main body of the team. Although many riders do not like riding at number 2, he is quite happy to, all he wants to do is ride his bike and in the first heat he will have the advantage of a nice fresh track.

Kauko Nieminen
Towards the end of last season, Kauko felt that he needed a change for this year. He felt that consistency was a problem and that he would benefit from a smaller home track. Glasgow was one of the tracks he wanted to go to and was pleased to get the offer. When he signed he had hoped he could improve sufficiently to get a chance at the pairs with Shane but when Glasgow signed Danny that became unrealistic but he is certainly looking towards the fours especially as they are at Workington. He is still going to be based in Workington as its not that long a journey to Glasgow. Kauko also said he was 'all smiles' after becoming the rider to break Shane's unbeaten run at Ashfield and that he had been told of how special the Glasgow/Edinburgh derbies were but he was sure Lee would look after him!

Gordon Pairman
Taking into account the financial problems many tracks suffered last year, Gordon and Alex Harkess of Edinburgh made a presentation to the pre-conference meeting which they felt would help move speedway forward. Although it was agreed in principle at the pre-meeting, by the time it came to the conference things had been changed extensively. With regards to moving away from Ashfield, they had tried everything to get another venue including what some saw as almost blackmail to try and get into Shawfield but it wasn't to be. He feels we have bounced back with a good team on paper and feels we have a good blend with Shane inspirational and James having promised him to make sure he doesn't loose his £100 bet with the chatzone. Gordon touched on Danny's signing seeming to upset a lot of people but it all provided good publicity for Glasgow. The sponsor is known to him - but not to Alan - and has handed over a cheque for the agreed amount already by a cheque that did not bear Gordon's name! He feels that we should not get too absorbed with beating Edinburgh - as long as we do - as there are also other teams to beat.

Robert Ksiezak
Last season's injury was a major blow and he knows he came back from injury too soon but it was his first major injury and he has learned from the experience. He doesn't understand why he was graded but is happy to be. Even with that he had thought he was destined to miss out this season and whilst he feels sad for Adam he was delighted when Alan called him about riding for Glasgow. Tigers had approached him last season but Edinburgh had made the first moved and he was about to sign for them when Glasgow made contact. His confidence was knocked last season with the injury and coming back too soon but he has gone back to Australia, had four weeks off before starting racing down under. During his winter in Australia he had taken a few big scalps and he is now raring to go and can't wait for the start of this season. He acknowledges that Shane could be a big help to him this season.

James Cockle
Last season he had a few crashes, his form dipped and his confidence went low. However Shane put him on to Peter Johns to do his engines and he felt the benefit of it. He enjoyed riding with Shame last year especially when he got out of the gate first and felt that he was not quite so wobbly now as he used to be. He also felt that the backing from the crowd was a big help last season. Being at reserve all year this season should work well for him and being at number 7 should give him a good shot at increasing his average. He still feels it was a great move for him to come to Glasgow from Rye House and as long as he scores well he doesn't notice the mileage too much. This season he and Robert will be the strongest reserve pairing in the Premier League in James opinion.

Alan Dick
Alan doesn't feel that the winter changes have done much good and following on from what Gordon said questioned the point of a pre-AGM meeting. With regards to Ashfield they currently have a lease until August 2007 and are seeking an extension to allow them to finish the 2007 season if need be. However they are constantly on the lookout for other venues. It was slightly easier for Glasgow signing riders this season as all those approached agreed terms pretty quickly and there was no George Stancl to deal with. Alan feels that all seven can do well, that Glasgow have the best reserves in the league and he has high hopes for a good finishing position in 2006. When questioned about Adam, he explained Adam was in the side but the promotion were advised he would not be able to race until 3/4 weeks into the season. Their options were to ride with weak cover until then or bring in Robert as a replacement. there is no animosity between the club and Adam and he had accepted the situation. The Pairs last season had been a great success and the BSPA were sufficiently impressed with the way they were run that they offered Glasgow the chance to run them again this season. They are hoping for a similar turnout to last season. On the 60th anniversary, its too early to give many details but it will be a day of nostalgia - only 3 clubs in the league are older than Glasgow. Extra money is being allocated to an advertising budget this season but its felt it will be worthwhile. QFM will provide greater awareness and hopefully it will help crowd levels which dropped to an alarming low last season.

Shane Parker
Shane was keen to come back and pleased to be back, he believes in being loyal to a team. He enjoys riding Ashfield as his home average shows. He was really pleased to finish the season as the highest home average rider, it was quite an accomplishment, but wants to improve on his away average as he felt he let himself down at Exeter last season and also had a bad one at Rye House. He doesn't know Danny that well but is looking forward to riding with him and hopes they can spearhead the team to silverware this season. He would prefer the league title to the pairs! He is always more than happy to help other riders out in the pits but they have to ask, he is happy to help those starting out if he can. Riding at Glasgow has given him a new lease of life and as long as he is competitive and enjoying speedway he is unlikely to quit. He accepts he is one of the older riders now though and even admitted to joining the Veteren Riders Association. When he crashed at Newport last season, his first words to Stewart were that he would be fit again for the pairs. on the day there was a lot of pressure on him and George for the pairs but it helped that they didn't have to win every race to win it. On SRA, 85% of the riders were members last season and they feel they are making slow progress though it is hard to get the management committee to listen to what they have to say. They also hope to have a big awards night at the end of the season this year. Shane hopefully will not be affected by the smoking ban when it comes in later this month as he has quit smoking over the winter.

Stewart Dickson
For a while they were not quite sure where they were going with team building for this season but when the new reserve rules came in they felt that you needed two good reserves rather than one excellent one and a newcomer. George was in their original plans but he clearly wanted away and did not even try to negotiate so Glasgow did not stand in his way. With Danny's signing, they did a lot of work researching flights to ensure that the offer they put on the table was an attractive one for him. The track was a bit of a problem last season and wasn't helped by a lack of equipment but this season we have the use of a blade and Doc Bridgett will come in once or twice a month to give Danny help and advice so the track should be a lot flatter this season. Because of the houses, the track had been over watered on the 3/4 bend last season possibly because it had been watered too late. This season Doc has recommended a different aggregate mix which should hopefully cut down on dust. STAR's, the supporters club, the promotion and Elaine have all been working hard to raise the Tigers profile and they plan to have road shows with the riders. They have picked up a few ideas from the excellent work being done at Kings Lynn by their promotion although they have the advantage of having their own stadium. Newcastle's George English has also helped by printing off 500 publicity posters for Glasgow Speedway free of charge. On riding order, Stewart wanted Shane at 5 as James and him were a good combination to watch last season. He elected for David at 2 as he has ridden there before and he feels Lee and Kauko will ride well as a pair at 3 and 4. Stewart only touched on the AGM commenting that it might be better to bring in three year plans at the AGM to allow teams to plan ahead. This years PL play offs are unlikely to be on sky, the PL promoters have perhaps had the wool pulled over their eyes on this one but part of the problem is with the Premier Trophy being run before the Premier League the PL are unable to give sky dates for the play offs at this stage.

Danny Bird
Obviously the news about being out of Reading's team was a big shock and the timing also meant a lot of teams were filled and the possibility he might not start the season. At the end of the day there were only three clubs to chose from - Glasgow, Edinburgh and Berwick. The main factor in the Glasgow deal were the flights as he is not the type of person who likes being away from home and he can now be home from Glasgow earlier than if he had been returning home from Reading. Glasgow being one of his favourite tracks also helped make the decision. Danny is the only rider so far to have had some track time this season thanks to a run out at the Isle of Wight last Tuesday. As he hadn't been on a bike for 9 months he felt he really had to get some time in. On Shane, he is looking forward to riding with him and he is a good bloke to have in the team. When asked about whether he sees Glasgow as just a one year stop gap, Danny said that like Shane he wants to give his all to the club he is at and be loyal. If things go well this season then who knows for next year. Of course he would like to ride Elite but as each year goes by he feels it perhaps goes further away from him and his previous rides in the Elite League have shown him that on a personal level it is not as enjoyable as the premier league as if you have a bad meeting at that level no-one wants to know you. Danny felt all 7 riders get on well and he is looking forward to the season ahead and winning - oh and he can ride Armadale to!

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