It has been confirmed that Edinburgh will replace struggling reserve Brian Turner after tomorrows Premier National Trophy fixture against Glasgow. Monarchs informed Brian that he was to be replaced after the match at Workington.
Brian speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News added:
"Unless I score a maximum against Glasgow, and I would dearly love to, I'm out of the team. To be honest I was expecting it."
While Brian has no arguments with te Edinburgh promotion, he did have a go at reserve partner Christian Henry over their joint traumas in heat two at several matches this season:
"Christian has not really helped at all. I really do not like riding with him. Heat two at Workington should have been rerun. I laid my bike down to avoid Christian who fell in front of me. But then he got up to carry n racing for a point."
"I laid my bike down to keep him safe. When I saw him get up, I thought 'he can have the point'. If the situation was reversed i would never have done what he did. Christian is alright off the track, but put us together on it and we simply don't gel."
"I've lost all my confidence. Coming into the first match of season I was wiped out in a crash caused by Christian, and my confidence disappeared after that. Then two weeks ago Christian fell off in front of me again and I bumped into him. That got me down."
You might have thought that a rider of Brian's experience might have worked out how to avoid a falling teammate by now, especially as he is often well behind. Some observers felt that Brian could have avoided Christian at Workington, if not at Armadale and went down far too easily. Maybe it is sympotatic of his total lack of confidence. In five competitive matches to date, Brian has scored two points. The first was a gift in the re-run of heat two against Workington at Armadale after Henry was excluded. The second came at Workington when Geoff Powell fell. Leggy appeared more concerned with trying to pass Kevin Little than staying ahead of Brian.
Christian Henry denies any rift with Brian aying:
"I get of fine with him, we have conversations away from the track. But things are still new to me and I have made mistakes while racing, which I am trying not repeat."
The new Green Sheet Averages will take effect a week after the sixth match against Glasgow on Friday. Unless Brian scores very big points, he will get a 3.00 average. This will help if he subsequently decides to return. It appears that Brian is ready to pack up speedway, belatedly following medical advice:
"I'm not interested in carrying on. I'm going to pack speedway in and sell everything I got. I had been planning to do that anyway during the winter before Edinburgh approached me."
"I don't blame Edinburgh for getting rid of me. I'm not getting any better, and I'm not doing my job. I've been trying my hardest but getting nothing back in return. It's costing me too much money, and I can't carry on not scoring points."
Brian was pleased when Monarchs moved to sign him.
"I was excited at first, because all winter I hadn't thought about speedway. But Edinburgh kept in touch, it's just a pity things have not worked out."
"If I do decide to retire I'll probably spend more time at the tyre fitting business I opened with my dad last year. I might even try to find a job on my own."
"Because Friday is my last match I'd like to score big points and prove I can beat riders of class. However, with my confidence so low, this is doubtful."
Alex Harkess confirmed the change:
"We simply have no other choice. We cannot continue with a rider who is scoring nothing. Brian, unfortunately, is going nowhere."
"We have a replacement in mind but cannot announce anything because no deal has been done yet. But it is better that we persevere with a youngster who has a future. Brian has lost all his confidence and I feel sorry for him. But we cannot go on losing 5-1s in the reserves race. And we need someone in place before the start of our league campaign later this month."
Just how many points will be available to replace Brian will become clear after the match against Glasgow. This will not be an issue if Monarchs decide to replace him with a three-point rider.