As revealed in the the news report of the Reading match, Blair Scott has patched up his differences with the Monarchs' promotion and has withdrawn his transfer request. This whole thing blew up in the heat of the moment after Blair and Ross conceded a 7-1 'golden double' heat advantage to Jesper Olsen and Bjarne Pedersen in heat 14 last Friday. This not only kept Newcastle in with a chance of an undeserved win but certainly put paid to nay chances Monarchs may have had of taking the bonus point. Things had been simmering for some time after Blair was left out of the away League win at Arena Essex to make way for Will Beveridge. Blair then had a troubled meeting at Newcastle on a track where he seems to have a major problem. Blair was unhappy about criticism he received. He isn't the first rider to get some flack this year and he probably won't be the last.
Deep down Blair never wanted to leave Monarchs as he is through-and-through an Edinburgh man. He has been with the club since his 16th birthday when he signed for Scottish Monarchs in 1996 and has been a regular in the side since 1997. Only Robert Eriksson has been with Monarchs longer, and he had a couple of years away at Belle Vue and Newcastle.
Blair later wished that the whole episode had been kept private but news spread by word of mouth around Armadale on Friday and was appeared on Blair's web site. The story dominated the match report in the Edinburgh Evening News on Saturday. Blair commented:
"I was a bit upset about some remarks made after the match at Newcastle," he said, "but I didn't want it to go public. Anyway I have withdrawn the request and can concentrate on riding for Monarchs. I'm happy to be staying."
"It wasn't a case of me demanding conditions to stay. We have reached agreement over a few things. I felt it was unfair to be blamed for our defeat at Newcastle and I put that across."
"I know I was bad at Newcastle but I would have preferred to be told privately rather than publicly. I didn't want news of my request to become public but it came out via the internet, and I have apologized to John for that."
"It's fair enough to criticize somebody but not in public. You should be pulled aside and told in private. The promotion have accepted this. The management are under pressure to a certain degree. They have got to think of the crowds. If they're not getting the crowds through the turnstiles they cannot pay our bills either."
Blair denied that the whole thing was a gesture to make a point:
"I was absolutely serious about it, although I never wanted to leave Edinburgh. But it would be difficult for Edinburgh to replace me. I would have left them in the lurch had I departed."
"For although I'm capable of doing better, it would have been hard to find another five point rider to slot in."
"A couple of riders in the team including myself are not producing the goods and we must do better. I'm not worried because I firmly believe there is more to come from everybody. It would be wrong to write us off."
Blair and Ross had also been on the wrong end of a golden double before. They conceded a heat fourteen 8-1 heat advantage to Reading at Armadale. Blair gained partial revenge on Monday when he teamed up with Peter Carr to inflict an 8-1 on Matt Read and Shane Colvin in heat eight. I am sure that the Monarchs' support are happy that Blair is staying with Monarchs.