Now that Monarchs season is over, it is the time of year for speculation about the shape of the team for 2001 to commence.
Obviously no firm decisions can be taken until the structure of the Premier League is revealed. There is a strong body of opinion in favour of the status quo. That is a Premier League of between thirteen and sixteen teams operating under a 45 point limit. That may come under pressure should the Elite League implode and one or more teams, most likely Belle Vue and Oxford seek to drop down and bring with them riders such as Jason Lyons and Todd Wiltshire. There have been some rather implausible suggesions that the Premier League was to be split into two smaller leagues with most of the Northern tracks in the lower division. Assuming that the voting power of the existing Premier League tracks maintains the current structure, the points-limit will have to be decided. It is believed that certain of the northern tracks favour a reduction while others favour the current 45 points.
Assuming that the 45 point limit is retained, Monarchs would not need to dismember the 2000 team to fit within it. The Green Sheets for the current team comes to only marginally over 45 points. The replacement of Will Beveridge at reserve by a three-point rider, for example Derek Sneddon, would do the trick and leave the best part of a point in hand.
Over the years Monarchs have generally adopted a policy of minimal change. Even when moving from the Second Division of the British League to the unified British Premier League in 1995, Monarchs retained five of their seven-man team, Kenny McKinna, Les Collins, Scott Lamb, Jan Andersen, and Lawrence Hare to be joined by Mike Faria and eventually by Robert Eriksson. Two years later in 1997, Monarchs moved to the new Premier League and retained three of their team, Kenny McKinna, Robert Eriksson, and Stefano Alfonso. This strategy was changed by the ban on Alfonso and Peter Carr was eventually recruited to take his place. Many will hope that Monarchs will continue this policy and retain the core of their 2000 team for next year.
Monarchs do need to address the lack of balance in the team. The 2000 team has proved to be competitive and a match for most team but slightly below championship material. Monarchs finished five points adrift of champions Exeter and six short of winning the championship. Monarchs were denied a victory at Stoke and lost out at tracks such as Reading and Glasgow where they should have done better. The problem for Monarchs all season was the lack of points from the third heat leader spot. While Kevin Little has done his best, he has rarely produced the points needed. This would not have mattered had either Ross Brady or Blair Scott made the breakthrough to heat leader. However for a variety of reasons that did not happen.
Judging by Peter Carr's recent comments he appears set to stay on for another season. Robert Eriksson had ruled himself out for next year but appears less equivical about this in recent weeks. This suggests that he may be open to persuasion. Kevin Little has already indicated his departure at the end of this season.
Given the lengths that Monarchs went to transfer Ross Brady it would be strange if he was not retained in the team despite his comparatively poor season. Blair Scott has had some problems but appears to have settled his differences with the promotion. He has had many engine problems but has maintained his average despite riding in the difficult number two position for most of the season.
Christian Henry has also indicated that he wants another year with Monarchs. He has produced some great form with a Premier League average of nearly 4.50 points after a difficult start. Will Beveridge has struggled to come to terms with the Armadale track and is unlikely to return.
Monarchs have turned down a big money offer from Glasgow for Derek Sneddon. This suggests that he is in line for a team place in 2001. He was nearly included in the team a few weeks back had the three-way rider swop deal with Newcastle come off.
Assuming a 45 point limit the inclusion of Derek Sneddon at number seven in place of Will Beveridge would allow up to 7.50 points available for a third heat leader to replace Little. To get a competitive heat leader on that sort of average will not be easy. After all Kevin Little came in on a much higher average than that last year. The rider most supporters see as filling that gap is André Compton. This would give Monarchs exactly the team that the promotion were trying to track at the end of August before the transfer deadline.
Compton not only rides Armadale as well as any visiting rider he also rides it with more style than any. He is good on most of the big tracks and can score equally at tracks such as Sheffield, Exeter, and Berwick as he does at Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Compton has ruled out a return to the Elite League and does not wish to remain at Newcastle. He has come close to declaring Edinburgh his preferred choice for next year. He stated in Speedway Star:
"If I have any choice about next season it's between Edinburgh and Sheffield. I had a couple of good seasons at Sheffield and we won the Premier League Championship last season but I get on really well with the set-up at Edinburgh. I get on well with the track and with everybody and I'm really good friends with Peter Carr."
"I agreed to go there a month ago until the end of the season and that would have given me the opporunity of riding there for a few meetings to make sure I liked the set-up and help me make a final decision."
Compton sees advantages in moving to Edinburgh despite the distance from his Yorkshire base. He runs his own business installing air conditioning equipment.
"Edinburgh's Friday race night would suit me. Most of our customers finish at two o'clock on a Friday so that would not be a problem, although it is a bit different travelling four hours for a home meeting as against having a track on your doorstep."
Monarchs chairman Alex Harkess was quick to damp down the speculation adding that Monarchs could not even talk to Compton before the end of the season. Also the issue of how many points were available would have a bearing on the choice made. Alex Harkess did concede that the opinion of Peter Carr would carry a lot of weight and given his friendship with André this might be a deciding factor. Alex spoke to the Edinburgh Pink:
"André can certainly ride Armadale very well and also the big tracks of this world. We cannot make a move for him until we recieve permission to speak to him."
The BSPA conference that will set the points limit will be eagerly awaited. After that team-building can commence in earnest.