Monarchs' plan to bring in André Compton to replace Kevin Little have hit a snag. Monarchs director Mike Hunter suggested that Compton's asking price was too high and would threaten Monarchs pay structure. Hunter added in the Edinburgh Evening News:
"The cost of bringing André to Armadale may be getting too high - or so it's alleged. We are certainly not going to go above what we pay our other riders. There is no point going beyond our limit when our heat leaders ride relatively cheap."
Compton's wage demands appear to have put off other tracks seeking his signature including Glasgow.
The Evening News reports suggests that talks are continuing. There are unconfirmed reports coming from the Newcastle end which suggest that Compton has already signed for the Diamonds. This has yet to appear on the Newcastle website. The Diamonds currently have signed Bjarne Pedersen, Jesper Olsen, Richard Juul and Rob Grant. With their three Danes and Compton, this would give the Diamonds a very strong top-four. It would also be a very expensive team and it is difficult to imagine Newcastle being able to afford the outlay unless they have pulled in some major sponsorship deal.
Robert Eriksson has yet to agree terms with Monarchs but Mike Hunter stressed that there were no problem with negotiations.