With the season nearly over and teams such as Glasgow and Workington already sarting to announce their signings for next year, speculation has started about thes hape of the Monarchs team for 2000.
Obviously serious team building will have to await the announcement of the Premier League points limit for next year. There appears to be strong evidence that a limit of 45 points has already been accepted by the Premier League promoters.
This, if confirmed will be good news for Monarchs. A lower points limit such as the 41 points used in 1999 and the 43 points from 1998 would have entailed more serious disruption to the team. However Sheffield and Newport will have to undergo more dratic surgery to fit within the 45 point limit.
As things stand, Monarchs could just about retain the five surviving members of their 1999 team. The combined average of Peter Carr, James Grieves, Kevin Little, Ross Brady, and Blair Scott comes to 38.97. If a couple of three-point reserves were added, this would come in at 44.97. Given the limited availability of three-point riders, this is probably not a realistic option. Thus it would appear that at least one of the above team will have to go.
I think that most supporters would wish to see James Grieves and Peter Carr retained at heat leader. Peter Carr appears a certainty to stay provided that terms can be agreed. James Grieves also appears a likely starter as long as agreement can be reached with Wolverhampton on a transfer or a loan deal. Other tracks including Glasgow might also be sniffing around. Should a deal to keep James fall through, another nine-point rider might have to be signed. Robert Eriksson would be an obvious candidate.
The third heat leader could come to a choice between Ross Brady and Kevin Little. Ross certainly has more scope for improvement and has been scoring much better than Kevin in recent weeks especially away from home. This decision may depend on whether a further loan deal for Ross can be reached with Peterborough.
Blair Scott has to be retained and moved up to second string. Other contenders for a second string place include Monarchs' assets Barry Campbell and Paul Gould. There is also 1999 team member Stewart McDonald. One possibility is another Monarchs' asset Robban Johansson who appeared at Shewfield for the Scottish Monarchs in 1996. Robban was a target to replace Stewart McDonald a few weeks back but he declined for family reasons. The advantage of Robban is that he can probably score points on par with the likes of Robert Eriksson yet comes on a very low average. This is because he has only ridden in the top division in the UK most recently for Eastbourne in the super competitive 1998 Elite League. He secured an average of just over two points. This would convert to a Premier League average of around four and a half points.
Many would like to see Brian Turner and David McAllan at reserve. Brian only had one meeting free of injury in the Armadale League match against Arena Essex. He made a dramatic contribution scoring 11 paid 12 from seven rides. Brian won two heats and beat all the Arena riders apart from Leigh Lanham and Colin White. He could have scored more but for encountering tactical substitutes Leigh Lanham, Colin White, and Troy Pratt in three of his other heats. Brian is always capable of making big scores away on occasions although he can be very inconsistent.
David McAllan has progressed quietly this season and raised his average to just under four points. This would probably have been much higher but for the injury he sustained at Swindon. David scored well at Armadale but had not really done anything away from home. There were signs that this was improving just before he was injured.
Obviously some of the names mentioned above would require transfers or loan deals, but there appears to be plenty of basis for the belief that Monarchs have the asset base to put together a highly competitive team for 2000.