Speedway: Monarchs swoop to replace flops
Monarchs promoter John Campbell has been forced into a U-turn over Dicken after describing the 32-year-old Englishman as not being "Edinburgh's type of rider" before the season started, but with Herne and Morris simply failing to score from the tail-end, the Monarchs had, basically, nowhere to turn.
Campbell regrets having to wield the axe but explained: "We have made these changes because, unfortunately, we have not been getting any points from the reserves.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"It is hard as I have a lot of time for Jay and Ashley, I hoped, and expected, they would have done better.
"We know Lee and Kyle well and they will fit into our set-up straight away without a problem. Kyle, who guested for us at Berwick, has shown what he can do already.
"Lee rode for Glasgow last year while he was unfit and I think he can improve upon his 2010 average. Both riders were available to the club at the start of the year but we chose to go in another direction, now we are asking them both to show us we were wrong."
Howarth, who will continue to ride for Belle Vue Colts in the National League, said: "I wasn't really looking for a Premier League club but I'm thrilled that Edinburgh phoned and I think I will be able to score a few points for them. I like the track at Armadale and I'm looking forward to see what I can do."
Dicken, who was plagued with a series of injuries 12 months ago, said: "After spending five years riding for Glasgow it's going to be fun racing for Edinburgh now, but I've always got on well with the Armadale track and Edinburgh's Friday race night suits me fine as I'm teaching my nine-year-old son Kian to ride speedway and I never had the time to spend with him while I was turning out for Glasgow at the weekends."