Pirates: Bjarne says criticism was too much (From Bournemouth Echo)

Pirates: Bjarne says criticism was too much

7:00am Tuesday 2nd March 2010 in

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BJARNE Pedersen believes he received far too much criticism from Pirates’ fans when his average dropped below the nine-point barrier last year.

But the determined Dane has vowed to bounce back to the top of his game so he doesn’t give his doubters the chance to knock him again this term.

Pedersen, who began last season as Poole Castle Cover’s number one rider, saw his figure slip alarmingly from 9.13 to 7.76 during a troublesome campaign when he really struggled at times.

But the quietly-spoken Ryde-born rider feels that drop has to be put into perspective alongside the performances of his Pirates team-mates.

The Dane, who begins pre-season training in Croatia this week, said: “I know it wasn’t the best season for me last year, but I thought there was more focus on me than I really deserved.

“My average wasn’t too bad compared to the rest of the guys’ averages in the team.

“There were other riders who also dropped their averages.

“So I feel I didn’t warrant some of the criticism I received at times.”

Pedersen, who still finished last year as Poole’s second top points scorer behind Chris Holder, wants to put 2009 firmly behind him, particularly as his injury-ravaged side finished second bottom in the Elite League.

Looking ahead to the new campaign that begins later this month, he said: “All I can say is I will prepare as best I can and see where we end up.

“The main aim for me is to get back to the level where I finished last season for Poole.

“That’s what I’m looking towards points-wise and I feel everything has been good with my preparation.”

Joe Screen was the only regular Pirates rider to actually up his average last year, as they failed to recover from the |major setback of sustaining early-season injuries to Jason Doyle, Kyle Legault and Craig Watson.

Screen, on loan from Belle Vue, upped his figure from 6.03 to 6.35.

The likes of Hans Andersen (9.39 to 9.15), Holder (8.80 to 8.76), Daniel Davidsson (4.05 to 3.71) and Paul Hurry (3.59 to 3.11) all saw their averages drop.

That’s why Pedersen, who has voluntarily relinquished Poole’s captaincy so he can concentrate solely on his own performances this year, feels he has been on the end of some unfair stick.