Arch Stanton

I agree that Wallinger is a strange choice with all due respect him, but I think the problem the promotion may have had was finding someone who would be happy to only do a handful of meetings until Kemp comes in next Month. That more than likely reduced their options. On Mountain, you also have to wonder if last Thursday was the straw that broke the camels back? To have any realistic chance of making the play offs, we simply HAD to win our home meetings. A home defeat is hugely damaging. Yes again we didn’t have luck going our way, but 4 points from 7 rides from Mountain was a huge factor in that home defeat. He scored 6 last night in the top flight! Every rider has a track they dislike, But the lad has had long enough now to at the very least, be winning the reserves race on a regular basis at home and doing far better than he has. Shame as he comes across as a cracking lad and has been solid away from Foxhall.

Yes the article states it’ll be guests for King whilst we continue to wait on his fitness. After a little reflection, is Garcia and Kemp a weaker pairing than Hume and Mountain? And is Mark Riss for Hartel/Jeppesen weakening the side? All about opinions and there’s question marks there. Riss has been dropped by Edinburgh for a reason, he’s been rubbish. But, if he can recapture some form that he’s capable of, then he should in theory match those two at the very least you’d think. We have to be careful not to put too much pressure on Kemp, allow him to get a feel for Championship racing and enjoy himself. But there is a bigger upshot here and it’s good he’ll get a taste before next season. Again the reserve pairing, could at least match the scoring of Hume and Mountain, with potential to better it.

That’s utterly bizarre. Don’t get that at all.. ”Awaiting BSPA approval”. I hope they get it this time! As this is the second time in consecutive years Mountain has been dropped. Can’t see him agreeing to come back again somehow. Getting rid of the Dane so quickly is another strange move. Not injury related, just a “victim of the numbers game”. The poor sod has only done two meetings!! From the little I saw, looked a gutsy entertaining rider. Disappointed The only real plus I can see is getting an earlier than expected look at Drew Kemp in Witches Kevlars. Was always going to be a Witch despite obvious enviable glances from elsewhere, but was expecting it to be next season. Good luck Drew. Best of Luck to three riders released and I hope Mountain in particular, gets snapped up quickly which I’m sure he will.

Mark Riss? It’s a no from me as well I’m afraid.

Was gonna say the same this morning Baldy but couldn’t be bothered! May as well rip the team up and try two or three newbies from abroad. If only one of those turns out to be a diamond then it’ll have been worth it. Why not?

Looks a good, close battle this one! Looking forward to it

I know Neil, that’s what I said :p

Interesting that Richie Worrall is guesting for us in place of King up at Edinburgh on Friday. There are two other Championship fixtures Friday night so maybe it’s just a case of Scott and others aren’t available and choice was limited. But with the goings on at Glasgow and Worrall potentially available if their changes get approval, you have to wonder whether there might be a reason behind their choice of guest..

Agree Baldy. I like Worrall as a rider, but we could surely book stronger guests. Not exactly a ton of fixtures to arrange guests for either. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nicholls has been given a list of our remaining fixtures and told to box off all the meetings he can do.

I don’t like using guests long term, but when we’re missing such a big hitter as King I think in this instance I’d carry on with the guest facility. Would you go for a Worrall full time, or carry on using Nicholls whenever possible and then a Harris/Lawson etc when there’s a fixture clash with Peterborough?

Agree with all that, Cam is key, show some of last seasons form and we could even win the meeting. Nico has been top drawer. Sometimes an injury lay off can work in your favour. At the start of the season, he was struggling as much as Cam and just couldn’t get going. An unfortunate injury gave him time to wipe the slate clean and come back firing. He’s done just that. I was surprised to see one or two question whether he was worth retaining this year on his average. I personally would have him first on the team sheet for two reasons. Firstly, he’s the type of rider you pay your money to go and watch, a racer. Secondly, he’s normally bar the odd blip, very consistent away from home. Not sure if it’s changed, but a season or two ago he had the best away average of the entire team. You have to win your home meetings of course, but picking up away points is crucial also and Nico contributes hugely to that. I’d much prefer to have someone like that in my team, than someone like Ludvig Lindgren a similar average, who is awesome at home but struggles for points on the road (with all due respect).

Been an absolute joke this season it really has

Am I missing something?

Lewis Kerr in for Danny against Sheffield Thursday. Seeing more specialists this week but Hawkins says they’re actively looking for “ a semi or even permanent replacement” for him. http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/witches-crash-out-of-fours-final-1-5586188

Absolutely rubbish that Ashley Morris..

Not sure about that at all. I’m personally not convinced but will give him the benefit of the doubt and hope to be proved wrong. We’ll see. We have a long wagging tail so for me the replacement for King is even more important and one we have to get right if we’re to challenge for the title. We’ll need a rider who can at least match King’s scoring, that’s going to be difficult. We’ll also need Heeps to pull his finger out and rediscover his last years form. If those two things happen, then we can afford to carry the other three to a degree as long as they contribute a few points here and there.

CL said he didn’t want to go down the guests and R/R route, so with a fixture away to Sheffield a week on Thursday, I guess we’ll hear news of replacements before the weekend.

You have absolutely no chance

Strange what’s happened to Sundstrom really. A few years back when he broke through at Rye House he looked a phenomenal talent who looked destined to reach the top. He also showed his potential when we signed him up at reserve in the top flight. I haven’t followed his career since so no idea if he’s had a bad injury/injuries? But he certainly hasn’t reached the heights that I thought he would.

Same, not a scooby. Long since given up trying to work out averages and which is used

Would Cook fit?

http://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/chris-louis-talks-about-ipswich-witches-danny-king-injury-1-5576820 Says semi-permanent in both cases here. I guess as was alluded to earlier, it will surely depend on how well the replacements do as to whether either rider can reclaim their place back in the side when fit. Josh Grajczonek a possibility?

A fully fit Danny King and our four is as good as any there. His place is in serious doubt however with an ongoing arm injury which will kill off our chances.

CL is going to have to make a decision pretty soon on Danny King. If we’re going to have any chance of winning the league, then we simply can’t afford to have our pre season #1 struggling badly with an on going arm injury that is blatantly causing him major problems. His current average means there’s surely options out there to replace him.