Arch Stanton

I think the “terrible gater” tag with Harris gets overplayed. There’s little wrong with his gating whenever I’ve watched him, and often it’s very good!

The British under 21 is an individual event, not a team event. So you accept some clubs will gain an advantage, and some clubs will be disadvantaged through no fault of their own but just carry on with it anyway. You shouldn’t be comparing the NDL to the flagship tier in this country, the NDL is called the National Development League for a reason. Not for the first time, we’ll agree to disagree.

Everyone. So you’re probably looking at Fricke, Lawson, Masters and Becker. Wouldn’t say that’s damaging to them personally.

Rew was outstanding. He’s made great strides this year and reading Hawkins’ positive comments regarding Rew and next season it looks like he’ll almost certainly be back which is great news

Yeah I bet you do

Is that the same Kerr you sacked before the cut off? And the same Vissing you got a ringer guest for in the play off final that scored paid double figures?

Scott can’t do tonight’s meeting and the reason is nobody’s business to be honest.

Louis confirms here that the plan was to use Lindgren as they knew Birminghams season would be over, and the wheels were put in motion months ago. His Polish club eventually put the kibosh on that idea.

Contractually probably not. People would also call it a “farce” if we did that but it’s already a farce in the way they’ve pissed up the semi final draw and no more of a farce than turning up with the majority of the team made up of guests from other clubs. At least Oxford would have their own team of riders and the two semi finals would be competitive and more entertaining to watch. I honestly don’t think the majority of Ipswich supporters would be bothered at this point I really don’t.

At this point we should just wave the white flag and let a fully fit Oxford take our place in the play offs.

Kvech guesting for Emil, Brennan for Doyle.

Kvech.

Or maybe they didn’t and they were outvoted by the others?

Anyhow as I’ve said before, I think it’s time to bin it off as it’s not a level playing field. There will be two or three that are clearly far superior to the rest on the list, so some clubs through no fault of their own will be disadvantaged from the get go. At least by letting clubs build their 1-7 of their choosing, if they end up with one of the weaker teams then that’s their own fault. When you look at the whole list from this year, and with all due respect to them, there’s some on there that would be out of their depth in a Championship reserve berth let alone Premiership.

That’s why they altered the criteria to avoid the likes of the Bates situation. Going by this years rules, you had to be 23 or under by January 1st to fit the qualifying criteria.

I’m one of those, and I've decided against it. It’s effectively a dead rubber, and going yet again with rider replacement made the decision an easy one for me personally. I’ll put that 23 quid to better use this week.

Can’t agree I think it’ll be a shocker of an attendance on Thursday. It was really poor last week against Birmingham as well.

Think everyone is just demoralised and had enough tbf. We could see it and hear it from King during his recent interviews, and it must have got to the promotion as well. The injuries can’t be helped it’s just one of those things. They’d probably like to shut up shop right now if they could! Just get these last few meetings done and then go and again next year.

Would make zero sense not to. I’m personally not too sure this scheme will work for much longer. There isn’t a huge pool of riders good enough left with those who are graduating out of it. There’s going to be a huge disparity between the likes of Flint, and those left on the list who clubs will be forced to choose. I like the idea in theory, but we’ve got to the point now that if it proceeds, we’re likely to see a few of the rising stars half a lap behind everyone else. Nobody wants to see that surely.

Neither at 7 will work for Kings Lynn. Jenkins wasn’t even a rising star this year let alone next, and Birmingham will automatically retain Flint if they come to tapes in 2025. That’s as long as the rising star system stays, and doesn’t change.

I enjoyed this. Some good stuff at times. There are certain riders you look at and then look at their GSA and think “yeah that’s a bit of a cheat code”. Kvech on 6 and a half is one of those. Has a touch of class and looks an 8+ pointer all day long. Build a team over the winter with a couple of heatleaders above him, and that average will be upwardly mobile very quickly riding at 3/4. In comparison, King on 6.48, Kvech on 6.52. One would be an excellent signing for next year, the other not so much. Nothing against Danny btw, just pointing out that you have riders on near identical averages where one is clearly on the decline, whilst the other is heading in the opposite direction.

I’d also be VERY surprised to see Rowe back at Ipswich. Things can and do change over time though, so never say never.

We actually covered Doyle’s absence really well to be fair. He’s been out since mid May but we still managed to win most meetings both home and away even with inferior guests and rider replacement. But once Emil crashed at Sheffield (and let’s not forget we were 2 points up going in to heat 15 and fighting for the win for the second time there this season) the whole team collapsed. The younger members of the team who had all stepped up a gear this year, suddenly lost a bit of form when the pressure to be the main players in the game rather than the supporting acts, naturally took its toll. Then Ellis joined Doyle and Emil on the sidelines when he crashed out of his opening heat in our next fixture at home to Leicester, and that was the season dead and buried. No chance of signing replacements even if they now become available, and very limited guest choice. A season that promised everything has turned in to a season to forget. Maybe next year!

We’ve been over this time and time again. They tried every top rider in Speedway and nobody suitable was available. Rather than jump in and sign someone who they weren’t particularly happy with, they went with guests in the hope someone became available right up to the cut off. As we know, that didn’t happen. It is what it is.