Steve Irving

Moneybags Belle Vue cherrypicking another rider? Perhaps they ought to swap the Ace and use a Cherry as their emblem this year.

Well I guess you would! Reason being?

Ben Cook, Lawson, Klindt, Iversen, Kvech, Harris, Boughen. Think that’ll be it.

What do you want a medal? This is all a bit daft isn’t it? Why stop at top 4? Ipswich have a stronger top 2, Sheffield have a stronger top 3, and a stronger top 4, Ipswich will possibly/probably have a stronger top 5 and the one that really matters, I think Ipswich will definitely have a stronger top 7!

Belle Vue were never in the running for Kenyan Rew. Jason Doyle was the one who brought him over, not Mark Lemon as you choose to believe. Doyle recommended him to Chris Louis and the deal was done.

I’ve heard there was a split on voting for points limit, some wanting it dropped a point and others wanting to keep it to 40. I’d guess the loudest noises will get their way in the end and it’ll remain 40.

Hawkins said similar recently didn’t he. Was tipping him to be the next in line to follow Bewley and Robert Lambert on the GP scene. If Bewley is off to pastures new as rumoured, perhaps Belle Vue will have room to bring him back..

If Ipswich wanted Kvech and the rider wanted UK racing next year, then they’d get him. Deep down you know that too so you can forget this “two year deal nonsense”. Ipswich is well known for being a professionally well run club, Lynn let’s just say, isn’t. I wouldn’t worry though, I think Ipswich would much prefer Brennan on a similar average if they’re going for a mid 6 pointer.

So you (and arnieg presumably) think it’s right that clubs get preferential treatment and first pick, due to the previous season’s poor performance? If so why? You're in essence being rewarded for being useless the previous year by having a free pick at the strongest rising star!! Complete and utter codswallop Oh and I’m not sure Jordan Jenkins signed up for any of these nonsensical rules!!

You don’t know whether that “rule” exists next year yet. IMO it should be scrapped for two reasons. Firstly, the 2024 season has no relevance to the 2025 season. Why should some clubs have an advantage and others be disadvantaged all due to a different season’s performance? Just because Lynn were as always, crap, shouldn’t mean they should get preferential treatment and a “first pick” of a rider (or second after Birmingham). It’s completely farcical. It’s a new season, every team should start equal and not be granted favours for being crap the previous year. Secondly, what if Jenkins doesn’t want to join Lynn? Shouldn’t the riders decide where they want to ride? Ok, you will argue he has a choice and could reject Lynn’s offer, but in reality under the current nonsensical rules he really doesn’t have much of a choice at all. As things stand, if you reject an offer from the club picking you, you’re removed from the rising star list and can’t join any other team as their rising star. Jenkins will know the chances of him getting a Premiership ride as a senior reserve are slim, so it’s accept Lynn’s offer or likely miss out. This whole system needs a serious rethink over the winter, or better still, scrap it altogether and let teams build their sides within the points limit. I’ve always been of the belief that if a young rider is talented enough, he’ll get his chance through the natural progression through the NDL and Championship. There are some on the rising star list that with all due respect, will go absolutely nowhere in the sport. Scrap it.

Which you lost! Your very first home meeting to poor travellers Belle Vue with your original 1-7 and you lost it.

What a load of old tosh. Which other club gets ‘dicked around” by so many riders as you seem to? Perhaps if people running your club treated their riders better than that wouldn’t be happening. How many riders ‘dick around” Belle Vue, Ipswich and Sheffield? It’s always Lynn isn’t it? Must be the unluckiest club of all time! You’re ran like a circus so take off the rose tinted specs and admit it.

Then you’d be wrong wouldn’t you Hamish. Absolutely nobody has been talking about heat 15. The incompetent referee undoubtedly “stole the show” with her quite ridiculous decisions as evident by the last half dozen pages on this thread.

Team and a half that one. Every club should be making Dan Thompson an offer, 25% reduction makes him hot property. Similarly Rowe. Rew has so much talent, flys in Poland and you could see this year he’s starting to get to grips with UK racing also. I could see him being a prolific scorer around Belle Vue pretty quickly.

Of course she bloody did! It may have escaped you, but it’s literally the ONLY thing everybody is talking about since the meeting last night however badly you don’t want it to be the case!!

Really? I thought he did absolutely fine. It’s blatantly obvious the landscape has changed since Emil’s injury. Emil rode in our play offs this time last year with no issues whatsoever. I don’t get the big mystery here at all. As you concede, anyone who watched him at the weekend could tell he was uncomfortable and not properly fit, despite what might have got lost in translation from his “interview”. Everybody knows the pressure these boys are under from the Polish authorities to get out there if they’re 100% fit or not. Woffinden gave a pre-meeting interview before a Polish fixture a couple of years ago stating his obvious disgust that he was being made to ride with a hand/wrist injury. He subsequently couldn’t hang on to the bike in his first ride and fell doing even more damage. We know what they’re like over there. I have zero sympathy for the riders btw. They know the score and have a choice not to ride there. But if they want to take the huge coin on offer then they know what drawbacks that comes with. It’s their look out quite frankly. We don’t pay anywhere near what’s on offer in Poland and as such, don’t place the same demands on the riders. If we did, they’d all tell us to get stuffed from the get go with what’s on offer here. If Ipswich would have been aware that Emil would do the season but not do the play offs then I’m pretty sure Ipswich wouldn’t have signed him. One thing Louis demands is commitment and loyalty from his riders (when fit) and in return he repays the favour and supports them when they’re struggling. We saw that loyalty and commitment from Emil last year, and also this year. But again, the injury undoubtedly changed things. There’s no grey area here, it’s perfectly black and white.

I’m sure the Ipswich fans would rather be in their position than yours.

Are Oxford doing top flight next year? I was under the impression that this season’s multi league experiment wasn’t popular with the powers that be and it was done out of necessity, but they’ll have to choose which league to ride in next year

That makes no sense whatsoever. Are you saying some clubs are not at a disadvantage because they’re at the top end of the league? You can be sitting top of the pile by a country mile, and still be disadvantaged at rising star. Even more credit to those clubs who are up there in spite of having crap rising stars.

Don’t be such a wet wipe ffs.

Wrong. Then he’s another who doesn’t know his arse from his elbow! Is it any wonder your team always end up scrapping for the dregs every winter when you spend half of it chasing ineligible riders? “Clubs are automatically permitted to retain their existing Rising Star for the following season should they meet the criteria” Flint meets the criteria therefore he’ll be at Birmingham. Jenkins isn’t an option either. Once you’ve graduated out of the rising star scheme you can’t drop back in it despite his average now dropping below the 4.00 mark.

Understatement of the year! Let’s have it right, Ipswich were a better side than Sheffield this year, the results between the clubs when both were at full strength proves that. The table before Emil joined Doyle on the sidelines also proves that. You’ll get some fans come on with “it’s not our fault we can only beat what’s put in front of us” or, “well that’s speedway injuries can happen”, you’ll always get supporters who are desperate for silverware and couldn’t care less how they get it. But the fact is, the injuries to Ipswich haven’t just spoiled it for Ipswich, they’ve spoiled it for everyone else because the clubs that lift the pots will know it’s a hollow victory. Surely as a fan you want to take on your opponents at their strongest so you know any victory would be fully deserved? No excuses can be made by the losing team, won fair and square. Yes injuries do happen of course they do, but losing not one but two 9.5 pointers is bonkers.

And the reason why they were labelled “pick and mix Tigers”. Sacking Brits just before the cut off and then strategically hand picking guests for certain tracks. All very snidey and unsavoury.

He’s not wrong though is he. If anything he’s underplaying it!