JamesB

Part of the problem is that there are good and not so good promoter’s. I don’t believe that Ipswich lose money as Louis has stated a number of times that he will not bankrupt the club for success. He puts in a lot of effort to attract sponsors of which there are many. I believe that Doyle’s wages are paid by one of the sponsors and I wouldn’t be surprised if part or all of Sayfutdinov’s are as well.

A league without Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Kurtz, Bewley, Fricke, Holder, etc can only be poorer for their absence. Ipswich have always had a decent fan base, but I am certain that attendances in the Doyle/Sayfutdinov era have been markedly better than before their arrival. I would also wager that they have put some additional bums on seats at away tracks as well. Dumb it down at your peril.

Issue 26 published yesterday shows Dan switching back to reserve. Emil is still at the top of the averages.

Congratulations to Sheffield but the point being made about them winning the league is a misleading one. The play off fixtures were confirmed prior to the meeting at Foxhall. Because of that, it was clear that the Witches were not that bothered in the home meeting and they certainly were not tonight. If both meetings had been run ahead of the play off fixture announcement, it is highly likely that at least one of the results would have been different. Anyway, it’s all academic.

I have never been in favour of reducing down the standard/quality of anything in an attempt to make it more attractive. It’s an oxymoron. The idea that you can simply share out the likes of Doyle, Sayfutdinov, Bewley, Kurtz, Holder, Fricke, etc, etc across a broader group of teams just doesn’t hold water. The first problem is that it assumes that all clubs in a combined league can afford them which is incredibly unlikely. Even in a 7 team Premiership, it is clear that there are clubs that have deeper pockets than others resulting in a significant gap between them. That problem will just be worse in a combined league as teams choose to ride in the Championship for a reason which surely is primarily a financial one. The second problem is that it assumes that the riders concerned will simply accept that they have to move on to a different team. Some may do, some won’t. Anyway, let’s wait and see what the exciting future looks like.

I am away until the 17th, so I am hoping for a very wet first half of October followed by a warm and dry second half. 😀

Apparently, they opened the gates late. There was some debate about whether it would go ahead. Must have been much more rain here than where I live 6 miles away. There is the odd bit of standing water on the track at the moment.

6 miles north of Ipswich - Brief shower 15 minutes ago, sunshine is returning.

On paper, I agree with you, however I have just a few niggling concerns: 1. It seems that Ellis’ injury is more problematic on smaller tracks. 2. Thompson seems to be struggling with Foxhall since his return from injury and hasn’t been the same as pre injury. 3. Edwards last two meeting at Foxhall have not been good with 1 & 2 points respectively. Having said that, I still expect us to turn around the deficit and progress. I just can’t see enough points coming from Mulford, Zischke, Blödorn and even Cook. Cook has scored 1, 3 and 3 at Foxhall this season. Can’t wait.

I would have snapped your hand off for 10/12 at the end of Heat 8. I thought it was a tremendous team performance to draw the second half.

Sardonic humour in light of Tigers fans suggesting that he got last week called off on his tod.

Did Doyle want to race or not?

I don’t know, but the dates have been in the British calendar since the fixture list announced. It would be strange for Sweden to take priority because ‘it rained there first’.

Does British speedway not have priority over Swedish speedway on a Monday/Thursday?

Would we be stronger with Thompson or Ellis at reserve. I think it’s an absolute toss up at the moment.