JamesB

I don’t understand how the concept of forcing the RS’s to ride for a specific team is permitted. I am not an employment lawyer but does it not break employment law relating to freedom of movement?

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.

The eight year old lad (forgotten his name) who was doing laps between the junior races looked better every time he came out. On his last set, he was attacking the corners as well as some of those in the junior races. Looked impressive for an 8 year old.

6 miles north of Ipswich - It has been raining for the past half hour so and there’s no break in the rain clouds at the moment.

Correct, there was no contact but is there any reference to contact in the rule book, I am not sure there is. In my opinion, the only reason that there was no contact was because Thompson took action to avoid it losing control as he did. Was coming in at that speed from that far back hard or reckless, in my view it crossed the line into reckless but I’ve seen those decisions go both ways. Having been to both legs, the Stars deserved to go through. Too many unforced errors from the Witches tonight.

Whatever happened here (and it’s pretty opaque), it’s great to see the club survive and hopefully thrive. All the best.

It’s great to read that Danyon Hume’s surgery yesterday has been classed as successful. Here’s hoping for a full and speedy recovery for someone who always gives their all irrespective.

My reading of Hawkin’s comments are that the Witches proposed to apply the same approach to the RS position that the Stars have been/are being allowed to use and that this request was refused. If that is correct, then that is a terrible state of affairs. A regulation either applies to none or all. If the Stars have been granted an exception to the regulation then great, but again that exception has to be applied to all.

I thought that Flint was excellent tonight. He had the beating of Jenkins and Mountain every time often passing them for the points.

That was a cracking meeting, with plenty of passing. Two good teams who both deserve credit for a hard fought and competitive meeting.

I am guessing that the options are limited, who else works within the average available? As much as Danyon always gives his all for the Witches, it was clear that he is not the answer nor is Lambert.