JamesB

Just back from Portman Road and pleasantly surprised to find out that we picked up a point. I have been a bit critical of Tungate this season, but hats off to him tonight. It's a minimum of three wins now and then see what happens. It all depends on Plymouth's away results and it's probably going to be tight with Plymouth still favourites. The superior points difference could still be important.

I am not sure you can discount the Edinburgh result as I don't think King and Covatti would have got a great deal more than the 17 scored by Lawson and Worrall. The scores from Tungate and Heeps were the bigger problem.

It's going to need a much better performance than at Plymouth or Edinburgh to get anywhere near a point let alone anything more. Manzares, Heeps and the reserves will need a decent night. Twitter feed has r/r at 5. A bit surprised by that as King in heat 8 would be my preference.

Workington's inability to win away from home probably means that it looks like a straight fight between Plymouth and the Witches. It's probably Plymouth's to lose at the moment. If Plymouth only win their home meetings and pick up no away points and the Witches win their home meetings and pick one away point then the teams will be level on 39 points. The Witches would then qualify due to their superior points difference. If Plymouth pick up anything away from home, then they are looking pretty safe.

I am not making a point and I am not singling out Lawson as I made exactly the same observation about the Witches pair last week (check the Plymouth v Witches thread). Indeed, I am grateful to Lawson for the points he scored tonight otherwise the result would have been even worse. Clearly, we will have to agree to disagree as we have different expectations of professional sportsmen. No problem with that, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. All the best.

Correct, I do not know the facts, however all the other riders managed to get there on time. Can you ever recall any footballer, rugby player, cricketer, tennis player, etc, etc, etc running on to the pitch, ground or court after the game/match has started?

I criticised the Ipswich pair last Friday and I will equally criticise Lawson tonight. These are supposed to be professional sportsmen, but they can't get to a meeting in ample time for the start. FFS.

Anything better than a 14-16 point loss would be a reasonable result.

In King's defence, you can only team ride if your team mate has gated behind you. Three fifths of his races are with the number 2 and let's face how many times has the rider in that position gated on a 5-1 this season? Also, in heat 13 he had Tungate for the first half of the season who was hardly tearing things up when against the opposition heat leaders and in the second half Covatti has been mainly trying to battle his way round the opposition from a poor gate. Our real problem this year has been no real improvement from the likes of Manzares, Heeps and Tungate with Hawkins going backwards. The team was built on that happening.

I'd managed to block Risager out of my mind. Thanks for reminding me!!

Agreed, you can clearly see the talent when he is at his best. He is young which is why I would keep him for next season based on his current average, but not sure how that can be achieved at the moment.

The lad is jinxed.

Initial reaction was that this potentially strengthened us a bit but it's only Heeps and the reserves who can cover the r/r for Manzares. I can't see too many points coming from those rides.

That's true, King did struggle against those two at Foxhall. I think where King has been a good asset is his away performances and scores which have been those of a number 1. I can't think of too many instances when you would look at one of his away performances and call it poor. When there hasn't been an outside line at Foxhall, Covatti has struggled to get past some of the away teams lesser lights as well. Don't get me wrong, I think Covatti has been a great signing and he's been brilliant to watch. He's just not a number 1 at the moment for me.

Covatti would be a massive risk as a number 1 because his gating is so inconsistent. If there's a lot of grip out wide, then he can recover but even with that grip struggles to catch a Cook, Kennett, etc. He has struggled on the couple of occasions when there has not been an outside line at Foxhall. Also, his away scores are not the scores of a number 1.

I think King has been very good and has been the number 1 we have been looking for. I would also keep Covatti for the entertainment value alone but not sure there's much upside on his average unless he can learn to gate. I have also been impressed with Morris, he has the ability to gate and at times has looked quick. We are unlikely to see Manzares unless his visa was granted for more than one year or someone arranges a nice little state championship somewhere. I don't think he's been fully fit for any length of time and on his current average would probably keep him. Tungate and Heeps would benefit from riding somewhere else for at least a season and we should get loan fees for them. I am really not sure about Nielsen as I don't think he ever looks particularly comfortable around Foxhall but maybe that's just his riding style. As to replacements, I haven't given it a great deal of thought but having Garrity and Covatti in the same team would be entertaining!! I also like Lawson and he is a tryer. Wells is also always consistent around Foxhall. Lunna looked decent the other week before running out of steam and his scores are a bit up and down, but he looked the type of kid whose got a bit about him. Finally, Riss in for Heeps - but I can't see Edinburgh letting him get away.

That's pretty different to the BBC weather site which predicts heavy rain from midnight until mid afternoon. Time will tell which prediction is most accurate.

Would just prefer to see a meeting between two teams with their own riders. If we were to lose on that basis then so be it.

Weather forecast is deteriorating.........

Lawson 14 + 2 from 6 on his last visit and I believe beat Cook at least once. Nielsen 6 + 2 from 7. On paper, probably reasonable guests. However, apart from Worrall we don't have a great record with guests this season.

Yes he is.

I am not sure about Tungate as his ban commenced on 24th July. It may depend on whether the ban started at 00:01 on the 24th or at a later time. I am sure the MC will make up the answer at some point this week after they have consulted Mr Godfrey. 😉

If I've got this correct we will be missing King, Covatti, Tungate, Nielsen and possibly Manzares. It's difficult to know where to start on the list of possible guests. For the credibility of the sport, would it not make sense to rearrange this fixture?

The website says that Gino has a suspected broken collarbone. Looks like we are really going to struggle for a few weeks with both Nico and Gino out for a while.

Oh dear, that was worse then Baldymans worst fears. Well done to Plymouth who now look as if they are well in control of the race for sixth. One heat win outside of King was never going to be good enough. I have no idea if the late arrival of Heeps and Manzares impacted on their performances but even if it didn't it is unacceptable for two professional sportsmen to rock up late for such an important meeting. If you are travelling down to the West Country for a Friday evening then you leave plenty of time to get there. Hopefully, Gino is OK.