STEVEHOLS54
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Everything posted by STEVEHOLS54
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Think many are disappointed Woryna/Jakobsen are not back. However think there are various factors as to why not, but the obvious one is probably for the first time Ford has a financial dilemma. Firstly I assume the loss of a Team Sponsor plus 2 other prominent ones not renewing is a dent in available finance. This is also Ford's last intended season and no doubt he wants to avoid the financial nightmare of last season after the big meeting washout plus other meetings. Seems Matt cannot afford Woryna's demands and also as with Jakobsen, flying both in plus mechanics can't be cheap. Additionally Ford had to shave 2.64 off the team av for 2019. That was going to be difficult when also trying to cut cost. First to go was Harris as his uplifted GSA made the decision easier, plus arguably got a better long term prospect in Jack Holder who is already an asset, also on a lower GSA. Had he been even able to afford both of the promising youngsters he would have had to look at offloading maybe other riders and replacing with low GSA riders at say reserves. This way he has got a team with relevant strength in depth and without all the expense of the Pole/Dane, neither who were necessarily guaranteed to up their av by much anyway as almost certainly Woryna would not go back at reserve again where he stacked up points and Jakobsen would have had to go into the main team to allow low GSA riders to fill the reserve slots to get within points limit. For sure an element of risk involved but its a difficult juggling act with not so much money around and also having to get down on points limit for 2019 by 2.64. No doubt if things are not working out he will change things as in previous seasons. But they deserve a chance first as may prove some doubters wrong. I for one hope they do.
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Yes but as the article said in the Bournemouth Echo, Jakobsen had a couple of offers from other teams in UK, BUT if he was not used he MAY consider using him mid season if things are not working out in the team.
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Think you are spot on and nice to see a level headed approach. I think Panthers fans will have plenty of entertainment in 2019 and think sides will have difficulty picking up points at yours. May surprise some away and with strength throughout the side think they will be hopefully well placed to pinch points away.
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I agree and just like THJ who showed so much potential at one stage, UK teams have hardly come a knocking to sign them (unless one of the Prem sides have done a deal and not announced yet). If neither get signed then at least its a sign that clubs are spending more diligently within their means, although Swindon with the Lampart still baffles me a bit although Rosco may know something we don't ;-)
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Sorry Skidder you are correct. However we all know with his POL family background he also gave up on Champ and put a lot of time effort and expense to finally try and make an effort to break into POL on his new POL Licence last season. Was not a great success despite him constantly flying out there (living out of ruck sack by his own admission) and doing lots of practice/testing etc. Did not help that track was not ready so they had to ride a lot of away tracks, but even so he struggled a lot and if I am not incorrect his team dropped him and he signed for what now seems like the ill fated Stahl Rsez. Talk about dropping a bomb. At least Morris who is in a similar situation has a SWE deal to fall back on. Let's hope that both get fixed up asap as we all know POL pays well (when the club and its owner pay up that is). Josh also needs the regular racing. When you hear the likes of Klindt did close to 100 meetings, it shows that if you only have UK with 24/28 meetings plus a few guest appearances, these top guys need a lot more meetings.
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Gomolski nowhere near as good as he seems to think he is. Too many remember the title winning ride at Poole in the Final a few years back but his other form wasn't so clever. When he returned to Leic I think he was crap. Not even good enough for POL EXL any more and hardly got a ride in 2018. Has dropped a League and even then not convinced he is not going backwards. Just like THJ the Swede also looking for UK who can't even convince a SWE Prem team to pay him a workable salary and again is now languishing in POL Lge 2 next season. A lot of expense for riders imo not up to it.
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Not as we speak but for sure he will be in demand. Assuming he lowers his financial demands. Having said that I saw somewhere that he has financial guarantees in place that mean he will get paid irrespective as his deal is underwritten legally by the owners other more successful business/es. The article said he doesn't need to panic to find another club at the moment due to this.
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In a recent POL interview he said he was not doing the Aussie Champ as there was too much distance to travel to meetings from his home town area. However he assured what he thought was his new club, that he was still planning to do some racing in Aussie in order to keep fit during the Winter. Those plans will continue no doubt even though his new club have in effect blown up due to the unscrupulous dealings of their owner in several aspects of running the club and not making payments to all kinds of people or giving the required financial assurance docs to the authorities. Suppose it was too good to be true that this guy who had various biz interest would spring up out of nowhere and run a club in POL 2nd Div. The club offering Hancock meg-bucks (eye watering by even POL standards) plus other riders. We know for example even Morris had problems getting paid and may still be owed thousands as per the last I heard. Even Hancock at one stage refused to race last season but was able to get legal financial guarantees underwritten by the owners other trading company/ies thus ensuring he gets his money whatever happens. Not great news for Josh who is thousands of miles away in Aus and can hardly hop on a plane & pop over to POL to try and secure a new club also after the transfer window closed. Although maybe some dispensation for situations like this as this guy signed a lot of riders, many of whom would rarely have got a ride. Believe the POL window opens in May anyway but if he had bikes planned etc its a while to be out of pocket with only Prem money coming in plus he needs the meetings as he isn't doing Champ again due to doing POL (or so he thought).
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I think Hancock's deal in POL was probably more than what Matt's total wage bill will be in 2019. No wonder the crazy guy running Rzeszow came a cropper. Sounds a real shady character reading the various press articles on what he has been up to and defaulting here there and everywhere. Not surprising the POL Authorities refused the club a new licence for 2019. I wonder if Josh will get fixed up elsewhere now as he was dropped by his team of last season and now ends up with probably no side due tho this crazy guy - unless someone comes along but then the likes of Hancock & Morris also caught up in it. Josh will be way out of pocket otherwise with only Prem as it stands. Let's hope somebody steps in. Seems to me he was signing riders in volume.
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As we all know Gav it's not even a case of what your named side is at this early stage. They should be judged more by results after a couple of months (say in June). We all know that some get carried away positive/negative on how good/bad the side looks in Dec/Jan. Irrespective of Poole eventually winning the league, not many thought that the original named 7 would be languishing near to bottom of the table after the first few months. Too much is prejudged before a wheel is turned. I would hope the Witches put out a competitive team in 2019. Let the results determine if was a right/wrong choice. It's crazy that some dismiss the team before its even been announced. King/Allen are a decent start to team announcing and hopefully they will still have a decent team even if on paper it does not look league winning. We all know only too well from all 3 leagues in 2018 that finishing top of the leagues doesn't always win titles ;-)
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I know. BUT thinking ahead if Matt does not find a suitable buyer for the club, could it be that he lets the co-promoters i.e son & sponsor, continue to run the club going forward in his continued ownership after 2019 ?? If they are interested in continuing that is. I know it's not Matt's first choice option, but unless someone with a love for the sport and deep pockets, or a large Commercial operation shows interest, it would surely be better than just stopping the sport ?? Anyway that's one for the future.
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Tungate & Jakobsen as an option ?? My only fear on Jakobsen is I think he will develop later rather than earlier so would the team be able to carry him (possibly) early season ?? Matt Ford said in an article last few days that 1/2 teams had shown interest as Poole cannot accommodate/afford him due to cost constraints.
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If one or both Matt's sons are involved, then IF Matt were not to find a buyer this coming season, maybe he will support his son/s carrying the sport forward at Poole after 2019. I personally wish them the best of luck and let's hope that with some input also from Matt if overseas, the Ford Dynasty can continue in some form within Poole Speedway for many seasons to come. Good luck also to the Sponsor if one of them has taken a leap of faith into jointly running the club.
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Okay remove the word "total" but the fact is he is working on arguably a much lower budget in view of the situation. As for Jakobsen. You sound like Matt's PR machine. The Echo article states: “I am hoping he will get set up in Britain and there is a possibility with one or two clubs. But if he doesn’t, he would certainly come into our consideration should we need to make change. I hope Jakobsen does get fixed up somewhere as he can at least use another club to get a full seasons UK experience which hopefully Poole can use for it's benefit in future. Matt has always had kind words for rider he has been forced to release. He regularly says he would hope that xyz rider could be used again in the future. It would indeed be presumptious to assume he would have the finance in place to use Jakobsen again this season, and that is even on the assumption he was available. Not having a dig at Poole. I just feel that in times like these fans need to be realistic in their expectations of the team. I am sure Matt will still put out a competitive team which will hopefully keep within the top 4, but most importantly give home supporters entertainment and enough home wins to keep the fans clicking through the turnstiles in good volume.
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Still some interesting possibilities out there for the lower order for Ipswich such as Jakobsen and Jensen who many would have been happy to see both. Also if deep enough pockets Woryna although tend to agree he is a level below the likes of Drabyk/Smektala and an expensive risk if he performs to a 6/6.5 GSA again. Think a good chance Allen will be in and lets hope Louis can attract a decent HL so would not give up on them yet by any means. As for the Banter. Well you know from some you will never get anything else but lines intended to mock/wind you up ;-)
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Considering the expense involved it is a strange one as thought even he would have looked at the Poole - Spaniak situation last season. Also with so much cost cutting someone like a Rasmus Jensen or even a NBJ would seem to make more sense one would assume a lot less expense. Maybe Ipswich will go after Jensen as plenty of positives were being posted on our Poole page at what we thought was going to be our other reserve. How wrong those who had certain inside info were, unless he was over what Ford could/would pay with his now restricted budget.
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You have to say Gav that only on the Poole Forum can you enjoy the banter ;-) You know full well after some 7100 posts almost, that some of what you say will always be chewed over by some of the Poole faithful. Nice to see you seeing the lighter side of it more these days :-)
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Matt's real predicament is the total lack of finance at the moment. It's an Alien situation to him as Sponsors were plenty in days gone by as was the main team sponsor even if the Volvo deal was not up to say that of Readypower. Even so losing your main team sponsor plus 2 other decent ones is a big blow when trying to negotiate deals for the best/good riders. I am sure Matt is doing his level best to secure the best he can in riders for the club considering the severe cost constraints he has without Bankrupting the club or himself. He is fortunate to have so many decent assets to call on such as Kurtz/Holder who will also be based in UK at for example Middlo properties plus the likes of Klindt also an asset living in Wolves area. Plus Josh G and Richie W who are also UK based. I assume same for Covatti at least during the UK season anyway. No heavy travelling expenses for the club or flying in riders/mechanics every week (even on rain offs as they happen so late normally). I for one still think its a strength in depth team and as said before you only get 3 points if you win at home by 2 or 30 points.
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Only the results leading up to July will tell us if the chosen team was the right/wrong decision. Last season showed us that it was about keeping within or as close as possible to the top 4 for the biz end of the season via the play offs. Of course winning at home most important as that is what will keep the crowds hopefully flowing at Poole to keep things afloat should no major sponsor/s come forth. Matt was normally fairly good at changing things IF rider/s got injured or were way out of form. If things are going pear shaped come July there would still b time, but let's not pre judge things at this early stage. With only 7 teams total I am sure many will struggle to win points away which makes winning at home and picking up away points via less than 6 point defeats important with any away wins or draws a bonus.
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If a successful club in one of the Countries most affluent areas cannot secure a buyer then it will be a sad day for the sport. Hopefully someone will come forward. Would have been good to also have heard news on the proposed new Co Promotors but seems to have also gone quiet on that front.
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I think all Poole Fans have to step back a little and appreciate where we are as a club. The facts are - Matt has announced 2019 is his last season - No major team sponsor on the horizon for arguably first time ever - 2 other major sponsors have said they won't be renewing - Little in way of TV money - Matt lost money (a largish amount) in the early part of 2018 due to the 70th Anniv meeting wipe out and all the big costs associated with flying people in from all around Europe with no return, plus subsequent cancellations for rain/track reasons. Bottom line, their is little to no money available and certainly nothing on the horizon in income before tapes up early April. Matt has come clean now on the situation with the media that he is having to cut back big time for first time in years (or possibly ever) in who/what he can afford to sign. No longer can afford riders based overseas and flying in mechanics let alone compete with upcoming stars like Woryna who gets £35k per year just as a signing on fee for Rybnik. I assume he will no longer be offering accommodation at home to riders as he will now be based abroad in his new biz venture. Another possible negative as he cannot offer the facility. It may be that he was looking at both Allen & Jensen based on the various normally well informed rumours that were mentioned. Could it be that both wanted above what Matt was able/prepared to pay and as a result both deals fell through. Matt is a master at PR releases and makes it sound as if he had to move quickly to get NBJ due to his expunged Rye results , maybe artificially low GSA, and the comments from Pedersen about how good he thinks he will be. In a way good PR turns a negative into a positive on the reality of what may have gone on. Think we have to accept that certainly for now the big money and big signings are gone. All Matt can do is work withing the much lower budget he has with no major sponsors and try his best to at least put out a competitive team. We have to forget the past, and at least support what we do have in what is obviously difficult financial times for the club and the sport in general as far as the Prem league is concerned. Fortunately the Champ/National Leagues seems in reasonable condition and working within its financial needs.
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I thought it was a six figure (amount undisclosed) amount involved when I read a long time ago now. I could be wrong but was led to believe it was a pretty major deal. I thought the Volvo Poole deal was nowhere near as good but best available at the time.
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Sure you won't be pushing the No Confidence Vote with your friend in Parliament ???
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Unfair but one has to take into a/c that Zach has ridden in Prem for 2 seasons where Jensen has never ridden. Zach therefore has established 20 match rolling GSA av in Prem. Jensen is perhaps an extreme example and when you look at all his results for Workington in OCT (of which quite a few) you would think you are comparing a HL in Champ compered to a reserve in what may well be Poole's Prem side. Perhaps that and Klindt pestering Ford to look closer at him is part of the reason he may well turn out for Poole. BUT then again it could go wrong. Remember Spaniak last season. I take the point though that a young British rider learning his trade is somewhat disadvantaged by the rules.
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My last post to Ray C covers. Honestly Starman, I don't want to see Matt go and I have reservations as to if anyone want's to take on such a high profile club in the current economic climate. You would think some of the richer business men living in the area would perhaps step up but they so far have not, even as main team sponsors so what chance of someone actually buying it.