21st century heathen

Oh he'll be up for it whether we give him the panto villain treatment or not so might as well get stuck in.

HEATHENS V BELLE VUE - TUESDAY PREVIEW MONDAY AUGUST 15, 2011DUDLEY Heathens are preparing for their biggest meeting of the season against Belle Vue at Monmore Green on Tuesday (7.30). The former Cradley club suffered two heavy defeats on the road at the weekend and have put themselves under pressure to make the play-offs. And they will hand a debut to Jamie Courtney, who was signed at the weekend as cover for the injured Adam Roynon. Heathens boss Will Pottinger said: "It was a bad weekend but we have to put it behind us, there's nothing we can do about it now. "We are desperate to put it right and we have to win this meeting against a very good Belle Vue team. It's a big meeting for both teams and we need our supporters to get right behind us. "I'm sure Jamie will get a good welcome and so will Danny Stoneman at reserve after we brought him back to the club last week." HEATHENS: Jon Armstrong, Darryl Ritchings, Tom Perry, Ashley Morris, Jamie Courtney, Richard Franklin, Danny Stoneman. Tough night ahead. I would take any kind of win and a night of exciting racing. Oh and a crap night for Garrity.

Those crashes are horrific. Holder did do a naughty left turn on the home straight having looked for Jedrejak but was blameless for the crash on the back straight. Some good news (relatively) on Swidders' website. He has a broken leg and rib but appears to have otherwise got away quite lightly. We have received the positive messages about the health of Peter Swiderski . The study did not show more complications in addition to previously confirmed fractures. Peter is heavily battered, but psychologically it feels very good. Swider greets all who support him:"I would like to sincerely thank all the fans for their support and words of encouragement in these difficult times". According to the latest information as a result of today's accident in the course of the eleventh meeting Betard Sparta Wroclaw - Torun Unibax Piotr Swiderski suffered a fractured left leg and probably has a broken rib. However, studies are underway, but about the player's health will keep you up to date. http://www.piotrswiderski.com.pl/

Welcome on board Jamie - it's going to be an experience!!!

Hang on a minute. Nobody is talking about last season or the first part of this season. With the exception of the excellent Fours win we're talking about recent form (circa the last 6 weeks). Even if you want to talk about the whole of this season most of the league wouldn't swap places with us. We're 6th or 10 and BV are only a point behind with 3 meetings in hand, in fact Newport could yet catch us. That's the measure of the recent collapse and the reason it's worthy of comment. We've won less than half of our league meetings this season, though I acknowledge we have some home meetings coming up. The entertainment cannot be faulted, nobody has claimed otherwise. I don't think anybody has taken "personally" but "drastically"? Perhaps, given that it's been a drastic dip in form. Again you are putting words in peoples mouth with "sweeping changes". I don't think I read a single post calling for a rider's head. The only such posts have been the ones, quite rightly, suggesting that Portwood was simply out of his depth. Nobody had a go at him, just suggested it was doing him no good any more than the club. I will certainly stick by the lads and be there tomorrow to cheer them on, and I quite sure others that are less than impressed with current form will be there too. Scunfield and Stoke were always going to be tough, yes, but it was the manner of the defeats that has annoyed and upset. We didn't even put up a fight, and on the back of a couple of other recent defeats it's a concern because there are still some very tough looking fixtures to come. ATB mate, we just disagree on a few points here that's all.

Updates team are searching for a texter. Any offers?

Yeah, we might get 30!!

You're getting overly defensive in my opinion mate. I may not agree with everything that's been said regarding problems within the club but I defend the right to say it in the way it's been said, politely and without resorting to slagging off individuals without any facts. Something has gone wrong lately and there's no point papering over it. Our recent performances in league and cup have been appalling and embarrassing to say the least. The paying public have every right to voice concerns and state opinion as long as, as I have already said, it's not just taking a swipe at individuals unfairly. You can't just discount the BV meeting. The track was there to be ridden, however poor it might have been. We were beaten out of sight and the result is in the record books. The fact is that it must be one of the biggest defeats any Heathens team has suffered. We were embarrassed by Stoke up there in Staffordshire, almost beaten by them at home too. Last night's performance is simply not on and we were beaten with ease at home last time out. It's not defeatist but realistic to say we're up against it to even stay in the fight for a play off place, and from a strong position 6 weeks ago that's disappointing. I'm a speedway supporter and proud to call myself a Heathens fan. I will continue to back the riders come race night but I will not shy away from criticising if/when I deem it is warranted. I will be there at Monmore Wood and I suspect the crowd will be just as big as we've seen before for our league meetings. Nobody has said they're turning their back because of a handful of recent performances. That doesn't mean I/they will "move on" without questioning current form though. A couple of riders have shown a significant dip in form since mid-season, one has mostly been below form all season and one just needs to make sure he's more consistently near his best. Of the current line-up I would add there are a couple that have done all that could be expected too. If I were to talk to these riders I reckon each and everyone of them would agree with my assessment and if Heathens fans are honest with themselves they will probably work out which riders I've put in which category because we've all seen it with our own eyes. In fact if I were to log in to Facebook today the riders' biggest criticism would be coming from themselves - of that I'm sure. To end I will reiterate that criticising recent performances doesn't mean people are stirring, looking for problems that aren't there or turning their back on the riders/club.

Even with Kyle it wouldn't be straight forward. A few are out of form, though I would say Tom and Rich have been riding better than tonight of late.

If we hadnt resigned Danny Scunfield could have got 70, or damn near to it. Beyond embarrassing and I await the club's meeting report with interest.

Danny Stoneman 10+1 http://speedwayupdat...ead=8600&page=1 Nothing else worth noting from a Heathens point of view. Congrats Scunfield.

+1 I've already voiced my concerns over our team so I'm not going there again, although I certainly could looking at Updates tonight. I'll simply say that by any measure we have a very tough run of fixtures coming up and I just can't see where enough points will come from to trouble the top four. I think we'll end up 6th. C'est la vie.

Absolutely. The like of Morris, Perry, Newman (though sadly not with us now) and Roynon are all getting extra track time one way or another. Extra track time for Ritchings, Franklin, Stoneman and Portwood can only be a benefit.

I suggested a while ago that second half four-man teams consisting of the NL team's lowest averaging second-string, reserve pairing and the number 8 (or A.N. Other) would give valuable extra laps to lesser riders in the league. This would be especially helpful to reserves that might only get the mandatory three heats and the number 8's who might never, or very rarely, get a ride (such as Ritchings last season). It certainly isn't going to cost the clubs a great deal. It would give extra racing experience, rather than just laps of practice after meetings, but at a level that they can be more competitive at. It would be fantastic if the Heathens could lead the way with this. With our large crowds the club certainly can't claim they're on the bread line compared to other NL clubs. We should schedule a proper second half after the BV meeting featuring Ritchings as the number one along with Franklin, Stoneman and Portwood. We should invite/encourage/force() BV to track Mason, Richardson, Widman and No. 8 (?) as opposition. Surely it can only be a benefit to the riders, clubs and fans but any thoughts welcomed?

I'm glad Morris is fit to take his place. I sure he'd have been pretty heart-broken if his crash on Tuesday night had ruled him out. Ommer um Heathens GB

As reported on the BSPA website today. This is great news in my opinion. With the greatest respect to Adam Portwood he simply isn't good enough to compete at NL level yet. He rides the bike okay, but simply isn't fast enough to get anywhere near scoring a genuine point. He's a couple of bike lengths down from the second the tapes rise. Danny was getting better with pretty much every lap and although not a 'wonderkid' he's competitive and will score us a few points. He's the kind of rider that deserves a genuine chance as a NL reserve as he's in the mix and showing signs of improvement. I hope Adam can keep coming along to our meetings and will listen, watch, learn and then put it into practice after meetings whenever and where ever he can. Maybe some time in the not-too-distant future there could be a chance for him to link up with the Heathens again. Best wishes to both Danny and Adam.

Clearly I was subconsciously reminiscing happier times. There's a big difference between 'take him out' and people wanting someone knocked off and hurt. There's nothing wrong with wanting a rider 'taken out'. Heeps did it to Perry twice in their race. It's just that Perry kept coming regardless. I've still not decided whether he's very brave or just stupid!! As stated Blackbird was booed for deliberately getting a race stopped and re-run. We, typically, lost out in the re-run so he got booed for the rest of the night too, especially as he soon popped up when he fell and saw his team mate leading later in the meeting. For about the millionth time on this forum fans cheer the good fortune of gaining an advantage when an opposition rider falls, not because they're secretly rubbing their hands with glee that a rider might get hurt. He was just trapped under the fence after a pretty 'simple' fall - he hadn't had a serious high speed crash. Believe me you could have heard a pin drop if that had happened (as in The Golden Hammer last week when Worrall went down at the end of the home straight for example). Heathens fans know all about seeing riders pick up serious injuries. You didn't bother to mention the applause when Blackbird got up or the applause when your riders won races or the applause at the end for your victory. All of that said, every club is just as likely as any other to have someone present on any given night who might say/shout something stupid. I accept and acknowledge that but your post came across a little more generalised than that. Congrats again on the win, it was very well deserved on the night.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's me drawing a line under this meeting. Tom and Rich were very good value for their points but frankly the rest were woeful. No excuses from me, though of course we could point to several things, after this mauling. Mildenhall were the better team, even if you change Heeps' score for something a bit more 'reasonable' , and deserved to take the win. The visitors seemed a good natured bunch so I'm sure they had an enjoyable trip home. I can't remember who mentioned it but for me there was nothing wrong with heats 9 and 11 when Morris and Roynon crashed. Both were tight turns with a rider left with very little room to make the corner properly. It was just unfortunate from a Heathens point of view that our boys were the ones to go down both times. I could make a case for all-four-back in both heats from the view I had (video evidence could prove me wrong I s'pose). Heeps could clearly make a fist of it at PL level already but although he was superb last night and deserved his points haul he did face us on one of those nights. My old man could go faster than Armo on his mobility scooter at the moment, Morris crashed out and Royno had a 'mare. On another night he would probably have been beaten a few times. I don't want to be seen to be taking anything away from the lad though. He was quick and aggressive but controlled. I see from the Updates thread that Louis set his bike up for him last night so that factor should not be overlooked. He's been around a while and knew the lines at Monmore so I'm sure his help and advice went a long to contributing to his overall performance. Back to the Heathens - We've got a hell of a month coming up and we'll need to improve as a team unit immeasurably if we're not to rapidly slide out of the play off picture. Our next two meetings are Scunfield and Stoke away which will be extremely difficult meetings. We follow those two with Belle Vue, Stoke and Buxton at home before the end of August. We then finish with a trip to IOW and Newport at home on the 6th Sept. There are too many 'easy' points amongst that lot. C'mon lads give it some ommer. I see from the Heathens website that Ash was released from hospital and although feeling a bit second hand he's not feeling too bad. He is fit enough to make the trip to Sweden, which is amazing.

I've read with interest the opinion here but it seems to be turning towards sniping which is a shame. Anywho, the decision has been made so I'll get behind the boys tonight and hopefully carry them to all three points.

It's got nothing to do with fans of other clubs being jealous or whatever. It's just a case that some happen to agree with my view, and some don't. That's the point of a discussion forum. It's just a view of this particular issue not people having a dig at the club in general or us as fans.

How is not tracking the best possible team doing the right thing for the club? I've not been convinced by the team building strategy this season right from the off and I did suggest Stoke were a threat while most were looking at BV. Not at all. The Heathens have used lost of young Brits. Royno and Newman have ridden in all three leagues this season. Morris and Perry have had PL league meetings during their time with us. I don't see how that's relevant to wanting to win the NL though. -------------------------------- Portwood will join Armo and 'Fred' on the asset list too.

I believe Royno could have replaced any one of Kyle, Jon or Ashley as all three of those have an average higher than Royno (he's still on his start average of 7.70). It would be a like-for-like change, as is Rich returning for Bren I think.

I refer you to an extract of the press release. "We could have kept him and brought Adam back to replace someone else..." Clearly there was some consideration given to keeping Kyle and bringing Royno back in alongside him. The club should have taken up that option in my opinion as Kyle's form in the last few weeks has been superb, and certainly by far and away the Heathens top performer. Assuming we make the play offs we're going to have to beat Stoke and/or Scunfield. Both are stronger than us at the moment. So as I suggested we will need the lads to find another level of consistency and point-scoring now to justify the faith placed in them. To reiterate - the 7 that turn out for us between now and the end of the season have my full backing but I believe the club should have shown a more ruthless side and tracked the very strongest team possible within the rules. *edit* Kyle will be back soon. The knee injury isn't too serious. If he had been retained for the Heathens he may not have been ready for the Fours or our home meeting on Tue, but I doubt he'd have missed any more than that.

Courtesy of the Heathens website - Kyle has done 10 meetings for the Heathens in all competitions. He averaged 8.67 from those meetings. Are you suggesting that everyone with a higher average should also leave their NL teams as the league has done it's job for them? We're getting somewhat sidetracked. My point is that the NL is a league competition not just a training ground. If you're going to enter it you should want to win it. Don't give me any of this it's taking part crap (not saying you have said that here or previously). I hear from people at work that these days kids aren't even allowed to win on sports day because the schools think it will have a negative affect on the losers!! In it to win it or go home. The like of Scunfield and Stoke are looking very strong. We had the opportunity to put out a team to challenge them but haven't done so. That's annoying!! I just hope our boys can all click at the right time and make me look stupid for this post by raising the trophy at the end of the season.

And Kyle is past it?