Ipswich Jules

Is he related to Alun Rossiter?

He could treat us all and leave you there!

He's a bad egg that Chris Louis

So it's not based on form then? Cameron Heeps for example has been on good form at reserve for Ipswich yet won't get a sniff because he's a reserve and get's "easy difficulty" heats? Yet for example a poorly performing No.5 will get no penalty for coming last in heat 13 time and time again? So basically, you have made it up as you go along with your weighted stats assuming all heats 2-8-14 are easy and 13-15 are hard etc?

They're* I suppose that's also Chris Louis' fault?

British speedway isn't in an amazing state as a whole but the PL is a lot more stable and consistent than the EL. Every league has good teams and poor teams, if all teams were equally as good/bad as each other then every heat would be 3-3 and every meeting drawn. In order to have teams that win and do well you have to have teams that lose and don't do so well - The PL has them, the EL has them. Even the Polish league has its Torun's and its Gniezno's There was only one missing rider last night and that was Hawkins due to personal reasons, that can happen to anybody in any line of work so to use that as an example isn't fair at all. Had he been missing because of doubling up/down, riding for a team in a different country etc then you may of had a case. And was R/R used? No, a young Brit was given a chance and handled himself well. Surely that's making the best of the situation? Of the PL clubs that have left, how many have gone into the EL to make up the requirement for the SKY deal? If / when the SKY money goes at the end of this season do you think half of those teams currently competing in the EL will still be able to make ends meet? There are enough struggling at the present so I think the PL will see a lot more teams applying to "drop down" and run on a more affordable budget.

At about 11 o'clock this morning I saw a black 11 plate Saab driving round the outskirts of Ipswich with a Glasgow Tigers scarf across the back window, was it anybody on here?

So now it's Chris' fault how OTHER teams are built?! By the way, he didn't have to justify anything, it was a simple case of PL speedway or no speedway - that's justification enough for anybody, apart from you of course.

Big home win again.

I think before much longer we will see a change at number 2 when Heeps moves into the team and Hawkins to reserve. I'd imagine it would be Heeps going to two but they might try Lanham there? Time will tell but Heeps won't stay at reserve for much longer I'd of thought.

Nelson is the threat in the Rye team at Foxhall, Josh G goes ok but that aside I can't see too much danger here - so with that in mind, Witches to stumble across the line by 6! Who is in for Mear? Is it Mr RR?

Skybet are up, 25/1 for Zmarzlik, 10/1 for KK and 8/1 for NKI all look good bets, the first two as each way. It's all three riders home track so should go well there, also Vaculik could repeat his victory last year?

Morten's bike didn't get very far on the parade lap - didn't make it past the home straight stand. Whether that bike was fixed or No.2 was used I couldn't say but he didn't get to have a couple of practice laps on a tricky surface like everybody else. Chris is often out on the centre green during the meeting, infact I'd say he spends more time there than in the pits.

Because it's not correct in all cases - riders like Ben Barker and Rohan Tungate can score as much away as they can at home - sometimes more, riders like Morten Risager and Richie Hawkins are the opposite and generally score more at home than they do away. That's a fact and one that can be backed up if you look at riders scores home and away, but I don't expect you to do any research - after all you thought Ben scored 12 at Birmingham on Wednesday night which a simple look on updates or Birmingham's website would of proven otherwise! I wouldn't disagree with that CS, i thought - like most - that Ben would be banging home double figures every week at home for fun, so in that respect he has been a disappointment - but is there a more exciting rider round Foxhall at the moment? I'd say no. sadly meetings aren't won or lost on excitement though, it's the points that earn the prizes.

Barker needs to start riding like the 9.69 rider we signed? How many did he score last night? 9, not really far away from his average. You say that maybe he prefers riding in the EL, well I guess you've not been following his EL scoring too much this season? His recent 12? On Wednesday he scored 9 from 5 rides on Wednesday (same as he got for us last night) at home to a poor BV side - Do you even bother with facts ever? You moan as he rides the outside line - which he always has - yet you moan when riders stay on the inside? Just where should they ride to make you happy? Mid-track so they can be undertaken whilst someone else goes around the outside? Good thinking! Oh and he LOVES riding here at Ipswich, if you had taken the time to ask him you'd of known this, at the interval he's the only rider who interacts with the fans, talks to them, signs photos etc - many will say what they like about him but he's gone down well with the fans who visit the pit area. Same for Hawkins - you're moaning that he scores 4-5 a meeting, once again, what is his average? These averages aren't just dreamed up by somebody, they reflect how well they score. So long as riders meet their average you can't really complain, unless it's you of course! With him remaining in the team for the season I'd expect him to invest more in his equipment and hopefully try and add to his average. We know he's never going to set the world alight but he is a better rider as we have seen in the past. Tungate, yes he was the best rider of the night for us, worrying that when he's behind he seems unable to do an awful lot about it. I know the dry weather we've had made for a difficult track but hopefully he can prove me wrong on a more "normal" track given weather conditions. Risager's bubble has burst? One meeting on a difficult track where he made about his average? Are you sure you've not got your anti-Louis glasses on again? Lanham was disappointing last night, and yes, has been on a few occasions this season, scored nearly 2pt's below his average last night which at home isn't good enough. Hopefully once his engine issues are sorted he'll be better. Oh and it's "clique" by the way... Wait, you're now saying that Ellis may not be good enough for the PL? First you said it about him at reserve in the EL now he's not good enough for the PL? I think you've been out in the sun too long! Look at his scores in the NL - he's wiping the floor with pretty much everybody at that level so where else should he ride? Should he stay in the NL forever? No! Of course he's good enough for the PL as he's proven he's too good for the NL. You say he has a reputation for overtaking and you've not seen it? Clearly you've not been to many Witches home meetings this season then? As we suspected. As for him being a Lakeside asset - what difference does that make? We all know riders will ride for whoever they like regardless of who "owns" them. Joe Jacobs is an Ipswich asset riding for Glasgow, would you of preferred him instead of Adam? Heeps had an off night, it happens. It just that it happened for him at the same time as Adam, Leigh and to an extent Morten. We were beaten by a better side, the favorites for the PL title in many peoples eyes - and only beaten on a last heat decider. As the saying goes, "you can't win them all", I don't expect us to get much away at Newcastle just like we didn't last year but I expect to get something at Berwick as we've previously gone well there.

Brum -8 > Belle Vue for me tonight on bet365. I know Auty swaps places with Smolinski but I can see Brum winning by 15 or so regardless. Edit: Can't get more accurate than that!

Hope you got on KK? Bet365 also had him at 4/6 to score over 5...........5?!! Were they drunk?! That was just too easy! For me I had KK E/W, KK over 5, Emil E/W and Tai to win. So all in all a good night!

KK is still 40/1 on Skybet for the Cardiff GP, he's around 25 most other places. Was top 3 last year and has finally hit some form, Cardiff is a man made track so will suit the gating tarts like him - worth a few quid each way I'd of thought at those odds!

Zengota-2 > Fisher at 11/8 on B365 seems worthy of a go. With Fisher *allegedly* being dropped he could easily score poorly and Zengota has been one of the only shining lights for Coventry this season, add to that the Showground is one of the bigger - more Polish'esque - tracks and I reckon Zengota should score well enough.

Surely you've answered your own question? Also, if you think it's a serious concern to CL why don't you ask him his thoughts on it? Anyway, a serious question for you (Al)Jackal (and anybody else): If Ipswich were in the EL this season, who do you think we'd be most similar to in terms of teams in the 2013 EL? For me I'd say Belle Vue or Eastbourne, not an overly attractive team on paper, built to a budget, probably do ok at home but will struggle away. Likely to be near the bottom come the end of the season. Bare in mind how Ipswich is run as a club (not as a rich mans play thing, run to an affordable budget, making sure riders get paid etc) What riders do you SERIOUSLY think we could expect, don't worry too much about exact averages and if the riders would come to Ipswich - but just as a ballpark idea, do you think we'd be able to build a team with Woffinden as a heatleader for example or would we be looking elsewhere? Do you think Hampel or even Gollob would be tempted back? Who would be our heatleaders within our budget - ignore availability for the sake of arguement. I'm being serious, personally I think we'd have a Schlein type of rider as a No.1, the likes of Heeps and Tungate at reserve, Barker in there somwehere, Mads possibly? Miskowiak? Swiderski?

And you didn't even wave to me as I was stuck in traffic on my way home from work - bad egg!

I don't know what Somerset have done to Nielsen but he's done probably more laps of Foxhall than the rest of the Somerset team yet on his three visits this season he's had 9 rides and scored 0 points I think? He should of been a trump card for them at Foxhall this season. It isn't just the speed it seems the chassis set up allows him to turn the bike wherever he wants, he can make cut backs a lot easier with no locking up etc, obviously his experience speaks volumes but I think Foxhall is also one of his favourite tracks to ride. Also for what it's worth, I just have a feeling that despite the asset thing, Tungate will be riding for Poole next year and if he rides PL then it might be with Somerset. I've nothing solid to base this on, just a feeling I have.

Thanks Statman, you learn something new every day!

Good win against Somerset, I wouldn't say they were "depleted" as they were only missing one rider, ok it's a rider that does well round Foxhall but the decision to use R/R rather than a guest seemed strange to me? Yes it would of giving Doyle an extra ride but for the rest of the riders getting one they are all very hit and miss around Foxhall. It could of been that R/R for Morris would of only scored 2-4 points, as it was the facility scored 9 which is what you'd expect from Morris so it worked out ok in the end but it could easily of gone wrong for the Rebels. On the other side of the pit wall I (and several others) had to question Pete Simmons in heat 10, when the Witches were up by 10 Somerset decided not to use the BW helmet on Josh, and with Doyle in heat 11 it was obvious what the Somerset plan was - to get no worse than a 3-3 at best then use the BW on Doyle in the next heat. I could see it, the people stood around me could see it and friends I spoke to afterwards that stand in other locations around the track could see it also, so what Ipswich should of done it let Somerset get a 4-2 advantage thus preventing Doyle from the BW ride - did we do that? No, Barker went and won the heat with Hawkins at the back so putting Somerset in the perfect situation for them. so out comes Doyle in heat 11 on the farcical double point rule, tapes go up, it's all tight going into the first bend, a bit of dominos and Ellis gets the rough end and is skittled off.......waiting for the ref to put on the red lights.....waiting.......still waiting...nothing. Ellis just about gets off the track in time and the race continues! If there was ever a textbook example of first bend bunching and all four back then that was it - why it wasn't stopped I don't know. By this time Doyle had got past Lanham and were on a 7-2 and that's how it stayed. I'm not saying Adam would of beaten Doyle but it would probably of been a 6-3 rather than a 7-2 and that 2 point swing would of proved vital. All because we didn't let them take a heat advantage in heat 10 - that decision / oversight almost cost us the meeting. Another point to mention was heat 15, Doyle was outgated by both Witches who were on a 5-1 after the first lap, Doyle was from gate 2 and Risager off 1, Morten and Ben done a classic scissor on Doyle from the gate and baulked his run, he then spent then next couple of turns trying to get underneath Risager - anybody who watches Ipswich regularly will know that Morten likes the inside so Doyle - despite being faster - was having no joy. Coming into the first bend of the second time he was once again inside Morten but a bike length behind, Morten took the inside on the entry to the corner with Barker team riding the outside. Doyle again tried the pointless task f getting up the inside (why he hadn't switched to try and go round Morten I don't understand) and he t-boned Risager, took a nasty tumble and was rightfully excluded. He then proceeded to storm back to the pits with a face of thunder - quite why nobody could understand as it was clearly his fault - upon his return to the pits he slammed his helmet down in his bay, proceeded to turn the air blue (VERY blue) before explaining to Tungate that it was Mortens fault as he "had no speed going into the bend", so clearly Doyle thought it was ok to ride through him? Why didn't he just back off a touch and go round him rather than try and get up the inside which was never going to happen. Further to this Jason tweeted last night that fans were cheering and laughing at his crash - no Jason, nobody laughed or cheered when you had your fall, people cheered and laughed when you were storming back to the pits seemingly about to start a fight with someone for no obvious reason! Oh no, he clearly blamed Morten if you'd of heard what he called him when he got back to his pit bay (and everybody in the pits heard it!) - he didn't actually go and say it to Mortens face though.......

It's a shame Rasmus Jensen wouldn't fit, assessed 7 I think