Scunthorpe/sheffield Vs Dudley

[cradleysaddler]

Briefly replying to Cradleysadler, i will just say my attendance at Heathens meetings compares favourably with the attendance of our Chairman.

 

I doubt that.

[cradleysaddler]

Briefly replying to Cradleysadler, i will just say my attendance at Heathens meetings compares favourably with the attendance of our Chairman.

 

Maybe my iterpretation of what i said about a genuine No1 was seen as being aimed at Royno, they were never aimed at Royno who when fully fit is the best rider in the NL, however he is/was not on paper our No1.

 

Nigel has been in touch with me tonight and said the following,"He is happy to have a chat with you on Tuesday before the Belle Vue match in the pits".

[21st century heathen]

I think some Heathens fans may have been spoilt by success! There are ten teams in the NL this year and I bet almost every other one would love to have the Heathens combined record over this season and last.

 

We can't win em all, but we've won a damn good percentage, with some fantastic entertainment along the way. I understand some people will be disappointed, but some seem to take it a bit more personally and drastically than it needs to be. It doesn't mean there are 'problems' within the club, or that there needs to be sweeping changes, or anything anywhere near as dramatic!

 

It just means we need to stick by the young lads who we have done a tremendous job of nurturing already, and help them get themselves right again for the next match.

 

Away at Scunny and Stoke were always going to be very tough to get anything from. We have four home Tuesdays in a row now, so let's see if we can build up some momentum from them, and see if we can get anything at the Isle of Wight in the remaining away trip. If so, we'll be there or thereabouts near the top four.

 

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.

[greyhoundp]

Cradleysadler, many thanks for Nigels offer, however i am unable to accept due to the fact i am working, and am 170 ish miles away,but i would love to have that chat at a future date, Oh if anyone out there has a 9 to 5 vacancy i am coming back up to the midlands at the end of the month.

 

Yes 79, i am passionate about My Team, maybe i dont choose the right words at times, but hopefully the gist of what i am trying to say comes across most of the time. Spoilt by success! i come from an era where if the Heathens finished bottom but one it was classed as a good season .

[mark cox]

Well its always dis-spiriting to get a tonking, but I'm sure the lads are giving it all & will want to do their best for the most popular team in the NL.

For travelling supporters, you always want to see your team have a competitive chance of a good result otherwise you may not always travel away in the future.

Its inevitable that riders will lose form/confidence at some stage of the season due to bad luck, injury or machine problems, with the key being to find solutions to these issues. At this level it probably isn't easily practical for e.g. to improve gating as there probably isn't the time & money to get extra track practice.

What the management has done is to give riders a chance & then replaced them if necessary, which is as much as they can do and doesn't show a lack of ambition.

Lets hope its another good crowd tomorrow & we get back to winning ways... but if not, thats sport... its the taking part that counts & thank god we're taking part once again!

Ommer'um!

[britmet]

I think it can now be said, with gratitude, that postings on this forum and elsewhere on the matter of our team's recent form have not been in vain, but heeded, (that's all we asked for,)

viz the last 2 management bulletins on the Dudley website: 'Signing' and 'Team Meeting'. Thanks. Let's now move forward, hopefully to a more fruitful season-end.

[heathen79]

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.

 

Points taken mate and no offense taken or intended either.

 

The reason for referring to last season and the first part of this season was to put the last few matches into context. I think a few people have over-reacted and seem to feel that if we're not winning every match then something must be wrong. There are loads of posts, particularly on facebook about the need for more money and sponsorship etc. Whilst I don't disagree that all NL riders would welcome a bit of extra funds, I don't think it's necessarily the answer here.

 

For me, the long and short of it is that we're a predominantly young, inexperienced side and a few of our lads of gone through a rough patch of form. Unfortunately this lull has come at the wrong time of the season, we peaked much earlier, and has co-incided for a few of them at the same time.

 

The riders just need to learn how to cope with the downs as well as the ups and pull themselves through. Too many people - and I'm summarising from here, facebook, Heathens Forum - seem to me to be searching for impossible solutions.

 

I do feel that todays press release was spot on from the management. Let's get the riders together before tomorrow's match. Have a chat, reassure them and pull everyone together. The Heathens team have more pressure than most due to big passionate crowds and past history.

 

I do still feel that if you take our record over the two seasons most would swap. We finished top of the league last year, won the National Shield and the Fours this year, and could still make the playoffs. But we've had a tough couple of matches against the best teams in the league.

 

I'm not even using the argument that most are about it's great we have a team at all. Even aside from that, we've done pretty well and I don't feel the need for any panic button just yet!