Who Should Be In Gb World Cup Team?

[stratton]

 

 

2 In-form riders???

 

Barker, ok... Not his biggest fan but he is on form for both Ipswich and Birmingham. Bridger on the other hand I believe has got in because he's told Middleditch he has fast bikes in Poland (in the "jhigh-class" second division by the way!!!!) and Middleditch has bought it.

Cookie has been the best and most consistent of the Brits (outside of woffinden and to a lesser extent Harris) this year. He's banging in maximums for fun in the PL and being involved in Heat 15's (some last heat deciders and won them) in the EL. He's deserved his chance and should still be at Prague, end of. However, GB's loss is our gain and here's hoping he can prove Middleditch wrong by banging in big points at Recar in the league tomorrow...

 

Question is, if GB qualify for the final and Bridger (or Barker for that matter) has a stinker in the Race-off... What happens? Do they stick with them or do they bring in another replacement for the final like re-instate Cook (on a track I think would actually suit him better than Kings Lynn) or bring King in or someone not involved in the SWC????

It's a big IF anyway as even with Watt out and Woodward in for the Aussies, I still think we'll be off the pace tomorrow.

 

As for the report in the EEN? Maybe Cookie did say something like that to start with - in the heat of the moment - and of course any reporter (and this one is definitely no exception) will pick up on the juiciest wording to sell papers. It's what journalists do. Would take the wording with a pinch of salt but the passion as wholehearted.

Great point i believe Prague would of suited Cook better than Kings Lynn,also Cook will not gate as badly again that being his main weapon.

[Shale Shaker]

Cookie needs to grow up a bit basically. He had his chance did ok not great. Now 2 in form riders are in. Come on Craig support your side

 

I find it hard to lay the blame on the riders in this case, and can undestand their reaction.

The GB team manager made a total hash of his team selection in the first place and that has now had an obvious impact on the riders he has dropped.

 

I think Middlo has shown a complete lack of respect for team GB, and lack of support for the riders HE selected.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Shale Shaker

[screm]

I find it hard to lay the blame on the riders in this case, and can undestand their reaction.

The GB team manager made a total hash of his team selection in the first place and that has now had an obvious impact on the riders he has dropped.

 

I think Middlo has shown a complete lack of respect for team GB, and lack of support for the riders HE selected.

 

I think the majority of us applauded Middleditch for choosing Cook,maybe not so many went with the Kennett selection though.Cok did reasonably well on Monday and IMO deserved another go in the play-off.

 

I agree with you on the treatment of Kennett last Monday,it did seem odd,it looked to me like Middleditch didnt want Kennett there in the first place as he showed little confidence in him on the night.

[Grand Central]

I'm not jumping to call Middleditch names in this.

But it all looks a bit odd for someone who is much vaunted for his management skills and for his great relationship with the riders.

 

On Kennett, clearly he should never have been selected, but on Monday he was treated in a less than apposite manner by the Coach.

When you consider the circumstances.

 

And Cook, cannot have been 'handled' well by the management.

If he responded so badly and angrily in the aftermath of deselection.

 

As Middleditch is supposed to be 'good' at this sort of thing

If we we had a 'bad' Coach.

How would it look different?

 

 

.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Grand Central

[Bagpuss]

With all due respect I don't see how banging in a maximum at Redcar will prove anyone wrong. Cook is too good for the PL and has wasted a year for me by not riding abroad and doing the PL again instead.

 

I would like to have seen Middlo stick with Cook for tomorrow but in any squad sport if you perform poorly you will get dropped, simple as that. I feel the changes have given us a good chance of getting to the final, lets hope the four selected can do the business.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Bagpuss

[Shale Shaker]

I would like to have seen Middlo stick with Cook for tomorrow but in any squad sport if you perform poorly you will get dropped, simple as that. I feel the changes have given us a good chance of getting to the final, lets hope the four selected can do the business.

 

I agree you should be dropped if you perform poorly - provided you have been given a fair chance to perform.

 

It could be argued that Cook did contribute to the team going through to the play-off, and so deserved to keep his place and further prove himself.

[Woz01]

I think most people would have understand the change if King replaced Cook. Bridger is on form but suspect on big tracks but i hope im proved wrong. He seems to do decent in Poland all be it in a lower division.

[stevebrum]

Im sorry i cant agree with that at all. King is a far better rider at the moment.

 

Think there is little between the 2 of them personally.

King has at least raised his game in the World Cup before so for me edges it.

[mikebv]

With all due respect I don't see how banging in a maximum at Redcar will prove anyone wrong. Cook is too good for the PL and has wasted a year for me by not riding abroad and doing the PL again instead.

 

I would like to have seen Middlo stick with Cook for tomorrow but in any squad sport if you perform poorly you will get dropped, simple as that. I feel the changes have given us a good chance of getting to the final, lets hope the four selected can do the business.

 

 

getting dropped when out of form is fine, but bringing in a replacement who isnt as good and has been there before and failed seems a strange decision...

 

the marketa will be slick, one line and a gaters paradise..

 

ideal for craig cook...

 

britain is crap at speedway so we should keep the faith with cook, worrall, lawson, birks etc etc and see if in a year or two improvements are made..

 

let's be honest, no one in the wider sporting public even know what the sport is never mind that the world cup is taking place, so running a last place will not be even noticed...

 

who knows, give these lads more exposure, maybe some test matches? and maybe, just maybe in a few years we will be competing..

[Woz01]

 

 

Think there is little between the 2 of them personally.

King has at least raised his game in the World Cup before so for me edges it.

 

King would have scored more than one point. If the SWC was at Eastbourne then yeah id pick Kennett but we are talking about international speedway. You will rarely find a SWC meeting on a 'small' track which is why i say King is much more accomplished than Kennett. For me King should be in the side and Kennett would be 8th choice at the moment

[screm]

I think most people would have understand the change if King replaced Cook. Bridger is on form but suspect on big tracks but i hope im proved wrong. He seems to do decent in Poland all be it in a lower division.

 

Apparently Bridger has assured Middleditch that he has fast bikes out in Poland,lets all hope thats true.

[Bagpuss]

As I said I'd have stuck with him but you can see why they haven't.

[Fromafar]

 

 

Apparently Bridger has assured Middleditch that he has fast bikes out in Poland,lets all hope thats true.

Trouble is everybody has "fast" bikes,its the rider on board that really matters.Lets face it Middlo Team management leaves a lot to be desired but the end result will be the same .Injuries and politics have ruined other Teams chances but GB does not have the riders to be genuine contenders .

[wjm]

It would be a mistake for Team GB to give experience to a guy who is closer to 30 than 20 IMO, more so when they have a genuine chance of making the Final.

 

Cook, at best is going to be Carl Stonehewer level, which while admirable, isn’t what Team GB should be looking for.

 

For all his faults Bridger is still only 23 and has achieved a hell of a lot in the sport than Cook, and more than likely will go on to be the better rider.

Edited July 17, 2013 by wjm

[jim3751]

It's only the people who go to meetings who can judge what the riders are like. As was proved by the guy who slagged off Tai simply because he read the reports of some gutted supporters..

I've got a bias for Bridger at the moment only because he's hit top form at Lakeside which is hardly a comparison with a Polish track but the enthusiasm is there. Barker is the same sort of rider. Full of confidence. So what's to lose? Throw them in and prove their worth. Phil Morris can do the team bonding stuff

[Woz01]

 

 

Apparently Bridger has assured Middleditch that he has fast bikes out in Poland,lets all hope thats true.

 

Thats kind of my point. I believe he rides in the 2nd division? They may be quick for that division but for the race off? I hope so. I think he would score than what Cook did on Monday anyway.

[LagutaRacingFan]

Bridger rides in the 3rd division of Poland

 

He has a lower average than Claus Vissing and Timo Lahti.

[Nutz]

For all his faults Bridger is still only 23 and has achieved a hell of a lot in the sport than Cook, and more than likely will go on to be the better rider.

 

If you were to draw a graph of length of years riding a speedway bike at any level for both of them and graph it against achievement in the sport so far, Cook will have a much steeper line as his development has been much quicker and sharper than Bridgers. Maybe Bridger is 3yrs younger than Cook, but when you look at who's progressed quicker than Cook is by far and away the better option.

[david2905]

Ca't believe people think what Cook said is true!!!!!!!

 

The reporter (David Kinvig) is <unacceptable language removed> when he rights his reports about Edinburgh matches about 25% of the article is actual fact the rest of it he just makes up. So i wouldn't read to much into what cookie has apparently said as most of it probably isn't true like the rest of the pish that he wrights up.

 

Cookie has also said on twitter himself that he didn't even say half the rubbish that has been written.

 

But it is good to see that he hasn't been knocked by this setback and he now wants it even more.

 

It begs the question, why do Edinburgh/Cook talk to him if he's blatantly stirring ?, Fergie didn't speak to the BBC for years after they implied his kid in something dodgy.

 

Because he's of the same standard as Kennett.

 

King & Kennett should be excluded from any future GB squads

 

Bit of an insult to Danny King there, in the last 18 months he's gone from a 6 to mid 7 average and held it, regularly scoring at least 9 at Perry Barr, compare to Kennett who is struggling to score for Berwick and got outgated by the prams in the crowd when Swindon came to Birmingham, and Danny got all this without the aid of a Black & Decker.

 

King may not be Woffinden, but he's the best we have outside Woofy and Harris, and certainly better than unsteady Eddie.

[wjm]

Bridger was a close to 5.00 EL rider by the age of 16, in terms of short term progress that dwarfs just about any Brit of the last 10 years, but he is a bit of a twit which always works against him.

 

Bridger is 23 years old and has been a close to 7.00 EL man on more than one occasion, won open meetings or been on the podium in open meetings featuring some outstanding riders, while open meetings aren’t what they were it does show that (in the UK at least) he has the ability to compete with a standard of rider far above even the PLRC.

 

You could argue that his progress stalled for a couple of years, but at the same time there was always a chance going to plateau out at some stage given his early rise, he seems to have picked it up again this season.

 

In terms of career he has still only had 7 years racing competitive speedway, and in that time has achieved a fair amount.

 

I just find it slightly odd that there is this growing idea that guys like Cook, Auty and Worral should be given experience, yet Bridger, who has achieved more than any of the 3 despite being comparable ages, or younger than the others is constantly rubbished. He was poor in the previous WC he rode in, but at the same time, he was riding it in when he was 21/22 that’s young, that should be forgiven and put down to being part of the learning curve IMO.