New Rider For Sheffield

[NeilWatson]

Jake had taken a leaf out of Damien's book. He had done many laps at places like Kings lynn and Mildenhall which were nearer to where he lived. I was in the pits with him at nearly all the home meetings and some away and can only say that his and Richard's commitment to Sheffield was first class, the equipment was top flight, and he was a great team player. As has been said in other places Jake was in the wrong place at the wrong time, this should have been a no preasure training year with a view to making a significant contributuion next year. But due to the situation of the with the team as a whole he pressurised himself to try and punch above his weight, and we saw the effect of that. Jake and Richard were a pleasure to work with and I just hope that a way can be found for Jake to continue in the sport.

Jake< Richard thanks for the oppotunity to work with you. All the best. Rob

 

I agree with every word of this post, and I think Sheffield's PR when they released Jake confirmed everything you say.

[Vince]

And people question why British riders are at the standard that they are - with an attitude like that it's no wonder why.

 

Speedway is a ruthless sport and points make prizes, if Jake wasn't upto his job in the Sheffield side for whatever reason then it's not rocket science that he is going to be moved on. The right attitude after this would be to take one step back, to take two steps forward and be willing to come back harder than ever - but just throwing the towel in is a poor show.

Typical comment from somebody who has no idea of what it is to put every penny you can raise and give all your time to chasing a dream, sometimes it goes wrong and there is nothing left to keep going. Hopefully the lad can get back to a situation where he can afford to have another crack. In the meantime you get to stroll through life telling others how to do things.

[Hoggy]

And people question why British riders are at the standard that they are - with an attitude like that it's no wonder why.

 

Speedway is a ruthless sport and points make prizes, if Jake wasn't upto his job in the Sheffield side for whatever reason then it's not rocket science that he is going to be moved on. The right attitude after this would be to take one step back, to take two steps forward and be willing to come back harder than ever - but just throwing the towel in is a poor show.

 

I deliberately dealt with the release of Jake separately to Adam's announcement, I did not want Jake's contribution and progress, yes progress overshadowed by the new signing. I find your post pretty callous towards a family who have invested heavily in Jake, Sheffield and British Speedway and for once I dictated that press release because every word of it is true. Our decision has of course been influenced but not by his lack of points it has been about keeping our critics happy, yes we heard the "taxi for Knight" calls which is why we fought back at times but reluctantly have had to give in. Who could have planned on their top two copping shoulder injuries in the same month or proven performers not reaching early expectations, nobody plans for that when they put a team together and remedial action when taken has to be within in the rules and regulations. It is clear that many of the destructive comments, posted here and elswhere I'm told, do not understand the rules as the earliest we could possibly have made an effective team change was last Saturday unless we had chosen to release Jake earlier and bring in another 3 pointer.

 

I have not followed this forum for some time so wil not be entering a debate I'm afraid, what I will say as my final word on the matter is that I will never cease to respect the Knight family for their brave commitment to the Premier League and Sheffield in particular, thank you. David

Edited June 24, 2013 by Hoggy

[Steve55]

Can't wait for Thursday to see our new rider Adam Roynon ....... riding for Dudley against us!

It'll be good for him to have a competitive spin or five before the real deal and it won't get any more difficult than Newcastle.

I see him fitting in quite well at 4, putting RH at 5, which is where I think most of the Sheffield posters believe is his home position.

This will give him a steady intro and won't put too much pressure on him to produce results as Ricky usually gets some reasonable points at home.

All the best to him and sympathy to Jake Knight, hoping he makes a comeback after sorting his disappointment out.

[Pinny]

To be fair, Knight was never going to do it. Not good enough i am afraid

 

See this is what happens when people call for young brits who aint nowhere near ready to be given a chance. He should never in a million years of gone pl this season with a sub six point nl figure.

[Stan Duppcomic]

And people question why British riders are at the standard that they are - with an attitude like that it's no wonder why.

 

Speedway is a ruthless sport and points make prizes, if Jake wasn't upto his job in the Sheffield side for whatever reason then it's not rocket science that he is going to be moved on. The right attitude after this would be to take one step back, to take two steps forward and be willing to come back harder than ever - but just throwing the towel in is a poor show.

Well that's this week's winner sorted!

[Halifaxtiger]

 

Who knows why Jake has taken the decision, it could be finance problems.

 

I doubt it is down to attitude problems, Jake quit his National League position at Kings Lynn to concentrate on his Sheffield commitments..

 

It did occur to me that he might make more money in the NL at £10 a point than in the PL at £40 (if that is what he was getting) so I don't think its a matter of finance.

 

I don't think its a matter of attitude, either. Talking to one of his sponsors on Friday, he stopped riding for King's Lynn on the basis that if something happened mechanically on a Wednesday night his bikes might not be ready for Thursday, so he gave all his commitment to Sheffield.

 

I agree with Pinny, though. The lad simply isn't good enough for PL racing at this stage of his career and even if the team had been able to carry him - which was highly debatable from the outset - there would have been pressure to replace him anyway.

 

I do think the change was made because of his lack of scoring, though. Sheffield simply have to do something to turn their fortunes round and get a few people returning on Thursday nights and carrying on as they were wasn't really an option. With Koppe's upturn in form, there was only ever going to be one to go.

 

I hope that he changes his mind and carries on in the NL because he has some ability. I recognise, though, that the financial cost of doing so can be far too much to bear.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Halifaxtiger

[Byker Biker]

It is such a shame that this hasn't worked out, so many call for young Brits to be given a chance and are not fully behind them. Good luck Jake.

[justathought]

So what will the new line up be ?

[Fozzie4388]

Stead

Haines

Roynon

Hall

Wells

Koppe

Albin

[DAVEK]

 

I do think the change was made because of his lack of scoring

 

No - the change was made because of others members of the team's lack of scoring.

You can run with a 3 pointer like we did with Birks, but the rest of the team have to perform to their capabilities

[Fromafar]

To be fair, Knight was never going to do it. Not good enough i am afraid

 

See this is what happens when people call for young brits who aint nowhere near ready to be given a chance. He should never in a million years of gone pl this season with a sub six point nl figure.

Tend to agree, for years now there have been several Young Brits who just can't cope with the PL when given a chance .the ones that are coping seem to be from a Different form of bike sport ,the grass tracking scene seems to have dried up a little and the Moto Cross boys are taking over.there a lot of riders in NL who have been about for a few years but can't seem to break through for various reasons which have been well discussed on this forum

[Stan Duppcomic]

There had to be 3 or 4 in the frame. But 2 of them have had good meetings (at home) in the last 3 weeks. Otherwise I think young Jake would still be there. Right attitude, Right people. Now there's another 4 weeks until Andre's contract runs out at Glasgow. Pressure is on in the middle order now!!

 

As for Jake taking a break - there's more to life than Speedway!

[Elephantman]

To be fair, Knight was never going to do it. Not good enough i am afraid

 

See this is what happens when people call for young brits who aint nowhere near ready to be given a chance. He should never in a million years of gone pl this season with a sub six point nl figure.

 

Well actually you are not being fair. As has been posted this lad has done all that was expected of him; he is the victim of others not pulling their weight and an audience that are clearly demanding change. He has not failed he has been failed.

 

Tend to agree, for years now there have been several Young Brits who just can't cope with the PL when given a chance .the ones that are coping seem to be from a Different form of bike sport ,the grass tracking scene seems to have dried up a little and the Moto Cross boys are taking over.there a lot of riders in NL who have been about for a few years but can't seem to break through for various reasons which have been well discussed on this forum

Same as above. I can only assume that some posters never look at other people's post or read the press releases. It appeared to me to be an unusual press release as normally when someone is released it is case of the least said the better. In this instance it looks like the management have been forced to sacrifice this lad, even though he is probably the better long term prospect, to bring someone in who can cover for those more experienced riders who are not performing.

 

The one thing Jake needs to understand is that it's not how many times you get knocked down that matters; it's how many times you get back up again.

[Pinny]

I am being honest

 

Knight was signed on 3.00 and if he had done his job he would of averaged three.

 

Koppe and albin have also been woeful but koppes recent home form has saved him whilst i assume their going to see how albin does at reserve

 

Knight wasnt pulling up any trees in last seasons nl and was a poor signing from the off and they are the facts its also a fact that riders like knight get slung into the pl too early he needed at least two more seasons at nl level

 

His scores this season speak for themself, premier league speedway is a business . No room for sentiment sadly

 

He got given a three month trial, didnt impress and has been replaced. As i said hes just not good enough yet , will he ever be i dont know

[Fromafar]

 

 

Well actually you are not being fair. As has been posted this lad has done all that was expected of him; he is the victim of others not pulling their weight and an audience that are clearly demanding change. He has not failed he has been failed.

 

Same as above. I can only assume that some posters never look at other people's post or read the press releases. It appeared to me to be an unusual press release as normally when someone is released it is case of the least said the better. In this instance it looks like the management have been forced to sacrifice this lad, even though he is probably the better long term prospect, to bring someone in who can cover for those more experienced riders who are not performing.

 

The one thing Jake needs to understand is that it's not how many times you get knocked down that matters; it's how many times you get back up again.

I am not knocking Jake in particular its just the way the system works averages mean too much and at the end of the day results matter it is very hard to carry 3pt men,that Sheffield line up was always on a hiding to nothing IMO unfortunately young Jake is the scapegoat .

[Stan Duppcomic]

No - the change was made because of others members of the team's lack of scoring.

You can run with a 3 pointer like we did with Birks, but the rest of the team have to perform to their capabilities

I'm a Big Jake fan, and I agree the change was because of the others under performing, BUT to compare Jake and Ashley is laughable. The only similarity is their starting average. Edited June 24, 2013 by Stan Duppcomic

[SCB]

Surely Knight was only ever a temp signing while the foreigners got new averages. We'll be told no but didn't anyone really think that once the foreigners got averages they'd get the sack?

 

Hard decision lol.

[spin king]

Start of the season most Sheffield fans would have told you that the team put out was a gamble.

 

But that gamble at the start of the season appear to be paying off as we qualified for the League Cup Semi Final's, both reserves looked suspect but the top 5 were more or less holding the team together.

 

The side seemed to go backwards when we had injuries to both Simon Stead and Richard Hall, and it was not just the two reserves that were having some poor meetings that was where we started to lose our way a bit and put more pressure on the two reserves.

 

Both were still not scoring many points, but of the two Jake was outscoring Damien and it is fair to say that most probably thought that Damien could be the one for the chop if we were to make changes. But out of the blue Damien's form appeared to change over night two or three weeks ago.

 

Both lads have put in a tremendous effort to get things right and for me are a credit to the club, hope this clears things up, I don't think for one second that Jake lacks the ambition. He has probably taken the right decision in taking a break, why take a position of another rider if you are a little uncertain of whether you really want to do it anymore.

 

Hopefully Jake can come back next year fresh and ready for another crack at riding for the Tigers as he did on occasions show us what he can do.

[Halifaxtiger]

No - the change was made because of others members of the team's lack of scoring.

You can run with a 3 pointer like we did with Birks, but the rest of the team have to perform to their capabilities

 

You have to ask yourself then why the 'other members' - to me, that could quite easily be anyone of the other 6 - didn't get the push instead. There a few riders around who could have replaced one or more.

 

The other thing is you can run with a 3 pointer but Knight wasn't that. He'd scored 16 points in 9 PL matches so that's more like a 1.5 pointer. If you think that some of his points would be without beating the opposition - as at Scunthorpe, where he got nearly a quarter of the 16 - it brings the grounds for dropping him even more sharply into focus.

 

Surely Knight was only ever a temp signing while the foreigners got new averages. We'll be told no but didn't anyone really think that once the foreigners got averages they'd get the sack?

 

Hard decision lol.

 

Until a fortnight ago when Koppe starting scoring, he'd have been my choice for being dropped (Spinny's too, and he watches every home match). Easy decision now, but it hasn't always been like that and if Knight had banged a few points in yes I think Albin or Koppe might have gone.