Isle Of Wight 2018

[Sings4Speedway]

1 minute ago, adonis said:

there's a reason why Greenwood hasn't got a place , and I think it's fairly obvious to most , and I bet Halsey has had offers , not everybody is able to take time off to ride just anywhere for £10-15 a point 

 

Been quite a while since Halsey was on £15 a point. However i agree that with family businesses weekend tracks are preferable and despite a long time at Mildenhall Dan's casual attitude does not help his cause. 

Clubs have been moaning about the lack of suitable 3 pointers for years yet the amount of clubs who do anything to help develop future ones is limited. (Not aimed at IOW by the way)

[East End Fan]

Presumably the Midlands and Southern Development Leagues are intended to produce the 3 pointers.....which I think they do. But it

still leaves most teams having to use riders that are not up to scratch.  A higher limit would reduce that number.

[Islander15]

2 hours ago, adonis said:

there's a reason why Greenwood hasn't got a place , and I think it's fairly obvious to most , and I bet Halsey has had offers , not everybody is able to take time off to ride just anywhere for £10-15 a point 

 

The wrong assumption as to why Halsey is without a ride. 

[ouch]

You just need to get Ronnie Allen back in the box. 

[East End Fan]

Well, Adonis...I never suggested that teams should not have any 3 pointers.   What I am saying is that too many of the 3 pointers

that are in teams are not ready for it. A higher points limit would enable more of the better riders to get team places which clearly 

would reduce the number of no-hopers being used.  The better youngsters will always find a place.

[Sings4Speedway]

50 minutes ago, East End Fan said:

Well, Adonis...I never suggested that teams should not have any 3 pointers.   What I am saying is that too many of the 3 pointers

that are in teams are not ready for it. A higher points limit would enable more of the better riders to get team places which clearly 

would reduce the number of no-hopers being used.  The better youngsters will always find a place.

With the greatest will in the world unless there was a limit to the amount of 3 pointers allowed per team they would still feature in most sides. If the limit was higher most teams would have a 10+ averaged number 1 increasing the wage bills and creating a bigger divide between rider quality in the league. 

In addition a higher limit and the half dozen riders out of a job included leaves a void should any riders get injured / retire during the season. Its one thing finding a suitable 3 pointer its quite another finding heat leaders and that ultimately closed Kings Lynns NL side and left several others struggling to build near the limit let alone over it.

Long story short is that there are only a coupe of riders who would / could improve the IOW side and they would require multiple changes to accommodate which seems unlikely. 

[East End Fan]

I do  not know why Kings Lynn closed, but I suspect it was because it was losing money. Rumours were that they paid only the bsic

rate of pay so could not attract decent riders. Don't actually know if this was true, but it sounded feasible to me. Sings4Speedway

seems to like to see decent riders out of work.  That's sad because a lot of those riders then give up the game altogether and are

lost to the sport. Meanwhile many teams are having to use riders of little or no real ability.  Does not make any sense to me.

IOW will always struggle for riders simply because of where they are. Almost all N.L. riders have jobs outside Speedway and to travel

on a mid-week day to the Island must be difficult.

[Sings4Speedway]

10 minutes ago, East End Fan said:

I do  not know why Kings Lynn closed, but I suspect it was because it was losing money. Rumours were that they paid only the bsic

rate of pay so could not attract decent riders. Don't actually know if this was true, but it sounded feasible to me. Sings4Speedway

seems to like to see decent riders out of work.  That's sad because a lot of those riders then give up the game altogether and are

lost to the sport. Meanwhile many teams are having to use riders of little or no real ability.  Does not make any sense to me.

IOW will always struggle for riders simply because of where they are. Almost all N.L. riders have jobs outside Speedway and to travel

on a mid-week day to the Island must be difficult.

Obviously there were numerous reasons for the Young Stars closure and finances paid a part in that along with availability of suitable riders. I definitely do not like seeing riders out of "work" but i equally dislike seeing teams who have built well at the start of the year fade away as one rider becomes injured and there are no suitable replacements available. 

There are also a variety of reasons why decent riders are not included in sides averages playing a part, distance & wage demands also being a factor. Ive always been a huge believer that if riders are good enough they will find a place but only if they want to ride. 

Either way this is getting away from the issues that the Warriors are facing at present and it appears that if it doesn't physically rain on race nights it rains points against them.

[gazzac]

Maybe the answer is fewer teams in this league, and I don't mean closures. I really like it in the NL, but if say Eastbourne and say maybe Birmingham or Kent went up a league,would that solve the problem? 

[waco]

The very good youngsters are snapped up by one or two. clubs who are on the ball each season  ..They need to be spread around more to even things up ,,How you could do this i  have no idea  ,,??? But i do think the points limit needs to be higher in this league which would help a lot.....

[GWC]

The lower NL points limit is to encourage better riders to move up and so free up team places for new riders.

But due to the doubling up rule Championship teams have Strong line ups so the chances for NL riders becomes limited.

The sport doesn’t seem to reward improvement as you up your average you can put yourself out of a job, as Ellis Perks.

[barrybishop]

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all the very interesting views on this thread. As you know we are in a unique place which pretty much prevents us from being an attractive offer to the next 15 year old starlet unless we can find them ourselves. This is indeed one of the primary reasons for developing My First Skid, entering the Wizards into the SDL because we know we have to find our own and even when we do, we equally know we have to fend off the other clubs. However, we almost managed to get a starlet this year, even had a place for him at the local school that sponsors the club... but brighter lights pulled him away. But we do now have some prospects coming through, at all ages so now the work begins to develop them.

Our other weakness is loyalty to or riders... we know that....... but its because Martin and I have a vision of speedway and we have really tried to stick to that. Jamie was probably the hardest (and possibly the best) decision we made. Jamie is family to us, but this year we had too many tough meetings perhaps too quickly and something had to change and Jamie was the person. But of course Jamie stays with the club, he will Captain the Wizards, be our number 8 and we want him back in the team - he is good enough once we iron out his one  or two weaknesses we have discussed with him. He is working on them, with our support and this is why the decision was right.

I am as disappointed with the results as the next person.... it hurts me, well it hurts us all. Few of you will really know what goes on in the build up to a speedway meeting, the preparation, the marketing, the track work, purchasing, printing, administration, coordination and so on.... it's no small task in fact its an enormous task and then when your side comes and you feel that hey...something isnt right, I cannot see the effort from them that I have given myself... why not...and then we lose.... it is a pain that rips everything out of you.  We should have beaten both Plymouth and Eastbourne, but we didn't. The middle order have to step up and start delivering for us to achieve our goals and believe me we are never complacent, we perhaps care too much for our riders, but we never want to lose. All I want is a club that breaks even, provides great family fun, top racing and Martin, our staff and I are treated with respect for our efforts to make our club and both teams the best they can be.

Right.... I am off to work out how we are going to stuff Coventry  Always look forward and not back.

See you trackside.

[gee jay]

1 hour ago, barrybishop said:

Hi Everyone

Thanks for all the very interesting views on this thread. As you know we are in a unique place which pretty much prevents us from being an attractive offer to the next 15 year old starlet unless we can find them ourselves. This is indeed one of the primary reasons for developing My First Skid, entering the Wizards into the SDL because we know we have to find our own and even when we do, we equally know we have to fend off the other clubs. However, we almost managed to get a starlet this year, even had a place for him at the local school that sponsors the club... but brighter lights pulled him away. But we do now have some prospects coming through, at all ages so now the work begins to develop them.

Our other weakness is loyalty to or riders... we know that....... but its because Martin and I have a vision of speedway and we have really tried to stick to that. Jamie was probably the hardest (and possibly the best) decision we made. Jamie is family to us, but this year we had too many tough meetings perhaps too quickly and something had to change and Jamie was the person. But of course Jamie stays with the club, he will Captain the Wizards, be our number 8 and we want him back in the team - he is good enough once we iron out his one  or two weaknesses we have discussed with him. He is working on them, with our support and this is why the decision was right.

I am as disappointed with the results as the next person.... it hurts me, well it hurts us all. Few of you will really know what goes on in the build up to a speedway meeting, the preparation, the marketing, the track work, purchasing, printing, administration, coordination and so on.... it's no small task in fact its an enormous task and then when your side comes and you feel that hey...something isnt right, I cannot see the effort from them that I have given myself... why not...and then we lose.... it is a pain that rips everything out of you.  We should have beaten both Plymouth and Eastbourne, but we didn't. The middle order have to step up and start delivering for us to achieve our goals and believe me we are never complacent, we perhaps care too much for our riders, but we never want to lose. All I want is a club that breaks even, provides great family fun, top racing and Martin, our staff and I are treated with respect for our efforts to make our club and both teams the best they can be.

Right.... I am off to work out how we are going to stuff Coventry  Always look forward and not back.

See you trackside.

umm , would you settle for just beating them ? i don't want then taking it out on us on sunday .

[waco]

IOW is not the easiest place to run a speedway club and you have to have some simpathy for their current predicament., Can not alter the fact that  without changes,, ie better riders ,,many more home defeats look on the cards unfortunatly.........

[Dickie Head]

So Hopwood’s off because of his job. Buxton bound? I thought about suggesting Plymouth as it looks like Cockle’s a goner but guess that wouldn’t fit the job.

Alfie Bowtell comes in. Fair enough. He needs the rides.

 

[GWC]

IF Hopwood lives in the north then it makes sense for him to ride there.

Alfie If signed would do an excellent job.

[waco]

This is exactly what Afie needs for his progression ...i see him struggling in the Championship at Lakeside,,so hopefully regular racing in the National will benefit him enormously... he certainly wont be short on effort and has the gating skills to get out in front at this level ,,i wish him well....

[cityrebel]

It's a shame Alfie couldn't be signed as an addition to hopwood.

[Racin Jason 72]

I hope Ben does sign for Buxton.  They desperately need another heatleader 

[waco]

Improved performance from IOW against Plymouth with a narrow victory,, and a sensational debut for Alfie Bowtell  17 points,this is just what the lad needs a great confidence boost.......,It has to be said that Plymouth were unfortunate to lose Roynon to injury in his 3rd ride  or the result may have gone the other way,,,,wish him well for a speedy recovery

Edited June 13, 2018 by waco