Newcastle 2020

[Justgotmecpc]

12 hours ago, Bellers101 said:

I never wrote Worky off, however the Diamonds? No genuine number 1, 2 newbies and a rider making a comeback after 6 years. Don't fancy their chances.

I never said you wrote off Workington !! But they were at the start of the season & cleaned up & also thanks to dickie juul found a another special Dane in razza... So let's hope stancl can work the same kind of magic with Smetana....

[Justgotmecpc]

2 minutes ago, Winditon said:

THJ will let you know as he knows everything. I heard that the promotion weren't happy last night that someone had let the cat out of the bag.

There must be loads of cats in the bags lol

[Justgotmecpc]

12 hours ago, ruffdiamond said:

To be fair tho peaser, on paper we do look really weak. A good 2 points below par, so were gonna take some stick, on paper.

Hope it's not toilet paper ha ha

[Fromafar]

32 minutes ago, DC2 said:

 

Hi Steve,

What knowledge does Rod Grant have of the two new foreigners? Have they ridden in any professional leagues?

Thanks.

Smetana looked decent in the GP qualifier last season.

[DC2]

6 minutes ago, StevePark said:

I'm sure Rob will have done his homework.  

Smetana rode in the GP qualifier up at Glasgow and scored 6 points and also had a spin round Brough after a meeting this year.

Skorja was a wildcard in a full GP in 2018, so can't be that bad.

 

Thanks, but I can’t find any record of either having ridden in a professional speedway league.

Would they not come in on 4 point averages and be at reserve?

 

[DC2]

8 minutes ago, Fromafar said:

Smetana looked decent in the GP qualifier last season.

 

Here’s a link to that meeting:

http://speedwayupdates.proboards.com/thread/19533/sgp-qualifier-glasgow-08-2019

 

[cheekycobra]

Looks to me like a team built for 21/22. Just hope the Newcastle fans stick with them. I love to see the Bears tonking the Diamonds, but they have to be there to be tonked. 

[enotian]

Have to chuckle when people defend the seven and then in the same breath say that we've got two points to play with to make changes!

There's no point in trying to deny that a team that's two points under the limit, doesn't have a #1 and will struggle in heat 13 and 15 is going to struggle. But at least it's an interesting team with same potential to improve. Who knows if James Wright can recapture his former form? Or if Connor Mountain will have a break through season? Or if Nik Skorja is a top talent (World U-21's in 2019 (scoring 7,2,2) which only Lambert from the Brits qualified for). Or if THJ has self esteem issues?  Who knows?

What it does show is that the new owner is prepared to take a gamble. Let's hope it pays off. 

[soupy]

16 minutes ago, cheekycobra said:

Looks to me like a team built for 21/22. Just hope the Newcastle fans stick with them. I love to see the Bears tonking the Diamonds, but they have to be there to be tonked. 

That is quite true. I would say the feeling is probably mutual both ways as the Diamonds beating the Bears.

[szkocjasid]

14 hours ago, pienpeesman said:

Just like Workington in 2018 ?

While Workington weren't favourites in 2018, they weren't predicted for bottom!

[spin king]

On paper you have to say the the Diamonds are looking like they are in for a hammering this season.

But you have to remember they were late with team building and gave every other team a head start in team building.

At Sheffield we went through a similar problem with the new promotion and we pieced together a team from what riders were left.

Hopefully fans will be understand and stick with the team this year and judge the Promotion on their team building next season where they will start on an even playing field.

 

  

[IronScorpion]

1 hour ago, Winditon said:

THJ will let you know as he knows everything. I heard that the promotion weren't happy last night that someone had let the cat out of the bag.

THJ was not the one to "let the cat out of the bag". Yes, he gave us a story with anagrams incorporated of the riders, but it was another poster that solved the puzzle.  

[ruffdiamond]

18 minutes ago, IronScorpion said:

THJ was not the one to "let the cat out of the bag". Yes, he gave us a story with anagrams incorporated of the riders, but it was another poster that solved the puzzle.  

It was also another poster that came up with the spoof names.

[northyorksbear]

OK to start on the negatives - at this moment in time virtually everyone's predictions will have the Diamonds finishing bottom of the league, and I can see many defeats to start the season off with.

However positives - as others have said there will be speedway at Newcastle in 2020,and from Granty's comments for a number of years afterwards. The team which has been put together does have potential for improvement with several riders able to have substantial increases in averages, whether they will is the big question. If the new guys, who I assume will be assets, get a full season in then they should be good for 2021 and I fully expect diamonds to be much more competitive later in season.

Bottom line is enjoy your speedway and support the new promotion - hope it goes well  - as I have often pointed out it is to the benefit of Redcar and Newcastle for both to have strong teams, as was clearly demonstrated by last season's cup final.

Merry Christmas to all up in Geordieland

[leander]

2 hours ago, enotian said:

Have to chuckle when people defend the seven and then in the same breath say that we've got two points to play with to make changes!

There's no point in trying to deny that a team that's two points under the limit, doesn't have a #1 and will struggle in heat 13 and 15 is going to struggle. But at least it's an interesting team with same potential to improve. Who knows if James Wright can recapture his former form? Or if Connor Mountain will have a break through season? Or if Nik Skorja is a top talent (World U-21's in 2019 (scoring 7,2,2) which only Lambert from the Brits qualified for). Or if THJ has self esteem issues?  Who knows?

What it does show is that the new owner is prepared to take a gamble. Let's hope it pays off. 

Doesn't have a number 1!!!!!! Didn't know Claus Vissing had left already. WE HAVE A NUMBER 1. His name is Claus Vissing. He is the 7th highest average NUMBER 1 in the League to start this season, and is on a par (within a few hundreds (average wise ) of the three immediately above him. He rode at number 5 for Glasgow for the first half of last season so has done plenty of heat 13 and 15. 

It is a slight concern being 2.12 short on the points limit, as this means the team has to improve by two points overall just to stand still. I'd personally have prefered an established 6.5 to 7 point rider plus either one of the two eastern europeans. However it is what it is and I, for one, just grateful we are still running. Time will tell whether the two new boys are over or under estimated on a 5.00. The slight concern being that most eastern europeans are big track riders and there ain't that many big tracks left in our league. It should be remembered that last year Smetana rode Lindgrens 2018 bikes when he was in this country. Hopefully he will have his own better bikes this year.

As long as they put the effort in the fans will back them.

 

[DC2]

 

This year’s newcomers were a mixed bag:

Agertoft and Thomsen at Birmingham failed to achieve 3 point averages;

MacDonald and Kennedy at Sheffield just fell short of 4;

Kacper Andersen in his first full season managed 4.86 and Grobauer 5.38.

In fact, looking at 2018 and 2019, Grobauer is the only new rider to beat his assessed starting average.

 

[screm]

Surprised that Newcastle have brought two new riders in to complete their team but both, especially Skorja, are at an age where their best days should still be infront of them.

[TKone]

17 hours ago, Bellers101 said:

Some big home defeats early on I reckon. I thought Granty was going to transform the club.

What are you mystic meg remember the diamonds almost didn’t make the tapes for 2020 great to see how positive you are. Maybe you could have purchased the club and put a better team together I guess we will never know 

[Justgotmecpc]

3 hours ago, screm said:

Surprised that Newcastle have brought two new riders in to complete their team but both, especially Skorja, are at an age where their best days should still be infront of them.

I've just been watching footage of Smetana on YouTube & if your comments are right that both lads best days are in front of them WELL it's gonna be a good season watching them putting points on there averages as Smetana is fast and coped well against gp regulars ie Martin vaculik..

[Fromafar]

4 hours ago, DC2 said:

 

This year’s newcomers were a mixed bag:

Agertoft and Thomsen at Birmingham failed to achieve 3 point averages;

MacDonald and Kennedy at Sheffield just fell short of 4;

Kacper Andersen in his first full season managed 4.86 and Grobauer 5.38.

In fact, looking at 2018 and 2019, Grobauer is the only new rider to beat his assessed starting average.

 

Think Smetana will surprise a few.