Ipswich Witches 2024 serious team predictions

[Baldyman]

I think if they use the same riders they will make the mistake of thinking they did well this year,, when in reality they weren't great and got extremely lucky with Morris being a div. Add to that 2 tracks we do okay on won't be there next year which leaves the ones we ain't good on,,,, wooden spoon contenders with The Brummies and the Stars,,, 

[cowboy cookie returns?]

I think if the points limit & rising star stays the same then I think there will be possibly 2 changes. Riss because he does seemed to have lost his ability to Mix it & Hume for no other reason then to have Rew start the season at reserve.

If the limit is increased & rising star is dropped then I still think Riss will go to be replaced with a stronger rider but then I see Rew & Hume at reserve.

I can’t see any reason why Rew would be going anywhere despite people linking him with Belle Vue

[szkocjasid]

Interesting to see how highly Rew seems rated compared to Hume & Dan T. Their 2023 averages are Hume (3.93), Dan T (3.81) & Rew (3.74).

I can understand people wanting Rew back, but personally I'd want all 3 back.

[szkocjasid]

2 hours ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

I think if the points limit & rising star stays the same then I think there will be possibly 2 changes. Riss because he does seemed to have lost his ability to Mix it & Hume for no other reason then to have Rew start the season at reserve.

If the limit is increased & rising star is dropped then I still think Riss will go to be replaced with a stronger rider but then I see Rew & Hume at reserve.

I can’t see any reason why Rew would be going anywhere despite people linking him with Belle Vue

If the limit stays the same, it would actually be hard to sign Sayfutdinov, Doyle & King, while keeping Rew at reserve. Would leave 8.73 for final 2 riders, so looking for 2 riders between 4 & 4.73. Only options I can see are S.Lambert (4.66) H.Andersen (4.41) J.Allen (4.33) C.Cook (4.28) C.Vissing (4.16) D.Bellego (4.00) K.Thomson (4.00).

Unless it's a returning rider like Berge.

Edited October 19, 2023 by szkocjasid

[cowboy cookie returns?]

1 hour ago, szkocjasid said:

Interesting to see how highly Rew seems rated compared to Hume & Dan T. Their 2023 averages are Hume (3.93), Dan T (3.81) & Rew (3.74).

I can understand people wanting Rew back, but personally I'd want all 3 back.

My thinking with Rew is based around the following. It was his first season in the uk, getting used to new tracks & all the adjustments that go with stating somewhere new. All that after a disrupted winter due to his serious injury. His performances in Poland & SGP 2 suggests that the boy has talent. We’ll worth another shot.

Hume I really like as a rider gives 100% all the time & clearly has a lot of passion. My concern with Hume is that giving the amount of experience he has at Foxhall he does give away a lot of points though errors & I can’t see much improvement in him. 
 

Out of the two you have to go with Rew, although as I’ve said if there is no rising star then I’d have the pair of them at reserve.

if the rising star scheme is kept it’s got to be one of Dan Thompson, Jason Edwards or Jack Smith for me all battlers.

[RoundTheBoards]

11 hours ago, AceBelle said:

Rew is not a ekstraliga rider  if that was the case all 3 wouldn't have rode in the team last season Rew is lower league in Poland 

As I said, they could have Sayfutdinov, Doyle and Rew this year as Rew was not an Ekstraliga rider in 2023, but they won't be able to have all 3 in 2024 when Rew rides in the Ekstraliga, if the 2 rider limit remains.

[AceBelle]

46 minutes ago, RoundTheBoards said:

As I said, they could have Sayfutdinov, Doyle and Rew this year as Rew was not an Ekstraliga rider in 2023, but they won't be able to have all 3 in 2024 when Rew rides in the Ekstraliga, if the 2 rider limit remains.

Rew will not be in the ekstraliga next season for sure !!

[2ndbendbeerhut]

This year's top 6 for the Witches is 39.16.

Take off King and Hume 2.5% reduces that to 38.88.

As Cinderella would say... "it fits" 

 

[Panthers99]

Could do a lot worse than stick with the same 6 IMO

[LagutaRacingFan]

24 minutes ago, Panthers99 said:

Could do a lot worse than stick with the same 6 IMO

Where's the improvement coming from?

Emil, King, or Doyle won't increase their average.

[SPEEDY69]

6 hours ago, Panthers99 said:

Could do a lot worse than stick with the same 6 IMO

Did you not see Riss at all this season, awful! 

[SteveLyric2]

On 10/19/2023 at 8:41 PM, AceBelle said:

Rew will not be in the ekstraliga next season for sure !!

I'm sure I read somewhere that Rew had signed for Leszno? Maybe just a squad member?

[Panthers99]

5 hours ago, SPEEDY69 said:

Did you not see Riss at all this season, awful! 

I did.....but him and rew are your average increasers required in any team. You need those riders who can add a point or two, Riss can.

He can't get any worse, a winter of resting and sorting out his health is all that's required to get him back to a 6.00 rider 

[25yearfan]

On 10/19/2023 at 7:54 PM, cowboy cookie returns? said:

My thinking with Rew is based around the following. It was his first season in the uk, getting used to new tracks & all the adjustments that go with stating somewhere new. All that after a disrupted winter due to his serious injury. His performances in Poland & SGP 2 suggests that the boy has talent. We’ll worth another shot.

Hume I really like as a rider gives 100% all the time & clearly has a lot of passion. My concern with Hume is that giving the amount of experience he has at Foxhall he does give away a lot of points though errors & I can’t see much improvement in him. 
 

Out of the two you have to go with Rew, although as I’ve said if there is no rising star then I’d have the pair of them at reserve.

if the rising star scheme is kept it’s got to be one of Dan Thompson, Jason Edwards or Jack Smith for me all battlers.

Agree with all of that but I'd be wary of retaining Hume cause like you say he doesn't look like he can improve further, I think cause he already over rides which accounts for his far too many falls and he hasn't the ability to ever be sustainable on technical tracks where you have to turn your bike harder in the corners.

 

Rew considering he overcome a serious injury last winter, is very young, competed well  in the SGP2 and it was his first ever season in the UK showed enough promise to suggest there's much more to come so is worth another chance next season.

 

If Doyle and Sayfudinov both return then inevitably  this will require low averaged riders at the bottom end which is likely to result in a long tail something which was the downfall this season.

Edited October 21, 2023 by 25yearfan

[Arch Stanton]

30 minutes ago, 25yearfan said:

Agree with all of that but I'd be wary of retaining Hume cause like you say he doesn't look like he can improve further, I think cause he already over rides which accounts for his far too many falls and he hasn't the ability to ever be sustainable on technical tracks where you have to turn your bike harder in the corners.

 

Rew considering he overcome a serious injury last winter, is very young, competed well  in the SGP2 and it was his first ever season in the UK showed enough promise to suggest there's much more to come so is worth another chance next season.

 

If Doyle and Sayfudinov both return then inevitably  this will require low averaged riders at the bottom end which is likely to result in a long tail something which was the downfall this season.

You’re right and this will become more of an issue if more of the top riders return next season. Lindgren is one who is heavily linked to return, and there could well be others. All it takes is for teams to take points off Doyle and Emil which will happen more frequently next year with the likes of Lindgren, Woffinden and maybe others, then the team will get soundly beaten because the bottom three won’t out score the bottom 3 of most others. 
 

Look what happened at Sheffield when Emil had a ropey first two rides and Doyle failed to get double figures. The result then was all too predictable. 
 

Im expecting Doyle Emil and King back, but personally I’d make a decision on picking one of the top two and then squeezing in a solid middle order rider to replace Riss and push Rew down to reserve. 

[cowboy cookie returns?]

19 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

You’re right and this will become more of an issue if more of the top riders return next season. Lindgren is one who is heavily linked to return, and there could well be others. All it takes is for teams to take points off Doyle and Emil which will happen more frequently next year with the likes of Lindgren, Woffinden and maybe others, then the team will get soundly beaten because the bottom three won’t out score the bottom 3 of most others. 
 

Look what happened at Sheffield when Emil had a ropey first two rides and Doyle failed to get double figures. The result then was all too predictable. 
 

Im expecting Doyle Emil and King back, but personally I’d make a decision on picking one of the top two and then squeezing in a solid middle order rider to replace Riss and push Rew down to reserve. 

I agree with some of that. The play off final at Sheffield did show our weekness, however the choice of gates to go 1 & 3 was bonkers. Emil & Doyle of gate 3 is their opening riders when 3 was clearly the worse gate & everyone on the TV seemed to agree.

The interesting thing is that a few weeks on no one seems to be talking about winning the cup or playoff defeat it’s about entertainment.

Anyone I’ve spoken too talks about the atmosphere the entertainment provided & the feel good factor Emil & Jason have brought.

it’s almost as long as we’re not getting thumped the entertainment & atmosphere is more important that winning a title.

For that reason I’m quite happy to have the top two back. The crowds were good this year & held up well even when we had the mid season wobble.

[bruno]

Imagine trying to explain to Emil we can't have you back next year because you rode too well this year

[Phil The Ace]

I think Doyle will be elsewhere from what im

hearing. Don’t know where but there there is talk he’s leaving Ipswich. 
cant see it myself personally but arch is right. Pick one of your top 2 and build a better middle order. 

[Arch Stanton]

9 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

I agree with some of that. The play off final at Sheffield did show our weekness, however the choice of gates to go 1 & 3 was bonkers. Emil & Doyle of gate 3 is their opening riders when 3 was clearly the worse gate & everyone on the TV seemed to agree.

The interesting thing is that a few weeks on no one seems to be talking about winning the cup or playoff defeat it’s about entertainment.

Anyone I’ve spoken too talks about the atmosphere the entertainment provided & the feel good factor Emil & Jason have brought.

it’s almost as long as we’re not getting thumped the entertainment & atmosphere is more important that winning a title.

For that reason I’m quite happy to have the top two back. The crowds were good this year & held up well even when we had the mid season wobble.

We differ completely here. I love watching entertainment as much as anyone, and there’s no doubt whatsoever that Having Emil and Doyle brings that in bucket loads. But it’ll now be 26 years since we’ve lifted the title and my patience is wearing a bit thin. Entertaining over success? Not for me this time. Our best chance of a title IMO is going with one of the top 2 and then packing in below him. I wouldn’t want to make that decision though! 

[Arch Stanton]

8 minutes ago, Phil The Ace said:

I think Doyle will be elsewhere from what im

hearing. Don’t know where but there there is talk he’s leaving Ipswich. 
cant see it myself personally but arch is right. Pick one of your top 2 and build a better middle order. 

Interesting if that’s the case Phil. Doyle is absolutely loved by both Chris Louis and Ritchie Hawkins to the point that if they decided to pick just one of them, I’d feel sure they’d plump for Doyle. As I’ve said, if they want the title they should be picking one of them, but I still think they’ll go for both. We’ll see.