Premiership 2025 Predictions

[foreverblue]

1 hour ago, Gavan said:

You have some sort of strange beef with Ipswich chequebook speedway lol…. Yes Doyle and Emil aren’t cheap but neither is Bewley and Kurtz and also would say the Sheffield top 3 aren’t either 

If we was chequebook speedway we would have paid Rew what he wanted and let Danny go….. fact is we wouldn’t pay it

Are you bitter over Brennan? 
Take a chill pill my friend 

He is bitter at Ipswich speedway full stop, he hates them, do not know why. I like the way they build teams, to entice Emil to ride here is a massive feather in their cap, in my view the most exciting team to watch, who would not want to see Emil and Doyley ride every week.

[SaddlebowRoad]

they are a troll whose sole purpose is to wind people up and get bites

best ignored 

[Arch Stanton]

1 hour ago, SaddlebowRoad said:

they are a troll whose sole purpose is to wind people up and get bites

best ignored 

Sadly it works like a charm! Stop replying to him/her people for crying out loud. You’re giving them the oxygen that they crave. 

[bigcatdiary]

Belle Vue - A very strong top two heading a solid rather than spectacular top 5 and an inexperienced reserve pairing.Although I see them making the play offs I don’t rate them well enough to put them in the top two. A lot will depend on how well Lidsey, Cook or Blodorn go over the season but I see them to be fairly comfortable at home but not so productive on the road.

Birmingham - Better than last year but they possess nothing that makes me think they will make the play offs yet again. Once dialled in I expect the top three to ensure a better home record this time around but it will need Rew to seriously up his game and that’s of course assuming MJJ will be staying for the season, their tail wags a bit and I can see changes sooner rather than later.

Ipswich - I thought they looked Champions last year but the team rebuilding this year is impressive with Brennan giving them a very powerful top 3 and Thompson at reserve seems to provide them with an edge in every department. I think they will take some stopping home and away and in reality only a repeat of last years luck will stop them.

Kings Lynn - A lot will depend on the returns of Iversen and Klindt but potentially they could be the leagues spoilers, In Cook, Kvech, Lawson & Harris they have genuine points scorers with Cook and Kvech likely to kick on this year as well. It looks like a genuine attempt to replicate the Peterborough team of 2021 and it could be an interesting year at Saddlebow.

Leicester - Fricke, Masters & Douglas should ensure they are competitive at home but on the road I don’t think they possess the firepower to worry most of their rivals, Lawson is a big loss and much more consistent than his replacement Howarth, and I don’t see much improvement in Becker or Cook either so I remain unconvinced they will make the play offs.

Oxford - Another team who for me haven’t learned from the mistakes last year and they look weaker this time around with question marks against Tungate, Kildemand & Riss, I expect Janowski to do better whilst Gusts has potential but on the whole it’s looking like another struggle to make the play offs.

Sheffield - Excellent top 3 and if Pickering moves up a gear they will again be one of the main contenders, but they do have question marks against all of the bottom 3, Owlerton is a good home base with a fair bit of home track advantage but they could struggle on their travels.

Play Offs Ipswich, Sheffield, Belle Vue plus another from Kings Lynn or Leicester.

Wooden spoon Oxford or Birmingham.

[SJA]

1 hour ago, bigcatdiary said:

Belle Vue - A very strong top two heading a solid rather than spectacular top 5 and an inexperienced reserve pairing.Although I see them making the play offs I don’t rate them well enough to put them in the top two. A lot will depend on how well Lidsey, Cook or Blodorn go over the season but I see them to be fairly comfortable at home but not so productive on the road.

Birmingham - Better than last year but they possess nothing that makes me think they will make the play offs yet again. Once dialled in I expect the top three to ensure a better home record this time around but it will need Rew to seriously up his game and that’s of course assuming MJJ will be staying for the season, their tail wags a bit and I can see changes sooner rather than later.

Ipswich - I thought they looked Champions last year but the team rebuilding this year is impressive with Brennan giving them a very powerful top 3 and Thompson at reserve seems to provide them with an edge in every department. I think they will take some stopping home and away and in reality only a repeat of last years luck will stop them.

Kings Lynn - A lot will depend on the returns of Iversen and Klindt but potentially they could be the leagues spoilers, In Cook, Kvech, Lawson & Harris they have genuine points scorers with Cook and Kvech likely to kick on this year as well. It looks like a genuine attempt to replicate the Peterborough team of 2021 and it could be an interesting year at Saddlebow.

Leicester - Fricke, Masters & Douglas should ensure they are competitive at home but on the road I don’t think they possess the firepower to worry most of their rivals, Lawson is a big loss and much more consistent than his replacement Howarth, and I don’t see much improvement in Becker or Cook either so I remain unconvinced they will make the play offs.

Oxford - Another team who for me haven’t learned from the mistakes last year and they look weaker this time around with question marks against Tungate, Kildemand & Riss, I expect Janowski to do better whilst Gusts has potential but on the whole it’s looking like another struggle to make the play offs.

Sheffield - Excellent top 3 and if Pickering moves up a gear they will again be one of the main contenders, but they do have question marks against all of the bottom 3, Owlerton is a good home base with a fair bit of home track advantage but they could struggle on their travels.

Play Offs Ipswich, Sheffield, Belle Vue plus another from Kings Lynn or Leicester.

Wooden spoon Oxford or Birmingham.

I agree with the vast majority of your points, but have Leicester at the fourth play off team as a team with NKI, Klindt, Harris and Kvech is a team likely to pick up injuries based on previous experience.

[szkocjasid]

2 hours ago, bigcatdiary said:

Belle Vue - A very strong top two heading a solid rather than spectacular top 5 and an inexperienced reserve pairing.Although I see them making the play offs I don’t rate them well enough to put them in the top two. A lot will depend on how well Lidsey, Cook or Blodorn go over the season but I see them to be fairly comfortable at home but not so productive on the road.

Birmingham - Better than last year but they possess nothing that makes me think they will make the play offs yet again. Once dialled in I expect the top three to ensure a better home record this time around but it will need Rew to seriously up his game and that’s of course assuming MJJ will be staying for the season, their tail wags a bit and I can see changes sooner rather than later.

Ipswich - I thought they looked Champions last year but the team rebuilding this year is impressive with Brennan giving them a very powerful top 3 and Thompson at reserve seems to provide them with an edge in every department. I think they will take some stopping home and away and in reality only a repeat of last years luck will stop them.

Kings Lynn - A lot will depend on the returns of Iversen and Klindt but potentially they could be the leagues spoilers, In Cook, Kvech, Lawson & Harris they have genuine points scorers with Cook and Kvech likely to kick on this year as well. It looks like a genuine attempt to replicate the Peterborough team of 2021 and it could be an interesting year at Saddlebow.

Leicester - Fricke, Masters & Douglas should ensure they are competitive at home but on the road I don’t think they possess the firepower to worry most of their rivals, Lawson is a big loss and much more consistent than his replacement Howarth, and I don’t see much improvement in Becker or Cook either so I remain unconvinced they will make the play offs.

Oxford - Another team who for me haven’t learned from the mistakes last year and they look weaker this time around with question marks against Tungate, Kildemand & Riss, I expect Janowski to do better whilst Gusts has potential but on the whole it’s looking like another struggle to make the play offs.

Sheffield - Excellent top 3 and if Pickering moves up a gear they will again be one of the main contenders, but they do have question marks against all of the bottom 3, Owlerton is a good home base with a fair bit of home track advantage but they could struggle on their travels.

Play Offs Ipswich, Sheffield, Belle Vue plus another from Kings Lynn or Leicester.

Wooden spoon Oxford or Birmingham.

Very sensible post, got a couple  of questions though.

You say you can see changes coming at Birmingham, but they've built a team under them limit. If there are stronger options out there, they'd be in the team already. What changes could you see them making?

What are the question marks against Tungate & Riss?

Think you've pretty much got the other teams all spot on.

[IainB]

4 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

You say you can see changes coming at Birmingham, but they've built a team under them limit. If there are stronger options out there, they'd be in the team already. What changes could you see them making?

Riders sometimes look to increase their bike time once the season has started especially if they've had a crap start or been binned off by another club, so the rider market may open up a bit

[Wolfie456]

25 minutes ago, IainB said:

Riders sometimes look to increase their bike time once the season has started especially if they've had a crap start or been binned off by another club, so the rider market may open up a bit

Yes lindgren came over for that reason last year.

[IainB]

45 minutes ago, Wolfie456 said:

Yes lindgren came over for that reason last year.

Kvech came mid season also and sometimes decent riders get binned off when a double change is made, didn't that happen to Chris Harris at Leicester the season before last?

Having said that it's not really the way to go about team building and Brum seemed more than reluctant to make any team changes last season with Pisspoor Pawlicki almost completing the season. 

Edited 2 hours ago by IainB

[szkocjasid]

2 hours ago, IainB said:

Riders sometimes look to increase their bike time once the season has started especially if they've had a crap start or been binned off by another club, so the rider market may open up a bit

 

1 hour ago, Wolfie456 said:

Yes lindgren came over for that reason last year.

 

1 hour ago, IainB said:

Kvech came mid season also and sometimes decent riders get binned off when a double change is made, didn't that happen to Chris Harris at Leicester the season before last?

Having said that it's not really the way to go about team building and Brum seemed more than reluctant to make any team changes last season with Pisspoor Pawlicki almost completing the season. 

Fair points, good answers

Cheers