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4 hours ago, STEVEHOLS54 said:

I have a split opinion on Harris. Part of me says good team man but another part of me  says will he be too up and down ?? Complicated further by his revised GSA up from 7.09 as per GSA 1/10 to a final av of 7.78 a whole 0.69 higher I assume based on  deleting his Rye scores as though play offs didn't count ?? Suddenly doesn't look so good. Doyle for example is 9.80 but you know you will get 10/15 points per meeting from him which we know with Poole riders last year you could get anything from 0 to 10/12 (if you were lucky).

For me Matt has to give some serious thought to the 2019 team. Yes 2018 started badly but honestly I am not yet convinced the likes of Kurtz/Josh G/Woryna/Fredrikson will improve their av big time and Klindt had a good season (sometimes) and again not 100% convinced he would improve.

Having so called strength in depth is good on the one hand but for me they had a good slice of luck and good fortune in 2018 to win the League whatever some Poole die hard's may think. Yes they did the job but asking lightning to strike twice with most of the same team ??. I can't see it PLUS the team has to shed a massive 2.64 points anyway to get back to 42.5 for season start. Would you tie up Harris at a whole 7.78 out of that will he even achieve that knowing realistically he is nearer a 7 IMO. Maybe you can get a proven 8 pointer which would be better but again can the club afford such expense with no confirmed team sponsor.

I think Matt is going to have plenty on his plate trying to find a decent combination for 2019 plus if he can even do it early enough IF he doesn't have a main sponsor on board.

Hope it does not become a case of "Oh Well" we achieved what I wanted and that was the League Champions in 2018 out 70th year so in what may be my last year at the Club let's just go for consolidation without a large expense.

With regards to klindt, I somewhat agree. However, on his average & potentially slotting in at #4 I think we'd be mad not to. At worst, he will maintain his Ave thereabouts & still be formidable. Woryna and jakobsen have plenty of room for improvement and most importantly, WANT to ride. 

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28 minutes ago, Jason.C said:

With regards to klindt, I somewhat agree. However, on his average & potentially slotting in at #4 I think we'd be mad not to. At worst, he will maintain his Ave thereabouts & still be formidable. Woryna and jakobsen have plenty of room for improvement and most importantly, WANT to ride. 

Yes but something has to give as the team in its current format is 2.64 over.

Say you replaced Worrall at 5.60 with Shanes at 3.31 thats only saving 2.29 which is still 0.43 over. 

Many said this was arguably the weakest team ever to win the league. A good chunk of luck/good fortune and a sublime one ride from Harris made it happen in 2018. In my opinion it won't happen again without some jiggery poke within the team.

An example of a rejiggle and just an idea

Josh Pickering 4.58 - Jordan Stewart 4.00 (both  reserves) -B Kurtz 7.05 - C.Woryna 6.36 - Jack Holder 7.39 - F.Jakobsen  5.04  Leaves by my calc 8.08 for a number one. It is filled with 4 of the Worlds best up and coming young riders (excl the good Poles who won't ride here) - has 2 of arguably the brightest young Aussies coming thru at reserve - JP just turning 22 in 3 days and had 2 seasons in Champ improv GSA over the 2. JS just turned 20 only 2 weeks ago and had ok first season with Redcar. Seems to be riding well against Jaimon Lidsey back home currently in Aussie.

This would leave the option open for say Harris (ok some say he should be in but I am split on it) - Chris Holder who I would have over Harris and would also be a pull to get Jack back - Or an 8 pointer which brings into play either GP or recent GP riders (of course if available).

Of course that leaves out Josh G - Nicolai Klindt - Richie Worrall and MAYBE Harris but whichever way you cut it we still need to offload at least 2 riders to get within the limit.

I can't see Matt letting either Kurtz/Woryna or Jakobsen not being included as all 3 have the potential to up their GSA's.

Other riders who could be considered if you want to jiggery poke on the av are Morris (if he was available and even wanted to ride for Poole) at 6.60 and Sundstrom who is now on only 6.04.

Matt has a an interesting headache and juggling act on his hands.

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So really we have riders for potentially a good reserve and 2nd string line up, but finding a true no.1 these days is like gold dust. Looks like we'll be hoping a few riders will have break through seasons again and take up the mantle. 

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5 hours ago, Starman2006 said:

Several differences there. Doyley still rides in the GP he's is eventhough Chris beat him the better rider and, and Chris is a bit older than Doyley, Doyley is more than capable of attaining the No 1 position, where Chris will freely admit he is no longer a No 1. I would fully expect Doyley to attain his average next season, assuming he rides over here.... But Chris will find it hard to attain his.

Edited by hyabb17

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6 hours ago, Starman2006 said:

Fortunately then it was Harris who made a massive contrabution in  us winning the League. That said, it wasnt just a one man team. You need 6 other riders.
Personally, i feel Chris's average should be re-assessed. to take into consideration his age and the fact that he would freely admit he is not a No 1. But sadly this is Poole we are talking about..

Sorry, I meant to quote this post as the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. 

Edited by hyabb17
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7 hours ago, Starman2006 said:

Personally, i feel Chris's average should be re-assessed. to take into consideration his age and the fact that he would freely admit he is not a No 1. But sadly this is Poole we are talking about..

That's a new one. Wish Coventry had thought of that when he rode for them. :D

hyabb17........Sorry 

I meant to quote this post as the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read. 

Watch this space 'cos there will be plenty more. :icon_smile_clown:

Edited by Gemini
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I hope Harris is signed he may or may not achieve his average but he is a rider who has always rode our track very well and is worth a point in the pits. He changed our season when he joined us, he is a solid points scorer and should be retained. 

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I can see both sides with the Harris debate. But if Matt is struggling to get a 'superstar' over then I think Harris is worth sticking with. Maybe go with a strength in depth team like last season. 

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If you are looking for riders who can put a point on their average, are uk based, your own assets, ride your own track pretty well, and can ride all the away tracks well. I wouldn't be surprised if Charles Wright ended up at Poole. On a 5.1 or thereabouts I'd say he would be pretty good value.

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1 hour ago, Skidder1 said:

Matt's comments in the Echo today just about nail it!!

Yes and he continues to live in his own little ‘speedway bubble’ .

He is the owner of assets that will probably never ride in the UK again sadly.

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1 hour ago, Skidder1 said:

Matt's comments in the Echo today just about nail it!!

Indeed it does.

Don't have a team sponsor - Seems very little money - Of course Uk can't compete with Poland. We all know that and yes hardly surprising most don't want to risk their lucrative POl contracts to ride here for much lower money with the inherent risks involved. Vaculik a prime example of a rider who could have lost all of 2018 with that nasty injury early doors. Am sure Gorzow were furious and it could have cost him a fortune. Sure he won't be back on these shores again.

But Ford is one of the more fortunate ones even without a main sponsor currently - He has over the years obtained plenty of assets so he can still sign the riders to field a half decent team if you factor in the likes of Hans Andersen - Kenneth Bjerre - Chris & Jack Holder and others. Can  even include NKI but doubt he would.

I think the big bucks man he referred to was probably Woryna who is the Star in Rybnik but maybe also Kurtz is going to earn big. 

Let's be honest the top guys only ride here as it covers expenses and some live here. For example Doyle & NKI. If you can cover your costs and travelling expenses around Europe from what you earn from UK then the money you earn in POL/SWE is not drained by lots of expenses.

Of course what we don't know is if his comments are also a veiled threat as to whether he can even still afford the likes of Woryna _ Holders etc as they are all riding POL/SWE and maybe won't come cheap.

Sounds like we can discount a top 8 point plus man then. Still faces a dilemma though as he has to still shed 2.64 points from this seasons team.

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1 hour ago, STEVEHOLS54 said:

Indeed it does.

Don't have a team sponsor - Seems very little money - Of course Uk can't compete with Poland. We all know that and yes hardly surprising most don't want to risk their lucrative POl contracts to ride here for much lower money with the inherent risks involved. Vaculik a prime example of a rider who could have lost all of 2018 with that nasty injury early doors. Am sure Gorzow were furious and it could have cost him a fortune. Sure he won't be back on these shores again.

But Ford is one of the more fortunate ones even without a main sponsor currently - He has over the years obtained plenty of assets so he can still sign the riders to field a half decent team if you factor in the likes of Hans Andersen - Kenneth Bjerre - Chris & Jack Holder and others. Can  even include NKI but doubt he would.

I think the big bucks man he referred to was probably Woryna who is the Star in Rybnik but maybe also Kurtz is going to earn big. 

Let's be honest the top guys only ride here as it covers expenses and some live here. For example Doyle & NKI. If you can cover your costs and travelling expenses around Europe from what you earn from UK then the money you earn in POL/SWE is not drained by lots of expenses.

Of course what we don't know is if his comments are also a veiled threat as to whether he can even still afford the likes of Woryna _ Holders etc as they are all riding POL/SWE and maybe won't come cheap.

Sounds like we can discount a top 8 point plus man then. Still faces a dilemma though as he has to still shed 2.64 points from this seasons team.

If we are to build this team on a strength in depth as we can't afford top riders and it seems only Doyle, NKI are interested then riders like Hans, Holder and Harris should be top of the list.

I don't think Ford is fortunate he has planned well and obtained many assets, some of whom will never ride for us again and some who will never ride for us ever but because he has built a large asset base he always gets plenty of loan fees and most of his assets cost very little.

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2 hours ago, foreverblue said:

If we are to build this team on a strength in depth as we can't afford top riders and it seems only Doyle, NKI are interested then riders like Hans, Holder and Harris should be top of the list.

I don't think Ford is fortunate he has planned well and obtained many assets, some of whom will never ride for us again and some who will never ride for us ever but because he has built a large asset base he always gets plenty of loan fees and most of his assets cost very little.

When I said fortunate, I meant from the current perspective. If the team has no main team sponsor - with virtually nothing from TV, having by his on words taken a massive financial hit in 2018 with the combination of the washout big Anniv meeting - other  early season washouts - lower crowds due to both an inept first half of the season and the dropping of crowds in general throughout UK, then he is indeed in the fortunate position of cleverly having purchased or had passed on various rider assets that may well serve him well in 2019 in the days of  having tighten the purse strings.

Under such circumstances he can if need be call on such assets to ride for Poole (such as Hans Anderson/Holders etc) or as you say obtain loan fees to help finance the club in these dark times.

Having said that and much as I appreciate the fact sponsors financed part of the trip, one is never going to get much sympathy after a heavily advertised and lauded over Formula 1 trip to Abu Dhabi for the whole team/manager which Matt also said was his third or fourth trip to the event in recent times. Being Matt's main source of income one has to say it is indeed a sport where finance is tight.

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13 minutes ago, STEVEHOLS54 said:

When I said fortunate, I meant from the current perspective. If the team has no main team sponsor - with virtually nothing from TV, having by his on words taken a massive financial hit in 2018 with the combination of the washout big Anniv meeting - other  early season washouts - lower crowds due to both an inept first half of the season and the dropping of crowds in general throughout UK, then he is indeed in the fortunate position of cleverly having purchased or had passed on various rider assets that may well serve him well in 2019 in the days of  having tighten the purse strings.

Under such circumstances he can if need be call on such assets to ride for Poole (such as Hans Anderson/Holders etc) or as you say obtain loan fees to help finance the club in these dark times.

Having said that and much as I appreciate the fact sponsors financed part of the trip, one is never going to get much sympathy after a heavily advertised and lauded over Formula 1 trip to Abu Dhabi for the whole team/manager which Matt also said was his third or fourth trip to the event in recent times. Being Matt's main source of income one has to say it is indeed a sport where finance is tight.

I agree the Abu Dhabi trip indicates that the club finds itself in a better financial position than most in these trying times but in order to give something back to the fans that have followed the team home and away I would have thought a celebration evening could have been organised.

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