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They didn't drop Harris,,, so I doubt they would drop Crump.   Personally I've always wanted Crump as a witch,,, okay possibly too late,,,, but what's the saying,,, form is temporary, class is permanent.   If he could be 80 percent of his former self, thats good enough for this league 

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11 minutes ago, dontforgetthefueltapsbruv said:

IMO Crump has 8 meetings - if he is not cutting by then he has to be replaced

I'm not convinced he will get above 6 and also not convinced we will make the change even if he doesnt

We think similar, let’s hope we’re both wrong! IMO I think it depends how he rides regarding replacing him. If after 8 meetings he’s struggling to be even slightly competitive, then I think they will change it and not risk writing off the season from the beginning. 
 

I remember Michael Lee making a comeback for Lynn, was retired for half the time Crump has been and was only in his early 30’s, and he lasted 2 meetings. I was there that Good Friday at Foxhall where he fell a couple of times and generally wobbled around at the back like a junior. 
 

Now I’m not saying Crump will be anything like that bad, everyone is different, but I just think some are overly excited to see a great name returning and not being realistic about the situation. The fact he also doesn’t sound very confident is another red flag. 
 

Smacks of desperation and a bit of a publicity stunt for me. Let’s hope everyone is vaulting the hell out of me in a couple of months and making me look a prize pr@t!

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I hope Crump does well, would be a shame for a legend to come back and be a shadow of his former self. Looking at the standard of the league nowadays I think he’ll be ok given time, and people will pay to see him which speedway in the UK badly needs. 

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On the Harris thing, it looked a poor signing from the off on his average but I guess they were desperate in the end. Once his average dropped off a cliff to just over 6 there was little point dropping him IMO. Plus none of us know what is written in riders’ contract these days. Maybe he had to have the season? Same rumours cropped up as to why he was always getting heat 15 after stinking the place out all evening. We just don’t know. 
 

You also can’t keep chopping and changing willy nilly throughout the season. Get a reputation for that and you’ll struggle to sign riders in the winter so you have to be a bit careful. Not saying don’t make changes, but finding the right balance. 

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Anyone remember The Golden Greats at Coventry? What a lovely day it was, getting all nostalgic over the old boys from the past riding round. A lovely day of fond memories and jokes about grey hairs and paunches from Dave Lanning.

Jason Crump is older than most of the riders were when they rode in that meeting. He is also quite a few years older than his father Phil was when he made a comeback at Swindon and averaged about 4 points per meeting without bonus points.

I'd like to see Jason do well, as he was one of my favourite riders, although there are a lot of things pointing against it. It will be great to see him ride though, just like seeing Peter Collins riding in the Golden Greats was.

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Crump has no pressure...

When was the last time a Witches no 1 maintained their ave... let alone improved it?

See no pressure....

Jason will have top spec bikes so as long as he has his gating gloves will do just fine. 

Welcome to the Witches

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Immediately looked for the Sheffield dates when I heard this news, not to be rude I’d have had no interest in going to watch Ipswich since Danny Ayres’s tragic passing (a man always worth the entry fee alone regardless of where he was racing) without Crump in the line up. 

It’ll be interesting to see how Jason gets on. I think he still has it in him to hit a seven point figure should he have decent equipment under him. He’ll also be a huge benefit to have around the pits for young Drew Kemp. 

 

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21 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

I hope Crump does well, would be a shame for a legend to come back and be a shadow of his former self. Looking at the standard of the league nowadays I think he’ll be ok given time, and people will pay to see him which speedway in the UK badly needs. 

I saw M. Lee last summer at Mildenhall - he looked pretty fit

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The 8.21 average is way too high for a rider who has been retired so long and not ridden in the UK for even longer however it's largely irrelevant as we clearly had no other options once Holder's visa fell through.

Feel for Kemp who has been thrown in at the deep end due to unfortunate circumstances.  Struggled in the Championship last year and really needs longer before moving up to this level.  Wish him all the luck.

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Oh well, having had a couple of hours to mull this news over and without wishing to appear too negative I'm afraid I'm totally underwhelmed. 

I am seriously hoping I'm wrong with what I'm about to say and I want to be eating humble pie but here goes. 

A 44 year old long retired 'has been' at No1 , albeit a previous 3 times world champion does not inspire me to believe we will be at all competitive this season. Even he isn't confident of what he's capable of now. 

Although it's great to see Drew signed up as a full Witch I'm not sure he's ready for the top league of British speedway, he struggled in the Championship last season, again I would love to be proved wrong. 

Last year I quite enjoyed the Witches being written off as wooden spooners  by everyone but this year I think I'm going to be agreeing with them. 

My enthusiasm for the coming season is seriously dented. 

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