Leicester Lions 2022 Line up

[FishersGate 518]

Hi speedway fans ! Lions fan here. After a positive season its getting to silly season soon and we can speculate on who is coming to the lions den.

We can all speculate on what the points limit will be and how many leagues etc. But I think we can assume the Thomson twins will be back for 2022 season? They are rising stars and fairly local to the area so it makes complete sense to have them back to further improve after a good year for them. I'm sure Dans average towards the end was around 5 and Joe is similar. Who could we bring in and have back? Id love to see Howarth and Douglas back for sure and wouldn't mind seeing mountain coming back in to the team. Stewart Dickson mentioned after Poole he was maybe looking at someone abroad and is keeping an eye on who rides well at Leicester.

 

Thoughts guys?

 

 

[Wardey 36]

Are the Thompson’s still under the Rising Star category next year?

[Tosh1218 590]

13 minutes ago, Wardey said:

Are the Thompson’s still under the Rising Star category next year?

No one knows how the “Rising  Star “ situation will pan out for the second season next year and I’m sure only one of the twins are classed as a rising star 

[lewy 2,321]

9 minutes ago, Tosh1218 said:

No one knows how the “Rising  Star “ situation will pan out for the second season next year and I’m sure only one of the twins are classed as a rising star 

I personally think the rising star rule will scrapped. 

[Wardey 36]

I can’t imagine Lions struggling to attract big names. I think you’ll be fine for next year

[gazzac 1,013]

1 hour ago, lewy said:

I personally think the rising star rule will scrapped. 

Indeed and imagine the likes of Tom Brennen, Palin, and a Thompson etc have 'risen' enough to warrant a team place on their averages anyway? 

Edited October 23, 2021 by gazzac

[iainb 4,962]

I'd like to see Connor Mountain back, not sure why he wasn't included this year, started off with Josh Bates as a replacement for Ellis Perks, that didn't work and neither did his replacement Zaine Kennedy really.

[arnieg 3,619]

1 hour ago, iainb said:

I'd like to see Connor Mountain back, not sure why he wasn't included this year, started off with Josh Bates as a replacement for Ellis Perks, that didn't work and neither did his replacement Zaine Kennedy really.

Zaine scored at least paid 4 in every one of his last 16 meetings. Pretty solid for a reserve. But it would be good to have  Mountain back.

[LionsFan 44]

All very early days as we don't know league make up, points limit etc but would like to see Morris & Douglas back. Kennedy improved as the season went on and did well at some away tracks. I think he will improve further especially if he rides in Australia this winter. 

Overall, I don't think Andersen was a success and probably not great value for money. I would have Howarth back although if say Pickering was available I'd go for him instead.

Other riders I would like to see include  either of the  Worralls, Nicol, Ruml and Mountain. Probably some are more likely than others.

As for the Thompsons, overall they had a very good season, but is there any "rule" which says they both have to ride for Leicester and would it give the manager more flexibility in team building if he didn't have to accommodate both?  

[iainb 4,962]

41 minutes ago, LionsFan said:

but is there any "rule" which says they both have to ride for Leicester and would it give the manager more flexibility in team building if he didn't have to accommodate both?  

I think there must be an unwritten rule that says twins/brothers ALWAYS have to ride in the same team... it seems to have happened a lot down the years lol

[iainb 4,962]

1 hour ago, arnieg said:

Zaine scored at least paid 4 in every one of his last 16 meetings. Pretty solid for a reserve. But it would be good to have  Mountain back.

Not really good enough for a title challenge though, you need a reserve who's capable of scoring double figures, which Mountain and/or Dan have shown they're well capable of on occasions

Edited October 24, 2021 by iainb

[The Dog 413]

I would say being near the top of the league all season and reaching the semis would be classed as title challenging surely? 

Also the reserves and rising stars average are low for a reason, its your heat leaders that need to hitting double figures 

[iainb 4,962]

1 hour ago, The Dog said:

I would say being near the top of the league all season and reaching the semis would be classed as title challenging surely? 

Also the reserves and rising stars average are low for a reason, its your heat leaders that need to hitting double figures 

I would call that play off challenging, certainly not title challenging, it was evident every time we met Poole during the season we were never going to beat them over 2 legs as we could only beat them the once over 1 leg over 6 meetings.

As good as the twins are,  especially at Leicester, they're often found wanting away especially with Dan at 2, that's what Perks gave us, consistency home and away, you were never going to get that from Josh Bates

Just my opinion

Edited October 24, 2021 by iainb

[Big Al 708]

I think the demise of Proctor and Bates kind of forced the Lions to rebuild the team to have four heat leaders, due to a large extent on who was available, on what average.

But I don't think that having four heat leaders really did any of them any great favours individually, or the team as a whole.

Go back to the three heat-leader model, find one reliable second-string, one second string who can put a point or two on his average, one reserve who will challenge for a 1-5 place, and one promising youngster.

And never, ever, even think about trying Josh Bates again. And maybe consider one of the Thompsons riding elsewhere for a season.

[stevethelion 192]

41 minutes ago, Big Al said:

I think the demise of Proctor and Bates kind of forced the Lions to rebuild the team to have four heat leaders, due to a large extent on who was available, on what average.

But I don't think that having four heat leaders really did any of them any great favours individually, or the team as a whole.

Go back to the three heat-leader model, find one reliable second-string, one second string who can put a point or two on his average, one reserve who will challenge for a 1-5 place, and one promising youngster.

And never, ever, even think about trying Josh Bates again. And maybe consider one of the Thompsons riding elsewhere for a season.

Realistically you wouldn't pick Dan with his average of 5.16, he would more than likely be in the main body of the team with that average & has proved this year , he isn't quite good enough yet to do that, especially away from home. It didn't help getting those big scores early season at reserve which inflated his average , thus leaving him vunerable for next season. Especially when they could use asset Connor Mountain for pretty much the same average, he'll score much more than Dan away from home. If, has been rumoured, it's 2 rising stars next season & it's on a rating basis rather than averages, then presumably both the twins would be back.