Let's Get Behind Team Gb

[Lioness 1,455]

I just think its upsetting that british hopes again lie with 17 year olds hopefully this time we won't put huge amounts of pressure on them and just let them get on with the job ! Agreeing with the majority of fans here it is going to be 4 - 5 years before we can get excited about a world cup meeting which I think reflects poorly on the performances at this level of Nicholls, Harris and sick note ! It's all been said before so lets look forward to a good meeting sat.

 

Normally I would agree with you Craig but I honestly believe that Tai is not the 'norm'. He has something very special in the way of talent on a bike but also has superb focus and attitude. Once in a generation you may be lucky to get something out of the ordinary and Tai could just be 'it'. Far more mature in speedway terms than many in their 20's imo and I am not at all upset at the future of British Speedway being with him! Personally if people start to realise it (especially certain comentators and team managers) I think it will be a step forward

[spin king 1,923]

Normally I would agree with you Craig but I honestly believe that Tai is not the 'norm'. He has something very special in the way of talent on a bike but also has superb focus and attitude. Once in a generation you may be lucky to get something out of the ordinary and Tai could just be 'it'. Far more mature in speedway terms than many in their 20's imo and I am not at all upset at the future of British Speedway being with him! Personally if people start to realise it (especially certain comentators and team managers) I think it will be a step forward

 

I totally agree with you Lioness, and I have been saying this all season, and last season about the guy, Tai is a very special rider. Every time I watch him ride you get the feeling that the guy just seems learn something everytime, and it is very rarely you see him make the same mistake again he learn's very quickly what is required.

I think that his Dad Rob should take a big credit for Tai,I believe that he makes sure that Tai is surrounded by the right people, and says the right things, this goes arm in arm with the fact that Tai appears to be a very natural speedway rider.

I think that he is the future of British speedway, and the sooner we realise it the better, I think we now need to plan for the future, and build a team around the lad, his success will encourage other young riders, they will look at the way Tai does it and copy, they may not be as successful, but I think that Tai is a gift to British speedway, and just people on this forum would stop looking into this Aussie thing, he has said that he will ride under the Brit banner, lets celebrate that we have a rider, who might just win us a World Title sometime. In fact I think that he might just have it in him to win numerous title, lets forget the new Russian sensation whatever his name is we have someone there who is more than match in Tai.

[tigerblues 10]

lets forget the new Russian sensation whatever his name is we have someone there who is more than match in Tai.

Well said, sometimes we seem to get carried away by the young foreign riders, and as good as they are, don't see there's talent right on our doorstep, and with Tai he's got something totally different to any other young talented riders we have that are British. He's special and I'm confident he will prove his worth as a quality performer (as Tatum would say) for GB and whichever club gets his services long-term for years to come.

[gaptooth 136]

No, I believe it's the native tongue in Sussex, or haven't you heard Bobby D?

 

Sure enough I was expecting a witty reply but why did you feel you had to throw an insult at someone who you know is never going to reply.

You twit

[Subedei 0]

Sure enough I was expecting a witty reply but why did you feel you had to throw an insult at someone who you know is never going to reply.

You twit

 

Excellent, you've just confirmed that it is, indeed, the native tongue of Sussex - have you been cuckolded by Bobby D?

 

[DanTheMan 0]

I've got to agree with alot of the posts on here, when you see a young rider with the class that Tai has, it's noticable straight away.

 

He's got bags of natural talent, he's a quick learner, wants to achieve everything in the sport and seems really level headed.

 

It surprised me how well he did last night, but in a way it shouldn't have.

[i hate skybet 0]

The way I see it Lindgren/Jonsson and Harris/Nicholls are evenly matched.

 

Richardson can/should match Judas D.

 

And Woffman/Kennett who knows but up against Nermark/Ljung it doesn't look that bad.

 

I'll be honest i've based this on the british league meetings i've seen these riders in and that may not be the best view but from that point of view and the fact it's on a netural track I don't see too much difference.

 

As i said in a previous post if TeamGB want it more then i can see no reason why they can't qualify.

 

And yeah i'll be down the New Inn tonight.

 

 

You need a visit to specsavers , Nicholls and Harris as good as AJ and Freddie? are you sure? you might wanna phone a friend or look at the current GP standings

 

Richardson is an equal of Judas in league racing, but when the Sweede puts on his national teams kevlars he is different speed to Ricco

 

No complaints about Woffiden, he was superb, and Kennet would always be an auto pick if the choices were Stead and Olly Allen

 

 

I was surprised not to see 3 sets of Team GB kevlars on Ebay today, surely Ricco, Stead and Olly Allen will not be needing theirs EVER again

 

[spin king 1,923]

This was a post that posted sometime ago about improving Britain chances of winning a World Team Cup, and giving a chance for us to nuture a home grown rider to win the World title, what does everybody else think do have a good idea or is it pants, is it practical or not.

Come on lets have your views, I am interested to see what you all think.

 

 

Elite League

I think that now the Elite League we have to look at squads rather than teams, like Gary I think that we need to attract the top guys over here, there are too many riders at Grand Prix level who are not riding over here, and why okay Nicki Pedersen was squeezed out by the points limit, and some say his wages demands, if it is the latter then if he is riding on a part time basis then you are not having to pay him a full season's wages. The other reason why riders appear not wanting to commit to the Elite League is the demands and the amount of meetings, squads would reduce these problems.

Also squad systems seem to work in Poland and Swedan, so for me if it is good enough for them then it should be good enough for us.

On the issue of British riders in the Elite League I will say this, restricting the foreign riders needs to be a done slowly, so for 2009 I would say that all Elite Legue teams must include one British rider in the line up in a meeting, with a squad system they may use a doubling up rider, but ther must be a British rider in their line up. They can go with just one British rider until 2011 when they have to include two Britsh riders, and so on until ratio in the team is more Brits than foreign riders i.e. when there is a minimum of 4 British riders.

Bringing back the doubling up rule, I would say that the criteria for doubling up riders should be that they must be British, and they must be no more than 25 years old before the start of the season.

Another idea that I have is that no British rider should be allowed to ride full time in the Elite League until they have two seasons riding Premier League speedway. Much as I admire Lewis Bridger's ambition, I cannot help thinking that Lewis's progress is nothing like that of Tai Woffenden. For me Lewis missed a trick by going straight into the Elite League, two seasons in the Premier League would have done him the world of good, the more racing he would have got in, the differing types of tracks, and the fact that he would have probably gone out and won races, greater earning potential would have built up his confidence more. I f you disagree ask yourself this one question, has it harmed the likes of Holder, Batchelor and Woffenden.

With the squad system attracting more top riders to Elite League clubs, I think that the points level should be made higher, and I would be looking for a points level of around the 41.5 mark.

 

Premier League

I agree with Gary that each team should include a Conference League rider, but I would have at the start of the season what they call in America a draft pick, it could be made into a big event at whch fans can attend to see which rider their team will get, the way it would work is that the team that finishes bottom gets to pick the first rider and so on until the team that finished top gets the last pick. Then for a week teams will be allow to trade Conference League riders, if a top team are wanting another teams Conference rider then it is up to them to offer incentives to swap riders.

For the Premier League I would not have squad system, and I think that the points limit is okay as it is now, but I would say that we need to make teams include one British rider for 2009 for two seasons, then two for the next two seasons and again so on until we have the ratio of more British riders than foreign riders.

 

Conference League

I think that the Conference needs to get back to what it was set out to do, as a training ground for young speedway riders, anyone who has had more than two years riding in the Premier League should be banned from riding in this league unless they are under the age of 24. I am sorry but I don't see the benfits of having the likes of Semmond Stephens or Jon Armstrong riding in this League.

I would also do away with the grading system, and teams should be built on averages, and teams should be squads rather than teams, and the only riders in the Premier League who would be allowed to ride in the Conference League would be those who have just moved up into the Premier League.

And I would also make this league purely British, no Commonwealth riders, and those riders who qualify via parentage must commit themselves to British speedway.

 

Academy League

I would scrap, in its place I would place I would put in an under 15's matchs, in the monthof August I would have every club Elite, Premier, and Conference give on night of a second half to the under 15's match of say 9 races with two teams of 4, the emphasis would not be on winning teams, but to let youngsters try out different tracks.

Riders would have to apply to compete, and the meetings would ber shared out accordingly, with each of them given a fair share of meetins, this along with the Under 15 championship would give the youngsters the track time they so need.

 

The National Team

I think that at this present moment we have to show more interest in how the under 21 team goes rather than the senior team, I think that we have the best crop of under 21 riders at the moment then we have had for sometime. Stories about the Under 21 squad not been provided with team kevelars is disgraceful, these boys are our future.

As for this World Team Cup, I think that we need to look a side that introduces the youngsters, okay Nicholls, Harris and Richardson pick themselves, but after that we need Woffenden and Kennett in there, one riding and the other been reserve give them the chance to soak up the atmosphere of this kind of meeting and let them learn, but when there is a choice between old guard and new blood lets be bold and introduce youth.

 

Meetings

Lets do away with the tactical ride, and the golden double, and return back to the the tactical sub rides when 6 points behind, and which could be used as many times as you wanted.

Also I think that the bonus point must be introduced back, but I also think that the three points for an away win should be kept as well. For me the bonus point keeps meeting alive, espcially where team riding at tracks that they don't ride very well at, there is nothing in those kind of meetings for them to compete for.

Those are my ideas maybe some people will say that they are unworkable, some may agree with them, but I do think that now is time to change, but I think that it needs to change gradually.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2008 by spin king

[Hammer 10]

Quote - Nigel Pearson Sky Sports 17th July 2008

 

"Team GB have done us proud tonight and can hold their heads up"

 

 

 

*silence* from co-commentator Kelvin Tatum

[spin king 1,923]

Quote - Nigel Pearson Sky Sports 17th July 2008

 

"Team GB have done us proud tonight and can hold their heads up"

 

 

 

*silence* from co-commentator Kelvin Tatum

 

I think that Bomber and Tai could hold the heads up high and to a lesser extent Eddie Kennett, but two more experience riders Scott Nicholls and Lee Richardson need to look at there performances, and ask if they still have the desire, because personally I don't think it is there anymore, personally I don't think that Scott has been the same rider since his young daughter was born, so maybe his outlook on life has changed and his priorties having kids do that to you, and would never slag of Scott for doing that. As for Lee, I think it is a case of the body won't do what the mind tells it to do, he has been a fine Team GB rider in the past, and rode above expections on many occasions, and should be proud of his WTC record, but needs to bow out now before he becomes someone who has gone on to long.

We now need to take the positives of the World Team Cup, build a team around Bomber and Tai, sure we are going to take some more knocks along the way, but I am certain that this country still has the talent to bring succes, we just need to be patient and nuture it.

[Hammer 10]

I think that Bomber and Tai could hold the heads up high and to a lesser extent Eddie Kennett, but two more experience riders Scott Nicholls and Lee Richardson need to look at there performances, and ask if they still have the desire, because personally I don't think it is there anymore, personally I don't think that Scott has been the same rider since his young daughter was born, so maybe his outlook on life has changed and his priorties having kids do that to you, and would never slag of Scott for doing that. As for Lee, I think it is a case of the body won't do what the mind tells it to do, he has been a fine Team GB rider in the past, and rode above expections on many occasions, and should be proud of his WTC record, but needs to bow out now before he becomes someone who has gone on to long.

We now need to take the positives of the World Team Cup, build a team around Bomber and Tai, sure we are going to take some more knocks along the way, but I am certain that this country still has the talent to bring succes, we just need to be patient and nuture it.

 

 

An Excellent post and I agree with nearly all of it. Not sure about Chris Harris and Edward Kennet though