Stoke Potters 2014

[Mimmo 1,070]

Happy Christmas to you Malcolm and to everyone involved with Stoke Speedway, both officials and supporters.

 

I must say a few unfriendly comments have been aimed at certain people at the club you represent. I'm sure the team is built within the cclubs financial means, and if it's not as strong as some people would like, then that is life. Surely some speedway is better than no speedway.

[Fozzie4388 682]

Ben Wilson number 1.

[Banani 5]

Can see him being a solid scorer at number 1 for Stoke next season.

[Islander15 1,065]

Very strong number 1. Only 10.11 left for their bottom 3 which means no Luke Priest, yet I would've thought on 4.75 that he'd be one of the first names!

Edited December 24, 2013 by Islander15

[vog 200]

Happy Christmas to you Malcolm and to everyone involved with Stoke Speedway, both officials and supporters.

 

I must say a few unfriendly comments have been aimed at certain people at the club you represent. I'm sure the team is built within the cclubs financial means, and if it's not as strong as some people would like, then that is life. Surely some speedway is better than no speedway.

 

Mimmo, please don't misunderstand, there are a lot of people who gave a lot of time and effort to help Stoke, and who were disappointed in the drop to the NL, but living within our financial means isn't the issue anymore. The unsavory things that are said are, in the whole, fully deserved. There are countless tales of fans being abused by the custodians of Stoke Speedway, and many fans have had enough. I was on the receiving end of a Tattum outburst a few seasons ago, and there are many others besides myself (I had the gall to tell the barmaid on Friday that Rusty Harrison hadn't ridden that night, and I wondered if he would ride the next day against Stoke)

 

There are serious problems at Stoke, that go far beyond the team. We have a promotion that is so far removed from the fans, it is very much a case of paying your money and shutting up, or going to support someone else (Yes, that threat has been mentioned by our promotion as well)

 

Stoke fans have taken a lot of abuse from the people in charge, and for years they put up with it because the racing was pretty good. The drop to the NL was the final straw for many, and you only need to look at the crowds now to know that they seem pretty unsustainable without the stock car involvement. They need new blood, but they will never sell (One half was asked how much they wanted for their half and they laughed it off. On another occasion they mentioned a 6 figure sum) and until they go, there will be a large proportion of the fan base who will refuse to go.

 

To sum it up, the stark reality is two fold.

 

1) The promotion (And others) have never, in the 80 year history of Stoke, won a 7 man trophy.

 

2) The current promotion have lost the trust and respect of the vast majority of the current fans, be it through lack of interaction with the fan base, broken promises, failed customer service or just down right poor people skills. With the current owners, Stoke Speedway will continue in its slow decline.

 

EDIT:

 

On a team note, welcome Ben Wilson. Interesting that it leaves us with so few points for the bottom end, especially considering this will mean a couple of 4 pointers in the main body to start.

Edited December 24, 2013 by vog

[SCSA 3]

Good signing at this level of speedway imo. Now that Mr Vasey has posted on this topic, perhaps he could post again and tell us remaining fans when the return to PL is likely to be and why was there no end of season event? I wont hold my breath.

[boozer 14]

I must say a few unfriendly comments have been aimed at certain people at the club you represent. I'm sure the team is built within the cclubs financial means, and if it's not as strong as some people would like, then that is life. Surely some speedway is better than no speedway.

 

As vog has said there are reasons,I appreciate your point of view but you are part of a miniscule minority and without a fan base there is no way forward,I am trying to be very measured in my response to your post but it is difficult.

On a positive note a Merry Christmas to everyone.

[trophykid 32]

There's been some good and reasonable debate here about Stoke. Could I ask Malcolm to drop by a bit more? A bit more PR. Bridges need to be built. Merry Xmas Potters.

[Swift Saint 186]

There's been some good and reasonable debate here about Stoke. Could I ask Malcolm to drop by a bit more? A bit more PR. Bridges need to be built. Merry Xmas Potters.

 

I will do what I can I like to inform but I am the Manager of the Speedway team and that is my role at Stoke. Whilst I am aware of other matters affecting the Club sometimes my efforts to provide an explanation have been met with negative responses and sometimes uncomplimentary remarks. I found it easier to stem my natural instinct to talk about the team than involve myself in heated discussions about events that took place long before I arrived at Stoke.

 

I can say this and it is written in all honesty and that is that there is a deep rooted desire at Stoke to perform better as a Speedway team and it is something that we engage in every single day. I wish when criticism is made such as the remaining points we have to play with, that viable alternatives were suggested to the signings we make. Maybe then I could say well we looked into that but it couldn't happen for whatever reason.

 

From an early stage of last season hours were spent trying to re-vamp the team which clearly was not working. Somebody came up to me at Buxton and said you are so slow you could have had a rider this week but you missed the chance. I said who was that? I was told James Wright and indeed we had approached him when we new he had left his Club to no avail several days before. When I advised the gentleman of that he said that he hadn't read it anywhere. Well, if I told the local press the details of every rider I talk to there would be no space for Stoke City, Port Vale or even the Premier League. Of course they wouldn't publish it anyway.

 

I take on board the above request and I'll try and keep you aware of what is going on.

 

Ben Wilson is the best possible signing we could make at this time of that I have no doubt. The rest of the team are all battlers and I hope to name another rider who always gives 100% very soon. Not all of our riders can have high averages. If I rider says to me and his attitude supports his remarks that he will do his best these are important criteria.

 

I am optimistic about 2014, the balance will never be perfect but I feel with what we have and the irons that are in the fire we might make a great showing next season. I am desperate to achieve something at Stoke before I retire.

 

I hope some of those missing fans will see that and give us back their support.

 

Malcolm Vasey

[AJK86 180]

Good to see Ben Wilson back and will do well for Stoke.

[greyhoundp 990]

Malcolm, I have a lot of respect for what you have achieved in Speedway over the years,and i would hate to see you end on a low note at Stoke, so for that reason alone i hope you achieve some success before you retire. However what i see as a Speedway fan in general, is that there is a danger of being tarred with the same brush so to speak, and i would hate for that to happen, as you nor Stoke Speedway dont deserve it. Good luck for 2014.

Edited December 24, 2013 by greyhoundp

[Islander15 1,065]

 

I can say this and it is written in all honesty and that is that there is a deep rooted desire at Stoke to perform better as a Speedway team and it is something that we engage in every single day. I wish when criticism is made such as the remaining points we have to play with, that viable alternatives were suggested to the signings we make. Maybe then I could say well we looked into that but it couldn't happen for whatever reason.

 

An honest an open post these Malcolm. I'll make one particular point and I understand that a lot of times when clubs talk to riders that its not in the interests of the club or the rider to make that public, but seeing as you have commented on it so shall I. From an outsiders point of view it looks surprising that Priest has missed out.

 

So imo to give a viable alternative, to accommodate Priest, you'd have to have not signed one of your heat leaders. Wilson takes up a lot of points but several big hitters from last year are missing so I expect him to average around that figure, or drop by no more than 0.5 anyway. The other alternative could've been Lambert at 1 on 9.46 and Priest but maybe Len Silver specifically wanted him at Kent.

 

I'm sure if you asked any Islanders fans who their most consistent rider has been since we've gone NL & they'd all say Ben Hopwood! He won't necessarily add a lot to his average but you can guarantee it won't drop by much either, and wherever he rides he will be in the points. Maybe a slightly biased view but I think he's a good signing.

 

Then we're left with Jon Armstrong. I understand that he's the older head to ride alongside a relative newbie at reserve but both Bens have experience, Wilson has ridden PL & EL and Hopwood was IOW captain last year so I would expect those pair to be able to pass on their expertise anyway. As with the other 2 I can't see a dramatic drop (but I do expect a drop) in Jon's average. And to be successful you need improvement in averages, and with all 3 likely to end on similar figures there's suddenly a lot of pressure on Payne and the bottom 3 to improve. So I would've gone for a lower averaged rider than Jon with more potential, and by signing Priest it leaves 7.23. The obvious candidate to me is Liam Carr who I'm amazed hasn't signed for the 'big 2' of Dudley & Mildenhall as I'm sure he'll average over 8 next year, pushing 9. But similarly I'm surprised he wasn't signed last year, and travelling expenses were reported so I assume the same applies. Or Benji Compton, he seems to ride Stoke well and he didn't seem to dominate at Kent to I'm surprised he's back.

Edited December 24, 2013 by Islander15

[Swift Saint 186]

You raise interesting points Islander but the logistics of signing riders is not as simple as your comments suggest. You may offer a rider a deal but he may not respond immediately and in an ever diminishing market place which is what it is you have to guard against losing good options.

 

You also overlook the fact that both Lambert and Carr ride for Saturday tracks in the Premier League and there are often issues surrounding any rider that an outsider to a Club wont know of. You would not say what these are in case you jeopardised that rider elsewhere and I am not talking about anything bad. It might just be transport problems if the rider can't drive or school commitments. Benji Compton was very quickly re-signed by Kent so that was never a possibility. I will often not discuss why a rider has not been signed it might just be that in the market place you build the best you can get and a rider just does not fit. As yet we have not discussed affordability another factor and it may be you just cant match a rider's needs.

 

I hope that helps you to understand the dilemma clubs face. I am not prepared to say anymore but I believe that the team we have signed so far is the best we could have hoped for once it was clear to us that Steve Worrall would be moving on. Steve was a revelation for us last year but he needs to be in Eastern Europe on Sundays and Edinburgh on Fridays and Swindon on Thursdays sometimes Mondays maybe it really is a minefield.

 

So if two and two in people's team selections don't always add up to the four that you had expected them to have there is a short resume as to why that might be so. It's a dreadful process and is littered with casualties but that's the job and that's the challenge and its the same for all Clubs or is it?

 

Malcolm Vasey

[proud panther 1,507]

Where in Eastern Europe does Worrral ride on a Sunday ?

[Swift Saint 186]

Where in Eastern Europe does Worrral ride on a Sunday ?

It is my understanding that he will be helping Richie in Poland that was their plan it may have changed if you know different.

 

Malcolm Vasey