KENT ROYALS 2023

[rearingtogo 119]

 

A speedway rider from Kent

would ride is bike when it was bent

he thought he could do it

but finally blew it

and now it’s even more bent.

 

[szkocjasid 3,043]

5 hours ago, rearingtogo said:

A speedway rider from Kent

would ride is bike when it was bent

he thought he could do it

but finally blew it

and now it’s even more bent.



Or finish with

and now he can't even make rent

[szkocjasid 3,043]

Comments from  the SpeedwayGB site:

KENT manager Jamie Willis has described the club’s start to the season as “totally unacceptable.”

The Royals have suffered five successive defeats in National Development League and KO Cup fixtures, including back-to-back reverses in their weekend Northern tour at Edinburgh and Berwick.

Willis said: “Something needs to change, whether that’s riders, riding order or our pre-meeting preparation.

“It’s going to be a busy couple of days for Si (Kellow) and me as we look to find the right formula.  

“We can only apologise to all those supporting us trackside or at home, and we will do all we can to turn around our performances.”

I feel the management need to take as much blame as the riders here, they picked a team 2.5 points under the limit, so is it any surprise.they are struggling? I didn't think they were a strong side, but have certainly performed worse than I expected.

[Diamonds85 700]

13 minutes ago, szkocjasid said:

Comments from  the SpeedwayGB site:

KENT manager Jamie Willis has described the club’s start to the season as “totally unacceptable.”

The Royals have suffered five successive defeats in National Development League and KO Cup fixtures, including back-to-back reverses in their weekend Northern tour at Edinburgh and Berwick.

Willis said: “Something needs to change, whether that’s riders, riding order or our pre-meeting preparation.

“It’s going to be a busy couple of days for Si (Kellow) and me as we look to find the right formula.  

“We can only apologise to all those supporting us trackside or at home, and we will do all we can to turn around our performances.”

I feel the management need to take as much blame as the riders here, they picked a team 2.5 points under the limit, so is it any surprise.they are struggling? I didn't think they were a strong side, but have certainly performed worse than I expected.

I've not really rated Kent's team either, although I don't think it's too far away from being a lot better than it currently is, especially with it being so far under the limit. I'd do a straight swap, Connor King for Jack Kingston and I would line the team up like this:

1. Ben Morley

2. Rhys Naylor

3. Tom Woolley

4. Jack Kingston

5. Nathan Ablitt

6. Joe Alcock

7. Sam Woolley

May be a little bit harsh releasing Connor, but it's the numbers game. Alternatively you could swap Sam Woolley with Richard Andrews and keep Connor:

1. Ben Morley

2. Rhys Naylor

3. Tom Woolley

4. Richard Andrews

5. Nathan Ablitt

6. Joe Alcock

7. Connor King

Both teams fit under the limit, but I'm not sure if Jack or Richard still ride/would ride.

[bigred 187]

Get cleggy back,guaranteed double figures every meeting and pairs up superb with Ben.

[Binman 83]

A bit unlucky arriving at Berwick without Joe and having to use RR

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

Morley and Naylor have been doing thier bit, King patchy but always ok on slick tracks and Tom Woolley about as expected.  Ablitts attitude has stunk, Sam Woolleys form has stunk and Alcock appears to be far from the fit and able rider that started last year. 

Kent have been slow to react too as Kinsley could have done a job, definitely need a bigger hitter at the very least but 2/3 changes are needed for any realistic league chances. 

[Fromafar 10,375]

58 minutes ago, Binman said:

A bit unlucky arriving at Berwick without Joe and having to use RR

Unlucky but don’t think it would have made much difference to be honest.Alcock talks a good story but doesn’t produce.

[szkocjasid 3,043]

Maybe Kent's hopes were based on Alcock reproducing last year's heat leader form, I'm not sure if he's still struggling with injuries, but obviously not scoring like he was last year.

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

Team built 2 points under the limit, a huge reliance on Morley at 1 with no depndable big heat backup. Strength in depth only works if/when everyone is firing and comitted. 

Its not too late as away wins for many will be hard to come by BUT home defeats and aggregate points are crucial and a lot of work to do against a couple of the weaker teams in the league. 

[Come on the Skipper 75]

There have been 3 posts since I started typing this one!

It'll be interesting to see how the management go forward. Can somebody clarify the average position for me please?

The regs state that an established NDL match average will be issued when a rider completes 4 NDL fixtures irrespective of whether home or away and that average becomes effective 7 days after the 4th fixture. Kent's next meeting is on 14th May at home to Berwick so all of the riders other than Ablitt will establish new averages, effective from 21st May.  Their next meeting after that is away to Leicester on 27th May. Would they be able to redeclare the team for the meeting on 27th May or would the new averages not be valid for redeclaration purposes until 1st June? Unless I have misunderstood the regs.

All 3 matches qualifying for averages so far have been away, and 3 heavy defeats have been the results. Depending on the score in the home fixture against Berwick there could be room to drop Ablitt and replace him with Clegg. Using Ablitt's starting average of 7.20, the team combined average is currently 33.29, as per the rider statistics page on the British Speedway website

Nathan Ablitt	7.20
Ben Morley	8.62
Tom Woolley	5.33
Connor King	4.67
Rhys Naylor	3.69
Joe Alcock	2.00
Sam Woolley	1.78
	33.29

In terms of the remaining riders the only other change I could think of making is at reserve replacing Sam Wooley. Joe Alcock only rode 2 away matches last year before suffering his serious injuries, he rode well in the home cup match against Mildenhall with paid 9 from 4 rides. However he has been down on the deck quite a few times since that meeting and I wonder if those falls are affecting his fitness and confidence.

Edited May 8, 2023 by Come on the Skipper
Spelling

[Diamonds85 700]

3 hours ago, bigred said:

Get cleggy back,guaranteed double figures every meeting and pairs up superb with Ben.

You'd have to drop Ablitt, Alcock and King and bring in Clegg and x2 3.00ers... That would weaken them significantly...

1. Max Clegg

2. Rhys Naylor

3. Tom Woolley

4. Connor King

5. Ben Morley

6. Sam Woods/James Laker

7. Chris Watts

I would be gutted if I was a Kent fan with that team, although Max is one of my favourite riders.

If it's top end Kent want to improve on, they should look for someone like Stefan Nielsen in place of Nathan Ablitt (I get the impression he's not leaving the best taste in Kent supporters mouths?)

[Come on the Skipper 75]

7 minutes ago, Diamonds85 said:

You'd have to drop Ablitt, Alcock and King and bring in Clegg and x2 3.00ers... That would weaken them significantly...

1. Max Clegg

2. Rhys Naylor

3. Tom Woolley

4. Connor King

5. Ben Morley

6. Sam Woods/James Laker

7. Chris Watts

I would be gutted if I was a Kent fan with that team, although Max is one of my favourite riders.

If it's top end Kent want to improve on, they should look for someone like Stefan Nielsen in place of Nathan Ablitt (I get the impression he's not leaving the best taste in Kent supporters mouths?)

Can you please explain on what basis Alcock and King would have to be replaced? Maybe I'm misreading the regulations.

013.3 TEAM COMPOSITION

A team’s declaration, initial and re-declared, is 42.00 with the minimum rider average permitted being 3.00. A maximum of two riders with a previous Championship League MA over 4.00, one of which must have participated in the NDL in the previous season.

It must also remain under 42.00 points for the top 7 riders when re-declared, permanent or temporary, except that the maximum may be exceeded where the MA of the introduced rider is equal to, or lower than, the rider being replaced. 

[Diamonds85 700]

3 minutes ago, Come on the Skipper said:

Can you please explain on what basis Alcock and King would have to be replaced? Maybe I'm misreading the regulations.

013.3 TEAM COMPOSITION

A team’s declaration, initial and re-declared, is 42.00 with the minimum rider average permitted being 3.00. A maximum of two riders with a previous Championship League MA over 4.00, one of which must have participated in the NDL in the previous season.

It must also remain under 42.00 points for the top 7 riders when re-declared, permanent or temporary, except that the maximum may be exceeded where the MA of the introduced rider is equal to, or lower than, the rider being replaced. 

If the OP wanted Max Clegg in the team, then there would have to be points sacrificed elsewhere to fit him in, Joe (no I don't think he should be dropped at all) and Connor (don't have much of an opinion on him tbh) would need to be dropped to fit in Max's 11.83 average (I think it's a terrible idea as much as I really like Max)

Edited May 8, 2023 by Diamonds85

[Come on the Skipper 75]

Ok, I understood that.

However, are you saying that if Kent redeclare that the redeclaration is based on the remaining riders averages used for the initial declaration? Their revised green sheet averages are not taken into consideration when a team is redeclared? 

For example, and just for discussions sake, Nathan's starting average for 2023 is 7.20 this drops to a GSA of 5, Kent wish to release him and replace him with another rider. Again for discussion purposes, Kent's declared combined average was 42, assuming one other rider had dropped from 8 to 6 and no other GSA changes, that would give Kent 4.2 points to work with. Kent do not wish to replace the other rider and the combined GSA for the team is now 37.8, therefore Kent can only replace Nathan with a rider of equivalent average and cannot use the additional points available due to the other rider's reduced GSA.

This brings their combined GSA up to 40 and not 42.

Unless. as I have stated in my previous posts, I have misunderstood the regs.