Nickinho 429 Posted January 5 Edinburgh (on account of them only having one real heat leader), Workington (on account of them having the weakest reserves) and Plymouth (on account of them being Plymouth) to be the three teams to finish outside the playoffs. As for the rest I'd say anyone can win it this season but if I had to pick one I'd plump for Redcar. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,042 Posted January 5 59 minutes ago, Nickinho said: Edinburgh (on account of them only having one real heat leader), Workington (on account of them having the weakest reserves) and Plymouth (on account of them being Plymouth) to be the three teams to finish outside the playoffs. As for the rest I'd say anyone can win it this season but if I had to pick one I'd plump for Redcar. 5 clubs will finish outside of the play-offs (top 4 qualify this year) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,042 Posted January 5 (edited) 1 hour ago, Nickinho said: Edinburgh (on account of them only having one real heat leader), Workington (on account of them having the weakest reserves) and Plymouth (on account of them being Plymouth) to be the three teams to finish outside the playoffs. As for the rest I'd say anyone can win it this season but if I had to pick one I'd plump for Redcar. Sedgmen does have the 4th highest average of any second heat leader. Edited January 5 by szkocjasid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,042 Posted January 5 (edited) 2 hours ago, Fozzie4388 said: Honestly Edinburgh 8th and Plymouth 9th but the other 7 could be in any order, Quite like the look of Berwick. Poole and Glasgow will be up there as they always are. Scunthorpe and Oxford look solid. Workington anything could happen with them depending how their newbies go on and Whether Cook can return to his best. Then there's Redcar and honestly imo i don't think they'll be as good as people are expecting but we will see Agree with your 8th / 9th predictions. I certainly wouldn't say Oxford look solid, have the best top 2, but a long tail end. Agree about Redcar, they look decent enough to me, but I don't see them as high up as others suggest. Edited January 5 by szkocjasid 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,042 Posted January 5 (edited) 6 hours ago, Paulco said: To be honest looking at all the sides , the season doesn't fill me with excitement due to the reduction in the points limit . Maybe we've been spoiled this past few years , but the aftermath of dropping to 38 points is there for all to see . Is the league weaker because they dropped the points limit or did they drop the points limit because there isn't enough quality for it to remain at 40 (or above)? How many top riders are missing out due to the points limit being lowered (not including riders who chose to miss out)? For example the only missing riders with 4+ averages are: Claus Vissing (possibly at Workington) Erik Riss (does he want to ride Champ?) Anders Rowe Hans Andersen Dan Gilkes Jack Thomas (still injured?) James Wright (still injured?) Ben Morley Max Clegg So a higher points limit would just lead to a large difference between the top & bottom and possibly 2.00 Brits being dropped for new 4.00 riders! With the riders available, I'd suggest they've not gone far wrong with a 38 limit. Edited January 5 by szkocjasid 5 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
szkocjasid 3,042 Posted January 5 6 hours ago, Paulco said: To be honest looking at all the sides , the season doesn't fill me with excitement due to the reduction in the points limit . Maybe we've been spoiled this past few years , but the aftermath of dropping to 38 points is there for all to see . Anyway as for who does what , I think the play off places will come down to Redcar , Poole and two from four between Glasgow , Scunthorpe , Oxford and Berwick . Redcar look strongest . Bailey, Edwards and Mulford can all kick on and up their averages . Poole's top 4 will ensure no home defeats and could pick up something on the road against the weaker sides . Glasgow have probably the strongest heat leader trio and their season depends on Pearson translating his Aussie form back here to back them up . Oxford have swapped Kerr for a two pointer , but Jenkins could easily make the necessary progress to back up Masters and Nichols . Berwick look pretty solid throughout without having a real big hitter, but that could be the way to go . As for the other three. Can Cook and Batchelor remain focused enough to spearhead the Comets ? Edinburgh have the entertaining and talented Pickering , but rely on most of the same faces that flopped last year . And Plymouth .....well. Covatti isn't a number 1 not even in a watered down league and can Barker stay out of trouble ? I'm curious, how do you rate Berwick's top 2 of Kerr & Schlein? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sings4Speedway 3,247 Posted January 5 4 hours ago, Paulco said: What might help crowd levels is that I dont see too many away wins with clubs carrying a long tail . Could also harm crowd levels? The novelty of big home wins week in week out and little on track action might be detrimental. The hardcore of club supporters will be pleased but the floating fans than many rely on could be more choosey. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paulco 7,080 Posted January 5 27 minutes ago, szkocjasid said: I'm curious, how do you rate Berwick's top 2 of Kerr & Schlein? Both capable riders in this grade who will command an average between 7 and 8 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crescent girl 1,907 Posted January 5 47 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said: Could also harm crowd levels? The novelty of big home wins week in week out and little on track action might be detrimental. The hardcore of club supporters will be pleased but the floating fans than many rely on could be more choosey. No, home wins are a win-win. Hardcore fans are happy and casual spectators (who don't really care too much about the end result of a match) will be attracted by the good publicity generated by a run of home wins. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lisa-colette 6,035 Posted January 5 3 hours ago, ragdoll64 said: Lol……I think you missed the gist of the post. Someone should do a South to North one to keep the Plymouth fans happy! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonnybegood 258 Posted January 6 On 1/5/2024 at 7:27 PM, lisa-colette said: Someone should do a South to North one to keep the Plymouth fans happy! Plymouth fans will never be 100%happy , but we run at 90% and are quite pleased that we have a future . 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cheekycobra 159 Posted January 6 Is it the same 1 aggregate bonus point again. If it is, it does'nt help Redcar... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scunny1 436 Posted January 6 1) Poole 2) Scunthorpe 3) Redcar 4) Glasgow 5) Berwick 6) Oxford 7) Workington 8) Edinburgh 9) Plymouth Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike0310 660 Posted January 7 Scunthorpe have a very good chance of top 4 but not sure about 2nd place and I’m pretty confident Plymouth won’t be last just because of the 2 reserves we have who I believe will be a better pair than anyone else’s and with them both being able to have 7 rides I reckon we will be alright, with a lot of teams if anyone of there big boys have a bad night then all of a sudden they have a long tail.Where Plymouth have gone strength in depth I’m looking forward to this season may the best team win as long as it’s not Poole (only joking) good luck to all and we should all be happy we still have a sport to follow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phillipsr 2,057 Posted January 7 56 minutes ago, Mike0310 said: Scunthorpe have a very good chance of top 4 but not sure about 2nd place and I’m pretty confident Plymouth won’t be last just because of the 2 reserves we have who I believe will be a better pair than anyone else’s and with them both being able to have 7 rides I reckon we will be alright, with a lot of teams if anyone of there big boys have a bad night then all of a sudden they have a long tail.Where Plymouth have gone strength in depth I’m looking forward to this season may the best team win as long as it’s not Poole (only joking) good luck to all and we should all be happy we still have a sport to follow. Don't think they will be the top two reserves come the end of the year… also cant see where the race wins come from in that team… look comfortably the poorest team put together apart from maybe Workington 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
