mikebv

Its a weird old world isn't it? Ipswich fans are more pissed off with Brady's performance than the Aces fans .. Surely the fact that your opponents best rider was crap should be a good thing as it meant a very easy victory in a semi final of the sports premier domestic competition.... I hope Haaland plays absolutely crap on Sunday and United therefore win... If he does play crap, I definitely won't be moaning about his performance on any of the forums afterwards...

Both will have brought lots of entertainment this season.. At a level few others could match... A bad night can happen to anyone and given the huge financial penalties in Poland for getting injured elsewhere, and the huge publicity and financial rewards in winning their top league, I can understand why Emil did what he needed to do taking zero risks.. As for Brady? This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and, with all the best will in the world, another UK title isn't going to define his career one iota is it? But a World Championship will cement his legacy in the sport...

Yet, he is always telling everyone he meets how incredibly fond he is of you....

Both have much bigger challenges ahead so you cannot blame them.. Emil getting injured riding in the UK would see him hammered both publicly by the Torun fans, and financially by the owners...

No... I think you will find he blew everyone away that day... Never made a start and passed everyone, in every race, by the end of lap two... He then let them all pass him, and did them again to win on the line in every heat..... He then converted a few stale loaves of bread, and some old fishes, into a mega banquet for the 5000 there...!

He will get one of Brady's....

BZ on a track like this in a team meeting would be riding very much with self preservation in mind, just like Brady... On a track like this in a GP then BZ would be full on... Just like Kurtz would be... The difference being of course, in Poland, BZ wouldn't have a track like this to race on... Emil is another example of someone with much bigger fish to fry given he must not get injured and possibly miss the Polish play offs, hence he will be just pleased to complete his four rides..

No! No! No! They don't work.....!!! Must be that UK rain is different than in other places....

If I was Brady, I would be asking for it to happen...

The Aces have a bottom three at home, and a bottom four away... You cannot get away with such a long tail against the best team in the league... The bottom four will score 8 Max between them.. The Aces have averaged around just 37 this year at all away tracks... And that is with plenty of TS rides helping the score...

Me and my lad on Monday were actually joking at just how many "wear the club shop".. Plenty were doing so ... Granted most were fifty something's so were wearing a coat over the top to keep the cold out... Which maybe hid just how many were wearing some Aces memorabilia.. The issue the sport has was clearly highlighted on Monday when, on an evening where there was no threat to it not taking place, given the forecast from 24 hours before, not enough Aces and Ipswich fans could be arsed turning up for a POSF... The whole reason we go through a season of qualifiers is to get this part of the season meaning the competition itself must have so little kudos and credibility, even to some of the sports most regular followers, that so many simply couldn't see the worth in attending... The Ipswich fans stated a Monday night as being the problem, however, I am sure if it was the final then they would have attended.. (Maybe Phil was right in putting commercial reasons in front of everything else when he put Sheffield with Belle Vue!?).. There are only SIX meetings that actually mean anything all year, therefore when one of those six delivers such disinterest, those who run Speedway should really be very worried.. No point having the play offs if they don't generate more money than the tracks lose by fans not bothering to attend qualifiers..

The padded seats are home, in the main, to the ST holders, who have to purchase tickets for the PO's... Many would have purchased their usual seats...

I hear Manuel Neuer, and Marco Reus just missed getting on the podium in Germany...

I hear Manuel Neuer, and Marco Reus just missed getting on the podium in Germany...

As I mentioned before... Around 150 Aces fans attended the first leg of the POSF a couple of years ago on the Thursday at Foxhall... It seems there is a lack of belief in how important the competition actually is nowadays, such is the amount of apathy shown by so many not attending from both teams last night.. Given how the sport is ran, I cannot blame them, however, it must be worrying for promoters when even semi finals cannot get enough people interested from both sides.. Weather permitting, I am sure Ipswich will get a decent crowd, but I don't think 150 Aces fans will be there this time...

They lost the second leg though.. Badly...

Aces to slightly drop their Foxhall average of 36, due to no TS's allowed.. Kurtz, Bewley, Lidsey getting 26 off their 14 rides.. The other four scoring 8 between them... 56-34 the result...

I 100% agree, however . It also highlights just how trivial both sets of fans see the competition's actual standing and value is in winning... You go all season putting up with play off qualifiers and then decide "being there" at the business end of fhe season simply isn't worth the hassle... If you cannot encourage the home and away teams' fans to attend play off semi's, in any decent numbers, regardless of night, then the sport really is in trouble, given this competition is its "flagship", and the one that goes out live on TV to advertise the sport... A two thirds empty stadium, with not one group of away fans there to zoom in on when their team have a good heat, doesn't make the competition look like something with too much pulling power, or kudos... Part of Poland's pulling power is the good many travelling fans who get plenty of camera time, making each meeting look like an "event" and adding hugely to that vital tribal atmosphere... My biggest disappointment last night was Emil, as I was looking forward to watching him race well, given he is truly box office when on it... When he rides in Poland I doubt opposition fans have the same thoughts...

I would estimate about 2000 Max... The mainstand was about half full (900 or so), with possibly over 1000 on the back straight (there was still loads of room there)... There was the usual lack of local promoting of the play offs, however, I believe Granada Reports mentioned it at around half six, (just over an hour before start!)... Amazed people didn't put their teas down and get themselves down there!!! I have only been once this season so I got there around 6.45 to try and get a space on Kirky Lane, (as I remember these spaces usually get filled quickly), and half the road was available, which tended to suggest there and then that the crowd wasn't going to be "bumper".. I have said many times, Speedway needs to find a way to get Away Fans in attendance in decent numbers... There may have been Witches fans there last night but they were few and far between... Ironically, given the home crowd levels, the Aces do take a decent following away and I remember around 150 or more at Ipswich a couple of seasons ago for the first leg of the POSF.. And obviously 400 or so at Sheffield and around 300 at Leicester when they won their recent titles.. 150 Witches fans, either sat together or stood together, would have given the meeting the feeling of being an "event", (that a POSF should be seen as), rather than the mundane, run of the mill, evening it ended up being.. No idea why clubs don't subsidise Away Fans admission (huge reductions), given so very few go now.. It would raise the atmosphere levels massively...

I would estimate about 2000 Max... The mainstand was about half full (900 or so), with possibly over 1000 on the back straight (there was still loads of room there)... There was the usual lack of local promoting of the play offs, however, I believe Granada Reports mentioned it at around half six, (just over an hour before start!)... Amazed people didn't put their teas down and get themselves down there!!! I have only been once this season so I got there around 6.45 to try and get a space on Kirky Lane, (as I remember these spaces usually get filled quickly), and half the road was available, which tended to suggest there and then that the crowd wasn't going to be "bumper".. I have said many times, Speedway needs to find a way to get Away Fans in attendance in decent numbers... There may have been Witches fans there last night but they were few and far between... Ironically, given the home crowd levels, the Aces do take a decent following away and I remember around 150 or more at Ipswich a couple of seasons ago for the first leg of the POSF.. And obviously 400 or so at Sheffield and around 300 at Leicester when they won their recent titles.. 150 Witches fans, either sat together or stood together, would have given the meeting the feeling of being an "event", (that a POSF should be seen as), rather than the mundane, run of the mill, evening it ended up being.. No idea why clubs don't subsidise Away Fans admission (huge reductions), given so very few go now.. It would raise the atmosphere levels massively...

Yes, £27 to stand up.... I presume it was felt a "bumper crowd" would be there, so the extra couple of quid across the board would be "bunce"... Kerching!!!! Season Ticket Holders also needed to purchase tickets too, don't know if they paid the normal rate or the POSF rate... A great plan....

Emil with even 75% of what was expected of him would have seen an Ipswich victory... Allied to that... Ellis at reserve should be a virtual cheat code, even more so when riding against the bottom three Aces.. And Danny King v Blodorn and Mulford should be a "gimme" for Danny, home or away... So. Given all that. Yes, surprised the Aces won...

Blodorn has had cover at second string since being an Ace with Tom B and B Cook.. This year, with Z Cook taking a good while to get going he has had more pressure... Other years he has been able to drop down to reserve one or two times a season to help him regain some confidence if needed.. This year with the two Aces reserves running so low averages he hasn't had that opportunity...

That's the thing about "3 and 4" that many don't get... It's their total points when together that can change a meeting.. Both positive and negative... Doyle was moved for exactly that reason when Dan T was put at four... Ipswich were far more confident he would cover Dan than Tom B would... Lidsey wasn't the issue, the issue was clearly the bottom three who are quite possibly the bottom three riders left in the competition... When you go into any two leg race off against a "good side" you simply cannot carry that level of rider and hope to prevail... As I have said, I am amazed the Aces won given how out of their depth (and that is at home, not even away), almost 43% of their team are... So, fair play to the other four for the win on the night...

He seems to be criticised for not passing when not making the gate.... File his name with 90% of all riders then..... Not many riders were passing last night and the racing was pretty rubbish... Stadium two thirds empty, meant zero atmosphere, (I must have missed the local marketing focus over the weekend).. And did Ipswich have a taxi load of fans in attendance? (Get a good few away fans at these events and you may get some atmosphere)... An increase in prices was "genius" too.... The Aces are a four man team at home and a three man team away so no chance in the away leg, with the Aces, even with TS's averaging just 36 at Ipswich.. Let's hope Brady and his "wing man" Dan don't take any undue risks and ensure they are both ready for Saturday...