Arch Stanton

A Brit. Leigh Lanham.

You could add Holder to that. Scored 3 on his last visit at Foxhall from number 5 and looked abysmal. And he'll be their #1! He was just as inconsistent this year as he was last and didn't up his average when everyone predicted he would. If he didn't carry the surname Holder and was a Brit called Steve Parsons there wouldn't be half the fuss. Exactly! Great effort to put that together under 40.

Hume is going places. You're also forgetting that most teams will have at least one rider at reserve who will be the same "risk". We've picked a couple of the plum ones.

Jacobs was also tipped for a very bright future a few years back. Impossible to tell if any rider will progress to have a "future" as good as they hoped. Anyway, the point still stands.

IMO Bates is an awful signing for Sheffield purely for the fact we know he doesn't want to be there! Really don't understand the benefit of going to the local press and stating that you wanted away but were eventually persuaded to stay on on the promise he can jump ship the following year. Why go public wth that? He's been naive there. He's also opened himself up to criticism next season when he's going through a tough period and struggling for points (and it will happen). You can guarantee that as soon as that happens you'll see comments on here that "he's not even trying" and "he clearly doesn't want to be here". What should have happened IMO, is as soon as the lad had said he wanted a move they should have made him available and wrote him out of their plans and filled the void with a rider that wanted to wear a Tigers race jacket. You have to also factor in the perverse way our sport works. Bates doesn't want to have the season of his life and be in a position in 12 months time that he's unemployable to another club because he's not on an attractive average. Just ask Joe Jacobs at the moment! I'll have a little friendly wager with you that Cameron Heeps will add more to his starting average next year than Bates will at Sheffield..

Problem with that is I don't think anybody made a fuss of your team to start with

Think it will have most fans approval Baldy. When you get "I don't know what the fuss is about it's not all that" comments then you know you're in decent shape. It's the condescending "it's not that bad a side and could do okay" comments when you should start worrying!

Reserves are not 2 point gambles. Whichever of the two lads will be at 7 will compare favourably against any other number 7 in the league. The only gamble is going with another at 6 when some teams will on paper have a stronger reserve. As has been said though, there are high hopes for both reserves particularly Hume as we've already seen first hand what he can do. He's made incredible progress in such a short space of time and it's becoming increasingly obvious, what Danny King and CL saw in the lad to make him a club asset when he was a wobbling Rye reserve! I'm not in to making predictions as in this sport things can go pear shaped very quickly, but we'll no doubt start the season as one of the favourites along with Sheffield and possibly Glasgow if they finish their team well.

Don't you worry about us we'll be fine.. Grondal signed for you yet?

Hopes are high for the reserves. Both talented lads and both only heading in one direction. When the team is announced some will immediately point to the fact we have weak reserves but I genuinely don't think that'll be the case. Hume in particular made a big impression towards the tail end of the season with us and Mountain was having a terrific season with Mildenhall before injury. One of them will be a match for any of their number 7 counterparts no danger there, but the risk is going with both of them when we come up against a side built "strength in depth" with a strong reserve at 6. The train of thought is probably that any possible lost points there will more than be made up with the 1-5 but the team is built exactly how I wanted it to be built. Anyhow I'm not quite sure how this thread has turned in to an Ipswich one rather than a Peterborough one we have our own thread for that. Pretty sure Peterborough will look strong on paper too so although it's the only localish derby we have left, should be 4 competitive battles next year!

Nah you can still always build a good side if you're clever even with a 9+ pointer Just out of interest, would you be disappointed if King was named tomorrow as the new Panthers #1? Can't think too many would be TBH even with the hefty average.

As much as it hurts to say, you're spot on here. Since the club dropped down several year ago now, we've failed to land the big prize despite often having a team tipped to do so. Again, spot on. And for a club of our stature that is far too long. We need to get that monkey off our back sooner rather than later.

I had also heard about a month back that Newman was a priority target for Ged Rathbone at Peterborough and they were confident of doing a deal. Interesting if as you say, he's turned them down.

Crikey calm down dear! This is a forum where people discuss things. This is the Berwick thread and as you've just competed your team, people are naturally going to comment on it. My opinion, your team looks sh!te.

Rumoured where BCD? He's cropped up on one or two wishful line ups on the Ipswich thread but he's also been on just about every other clubs too.

Oh. Care to share with us who the bottom end riders are? Naturally if you go for a strong top end, you don't have as many points to play with lower down than sides that go for strength in depth. That's obvious. But that doesn't necessarily mean a worse bottom end if you get the right riders in. For example, Someone will take Leigh Lanham on a mid 4 and slot him in at reserve. Ipswich will undoubtedly sign Hume on a 2 point average. One rider is on the way up and will no doubt increase his average, the other is on the way down and will probably stay the same. I personally would go for two 2 pointers with potential, and fill your boots with top end strength. I accept that's a little risky, but that's the chance I'd take this year.

The 2 is a given, the "hoping" is more than likely because a deal with the lad hasn't yet been struck. Give up Jenga

Again you're proving to be absolutely clueless. Danyon Hume has NOT ridden enough meetings to attain a true PL average, therefore he'll be signing for Ipswich on a 2 point average. Hume was also averaging more than 2 in the meetings he did ride. Conor Mountain, another option for Ipswich I believe, is also available on a 2 point average as he's another British newcomer that hasn't got a true PL average.

Would be an outstanding top 3, not sure you'd see a better top end elsewhere.

2.

But we do know, there is no confusion at all. Any British newcomer that hasn't attained a true average will start on a 2 point average. Those that have attained an actual average, will return on that figure. Where is the confusion?

I think I'd definitely take the risk and fill the reserve berths with Hume and Mountain now it's been confirmed they'll start on a two point average. Both talented hungry young riders with improvement in them.

Somerset would be a Miss to the PL. Always a fixture I look forward to at Ipswich and I'm sure fans of other clubs feel the same. Always put a strong team out every year and it's a good test for your own club when you face them. If they do make the decision to give the EL a shot then fair play to them and I'll wish the well.

Listening to Jon Cook's interview they're hoping to run PL if not NL depending on a few factors. Would be great from an Ipswich point of view to welcome them in to the PL as we built up a healthy little rivalry in our EL days. A Good Friday fixture against Lakeside would do nicely.

Fingers crossed Lakeside can run PL next year. We've missed that rivalry at Ipswich the last few years.