Arch Stanton

Wrong.

JL is as straight as a die. He could have chose to say nothing. His words were pretty damning, IMO. In the same article Phil Hilton also expressed similar views, but they don't hold the same weight for obvious reasons. I think Phil Hilton has had a rough deal this year and I don't quite understand why, right from the very first meeting where he was labelled crap and not up to the job on here by one keyboard commando. I even thought Chris Louis was wrong in publically blaming both parties for a "public slanging match". The slanging was only coming one way. Hawkins decided to go public both on local radio and in print to the local paper to reveal his dislike of the fella which was unprofessional and out of order IMO. Hilton was then contacted by Stephen Foster of radio Suffolk to ask for his response to the public criticism, which again IMO he did calmly and eloquently. He had every right to respond and defend himself.

Quite right. And this quote from JL on the official website after the first meeting since he left against Plymouth "Co-promoter, John Louis, added "What an enjoyable meeting after what has happened in recent weeks. The atmosphere in the pits was so positive tonight - now to keep it going and move up that table!" http://www.ipswichwitches.co/index.php/news-centre/976-witches-cast-a-spell-over-devils That in itself is pretty telling.

Anti climax to a big headline? What big headline? @Mike_Bacon: A bit of @ipswichspeedway latest news from Chris Louis and @rohantungate in tomorrow's @EADTsport24 paper @SkySpeedway #kurrikurri @Mike_Bacon: In tomorrow's @EADTsport24 it's @rohantungate on his 2016 future + Chris Louis team building latest @ipswichspeedway #speedway Those were Mike Bacon's tweets last night, and that's exactly what was in today's paper! What else were you expecting from those tweets?

Wouldn't get your hopes up on Kennett. Not sure if Roland is being genuine or on the wind up but it looks a bit far fetched to me. If both King and Kennett are riding for Coventry and Lakeside respectively, they could both be missing for a number of Friday meetings which would cause a major headache. Dont think so. There wouldn't be a major difference in pay between a rider on 4.5 and a 5-6 pointer. In fact you could probably pick up a few 6 pointers on cheaper money than some of the lower end riders. What's certain though, is Danny King and Ed Kennett will be two of the best paid riders in the PL. With Louis putting out what seems to be a lowering of expectations exercise in the local rag recently, claiming it's a task "just keeping the club afloat" and stating an expensive brand new air fence needs to be brought, I'd be very surprised to see Kennett joining King at Foxhall.

Dropped from 7.32 to 6.84 so wasn't the bargain after all.

Totally agree. From the comments I was expecting to see a riled Tungate on a revenge mission, opening the throttle after the race had finished, charge after Auty and wiping him clean out. Not quite what I'm seeing on the footage!

Oh yes we all know! You made it perfectly clear that you thought the manager was crap after his very first meeting in charge!!!

Deary me!!!

100% agree and shame on you Hawkins. Feeling very sorry for Phil Hilton at the moment, the poor sod has been on a hiding to nothing from the very first day it seems!

The bikes King was riding last night at the showground, were the exact bikes he was riding in Denmark.

Yes he was, and so was Manzares. Nice try though!

"Ipswich's favourite son Chris Louis proved master of the wet"

Unbelievably the poor sod was being labelled "Useless" by one particular poster on here after his very first meeting!! I've said many many times that it's easy from here to say that reserve should have had an extra ride and replaced this or that rider in this or that heat but those saying that are not in the thick of the action or know exactly what is going on. A few on here were pointing the finger that Covatti didn't get full 7 rides when he was reserve earlier in the season which could have cost the team points. But it came to light soon after that Covatti was having ignition problems late in that meeting and couldn't take that 7th ride. Being a keyboard team manager is the easiest job in the world!!

Very true! But I was thinking more from an Ipswich point of view or one of the more fancied sides. I'd liken a meeting between Scunny and Redcar to two bald men fighting over a comb

There either is easy matches or there isn't, no as such about it. Unfortunately there are meetings at home you'd call "easy" TBF, in an ideal world there wouldn't be any and all meetings home and away would be tight fought meetings. It can't be good for the likes of Redcar and Plymouth who can't even win at home let alone be competitive on the road. Their support will only take so much I'd imagine.

Oh dear Berwick! on paper should have won that one handsomely and would have done if Hawkins had continued that form he was showing. Missed opportunity for Berwick me thinks as Ipswich now strong favourites.

Do me a favour of course he wasn't! We had it with Risager for god knows how long, now Tungate is his obvious target. Absolutely pathetic.

You really have got a major chip on your shoulder haven't you? Are you an angry man because you're follically challenged? Give it a rest for crying out loud

He had a dabble riding junior speedway for a couple of years, but he's only been riding competitive speedway in a professional league for three years and in that short time has attained an average over 8. That's impressive. You don't like watching him, we understand that as you've told us several times. Oh and he wins plenty of races away from home too, not just at Foxhall.

I'm not too sure we would be out of the cup if our next meeting was away. I think we need to be careful we don't get too downhearted after a heavy defeat on a very tricky track that clearly didn't suit the majority of the team. There is a lot of early season kneejerking going on at the moment. Rye went from wooden spoonists to potential champions after a positive few opening meetings, but then lost at home to Peterborough and suddenly people are unsure again. Let's get half a dozen meetings under our belts at least to have a better idea of how good this side is.

Good Friday's meeting at Foxhall was a far better meeting, IMO. The showground has a reputation of being one of, if not the best track in the Country and that's fully justified as it's an awesome race track when it's right. Tonight wasn't one of those nights.

But none of that has now happened because of the upgrade in facilities, it's always happened and would have done if the upgrade had happened or not.

Rarely in 30 years of attending Foxhall have I seen the track in such poor shape, which naturally resulted in one of the most boring meetings you're likely to see. Chris Louis actually apologised after the meeting and admitted they had got it wrong, but it was too little too late. On the one day you want to put on a good show, a bumper Good Friday crowd with probable first time attendees, and they got it horribly wrong. I know the winter weather made things difficult for track prep not just at Foxhall but up and down the country as a few tracks had early problems, but I didn't see another track as poorly prepared as Foxhall was that day. Hopefully lessons learned as last Good Friday must have been damaging.

Highest averaged rider at 1, lowest two at 6 and 7 (either way around) and the others where you like.