Arch Stanton

If they’re this years regs then Sheffield need to find a new guest simple as that.

Nope was never going to be. I know we battled on well and won meetings after Doyle’s injury, but you always felt our challenge was almost over as soon as he was ruled out for the season. One man is that important. Hugely influential character. Emil as well tbf, both irreplaceable. We have two 6-7 pointers next week replacing two 9+ point riders, tells you all you need to know really.

Thought Troy was excellent last night btw. Very unlike him but he made a couple of poor gates which is normally a strength, but he was trying all sorts of lines bomber style to catch people in front. Great effort.

Yes. The plan was in place and Lindgren originally agreed to guest for the Cup final meetings and all play off fixtures. The management at Ipswich are quite open and happy to talk if you catch them prior to meetings.

The Kvech “talk” has only come from Cowboy Cookie on here, I assume because he wants him. Nothing in that for me. On Emil, the Witches promotion will obviously want him back but they’ll be relaxed about the situation. If he decides time is up here, then Musielak will be a strong contender to join Doyle up top. I think we’ll want Brennan in the team also, but so will plenty of others.

Was.

Plus one rider is upwardly mobile, the other is heading in the other direction. Brennan will be hot property this winter. He’s been booked by Ipswich to cover all remaining cup and play off meetings for Ipswich. This was one of the better meetings of late. Some good racing at times on an excellently prepared track. Another warm day so wasn’t easy so well done Bob and the track staff.

UK.

Lindgren not coming back.

Tatum making the same mistake AGAIN saying the top team choose their opponent! He said this in the last televised meeting and was actually informed he was wrong and he corrected himself live on air! And yet he’s saying the wrong thing again.

First thought wasn’t a positive one because Rew has been a trump card at reserve. But, Dan has really been struggling lately so a return to the reserve berth might give him a much need boost of confidence. The switch might cancel each other out because I think Rew will contribute more in the main body than Dan has lately. Totally agree on the guests. Have a feeling Harris will be one of them. Whoever they get in we know we’ll be severely weakened so we’re obviously up against it. Just hope we can battle enough to make the second leg at Foxhall worthwhile and not just a forgone conclusion..

Douglas didn’t even get to ride and has got injured since taking the booking. The curse is real! I’d be extremely wary of accepting a Witches guest booking at the moment 😅

Good lad is Cam. Go on fella

I’d also add that he’ll be in demand for next year so Birmingham may have a battle on their hands. Especially for the clubs that go top heavy and have heavy hitters at 1 and 5. Brennan on a 6 point average slotting in to the middle order and away from the demands of 1 and 5, would be a terrific signing. Hope Ipswich go in for him personally.

You’re being deliberately misleading here using those averages which we all know don’t tell the full story because of the way averages work. Probably because just like Geoffrey, you don’t want to admit that Brennan has stepped up a level since leaving Belle Vue. As always the devil is in the detail. His average for the 2023 season at Belle Vue is near identical to his average over all meetings in 2024 for Birmingham. But take away the bonus points from sitting behind Kurtz and Bewley and the GSA’s show in 2023 he achieved 5.87, this year his GSA over all meetings is 6.50. There’s also a world of difference between riding without pressure at reserve/2,3,4 with Bewley and Kurtz doing the heavy lifting at the top end, than literally carrying the whole team (before Lindgren came in a few weeks ago) at either 1 or 5 and being the main source of points for your team. The boy has stepped it up a level this year, it’s ok to hold your hands up and accept it even if he’s done it at another club other than your beloved Belle Vue.

The track again was back to being slicker, and much easier to ride. Just like most of the season when the weather hasn’t intervened. You can understand why they prepared the track like they did against Sheffield considering what happened last year on a similar track, but the racing suffers as a result. There was one superb move by Nicholls in this meeting. Was ahead of a clearly faster Bewley in one heat, but when Bewley made his move up the inside of bend one, he had to get off the gas as Nicholls read it brilliantly and cut right across the front of him from the outside and ended his challenge there and then. You could see Nicholls looking over his left shoulder entering the turns. That’s what experience does for you.

No, it isn’t an opinion it’s fact.

Not accurate. He more than held his own when moving in to the main body, continuing to impress and scoring well against seasoned riders. His form has nosedived though over the last six weeks or so but that can happen to young riders. Easy to forget he’s only just turned 20. As you say, the team being in turmoil hasn’t helped.

Rowe will be on a 25% reduction on his average due to exiting the rising star scheme. Would be silly to pass up the opportunity to include him as the senior reserve at 6 on such a reduction. Dan Thompson likewise at Ipswich.

Fair play to all those that attended tonight. It’s difficult turning up knowing your team is 99% certain to lose but there were more than I expected. I was there because I had no choice due to work, but I wouldn’t have been there otherwise. it isn’t our year obviously and it’s really hard work at the moment. On a brighter note, I saw some baubles in a shop today. Merry Christmas.

But why shouldn’t you Mike? Is six months not long enough to build your team? If you happen to stuff it up having six months to get it right, well tough!!

Not sure it’s “bashing” the promotion here, I think everyone has sympathy (Ipswich fans) with what has happened beyond their control. That doesn’t mean they’re immune to any criticism though. Doyle has been out since the end of May, there surely has been options to re-giggle the team. If a like for like replacement for Doyle wasn’t available, then the option was there to release a rider lower down the order and make two changes. Lose some top end strength, but strengthen down the lower order. Jenkins to his credit has now publicly stated he was lucky to remain a Witches rider because of his poor form especially early on. We know they don’t like dropping any rider, we saw that with a clearly unfit Riss last year which cost us in the end. Some will back them with not wanting to drop anyone, others who crave success and want them to finally win a title after 26 years, not so much. All well and good being loyal to your riders and getting pats on the back for doing so, but the problem is Ipswich will always be a step behind the other clubs who are never slow to strengthen when the opportunity is there.

Have to agree here. We’ve gone with rider replacement on far too many occasions. I accept on some race days other clubs are riding and suitable options are limited, but that hasn’t always been the case. Lawson for example goes very well at Foxhall as we know, and was named as a guest at Lynn yesterday. Would Lawson have already been booked by Lynn at the time Emil crashed out a couple of weeks ago? Maybe.. Fans are completely demoralised, you have to wonder whether the promotion have had enough this year also regardless of that piece from Hawkins. At least give the fans a seven man team to go and watch again.

He’s a Peterborough fan.

We nearly signed Brennan this year. Louis is a fan so wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him at Foxhall at some point in the near future.