Arch Stanton

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.

I thought it was dreadful even after the track slickened off to be honest. Instantly forgettable from a racing point of view.

If they do I’ll give you the money meself.

You don’t build a team with that kind of attitude though do you? You don’t pass up the opportunity of signing Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov on the remote chance they suffer season ending injuries. If every promotion took that view we would never have gone with Rickardsson Gollob and Louis in our treble winning year of 98, Cradley would never have gone with their all star side back in the early 80’s, Poole would never “gamble” on a top two of Holder and Darcy Ward during their trophy laden years. I’ve no doubt if every club had the budget to do so and the riders were available, every single one would build the same way. Injuries happen in this sport we all know that, but to lose not one but both of your world class top two is more than unlucky. There won’t be a single Ipswich fan though that won’t want the promotion to sign them up again next year just incase this happens again, that’s a cast iron certainty. We’ll take that risk ta. For all the stick King is getting by the way, he still isn’t fully fit either. He has metal work in his hand that is restricting his movement. But it’s his living, if he doesn’t ride he doesn’t earn but you won’t see the best of him for the remainder of this year either. It’s a season that promised everything, and has all gone wrong. The others won’t care of course and I don’t blame them one bit. Dog eat dog and down to the other three to take advantage. One final point the team this year was stronger than last years and comfortably so even though we missed out on the double in the final heat of the season. Rew and Thompson have improved on last year, and we carried an ill rider all year who shouldn’t have been riding last season which isn’t the case this year. Ellis has been a huge upgrade on Riss.

Trapping is Emil’s biggest weakness! Doyle can trap with the best, but on the occasions he does miss the gate it normally doesn’t take him long to hit the front. He’s box office at Foxhall. Your top four had little resistance and were never likely to. The Ipswich team is beaten, easy pickings with little fight left in them.

It isn’t just you, it’s killed the atmosphere and enthusiasm stone dead. It’s got to the rest of the team now too as alluded to by King last night. Him, Rew and Thompson are now riding a level below what we’ve seen previously this season, it’s drained everybody. Hawkins has made a rallying cry on the official website as you’d expect him to do, they still need to try and get people through the door, but the truth is it’s become a chore to go. Just have to muddle through these next few weeks, and then go again next year.

Nicholls for Doyle, Zach Cook for Ellis and R/R for Sayfutdinov. The sooner this season ends for us the better. https://ipswichwitches.co/raceday-preview-belle-vue-rowe-motor-oil-premiership-r2-h-2/

Course we would, but it is what it is.

Wouldn’t be surprised! Kurtz certainly will.

Was never going to be anything else tonight despite what the Sheffield fans were predicting. It’ll be the same on Thursday. Only track conditions early on meant it wasnt an even bigger victory.

It’s his usual Foxhall form.