Super Blue

They do their own updates on the Monarchs chatzone , usually accessible from the updates page , or just type in Monarchs chatzone on your phone and hit the live updates tab when on the site . Don't think I'll bother checking in too often myself , probably watch Coventry v Poole on sky instead .

Perhaps not , but now our season is effectively over maybe a little speculation won't be greeted with the disdain about dumping riders who still have a trophy to try and win . After watching the defeat against Edinburgh last night though this thread could well take some interesting twists and turns as far as opinions are concerned on who we should retain next year .

Where do we start after that? Firstly congratulations to the Monarchs on another trophy for the cabinet, fully deserved, they were certainly more up for it tonight. ( and showed it with their eagerness to get away from the tapes early ) The Witches were simply not at the races as they say. Tungate, shocking for a no1. Heeps, creditable show. Risager, awful. Manzares, not fit shouldn't have started. Worrall, a little unlucky for me. Hawkins, decent nights work. Ellis, good score, well done. In general, the top end of the team didn't show up and we deservedly got beat. Being poor was bad enough but one of the most monumental piss poor exhibitions of refereeing I've ever witnessed just added insult to injury! The only one of the numerous jump starts he actually pulled back was the only race Cook didn't do it but fell off on the first bend. Cook and Masters had at least 6 rollers between them. Then to exclude Worrall when Masters took a dive in heat 13 was just unbelievable! I've no idea what meeting Mick Posselwhite was watching but it certainly wasn't the same one I was. Don't get me wrong, the overall result was never in doubt and the Monarchs were genuinely full value for the win it just narks me when even the ref is against you as well. That's my feelings, whether others that attended agree or not I imagine will probably be down to who they support.

Absolutely abysmal performance by the Witches so far! I know Edinburgh are the best team in the league but we should be doing better at home than this ffs!

The problem with Foxhall is that even with a decent crowd the place still looks empty, I find the only guide line is how far you have to go back in the car park. As far as a decent ref is concerned I agree wholeheartedly. Both teams have there renowned rollers at no1 so will be interesting to see who gets the first official warning of the night. So here's hoping for a good competitive meeting on a well prepared track with everyone staying safe and a reasonable little lead for the Witches to stand a chance tomorrow!

Depending on which weather forecast you look at there's a pretty high probability of rain at various times for Thursday including a possible thunderstorm . There could yet be a few twists and turns before the end of our season .

Are you talking about Olly (fell,ex, withdrawn) Allen ??? If so then no thanks, the guy is made of glass or something even more fragile! Far too injury prone to take a risk with IMO. And to those that say talking about dropping riders this early, unfortunately thats the nature of threads like this and all about peoples opinions on who they would like to see in the starting lineup next year. It's the way of the world I'm afraid. Edit, on current average Scott Nicholls would be 11.76 in the PL by my calculation. A bit too high to take on board at this stage me thinks.

The simple answer is yes, I think you'll find alot of Witches fans will agree. The thing is we have a good team but not a great team and will always fall just short of that elusive silverware unless we learn to ride certain tracks better than we do currently, we need more riders who are prepared to dice with the safety fence to get that little bit of extra speed. In a nutshell, Too many white line willy's !

Well , after much pondering I think I might throw my hat into the ring on this one and give an honest opinion on a few of my choices for next season . Richie Worrall , would definitely have back on his current average and certainly believe he could soon reclaim the no1 race jacket depending on who actually holds it at the start of 2015 . Gino Manzares , definitely one of the first on the list for my teamsheet , tailed off recently but a good first season and so much potential to improve next year . Cameron Heeps , spent most of this campaign truly shocking but found some form recently and would certainly be in my team next year with plenty of room for improvement . Rohan Tungate , not really a no1 in my opinion and difficult to justify a team place on an 8.36 average . Not my choice to keep im afraid . Morten Risager , another who's tailed off after a generally good season . Think he's just about reached his level and unlikely to improve any more . Not for me next year . Ritchie Hawkins , a bargain average this year , not sure on 5.27 for next . A decent season for the skipper and probably worth a punt for 2015 as a reserve . Adam Ellis , nothing against the lad but he came with a racer reputation and hasn't delivered , had 2 seasons to prove himself and failed for me . He wouldn't be on my next Witches teamsheet . Potential wishes/hopes/possibles ??? of new faces . Danny King 8.84 , for me a true no1 and yes please . Baldyman said Ricky Wells 6.46 , a decent shout on that average . Nico Covatti 4.21 , I would have in my team like a shot on that average !! Victor Palovaara on a 3 average , worth a punt maybe ? Will be interesting to see if the promotion has any sneaky signings in the pipeline for next year . Now the big question is does Chis Louis want to put a trophy winning team together or a team of nearly men ? Depends on his ambition and how much he's prepared to spend on achieving success . Will he have the guts to not resign riders who have no more improvement in them or will he go for the easy options ? Only time will tell . -.

Could also depend on which Cookie monster turns up , after all we don't have Barker to wind him up this year . I also agree with what others have said elsewhere , we do rather seem to lack that bit of a killer instinct to actually win something !

Personally I would prefer to have the 16 lapper this week and maybe just for once have the 2nd leg of a final at Foxhall so that in the unlikely event that we actually won we could celebrate a win at home . But it ain't gonna happen that way so we will just have to wait and see . Im sure the management of both teams already have plans in place for all eventualities .

We now maybe slightly stronger generally than we were last time the Monarchs came to town but one or two are not performing as well so could be an interesting final. We may not hate the Edinburgh track as much as others we've recently raced on but the Monarchs are incredibly strong at home so it's gonna be a tough ask to build up a decent enough lead to challenge them overall. I predict a small home win for the Witches but lose by many more in the away leg I'm afraid to say!

The group ended up exactly as the 3 teams had performed against each other in the original PL matches , 7pts , 6pts and 5pts . 6 home wins with the Rebels doing better than the Witches against Scunny . Exactly to form and my original prediction on another thread . Looking at the previous PL scores for the final it could well be very close . Well done to Somerset , the right two teams have definitely made the final .

Tracks are set up to suit the home teams , how often do you see a team manager from the away side having a quiet word with the track man ? That would be never . All irrelevant anyway as the OTA isn't a Witches type track however it's set up , the result isn't in doubt even before the first race . A huge home win !

Get real people ! We could have the current top 5 in the GP standings in the Witches line up on Friday and still get battered . We are totally crap at the OTA . The optimists of this world will only ever have disappointment ahead . Pessimists (like me) don't expect anything so if something good happens its a bonus . But in this case there's only one outcome gonna happen on Friday and it isn't a positive one for Witches fans . It would take a miracle of biblical proportions or some kind of divine intervention to get even remotely close to achieving what we need to qualify as group winners . Believe me , I would absolutely love the boys to prove me wrong and make me eat the biggest slice of humble pie in history but it just isn't going to happen !

Well. On current averages we will certainly see at least one rider go if not more from this year's team as we are over the 42.5 limit currently in place. Will have a muse on who I would like around next year and come back later.

Now come on we've definitely got a chance. Unfortunately it's " NOT A BLOODY CATS CHANCE IN HELL " !!! Unless, maybe somebody can doctor the Rebels fuel in some way so they all break down in half the heats.

So the Witches failing to capitalize against half a Somerset team on Thursday and again tonight against a patched up Scunthorpe means the group is pretty much over leaving the Southern smugs to take on the official ones from north of the border in the final ! To be honest though , 1st v 2nd is probably the fairest final to have anyway .

From memory the Witches I seem to recall have a very poor record at Scunthorpe so to get within 6 pts would be a minor miracle let alone draw or win ! This is what makes the home meeting against Somerset a disappointment for me , it should have been a total annihilation not just a decent win . However , onwards and upwards in the hope we can pull something out of the bag and somehow do what's required to make the final . Coz one thing is certain , Somerset will make mincemeat of Ipswich at the OTA .

Pretty poor in the end after a good start although I will probably be in the minority and be slated for saying it! We definitely should have hit 60+ against what was left of the Rebels after ht1. Some decent performances but poor Gino is only looking a shadow of the rider he was earlier in the season. Personally, quite disappointed that we didn't fully capitalise when this group could possibly come down to race points. Nuff said, now waiting to get mullered for my opinion.

So as expected Ritchie H and Cam swapping places for this one, I don't think it will make a great deal of difference as both are more than capable of scoring decent pts from either position. Still hoping for a reasonably comfortable homewin but I reckon that the group will be decided away from Foxhall.

I think this will be a home win although Somerset are due a good one at Foxhall, the Witches have previously scored 53, 65 and 57 in the 3 home meetings against the Rebels this season and will need another high score to have any chance of qualifying for the final. Ipswich's biggest problem is they don't traditionally like either the Somerset or Scunthorpe tracks and are likely to fail badly at both. I rather feel that the significant meeting of the group is going to be when the Witches ride away at Scunny!

It could be more about what's happening on the 11th . Foxhall is hosting the World banger championships and is never normally available immediately before a major stock car event . I may be wrong but it's probably why there's nothing planned for the 9th .

Also want Tai to win . However , you said hope we get a good , fair GP . Lets be honest it's never gonna happen with a meeting that Pedersen is involved in , is it ?

Perhaps no one is going Sue .