Hamster00

Any chance you can explain to me your end game with your endless posting about how crap in your eyes one big league would be? Every time we go back and forth you agree with me that big changes are needed, you’ve even agreed with me that Ipswich don’t do everything right and that the top league isn’t sustainable as it is? We know you have disdain for the championship and the quality of it and of course Poole and Glasgow for not bowing down to Chris Louis and moving up a league. But I really don’t get your end game other than to act entitled and make on that you are cleverer than everyone else for thinking you’ve got the future of the sport sussed out?

The casual fans are happy and that’s all that matters to the promotion. Smith was a fan favourite with them and that is why he’s probably been retained. Would much rather have Perry or someone else who may improve over time. If they finish this with Paul Starke then I really don’t know what they are trying to achieve.

His GSA at the conclusion of the last five seasons: 2021 - 5.01 2022 - 5.83 2023 - 4.84 2024 - 4.99 2025 - 5.10 I think he’s shown us he is exactly what he is, a steady second string/reserve whose average has fluctuated by less than a point in the last five seasons. If you think he’s suddenly gonna jump up a level coming off a pretty bad injury to say the least is rather confusing to me.

Probably the last half decades body of work.

Better than not looking top heavy or strength in depth either. I’m sure we’ll let them get a 44-46 away win at Berwick.

Not a chance, yes PK/Morris/Jye are good at Berwick, highly doubtful around the other 4 especially if it’s a newcomer and Jack Smith. Another season with plenty of home defeats incoming. Still at least the A Team looks good.

I’m not I was literally using your own words, you’ve clarified/expanded your view but it was quite clear in your original post you didn’t mean Jake Mulford as I don’t think you can argue he’s the same standard as Chris Harris right now.

Poole and Glasgow don’t expect other teams to go to the wall to sustain what they want though do they? Which is what Ipswich and Belle Vue want, they want the big names despite the fact it’s clear it’s unsustainable in the current climate, which I’m pretty sure you even have agreed is true. Yes Poole and Glasgow snap up young talent nobody is arguing that, they’ve also agreed a rule that each team can only have one “Big Hitter” with an average over 8 to start the season. It’s clear you have a disdain for the Championship and clubs in that league, you’ve made that obvious. All they’ve done is taken a stand to protect themselves from losing silly money and propping up a failing system, big changes are needed and no doubt they’ll all be a part of it. I’m sure no matter what they do though they’ll always be wrong and Ipswich will always be a beacon of perfection in your eyes.

I mean you did name 5 riders that are number 1 standard and said you’d need 25-30 riders at that standard? So is that the standard you meant or isn’t it?

The maths is done differently than you state I think thats why the figures they come out with are what they are. 2.35 - 2.5% = 2.291 = 2.29 8.60 - 2.5% = 8.385 = 8.39 They are rounding up or down to the final number I think. Although nothing would surprise me so if they decided they wanted to change it on a rider by rider basis I wouldn’t be shocked.

So what is your solution to the big problem then? Because Ipswich’s model isn’t it, virtually every other club doesn’t have a Guy Nicholls and can’t afford to run at that level, see Birmingham and Oxford. The sport needs to be sustainable for all clubs not just a chosen few, the 9 Championship clubs are making it sustainable at that level, some better than others no doubt, Poole are proof of that. If it becomes one league of a certain standard that is sustainable for all clubs that are currently running then I personally would much rather that than see clubs go to the wall each year trying to prop up the current model which quite clearly is broken. Speedway isn’t a mainstream sport in this country anymore, it doesn’t have big backing or a big tv deal, it barely makes a dent on national TV these days and sponsors are often just fans with business. Until you come up with a solution for all of that then unfortunately you can’t sustain a top tier league that pays the likes of Emil or Doyley whether Ipswich fans/promoters like it or not. The whole thing needs taken back to the drawing board and started again, the current model is just sleepwalking us to the end of the sport in this country.

You are clutching at straws aren’t you, the way you and other Ipswich fans are so desperate for the Championship clubs to fail is absolutely staggering. Now we are just making stuff up to try and prove a point. No championship club so far as I can see post “Official Attendances” so unless you were at every meeting and counting them, which I doubt saying as most Ipswich fans think the standard of racing is so embarrassingly poor they can’t bear to think of it, then I highly doubt that this “Fact” as you’ve presented it can be proven. I also can’t find any “Official Attendance” figures for the grand final either so if you could just point me in the direction of all of the above information please?

Aye his average only dropped by over a point.

Another one of these fake news spreaders, stop insinuating stuff and trying to make out that somehow it’s his fault.

Your point being? You can build a team lots of different ways.

He was fantastic at reserve and that’s why his average is what it is, as I said he averaged 5.91 when at number 1 which is far more comparable for me as he’ll be starting the season in the main body. Theres a reason Edinburgh have chosen Sedgy and probably Paco over bringing him back. If he proves me wrong fair play but it wouldn’t be me taking a punt on him.

I also enjoy it, it gives me a great time to catch up with friends and we as a group make every away trip we can. I’d also like to see my team actually compete for a trophy for once though and that’s where I think we disagree. It gets a bit tiresome hearing the old lines such as “Just be happy you have speedway” etc just because myself and others would like to see on track success for the first time in a long time. The two things don’t have to be mutually exclusive, I think Poole fans and Glasgow fans alike also have similar bonding stories, they also get to see a winning product on the track too.

I’m fairly confident no Poole fans will be on this thread saying we should be favourites for anything. Disappointing signing, Edinburgh got the best of him last season bringing him in on a low average. If my maths is correct he averaged 5.91 after moving to number one last season so is on an inflated average due to his fantastic form whilst riding at reserve.

Glasgow aren’t just being smart business wise for their own benefit either, losing them would affect all the northern clubs. Glasgow bring a big following to Berwick for sure and I’m sure they take it to the other northern venues too, they’d also lose virtually all the away support they get at Ashfield. It would be a lose lose situation for those with the most at stake. There is nothing “brave” about what the teams in the Premiership are doing, it’s business suicide for most, you just need to look at recent history.

And in two posts we have the feeling of a large majority of Berwick fans in a nutshell. We are happy we’ve got speedway and who cares about the outcome. There is no craving for success despite the distinct lack of it especially the fact we haven’t made the play offs in over a decade. So why bother trying to compete with Poole or Glasgow or anyone else for that matter? I absolutely wouldn’t blame the promotion for having that viewpoint if this is the fan feedback.

Seems way off base to me, someone could simply miss out because they don’t fit by 0.01 and someone else does or because they don’t suit the track as well as rider B or a team decides to build with seven riders below 8. Assuming someone would miss out purely because they are holding a team to ransom is typical of what I’d expect on this forum. British speedway is its own worst enemy and continues to be so.

Both parties can share blame on that front I think, Borke was never fit, was never going to be fit and was rightly replaced. But he should never have been signed and/or he shouldn’t have accepted, you can look at it either way. Given that it sounds like it was a pretty messy breakup though I would be astounded if he was signed again and personally I’d much rather take a punt on someone new.

Agreed but I think they’ll bring him back, they are loyal to a fault with a lot of riders and Hume also seems very popular with the casual Bandits fan, you can see that just by looking at the comments on Facebook for the last couple of seasons. I think for similar reasons we’ll see Jack Smith back despite the fact he has probably peaked in his ability he seems very popular with the promotion and fans alike. Personally I would have neither if your goal is to try and win a trophy or at least make the play offs for the first time in over a decade but that doesn’t often seem the goal.

I came up last night as a neutral and I was not disappointed with what was put on show, good racing, a great crowd and a great atmosphere. The referee had a shocker, it was speedway shambles at its finest in heat 1 at the rerun with Palovaara never mind in heat 7, hats off to Kye for coming out and getting the better of Bomber in the rerun. It was completely predictable heading into heat 13 that Glasgow would walk away the victors, Edinburgh needed to be at least ten up going into the last 3. Max Perry was the match winner though, he stepped up big time with Nagel struggling and deserves all the plaudits.