TTT

Tungate certainly seems fired up for 2023 already.

I think Carpman is Carl Johnson personally, Could easily be Michael Tomalin though. Carpman knows the exact dates of team announcements so Carpman is clearly involved at the club.

I don't think Hans will last that long anyway tbh and I'd expect him to be replaced very early in the season if he starts the season in poor form. Too many riders available in the Championship as mentioned a few posts back, Kye Thomson, Jonas Knudsen and Marcin Nowak are the standouts.

My guess. Emil deal fell through, Chris Louis offered Worrall more money at the eleventh hour out of desperation and Peterborough weren't willing to pay over the odds for him so we've settled for Hans instead.

This is how I would line-up away from home (1-5 only) ON A TECHNICAL TRACK 1. NKI 2. Tungate (Struggles around technical tracks, NKI can ride any track so he can cover Tungate to some degree) 3. Basso (Allow Basso to be partnered with an experienced rider away from Home to ease the pressure) 4. Andersen (Still very strong around the technical tracks so I'm confident he'd do a better job than Tungate around IPS, LEI & WOL) 5. C. Holder ON A BIG FAST TRACK 1. NKI 2. Basso (Ease the pressure on him away from Home when possible by allowing Ben to form a partnership with an experienced HL) 3. C. Holder 4. Andersen (C. Holder can carry Andersen on the big away tracks) 5. Tungate (Big track rider so he'll be alright @ No.5 around tracks like BV, KL & Sheffield)

With Hans I don't think it helped him riding for Plymouth last year because the place is very technical and that may have contributed to the significant drop off on the big tracks. Not as good as he once was obviously but he'll be at 6 after the first set of GSA's imo and if he can just bring out some of his old self then we should be challenging for honours, If he struggles at 6 after the first set of GSA's then we can make an early team change before the second set gets released.

I'd put Basso at 2 for that reason.

I wouldn't replace him tbh because he's improving all the time and the Showground will suit him down to the ground, I think he's going to be a good signing tbh. I would swap Andersen out though for Batchelor or Worrall (If one of them was available) as I think Hans is the only weak link in the side and he could struggle for a large part of the season.

Ipswich could be a dark horse in 2023 if Chris Louis wants to be ruthless for a change by swapping Hume out for Batchelor or an engine room foreigner with UK experience assuming Worrall signs. As I've said on the Panthers thread, Richie Worrall is a shrewd signing for anyone especially for a club who's got a technical Home track considering the gating ability of Richie. Rew would also likely spend the season at reserve and it'll allow him to develop like Blodorn did throughout the season rather than being thrown into the deep end after the first set of GSA's.

Flappy is spot on imo and I'll be happy with that side tbh, NKI hasn't signed a Swedish deal, Hans left a love heart on the fixture list post and Tungate left a like on the same post, C. Holder has been signed for some time according to Flappy as well. Obviously I would prefer Worrall over Andersen but I'm not massively against Hans having one last likely retirement season with us because he's given a lot to the club over the years and he's basically built up enough credit to spend one last year on his favourite track before the Showground goes too.

Official ranking now. 1. Poole (Strongest reserve pairing in the league, Very reliable top two and both Cook's are only going to improve again) 2. Redcar (Really like everything about this team outside of James Shanes, Can easily be replaced by Dan Thompson or something after the first set of GSA's) 3. Glasgow (Very good 1-5 but the reserves may see them fall short again next season, Complin's real 2022 average was 3.08 I think so that's a poor signing imo) 4. Plymouth (Very good side and they're the dark horses in 2023 if Barker behaves himself off the track) 5. Scunthorpe (Should go very well at Home as always, Poses a threat to the teams above if Jake Allen finds his old form) 6. Edinburgh (Consistency could be an issue with this side imo, Castagna, Fredriksen and Hook can all be hit or miss, Craig Cook has to find his old form as well) 7. Oxford (Tail end is far too weak to do any damage, Nicholls has got one eye on retirement as well so Scotty could be set to drop his average again imo) 8. Berwick (Too many question marks over the top two, Weak reserves) 9. Birmingham (Lacks Heat Winners and the engine room isn't good)

People won't turn up if / when the team starts losing, Happens everywhere. Hume has quite a few years worth of British league experience on Ben. Danyon spent 11 meetings at reserve for Glasgow last season too. Ben was the one who finished up with the higher GSA out of the two. Jack Thomas is coming back from a season ending injury and Jenkins will only take 3 rides a night and they'll all be against the oppositions RS.

I'm just saying it's Flappy's side that he's heard when you asked him. Personally I'm 50/50 on 2 of those riders.

NKI Worrall Basso Tungate Holder Cook Jenkins

I'd personally want a team that can challenge for the title when push comes to shove rather than an unbalanced side that'll rack up losses galore just for the sake of having another big name rider to watch. Tail end of Rew, Hume & Thomas doesn't hold up away from home and that's not good when bonus points will play a big role in 2023. I could honestly see Ipswich losing every meeting away from home next season with that tail end tbh. Could also lose a fair share at Home if Emil/Rew don't get dialled in from Day 1. So if I was in Louis' position I'm going all out for Richie Worrall who's a very experienced rider around all tracks and a very solid scorer around Foxhall then I'm going for Andersen or Batchelor to complete the side because Batchelor always rides well with Doyle, Andersen is brilliant around Foxhall and it'll keep Rew at reserve.

Richie Worrall's Premiership scores last season riding as a HL @ No.3 for King's Lynn. Worth every bit of his 6.15 average.

Hope so, I don't want Ipswich to get Worrall tbh after being reminded about the bonus points being introduced next season (I totally forgot about that) NKI, Worrall, Basso, Tungate, Holder, Cook & JJ challenges for the title because it cleans up at Home by big margins imo to a point where we're more than likely to rack up the Bonus points as well. Like Belle Vue last season we'd have far too many Heat Winners to lose at Home.

Same here. He'd do a solid job for anyone and he'll ride to his average almost every week.

I've got no faith that Andersen would even score well as a No.6, I've got huge respect for Hans but we made a mistake in 2022 by letting our hearts rule our heads so it's a case of learn from our mistakes. R. Worrall would be a decent signing @ No.2 tbh.

Don't know about anyone else but I wouldn't want Emil in my side if it resulted in Hume having to ride in the 1-5. You'd get more points out of an engine room combo.

Thank you.

Hume unlikely to be in the side imo, Far from a lock that's for sure. Would've been officially signed, sealed and delivered before Christmas if he was a lock.

Both in imo for that reason, Plus other info / hints would suggest both are in too, Some solid ITK stuff say Tungate is in and I haven't forgotten about the club press release saying goodbye to Harris, Nicholls & MPT with no mention of Hans in that article. 1. Nicki P (Reassessed average), NKI or a surprise that's been kept under wraps. 2. Hans 3. Basso 4. Tungate 5. Holder 6. Cook 7. JJ

Anyone know when the next signing is announced? We'll be able to figure out the full 1-7 if the next one announced isn't Chris Holder.

I think he'd do well to end up with a GSA over 8.00 tbh. 1. Barely any UK experience (Only done a few meetings for Coventry in 2011) 2. Would've spent almost 2 years out of competitive racing (1 full season and 2 winters) 3. Would be riding with Doyle.