bellevueace

The Sir Jim Ratcliffe of speedway 😲

Double post

They were only qualifiers and the four who qualified were known from the start, but we were never going to trouble the other three over two legs, i was surprised some Witches fans were actually worried about last night.

Agree with your points but if we pull this back it will more to do with Ipswich having a choke of massive proportions more than write Belle Vue off at your peril.

I didnt think Ipswich would win but would keep it within 10 at worst, Blodorn and the reserves have been poor all season and with Dan and Brady in heats 13 and 15 we always had a get out of jail card as we saw against Kings Lynn at the NSS who overall were the better side going into heat 15 only two points down. Ipswich didnt ride well last night, Emil was off it King wasnt good, and Thompson didnt do as well as i thought but it was still only a 6 point advantage, for a team who are supposed to have such a large home advantage it wasnt good from our point of view, we were always the weakest of the four in the play offs and we paid the price for not changing things around. Ipswich are just a better all round side as will be underlined on Thursday. Its going to be interesting between Ipswich, Sheffield and Leicester though.

At one stage it looked as if they could push us and they were unlucky to lose at the NSS being the better side over the whole meeting, 2 points down going into heat 15 our top two got us out of jail, if they did have a bonafide No1 it would have been even more interesting.

No surprise at all ive been saying all season carrying Blodorn and with the two reserves we have we wouldnt get past the semi finals and also think if Ben Cook had,nt been injured Kings Lynn could have got the play off place instead of us. I was surprised at the Witches fans who were worried about this meeting, we were never going to be a threat we were easily the weakest of the four teams, Lemon made no changes went with what he had and it was always going to bite him like this. Im going for a Witches v Tigers final although i would like to see Lions win it.

Wrong thread oops

Sounds bad i wish you a speedy recovery mate.

I still wouldnt be confident at your place even with that, and the big ifs are Blodorn, Cook especially away and the reserves, i know weve done well in previous play offs after not shining during regular season matches but i think this season we have too much baggage in the engine room and at reserve. I think Witches will be a different proposition next week than they were last night.

Im not arguing the fact but it was taken seriously by the mainstream media during the golden eras, becoming the number two spectator sport, nowadays it has become a big issue with the fanbase, i agree its not ideal, perhaps your suggestion would be better. Wasnt it last season when a play off meeting was getting pelters in Poland for a woefully understrength side being put out do to injuries? I dont really follow the sport over there but im sure there was some mention of it.

The guest rider rule has always been part of speedway, yes its not an ideal system when riders turn up in in opposing colours and its a difficult one to explain to newbies, but really without it how would a club be able to replace their number one rider especially through injury? Theres really only R/R would that really be an adequate cover scoring the points of the top man? Sometimes it does work out. I think the only realistic way is to have a squad system which the sport cant afford, years ago we would see say Ivan Mauger missing a meeting to be replaced by Ronnie Moore, it does seem to be more an issue with fans today, if Jack Holder for whatever reason misses the play off matches and didnt bring a guest in tigers fans surely wouldnt be happy? I think its just a necessary evil in the sport.

Zmarslik has always looked a lot faster than most, and today the weight is the main issue.

No substitute for class eh?

I respect your opinion but he isnt competing against riders with the same ability as those above especially the earlier eras where dropping a couple of points meant title dreams were gone, no second chances to gain the title after a couple of bad rides. You cant compare Fundin, Briggs, Craven, Moore, for example for the level of competition they were against to the level of competition today, the field is far weaker in comparison. Yes he has a great talent but so many variables come into play, machinery, tracks etc.

Doyle and Lindgen have been past their best, the new guard Holder, Bewley, etc havent as yet stepped up to the level of consitency required, Lambert looks way off too, there are wild cards that really shouldnt be at the level getting qualification due to their nationalitly not ability, far from the days of world finals when several riders in the field could be seen as realistic winners. Only for Brady there is nobody stepping up. Then you have the scoring system where you can afford to score say 8 points win the final and collect 20 yes its the same for everyone but my point about eras is riders couldnt afford to drop so many points and have a hope of being crowned champion, Loram for example became champion without actually winning a round. No one is doubting Zmarsliks talent on a bike but to say hes the best that has ever sat on a bike i dont agree with. The best of his era definately.

Have to disagree mate in past eras especially before the GP,s where every rider had to qualify through difficult rounds and there was far more hard riding opponents wouldnt just open the door, take out Brady theres been no competition apart from Laguta for one season. Its about opinions but the sport today is far removed from what it has been, in any sport you cant compare different times. Usyk has acheived more than Ali was he greater, could each have adapted to different eras? I think when talking about sporting greats we have to look at their particular era.

You certainly cant compare the eras.

Goat possibly in the grand prix era but today its a far cry from the days of Crump, Rikardsson, Gollob, Adams, Pederson etc, and certainly cant compare the GP,s with the one offs with the stupid scoring and now the sprint race. Different eras yes but i turned this off GP,s just dont do it for me im afraid, the novelty wore off a while back, suppose its just personal preference.

I remember going down to Wimbledon in horrible weather and seeing a good meeting, modern day machinery wouldnt be able to handle the conditions, though according to reports there were riders willing to give it a go at Sheffield.

Its the reason fans dont travel away if there is the slightest doubt about the weather, years ago down went the sawdust on went the overalls and away they went. Nowadays with the modern bikes not a chance of that happening, i cant comment here as i didnt see the track but as some wanted to ride and others didnt i would imagine the referee would go with the majority?

This does seem to happen far more than back in the day when riders were loyal to their teams it was their club, and there was a real rivalry riders we,rnt seen stood in the opposite side of the pits chinwagging with rivals, there was far more altercations between them that created real atmospheres but they were not rivals one night and team mates the next. No wonder we dont see the characters of yesteryear.

We should have brought in Jack Smith to replace Max fricke 🤣

Obsessed with us mate.

He was never going to make it.