Ipswich Witches 2026

[Steve Irving]

17 minutes ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

Excellent post spot. I think Coleman has ruffled the feathers of the BSPL too.

We also know this to be true, he’s admitted it himself. The BSPL have form for this kind of behaviour though, Louis also admitted to being “ ostracised” by his fellow BSPL members over his signing of Sayfutdinov!

[Whitelinehugger]

1 hour ago, cowboy cookie returns? said:

we had an amazing 3 years with Emil & Jason & bar injuries 

 

Did someone cut there selves on a broken glass. You mentioned bar injuries?

[cowboy cookie returns?]

7 minutes ago, Steve Irving said:

There isn’t one. 

What? So you’re saying he’s actually lying and there WERE better option out there? Name names as you seem to be another playing the “in the know” game. 
 

Let’s look at the facts here shall we? It was your “messiah” Louis and his mate that decided to bugger off at the eleventh hour leaving not only Ipswich hunting around for the scraps left on the table, but also inconvenienced every other club in the league with his selfish attitude. 
 

He left his own die hard supporters fearing the absolute worst over the long winter months, not knowing whether their beloved club would still even exist, which also threw the whole league set up in chaos with no clubs able to release their own fixtures and sell their own season tickets which clubs rely on for winter cash flow. 

I find your post along with those from TTT incredibly ungrateful to both Richard Coleman, AND Paul Hurry for rescuing Ipswich and the top league this season. Hurry by all accounts, doesn’t get paid a single penny for his role as team manager, just expenses paid. He’s doing the club a favour here.

I find it genuinely staggering that an Ipswich supporter of all people, are looking at Coleman’s arrival negatively. In my opinion, he’s been a breath of fresh air and spoken incredibly well on lots of varying issues. The communication has been first class despite him only being in place a matter of months.

Coleman knew his media man Paul Burbidge had written up the main story in the Speedway Star about the partnership with Wroclaw a couple of weeks ago, so he gathered supporters at Foxhall to tell them the news first, 24 hours before the article went to press. That again, is first class. 

That partnership should be exciting the Ipswich supporters, not creating negativity. It’s certainly ruffled a few feathers of fans from other clubs judging by their catty comments on here! I see one from Leicester a few posts up has joined the party, “liked” by the usual suspects from Manchester.

The bloke has literally just walked in the door at your club, he’s given the supporters another year of Speedway despite only getting the keys in March, all whilst promising the supporters a better 2027 when they’ll be given a fair chance of building a team. 
 

Show some gratitude. 

Excellent post spot. I think Coleman has ruffled the feathers of the BSPL too.

[Aries]

1 hour ago, szkocjasid said:

Musielak was picked for heat 15?

I don't get the talk of waiting for 2027, teams should want to be successful every season, Ipswich have had chances to improve if they were ruthless (& riders were willing to come).

He’s talking about the previous fixture against Belle Vue. To be fair to Hurry, it’s easy to question his selecting with the benefit of hindsight knowing Belle Vue had a last heat 1-5. But from their programmed rides, Lawson was 3, 1’, 3, 3 and King was 2, 2, 3, 3.

Musielak was 3, 3, 3, 0. Although Musielak’s duck egg was a tough heat 13. 
 

It wasn’t an obvious choice for heat 15, and IMO King and Lawson are slightly better gaters than Tobi so I didn’t disagree with the choice at the time personally. I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a major clanger. 
 

On your second point about changes,, There are so few options once the season gets underway that any are likely to be like for like. People mention Doyle, but Belle Vue asked the question when they had a vacancy but we’re talking about a rider just shy of an 8 point average. You’d have to remove Brennan probably and at least one other, and with Brennan struggling everywhere and losing rides abroad, Coleman doesn’t strike me as the sort of owner to add to his problems and dump him here also. 
 

As I’ve said before, that may be irritating to supporters in the long term who want success and instant changes when things aren’t going well, but the flip side of that, is I can see Coleman being a popular owner for riders to ride for. He seems genuinely supportive and sympathetic to riders as we saw from the way he dealt with the rider insurance issue so I don’t think he’ll be short of offers from riders over the winter wanting to ride for him. That can only be of benefit to Ipswich. 
 

[TTT]

58 minutes ago, Steve Irving said:

There isn’t one. 

What? So you’re saying he’s actually lying and there WERE better option out there? Name names as you seem to be another playing the “in the know” game. 
 

Let’s look at the facts here shall we? It was your “messiah” Louis and his mate that decided to bugger off at the eleventh hour leaving not only Ipswich hunting around for the scraps left on the table, but also inconvenienced every other club in the league with his selfish attitude. 
 

He left his own die hard supporters fearing the absolute worst over the long winter months, not knowing whether their beloved club would still even exist, which also threw the whole league set up in chaos with no clubs able to release their own fixtures and sell their own season tickets which clubs rely on for winter cash flow. 

I find your post along with those from TTT incredibly ungrateful to both Richard Coleman, AND Paul Hurry for rescuing Ipswich and the top league this season. Hurry by all accounts, doesn’t get paid a single penny for his role as team manager, just expenses paid. He’s doing the club a favour here.

I find it genuinely staggering that an Ipswich supporter of all people, are looking at Coleman’s arrival negatively. In my opinion, he’s been a breath of fresh air and spoken incredibly well on lots of varying issues. The communication has been first class despite him only being in place a matter of months.

Coleman knew his media man Paul Burbidge had written up the main story in the Speedway Star about the partnership with Wroclaw a couple of weeks ago, so he gathered supporters at Foxhall to tell them the news first, 24 hours before the article went to press. That again, is first class. 

That partnership should be exciting the Ipswich supporters, not creating negativity. It’s certainly ruffled a few feathers of fans from other clubs judging by their catty comments on here! I see one from Leicester a few posts up has joined the party, “liked” by the usual suspects from Manchester.

The bloke has literally just walked in the door at your club, he’s given the supporters another year of Speedway despite only getting the keys in March, all whilst promising the supporters a better 2027 when they’ll be given a fair chance of building a team. 
 

Show some gratitude. 

Being a happy clapper has played a role in British Speedway's decline over the years.

In any form of life, You have to be vocally honest in order to generate change, If I post positive comments about this season every day then I'd be straight up lying for likes.

My posts have been more negative than positive this season granted but I have praised the Club when credit was due like the Wroclaw agreement for example.

I want this season to be a one off and I don't want more of the same in the future therefore I'm left with no choice but to be honest this year and express my concerns on what can be improved even if it comes across as ungrateful and negative.

I've stated on numerous occasions that Mayfield were behind the 8 Ball this winter and I'll always stick by that, 2027 Team Building is the be all and end all as to which direction the Club is heading in but we'll just have to wait to see what unfolds on that front.

Paul Hurry is indefensible though whether he's on £0 or £1,000 a night, Can't be making basic mangerial mistakes one week that costs the Club League Points and then throwing tantrums at opposing managers a couple of weeks later for getting beat by the better team on the night.

[TTT]

2 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

Musielak was picked for heat 15?

I don't get the talk of waiting for 2027, teams should want to be successful every season, Ipswich have had chances to improve if they were ruthless (& riders were willing to come).

Belle Vue (Home) Rider of the Night benched for Heat 15 despite having the upper hand when it came to the Musielak v Kurtz and Harris scorecard in favour of Lawson who scored most of his points against Kildemand and Zischke.

Deep down, I know that if Paul Hurry made that mistake in 2027 that saw Ipswich miss out on the Play-Offs by 1 Point with a strong Team then the criticism would be endless on here but because it's 2026 he gets a free pass due to the strength of the Witches septet.

It still needs to be addressed now though rather than being swept under the carpet because the same basic managerial mistakes cannot happen again next season but my feedback comes across in a negative and ungrateful light. (Not the case)

I've been the only one to call out the rejected opportunites for improves throughout the season and again it hasn't sat well with others, But the fact of the matter is that Ipswich could've easily competed for the title with a Top 5 of Doyle, Jeppesen, Brennan, King and Musielak (Riding Order).

[Aries]

9 minutes ago, TTT said:

Being a happy clapper has played a role in British Speedway's decline over the years.

In any form of life, You have to be vocally honest in order to generate change, If I post positive comments about this season every day then I'd be straight up lying for likes.

My posts have been more negative than positive this season granted but I have praised the Club when credit was due like the Wroclaw agreement for example.

I want this season to be a one off and I don't want more of the same in the future therefore I'm left with no choice but to be honest this year and express my concerns on what can be improved even if it comes across as ungrateful and negative.

I've stated on numerous occasions that Mayfield were behind the 8 Ball this winter and I'll always stick by that, 2027 Team Building is the be all and end all as to which direction the Club is heading in but we'll just have to wait to see what unfolds on that front.

Paul Hurry is indefensible though whether he's on £0 or £1,000 a night, Can't be making basic mangerial mistakes one week that costs the Club League Points and then throwing tantrums at opposing managers a couple of weeks later for getting beat by the better team on the night.

If by “basic managerial mistakes” you’re referring to his selection of Lawson and King over Musielak against Belle Vue, that’s just your opinion. My opinion, along with a few others around me at the time, understood the selection. Musielak got nowhere near Kurtz and Harris in 13, not sure why you’re confident he would have two heats later. It’s very easy with hindsight. 
 

On him throwing a “tantrum” (it was hardly that despite sensationalist “fuming” headlines in the write up), he criticised the away team on WitchesTV mid meeting whilst Ipswich were six up so he wasn’t using it as an excuse. His point was the Leicester manager and riders got in to the referees head and forced Bob Ellis to tyre pack the track despite the track man telling them it would only make things worse. It DID make things worse, and Hurry’s point was they should have listened to those with experience of track prep. Now everyone is entitled to have their own view on that and that’s fine, Leicester and their supporters will obviously have a different one. But Hurry is also entitled to have his opinion also and he had a right to voice it. Mountain out of molehills spring to mind here. 
 

Let’s not get in to the train of thought that we should gag those involved and stop them airing their views and voicing their opinions. I want them speaking their mind and would like to hear more of it in the future. 
 

It would have been good to see the reporter get Dickson’s view also and it was disappointing that wasn’t forthcoming (unless I missed it).

 

[CTRSports]

What a load of rubbish I'm reading from so called supporters and giving opinions after an event is pointless

The outcome of Heat 15 could have been the same with a different rider line up, so easy to critique once you know the outcome

Jog. On.

[Aries]

1 minute ago, CTRSports said:

What a load of rubbish I'm reading from so called supporters and giving opinions after an event is pointless

The outcome of Heat 15 could have been the same with a different rider line up, so easy to critique once you know the outcome

Jog. On.

It’s criticising for the sake of it. The heat 15 choice was simply two from three candidates, and the manager went with the two better trappers and not the rider who tailed off badly against the same Belle Vue pairing two heats earlier! 
 

It’s all a bit bizarre on here at the moment and all a bit OTT.

[mikebv]

11 hours ago, Aries said:

It’s criticising for the sake of it. The heat 15 choice was simply two from three candidates, and the manager went with the two better trappers and not the rider who tailed off badly against the same Belle Vue pairing two heats earlier! 
 

It’s all a bit bizarre on here at the moment and all a bit OTT.

100%...

Even more so when you consider Ipswich have won just one top tier title in almost thirty years...

Several of their fans on here have often made, almost smug, comments on how poor the crowd levels at other tracks are, and boasted that Ipswich have consistently had good crowds, regardless of success or not, all down to their loyal fanbase..

That one title seems to have increased expectations far in excess of their traditional position in the sport, which, has been one of doing "OK" most seasons, with some "yo-yo ing" between the top two tiers as and when the team struggled or the crowds dropped...

Given the cards dealt to Coleman I would suggest it worth putting some perspective to this season, and just be glad "someone" decided to buy the place, as it didn't look like too many were coming forwards to do so..

I hope his endeavors to move Speedway forward reach fruition, as that will also positively impact the Witches, and their fanbase continues to support him in his plans for the club...

Edited 1 hour ago by mikebv

[TTT]

51 minutes ago, Aries said:

If by “basic managerial mistakes” you’re referring to his selection of Lawson and King over Musielak against Belle Vue, that’s just your opinion. My opinion, along with a few others around me at the time, understood the selection. Musielak got nowhere near Kurtz and Harris in 13, not sure why you’re confident he would have two heats later. It’s very easy with hindsight. 
 

On him throwing a “tantrum” (it was hardly that despite sensationalist “fuming” headlines in the write up), he criticised the away team on WitchesTV mid meeting whilst Ipswich were six up so he wasn’t using it as an excuse. His point was the Leicester manager and riders got in to the referees head and forced Bob Ellis to tyre pack the track despite the track man telling them it would only make things worse. It DID make things worse, and Hurry’s point was they should have listened to those with experience of track prep. Now everyone is entitled to have their own view on that and that’s fine, Leicester and their supporters will obviously have a different one. But Hurry is also entitled to have his opinion also and he had a right to voice it. Mountain out of molehills spring to mind here. 
 

Let’s not get in to the train of thought that we should gag those involved and stop them airing their views and voicing their opinions. I want them speaking their mind and would like to hear more of it in the future. 
 

It would have been good to see the reporter get Dickson’s view also and it was disappointing that wasn’t forthcoming (unless I missed it).

 

Doesn't matter now but...

Musielak had one bad ride but he also didn't lose the H2H battle on the night against Kurtz or Harris.

1-1 with Kurtz and 2-1 up on Harris, Rider of the Night and statistically our best Rider all season both Home and Away who let's not forget beat both Kurtz and Harris in Heat 11 when Belle Vue played a tactical sub against Tobi and Edwards.

Everything statistically pointed towards Tobi being the best bet to pick one of them off in Heat 15.

[TTT]

1 hour ago, CTRSports said:

What a load of rubbish I'm reading from so called supporters and giving opinions after an event is pointless

The outcome of Heat 15 could have been the same with a different rider line up, so easy to critique once you know the outcome

Jog. On.

I'm ok thanks, Maybe you shouldn't be on a public forum if you can't accept reading constructive feedback on topics that differ from your views.

[mac101]

Sometimes it’s not the manager that finally picks the riders really he will usually get the top scorers  together and they  discuss who wants to take the rides, sometimes they don’t want it sometimes they do it maybe depends what gate they might be off  lots off things 

[CTRSports]

7 hours ago, TTT said:

I'm ok thanks, Maybe you shouldn't be on a public forum if you can't accept reading constructive feedback on topics that differ from your views.

Its only ever "constructive" when others call you out on it, as you back track on how you meant your statement, you're one of those that feel you have some form of entitlement based on a few seasons of recent success.

And I'll stay on here thank you, you need people like me reading your nonsense otherwise you'll end up on here by yourself arguing.

[CTRSports]

8 hours ago, Aries said:

It’s criticising for the sake of it. The heat 15 choice was simply two from three candidates, and the manager went with the two better trappers and not the rider who tailed off badly against the same Belle Vue pairing two heats earlier! 
 

It’s all a bit bizarre on here at the moment and all a bit OTT.

100%  people love to criticise if it doesn't go their way and nobody knows whats actually going on "live" in the moment in the pits.

People love to criticise, makes them feel like they know best or could do better.

 

[Aries]

1 hour ago, mac101 said:

Sometimes it’s not the manager that finally picks the riders really he will usually get the top scorers  together and they  discuss who wants to take the rides, sometimes they don’t want it sometimes they do it maybe depends what gate they might be off  lots off things 

Very much this as well. None of us know what is being discussed in the pits between manager and riders. Track conditions change during the course of a meeting. Musielak on this occasion looked quick early on, but by time heat 13 came along and the track completely slickened off, he ran a last and looked slow. It’s conceivable that he felt the conditions weren’t suiting him by that stage. As you rightly say, there’s lots of factors that come in to play that affect riders selection. Track conditions, machinery issues, illness, all sorts.

[Youhave2minutes]

46 minutes ago, Aries said:

Very much this as well. None of us know what is being discussed in the pits between manager and riders. Track conditions change during the course of a meeting. Musielak on this occasion looked quick early on, but by time heat 13 came along and the track completely slickened off, he ran a last and looked slow. It’s conceivable that he felt the conditions weren’t suiting him by that stage. As you rightly say, there’s lots of factors that come in to play that affect riders selection.      all sorts.🍬

If them all sorts are liquorish I will have a bag.

[TTT]

2 hours ago, CTRSports said:

Its only ever "constructive" when others call you out on it, as you back track on how you meant your statement, you're one of those that feel you have some form of entitlement based on a few seasons of recent success.

And I'll stay on here thank you, you need people like me reading your nonsense otherwise you'll end up on here by yourself arguing.

I'm old school and I tell it like it is, No excuses and straight to the point.

I'm always the first one to step up and call stuff out because I can more than handle the heat (Hellstrom-Bangs prime example)

I'm not entitled, I'm just not going to lie for likes by putting a positive spin on everything, As I said earlier Credit will be given when credit is due and critcism will be given when criticism is due, Unfortunately this year it's far more negative than positive as most things have been a downgrade.

I'm not arguing with anyone, It's called having a debate with people who have different views, Unlike you who simply can't debate anything without getting triggered.

Also, Are you IainB's burner account? It's very odd how you're a new account on here who claims to support Leicester but never acutally comments or debates on anything Leicester related.

Edited 1 hour ago by TTT