Ipswich Witches 2027

[TTT]

20 minutes ago, mikebv said:

When he rode for the Aces, I always had a "Steve Worrall" feeling to Tom..

ie There is a very good rider in there, but "something" will prevent him consistently reaching that international level...

The pressure to perform when he has to step up seems to be the challenge for him...

Birmingham had pretty much zero pressure given they were so poor, which I think reflected in his riding....

And at both the Aces and at Ipswich he has had two genuine World Class riders keeping pressure off him..

I watched him in Sweden last season against the larger number of top riders over there, and he definitely started to look more aggressive on the bike, and in one race pushed Zmarzlik out of contention in a race with a very robust manoeuvre.. 

Then he got badly injured pre season which I think has (as you could expect), dropped him back a bit this year... 

A big season for him next I would suggest as an indicator as to how his career will progress..

Will he just end up a solid UK rider, with maybe a 2nd or 3rd tier contract in Poland? Or will he become a consistent SEC or even GP performer over the next few years, with a top tier Polish contract..?.

I think any team would want him if they can get two top level riders at One and Five, and Ipswich should be in the box seat for that, given they will want to take advantage of this seasons average..

I think Mike makes a very good point here.

Tom's best seasons have come when he's had no pressure on him.

It was the same when he first joined Ipswich, We had Emil and Doyley taking the pressure off everyone else in the side.

[Daniel Smith]

2 hours ago, Bagpuss said:

I don't think he has an 'ego'. I applaud any rider who tries to better themselves by dropping easy money in our Championship and trying to crack the much harder Polish leagues.....unfortunately it didn't work out for Tom this year and he appears to have regressed. A season in the Championship might be sensible if he cant get a Polish gig but I wouldn't give up on that avenue if I was him. 

This 100%

Brennan would be a good addition to King's Lynn imo.

[MP78]

I know a lot of folk are keen to see Brennan go on his way, but after persevering with him all season, surely Ipswich will want to be the ones to reap the benefit of his reduced average

[cowboy cookie returns?]

3 hours ago, Daniel Smith said:

This 100%

Brennan would be a good addition to King's Lynn imo.

He’d do well at Lynn no pressure there. 

[siggysigalos]

Complete rebuild is what's needed, and that includes Paul Hurry, he needs to go with all the changes.

I'd keep Tobi and Tom, and let the rest go, no way would i keep King on his new average.

Quote from last night on the Microphone "We have so many exciting announcements to make for 2027, some big surprises, but i can't say anything just yet", if the Mesiah is true to his word, then i would say most if not all of this team won't return in 2027. But let's wait and see............

[TTT]

Brennan is a real tough one for me and I'm currently 51% OUT and 49% IN tbh.

My concern is that this year Tom has gone missing in a very weak League when we've needed riders to step up under big pressure.

For me the final decision regarding Tom's status should be based around whether we can get a spearhead that contains three from the following 4 (Doyle, Fricke, Musielak and Woryna)