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Post by coombes on Jul 6, 2023 7:19:41 GMT 1
Last night's performance ranks down there with our league winning side of 2011's huge KO Cup final defeat at Newport, so it's not uncharted territory. Theres nothing to be gained from slagging off the Poole track and the racing there. In the past I've reckoned we were a good team but not a great one ....and possibly we still are. Poole are streets ahead of the rest of the league, with the Cooks and Rowe's improvements being the difference. We may well be "best of the rest" though Oxford look likely contenders and Redcars visit tomorrow could be telling. It really is vital we beat the Bears otherwise our season could implode, and not just from the attendance point of view.
No amount of changes are going to turn things around but should we be looking to next year. Who will be back? Who will want to come back? And who will we want to come back? Lee is obviously not one for the future. Marcin has lost a lot of the devil that he displayed in his first season. Do Tom and Ben see themselves in the Championship next year? Do we write off this season so soon? There's some big decisions to be made. Not sure whether we should stick or twist in card playing parlance.
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Post by coombes on Jul 20, 2023 9:03:14 GMT 1
A few weeks on and perhaps the question now has to be addressed. In hindsight our team shape is wrong as we don't have a strong enough number six. The hype about Lee getting a 5.00 average and getting into the 1-5 hasn't aged well, neither has the wild speculation by fans rather than the promotion that Marcin would get a 7.00 average.
We've only lost one league meeting so do we stick and hope we peak at the right time in September? Or do we look around for a 4.00 replacement for Lee. Do we have to do it before the end of the month, when his average will fall below 4.00, or does he stay on his assessed 4.00? If so whom do we get. For every Nowak signing (2021) there's an MBA disaster (2019)
Do we accept the team balance may be wrong and see how we get on against Poole twice and away to Redcar. Depending on these results, if ok we stick as outlined above, if poor should we look at changes, perhaps radical changes, that may set us up for next year. The latter is a huge, high risk throw of the dice.
Its a big call, but so is standing pat.
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Post by dirtywhensecond on Jul 20, 2023 12:06:17 GMT 1
A few weeks on and perhaps the question now has to be addressed. In hindsight our team shape is wrong as we don't have a strong enough number six. The hype about Lee getting a 5.00 average and getting into the 1-5 hasn't aged well, neither has the wild speculation by fans rather than the promotion that Marcin would get a 7.00 average. We've only lost one league meeting so do we stick and hope we peak at the right time in September? Or do we look around for a 4.00 replacement for Lee. Do we have to do it before the end of the month, when his average will fall below 4.00, or does he stay on his assessed 4.00? If so whom do we get. For every Nowak signing (2021) there's an MBA disaster (2019) Do we accept the team balance may be wrong and see how we get on against Poole twice and away to Redcar. Depending on these results, if ok we stick as outlined above, if poor should we look at changes, perhaps radical changes, that may set us up for next year. The latter is a huge, high risk throw of the dice. Its a big call, but so is standing pat. Since the Dickson era we seem to have lost the ruthless streak when it comes to making changes. As we've seen with his two current responsibilities, if he thinks changes are required then changes are made. I'm reminded again of my one of my oft quoted movies "Moneyball", where a baseball player was getting cut. The protagonist, Billy Bean, was making his young protege do-the-do, for experience. The young fella was very reticent and feeling very anxious about the prospect. But the lesson that Billy Bean gave his young charge was that these guys are professionals. Look them square in the eye, tell them they're being traded, where they're going and who they need to see to deal with their contract. Of course it's not really comparable but look how in demand Dickson is. He gets things done. Does Brown get things done?
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Post by coombes on Jul 20, 2023 16:52:56 GMT 1
As Ive said before, Im not sure "hire and fire" is within Browns remit. Not sure that much is! May be we need a promoter to be team manager. Surely they would have the clout.
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Post by coombes on Jul 22, 2023 8:01:42 GMT 1
What exactly does Cami Brown mean?
“The Pirates are the most successful club in British speedway this century. They have got such a strong management and you have to admire that. They are the benchmark for this league and we have to learn from them and fast."
Is he saying we need changes to our management?
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Post by benbulben on Jul 22, 2023 13:25:18 GMT 1
Is he saying he feels inadequate and needs replaced ? Hmmmm
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Post by md on Jul 22, 2023 15:30:26 GMT 1
What exactly does Cami Brown mean? “The Pirates are the most successful club in British speedway this century. They have got such a strong management and you have to admire that. They are the benchmark for this league and we have to learn from them and fast." Is he saying we need changes to our management? Learning from them means narrowing the track to a single lane highway and making it super slick. That way they can win any meeting at home and can confidently win any two legged affair, a bit like Edinburgh did 10 years or so ago. Poole's philosophy and ours are polar opposites. Ashfield is one of the fairest tracks in the country and having established itself as such I don't think fans would want it like Wimborne Road. In the short term perhaps we could work on our gating which may help us more than anything.
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Post by drosser on Jul 22, 2023 23:18:26 GMT 1
I thoroughly enjoyed last night's meeting with effort, good racing and excitement from both teams despite there being effectively nothing at stake but pride. Poole do have a very strong line up and I was not convinced that we could beat them - as it happened, we had a decent win margin despite some bad luck for Claus and young Ace. The track was well prepared with good racing lines both inside and out (outside less grippy after heat 11 but still provided lots of excitement). The team should be proud of the performance but must be embarrassed by the collapse at Poole (particularly the experienced riders). Other teams visiting Poole recently have fared much better with less to race for. Oxford scored 38, Scunthorpe 41 and Redcar (without Riss) 42. Generally, their heat leaders matched, or bettered, the Poole top 3 with less experienced riders struggling. We can complain that they doctor their track; they have a team of gaters etc. but it sounds more like we have not prepared properly. Between last year's play-off final and the recent final, we did not have even one rider in double figures. 18 points from 14 heat leader rides is certainly not impressive. The experienced members of the team should be able to assess any track and work out a decent initial bike set up to be competitive, at least against the opposition second strings.
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ally
Getting Lapped By Barry Booth
Posts: 9
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Post by ally on Jul 25, 2023 13:25:46 GMT 1
Personally, I'd just start to plan for next year. Clearly Poole are the better team this year, so any changes should be with next year in mind.
I'd just keep the same 7 for now. Lee will get better over the coming year and also likely next few years too & I feel there's no guarantee that a new rider will be better this season .
I'd keep the nucleus of this year's 7 and work to the currently anticipated points limit (40.00 perhaps?). The team gets on well, the racing at Ashfield is excellent and keeping riders will build a collectiveness within the club
I'd start at the bottom end first.
6. Connor 7. Ace
Then look to add riders that are good at Ashfield possibly on 'low' averages. E.g.someone that is an Edinburgh rider but struggles at Armadale.
Perhaps we don't want our top two being the same 'type' of rider.
Bomber and Ben are 'racers' not 'gaters'. So perhaps that then made it easy for Poole to just make it a gaters track.
So perhaps Bomber/Ben and a 'gater', as a top two. Perhaps Tom is the 'gater'?
Then fill in the middle with riders with scope to improve next year Marcin/Claus/Danyon Hume/Jonas Knudsen/ Bastian Borke/promising youngsters. So as a rough guide something like this:
1. Bomber or Ben 2. 5 pointer 3. Claus 4. Marcin 5. Tom 6. Connor 7. Ace
Oh and anyone who did well at the U-21s last weekend could be put into the mix. There will be a rider who'll put 2+ points on their average next year but who that is...
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