Post by miltonkeynescats on May 31, 2017 16:39:47 GMT
Following on from our narrow relegation escape, the Cats squad has already seen a number of changes. Sergei Malenkov Jr has been sold to our good (relegated) friends at Tunstall, he's found it hard going of late, and he's struggled to live up to the early promise he showed, and after conversations with Sergei, we agreed it was best to let him go to seek to improve his fortunes elsewhere. There's absolutely no bad blood, and we wish him the best of luck with Tunstall.
Also joining him at Tunstall this season will be Steve Edgar, on a loan basis. While he's not struggled to the extent that Sergei has, he has lost his way slightly of late, and after discussing our team plans for this season, and how he was unlikely to feature, we agreed to let him leave on loan. He still has a future with the Cats, and we still firmly believe he has a big future in sim speedway. Hopefully his time away from The Grovedale will have a rejuvenating effect.
Focusing now onto riders who will be wearing the blue and white this season;
The first name on our teamsheet is that of Boguslaw Kryznowek. He has been superb since he joined us. He's still young at 23, and has great potential to go above and beyond his current 8.6 average, and he showed great promise finishing in the top 8 of the Grand Prix series last year, including 4th in the Australian GP, and 3rd in the Finland/Norway GP, as well as a number of semi final appearances.
Joining Boguslaw in the cats side will be Maciej Tercjak. He will be the first to admit that he struggled in his first season as a Cats asset, but he was largely a victim of poor performances of other riders when he was replaced in the side, the cats needed to sure up the bottom end of the team, and with Tibor and Abe flying, and Boguslaw riding well, it unfortunately had to be Maciej that had to make way. As always though, after such a decision, we kept in touch with Maciej, and he performed incredibly well in Euro League 2, in a poor Zagreb side, helping take them from 1 point when he signed, to their final tally of 7, with scores of 10(6), 15(6), 15(6), 13+1(5), 12(5) and 14(5) gaining him an EL2 average of 9.7 from his 6 meetings. This season we believe we'll see a more relaxed but more determined Maciej, with no involvement in the GP series giving him a lighter calendar, we hope to reap the rewards!
Our 3rd name is potentially a surprise, although not to us. He graduated from the Juvenile Jaunt at just 15, and stepped unto the Academy League last season with Downham Stars at just 16, taking his average from 4.37 to 7.12, although after the first averages he hit 8.89. Last season he was a victim of his own success, and went from riding at 7 to riding at number 1 within 6 meetings on his debut season in league speedway, be he'd shown us more than enough, and at one point we enquired about the possibility of bringing him in on a doubling up basis, but the rules had changed and that wasn't a possibility. So he has to wait until this season to make his full Milton Keynes debut, at the age of just 17, it gives us great pleasure to confirm Ryan Betts.
"There will be no pressure on his shoulders" said Cats boss Sean Wood, "We will give him time, we will give him training, and we will show him that we believe in him, as we truly do." "Thanks to our great sponsors at inthedirt, we have set him up with a van, and some quality equipment, alongside a merchandise deal that will afford him continued investment as the season progresses."
Our 4th name on the teamsheet is that of 22 year old German, Sepp Manzbach. He joined us last season on loan during a very difficult time, we were struggling massively, and he helped sure us up, and helped us to escape relegation with some great performances at number 2. He is currently heavily involved with the World Team Cup with his West Europe side, with a score of 10+2 against Denmark and a slightly disappointing 5+2 against Sweden, we hope he's doing enough to make the cut for Event 1, we certainly feel his performances in the UL should aid his cause.
On other names signing on, the Cats boss wouldn't be drawn into commenting "We have irons in the fire, good, competitive offers have been made, and we will hopefully be in the position to be making some announcements in the coming days."
Also joining him at Tunstall this season will be Steve Edgar, on a loan basis. While he's not struggled to the extent that Sergei has, he has lost his way slightly of late, and after discussing our team plans for this season, and how he was unlikely to feature, we agreed to let him leave on loan. He still has a future with the Cats, and we still firmly believe he has a big future in sim speedway. Hopefully his time away from The Grovedale will have a rejuvenating effect.
Focusing now onto riders who will be wearing the blue and white this season;
The first name on our teamsheet is that of Boguslaw Kryznowek. He has been superb since he joined us. He's still young at 23, and has great potential to go above and beyond his current 8.6 average, and he showed great promise finishing in the top 8 of the Grand Prix series last year, including 4th in the Australian GP, and 3rd in the Finland/Norway GP, as well as a number of semi final appearances.
Joining Boguslaw in the cats side will be Maciej Tercjak. He will be the first to admit that he struggled in his first season as a Cats asset, but he was largely a victim of poor performances of other riders when he was replaced in the side, the cats needed to sure up the bottom end of the team, and with Tibor and Abe flying, and Boguslaw riding well, it unfortunately had to be Maciej that had to make way. As always though, after such a decision, we kept in touch with Maciej, and he performed incredibly well in Euro League 2, in a poor Zagreb side, helping take them from 1 point when he signed, to their final tally of 7, with scores of 10(6), 15(6), 15(6), 13+1(5), 12(5) and 14(5) gaining him an EL2 average of 9.7 from his 6 meetings. This season we believe we'll see a more relaxed but more determined Maciej, with no involvement in the GP series giving him a lighter calendar, we hope to reap the rewards!
Our 3rd name is potentially a surprise, although not to us. He graduated from the Juvenile Jaunt at just 15, and stepped unto the Academy League last season with Downham Stars at just 16, taking his average from 4.37 to 7.12, although after the first averages he hit 8.89. Last season he was a victim of his own success, and went from riding at 7 to riding at number 1 within 6 meetings on his debut season in league speedway, be he'd shown us more than enough, and at one point we enquired about the possibility of bringing him in on a doubling up basis, but the rules had changed and that wasn't a possibility. So he has to wait until this season to make his full Milton Keynes debut, at the age of just 17, it gives us great pleasure to confirm Ryan Betts.
"There will be no pressure on his shoulders" said Cats boss Sean Wood, "We will give him time, we will give him training, and we will show him that we believe in him, as we truly do." "Thanks to our great sponsors at inthedirt, we have set him up with a van, and some quality equipment, alongside a merchandise deal that will afford him continued investment as the season progresses."
Our 4th name on the teamsheet is that of 22 year old German, Sepp Manzbach. He joined us last season on loan during a very difficult time, we were struggling massively, and he helped sure us up, and helped us to escape relegation with some great performances at number 2. He is currently heavily involved with the World Team Cup with his West Europe side, with a score of 10+2 against Denmark and a slightly disappointing 5+2 against Sweden, we hope he's doing enough to make the cut for Event 1, we certainly feel his performances in the UL should aid his cause.
On other names signing on, the Cats boss wouldn't be drawn into commenting "We have irons in the fire, good, competitive offers have been made, and we will hopefully be in the position to be making some announcements in the coming days."