League of Ireland in Europe 2016

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

This isn't a tourist trip, it is a competion.

Fcuk pubs and flights, Dundalk will be competing in that group.

This. There might be more holidays after the group stages. It's certainly not impossible to finish second in that group.

[sparky12345678]

Not sure if that's a realistic target tbh.

After the Rovers draw, there was plenty of similar predictions, and we know how well that went.

I don't think Dundalk's draw is as tough (but it's still tough), and I think Dundalk are a better team, but if they got 4 points, it'd be quite a successful campaign. Obviously the first target is any sort of a result.

yea i meant more as a realistic target for the manager/fans. its hard to see them getting 9 points. As a skeptic its hard to see them getting even 4 points. Fans/manager should aiming for somewhere in the middle

[El-Pietro]

Didn't LoI teams knock out Dutch and Israeli teams the last time they met?

Cork v NAC Breda and Rovers v Bnei Sakhnin.

Not as good as Alkmaar and Maccabi of course, but then Dundalk are arguably better than Cork and Rovers too.

Wouldn't be quite as dismissive of Dundalk's chances of picking up a few points - and of course Zenit won the competition outright a few years ago - but don't think it's quite that bad.

Cork City played NEC Nijmegen in the Intertoto Cup in 2004. AZ Alkmaar are a much better team than NEC. Interestingly they play each other on Sunday Can't speak too much on the quality of the Israeli league but its a tough trip and Maccabi Tel Aviv are a relatively big club. Maybe I'm being harsh but I can't see them getting too many points. I'm sure Dundalk fans don't care what i think

[pineapple stu]

And actually Rovers beat Bnei Yahuda, not Sakhnin. So I'm doing well here! Just need someone now to point out a more recent tie against a Dutch side to complete my fail.

Agree all points will be hard earned. Just not sure it's quite the nul points that Rovers' group was.

[GCdfc]

yea i meant more as a realistic target for the manager/fans. its hard to see them getting 9 points. As a skeptic its hard to see them getting even 4 points. Fans/manager should aiming for somewhere in the middle

Stephen Kenny already set the target of qualifying from the group. That was straight after the Legia match in Warsaw. Why would you expect the manager to have a low target? Kenny is right to aim high. Winners aren't created on an inferiority complex.

[ger121]

Was in meetings all morning so just seeing the draw. First reaction, it's an awful group. Shades of the level and type of teams Rovers drew in 2011. The magic target points wise to have any chance of a seeding next year (if they win League) is 3 points (3 draws) or 4 points (win & draw) I'm trying to see where they could do that here. Win vs Macabi & draw vs AZ at home = 4 Points. Draw vs Macabi Home/Away + draw vs AZ = 3 points. Doable?

[TheBoss]

Seems to me some people here are again hyping up the quality of the teams in this group akin to what was said about BATE previously. For me, its a group that Dundalk should not fear. I think Alkmaar is decent draw despite what some say, Dutch teams usually can't defend, its all about attack with them. Dundalk were solid enough in their games against BATE and Legia and if replicated, they are more than capable of getting points off them. I think Maccabi will be more difficult an opponent but they can be unpredictable at times, so might be chance of a win/draw at home. I think Zenit is an extremely difficult opponent, keeping the score down in both games might be objective there!

Looking back at Rovers campaign in 2011, they were in a horror group and competed well in some of the games. This Dundalk side one would feel have more quality than that Rovers team, plus are in a group that would be considered less daunting. So overall, its a reasonable group to get considering they did not get a team from England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.

Also, Dundalk will play at the same time as Manchester United do, so exposure in Pubs, Restuarents etc might been affected by that.

[Dodge]

Dundalk's fixtures
15 Sep (a) v AZ
29 Sep (h) v Maccabi
20 Oct (h) v Zenit
3 Nov (a) v Zenit
24 Nov (h) v AZ
8 Dec (a) v Maccabi

[BonnieShels]

Dundalk's fixtures
15 Sep (a) v AZ
29 Sep (h) v Maccabi
20 Oct (h) v Zenit
3 Nov (a) v Zenit
24 Nov (h) v AZ
8 Dec (a) v Maccabi

Crap.

Looks like I ain't getting to AZ game.

[Ashbohs]

2 points in their first 3 games is doable

[El-Pietro]

Will be interesting if they reach the Cup Final. Am I right in saying the final is scheduled for November 6th?

[ger121]

Dundalk's fixtures
15 Sep (a) v AZ
29 Sep (h) v Maccabi
20 Oct (h) v Zenit
3 Nov (a) v Zenit
24 Nov (h) v AZ
8 Dec (a) v Maccabi

Russia in November, lovely. Wasn't Rovers game vs Rubin played in well below zero temperatures. Those 2 homes games in a row are the key to how the group will pan out for them. Only thing is will they be exhausted due to the fixture pile up as the season draws to a close.

If they can nick a point away against a AZ team not long into their season, then would set them up nicely going into Maccabi at home.

Exciting times to be a Dundalk supporter. We'd all wish it was our own clubs. Enjoy the ride! (Not the Amsterdam one)

[Ezeikial]

yea i meant more as a realistic target for the manager/fans. its hard to see them getting 9 points. As a skeptic its hard to see them getting even 4 points. Fans/manager should aiming for somewhere in the middle

No, no, no.

Manager and players should aim for the sky.

Fans should dream the wildest dreams possible

[Charlie Darwin]

Tough enough group on paper but I said the same about BATE. With a couple of new players in the squad should be able to stretch a bit better for these games, but still a tough ask for a team at the end of a long season.

[legendz]

The changes to the Champions' League have been confirmed so.

Reading it though, it looks like the non-champions route is the one to be affected - the champions route is going to stay the same as at present. (There's no indication it's going to change anyway). It seems like, applied to this year, Gladbach, Roma, Villarreal and Man City wouldn't have been in the qualifying round, and Inter would be bumped up to the group stages from the Europa League. It looks like the clubs to potentially lose out are the non-champions of smaller clubs (e.g. Young Boys, Steaua, Porto and Monaco, who played the above four teams)

The changing of club coefficients may benefit Dundalk, but only if they continue qualifying for Europe of course.

Don't think it's quite as bad for the LoI as was being made out?

Based on what you've outlined there Stu, then no not too bad. Haven't had a chance to read the changes in great detail but did see that the number of qualifying spots via the Champions Route will be reduced from 5 to 4. Not sure how that would change the current qualifying structure?

Do 5 currently qualify through the champions route and 5 through the league route?

With 5 extra non-champions set to qualify directly and the retention of both champions and league qualifying routes, there will be changes to the access list. Some champions already qualifying directly might drop into the qualifiers. More champions will probably start off in CLQ1.

All league champions knocked out in the Champions League qualifiers should be allowed into the Europa League:
CLQ1 losers into ELQ2
CLQ2 losers into ELQ3
CLQ3 losers into ELPO
CLPO losers into EL Group stage.

The FAI and similar associations need to be lobbying for some changes like that as compromises for the restructuring. Lol champions were knocked out in CLQ2 from '12 to '15. Involvement in ELQ3 would have been beneficial for more European experience.

If the Europa League needs to be expanded to 64 teams to cater for more league champions, so be it. UEFA should put a stop to Champions League 3rd placed teams parachuting into the Round of 32.

A number of clubs in different counties have complained about long travel in the Europa League. An option of many could be to reformat it as two conferences East and West with 32 teams (8 groups of 4) in each.

Getting back more on topic... Legia won and drew to pick up 4 points in the EL last year. Dundalk will be doing well to get 4 points.

[paul_oshea]

Has anyone seen that image going around from zenit where they show the homer simpson arm grabbing the leprechaun with the caption @easy_odds? That should help motivate them anyway.

Maccabi were lucky last night. I see the Palestine solidarity movement are trying to organise a protest at the Maccabi game. Fair play but if they go to the game I hope they pay any subsequent fines if they display flags.

Seems to me some people here are again hyping up the quality of the teams in this group akin to what was said about BATE previously

Bate were well beaten this year in Europe though, I don't think they were at the races at all this time around. Zenit are a far more formidable side. I've not seen much of Alkmaar(ive always had it in my head that they were turkish) but maccabi definitely aren't what they used to be.

[Real ale Madrid]

According to wiki - all 3 Dundalk home games will kick off at 8.05 - that is a big boost for them. A 6 o clock k.o. trying to get from Dundalk to Tallaght would have hit the crowds.

Really looking forward to watching these - I say Dundalk get 1 shock away win and pick up a few draws at home.

[nigel-harps1954]

Dundalk should not be aiming for anything less than a win in every game.
Set yourself up to fail, and that you will do.

They have absolutely nothing to loose by going out and having a go at teams who will completely underestimate them.

[ger121]

Dundalk should not be aiming for anything less than a win in every game.
Set yourself up to fail, and that you will do.

They have absolutely nothing to loose by going out and having a go at teams who will completely underestimate them.

Nigel,that's exactly what Rovers did in 2011 and lost the lot. They were too gung-ho in games and got some pastings. I'm not for one second stating they defend for 90 minutes but should really target key games in the Group while they try and balance that with winning the League.

[sparky12345678]

Stephen Kenny already set the target of qualifying from the group. That was straight after the Legia match in Warsaw. Why would you expect the manager to have a low target? Kenny is right to aim high. Winners aren't created on an inferiority complex.

I think its great if Kenny aims/hopes to qualify. I think the confidence he had going into these games was backed up by great performances. So I hope now that he has seen the fixture list, like our national managers he will know which games to target for maximum points. To qualify he needs 8-9 points; thats at least 2 wins and a few draws. In my original post I thought 6-7 points is a realistic aim (although not according to others here, most here will be happy with 4points) and anything higher while not unreachable would depend on some luck and some calls going ur way (unlike the penalty call against Legia for example).
I think looking at the fixtures you could aim to surpise AZ and beat them away, beat Tel Aviv at home, and then fighting for a draw at home against Zenit makes the last game away against Tel Aviv very interesting.