Play-Off place starting to look safe for Group Eight

[Irish_Praha]

At the start of this campaign I really had a bad feeling that Ireland's group would end up with the lowest second place points and therefore we'd lose out on the chance of a play-off spot. We have without a doubth the most difficult bottom seed and Cyprus are capabale of taking points off anyone at home.

I know it's only 2 or 3 games into a long campaign but I like the way things are shaping up in Group 7 with France and Romania in 4th and 5th position. I would expect them to get their act together at some stage and start taking points off Serbia and Lithuania, the 1st and second team at the moment.
Group one has also seen a poor start for Portugal who I would also expect to start taking points off the teams above them. Also group 9 with Scotland in it looks like Holland will run away with it and then Soctland, Norway and Macedonia all capabale of taking points off eachother.

There are still a lot of games to play but I have a much better feeling about group 8 getting a play-off place now.
It would be a big kick in the balls for us to achieve 2nd place but miss out on a play-off spot. Especially after the last qualifiers where 2nd place guaranteed automatic qualification.

[KR's Post]

At the start of this campaign I really had a bad feeling that Ireland's group would end up with the lowest second place points and therefore we'd lose out on the chance of a play-off spot. We have without a doubth the most difficult bottom seed and Cyprus are capabale of taking points off anyone at home.

I know it's only 2 or 3 games into a long campaign but I like the way things are shaping up in Group 7 with France and Romania in 4th and 5th position. I would expect them to get their act together at some stage and start taking points off Serbia and Lithuania, the 1st and second team at the moment.
Group one has also seen a poor start for Portugal who I would also expect to start taking points off the teams above them. Also group 9 with Scotland in it looks like Holland will run away with it and then Soctland, Norway and Macedonia all capabale of taking points off eachother.

There are still a lot of games to play but I have a much better feeling about group 8 getting a play-off place now.
It would be a big kick in the balls for us to achieve 2nd place but miss out on a play-off spot. Especially after the last qualifiers where 2nd place guaranteed automatic qualification.

I reckon 21 points or 22 will guarantee us at leat a playof if not top the group..... Cyprus 6 points, Georgia 6 points, Montenegro 4 points, Bulgaria 4 points, Italy 2 Points....

[Irish_Praha]

I reckon 21 points or 22 will guarantee us at leat a playof if not top the group..... Cyprus 6 points, Georgia 6 points, Montenegro 4 points, Bulgaria 4 points, Italy 2 Points....

Looks good on (virtual) paper and is probably achievable is we play to our potential but I would expect us to slip up somewhere. Lets hope it's only againt Italy and not one of the other teams.

[Claret Murph]

Look Praha that's what's wrong with us as we are always thinking about second best , now stuff that from what I have seen so far we could win the the group and let the others fight it out for second place . I am very sure Trapp is in the same mind set as I am on this issue .........

[noddy102]

Look Praha that's what's wrong with us as we are always thinking about second best , now stuff that from what I have seen so far we could win the the group and let the others fight it out for second place . I am very sure Trapp is in the same mind set as I am on this issue .........

Hear Hear.
Trap has renewed confidence in the player's and supporter's minds. If we beat Cyprus on Wednesday, and beat them well, then we can push on from that result and be mentally prepared for the huge games in the Spring time.
On our day, we can beat anybody and Italy are by no means unbeatable (having only seen them in the Cyrpus game).

Alas, perhaps the overall approach that Trap adopts, which has been great for the team so far, will stunt our chances of finishing first. Had he shown a bit more risk and gone with some (attacking) substitutions against Montenegro, we could have been sitting nicely on nine points by Wednesday.

Still, I'm confident of our chances and am really looking forward to Wednesday, and really I have nothing to be critical about.

[stickyjoe]

Our group has 6 teams, some of the other groups like Scotlands only have 5 teams. Whoever does come second in our group will have to have their results against one team taken out of their points calculation. Is it the results against the 6th seeds team(montenegro) that are not counted or is it the matches against the team that finishes bottom that are not counted.

[kingdomkerry]

Hear Hear.
Trap has renewed confidence in the player's and supporter's minds. If we beat Cyprus on Wednesday, and beat them well, then we can push on from that result and be mentally prepared for the huge games in the Spring time.
On our day, we can beat anybody and Italy are by no means unbeatable (having only seen them in the Cyrpus game).

Alas, perhaps the overall approach that Trap adopts, which has been great for the team so far, will stunt our chances of finishing first. Had he shown a bit more risk and gone with some (attacking) substitutions against Montenegro, we could have been sitting nicely on nine points by Wednesday.

Still, I'm confident of our chances and am really looking forward to Wednesday, and really I have nothing to be critical about.

And we could of lost one nil also. Trap is a genius. If I had his experience I might think about criticising him.

[0325422]

Agreed!!!!

[Drumcondra 69er]

Our group has 6 teams, some of the other groups like Scotlands only have 5 teams. Whoever does come second in our group will have to have their results against one team taken out of their points calculation. Is it the results against the 6th seeds team(montenegro) that are not counted or is it the matches against the team that finishes bottom that are not counted.

Results against the bottom team as far as I know.

Excellent results last night, push on on Wed and we can put ourselves in a great position....

[shakermaker1982]

Results against the bottom team as far as I know.

Excellent results last night, push on on Wed and we can put ourselves in a great position....

correct. I'm guessing it would be Georgia in our case.

First is what we should aim for. If we aim for wins at home against the Bulgarians and Italians (instead of draws), turn Croke Park into a fortress and defend solidly away from home then we have a chance.

[irishultra]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28UEFA%29#Ranki ng_of_second-placed_teams


We would want Montenegro to be in 6th position.

[B1977]

Once we play Italy we ll get a better idea of how the team is doing and whether we can finish top of this group,If our tactics are right and Italy arent great, we could atleast draw with them in the 2 games.Well know ourselves if we are good to qualify.

[noddy102]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%28UEFA%29#Ranki ng_of_second-placed_teams


We would want Montenegro to be in 6th position.


Good point!

[NeilMcD]

It is too early to look at that table in Wikipedia. It has us as having played one game as our game against Georiga does not count. It is too early to say that we want Montenegro to finish bottom. I do not think our group will contain the team who does not go to a play off.

[Littlest Hobo]

its always nice and easy to tally up points, that look acheivable...on paper. We all do at the beginning of every qualifying group, only to be disappointed at the end when we amass ten points less than our intial predictions.
This time, I'm going to sit on the fence and see how far trap takes us...
I have a good feeling about him and what he is trying to do...but not assured yet that we have the quality and strength to compete with and overtake bulgaria/italy. lets see what wednesday brings :ball:

[mypost]

Alas, perhaps the overall approach that Trap adopts, which has been great for the team so far, will stunt our chances of finishing first. Had he shown a bit more risk and gone with some (attacking) substitutions against Montenegro, we could have been sitting nicely on nine points by Wednesday.

If we want to blame someone for not winning, the blame falls at the feet of one man:

Aidan McGeady :o

Let's hope Keane can get some shooting practice against the holiday resort on Wednesday. Win the next two home games, and we go into the game with the Bulgars in March joint top of the group. :)

[theworm2345]

The "points against last place team dont count" rule was used in Africa this time around and some teams got screwed by it. For example, if you have the misfortune of continually playing the last place team it is much harder to amass points (as the last place teams changes by the game).

I'm not 100% sure of this, it may just be whoever finishes last, but I think they did it the other way in Africa (still not sure). The point is, win the group :)

EDIT: After reviewing the African results, maybe it is the team to finish in last, the other way would be too complicated anyway

[gspain]

I was rooting for a Georgia win over Cyprus on saturday as it will suit us if Georgia are not bottom. I reckon they will finsih bottom though.

Any win on wednesday is a very good result. Cyprus are an improvong team

It is still far too early to try and call this. Ideally you need a runaway winner and then you need a lot of draws in a group other than ours.

[holidaysong]

The "points against last place team dont count" rule was used in Africa this time around and some teams got screwed by it. For example, if you have the misfortune of continually playing the last place team it is much harder to amass points (as the last place teams changes by the game).

I'm not 100% sure of this, it may just be whoever finishes last, but I think they did it the other way in Africa (still not sure). The point is, win the group :)

EDIT: After reviewing the African results, maybe it is the team to finish in last, the other way would be too complicated anyway

It is only the results against the team finishes bottom of the group (in the 8 groups with 6 teams) that don't count.

It'd therefore be good for us if Montenegro finished bottom as we've dropped points to them. Assuming everyone else beats them twice, we would in effect get these points back!

[NeilMcD]

[QUOTE=gspain;1038738]I was rooting for a Georgia win over Cyprus on saturday as it will suit us if Georgia are not bottom. I reckon they will finsih bottom though.

Any win on wednesday is a very good result. Cyprus are an improvong team

It is still far too early to try and call this. Ideally you need a runaway winner and then you need a lot of draws in a group other than ours.[/QUOTE

I think the Scotland group will be like that Macedonia and Norway and Scotland are very close.

[Irish_Praha]

Look Praha that's what's wrong with us as we are always thinking about second best , now stuff that from what I have seen so far we could win the the group and let the others fight it out for second place . I am very sure Trapp is in the same mind set as I am on this issue .........

Calm down lads I wasn't saying that we should be aiming for second I was just pointing out that with the way a few other groups are panning out it looks like a playoff spot will be up for grabs in our group, should we happen to get second place.

[mypost]

Our aim is to go and win the group. This time next year, a win at home to Montenegro could be all we need. :)

[OwlsFan]

I reckon 21 points or 22 will guarantee us at leat a playof if not top the group..... Cyprus 6 points, Georgia 6 points, Montenegro 4 points, Bulgaria 4 points, Italy 2 Points....

:eek: Unbeaten in all games and you're looking at only second place? I'd be over the moon if we came any place close to those results and I'd expect us to win the group. 3 hardest away games still to come and you have us picking up 5 points in those. I admire your optimism.