How depressing is the seeding news?

[Crosby87]

So now that we know we will face a top club, like Germany, Croatia or France or the like, what are the chances we qualify? And how is it determined who plays home first?
Are the players going to be so up for it that the gap can be closed for two games? Or if we played Germany would they be intimidated and likely to not play their best?

[DeLorean]

We have to finish 2nd before we can even think about beating a top "club":D

[zenokelly]

So now that we know we will face a top club, like Germany, Croatia or France or the like, what are the chances we qualify? And how is it determined who plays home first?
Are the players going to be so up for it that the gap can be closed for two games? Or if we played Germany would they be intimidated and likely to not play their best?

Any links to this depressing news?

[seanfhear]

So now that we know we will face a top club, like Germany, Croatia or France or the like, what are the chances we qualify? And how is it determined who plays home first?
Are the players going to be so up for it that the gap can be closed for two games? Or if we played Germany would they be intimidated and likely to not play their best?
Is there any chance that we could get United for a glamour tie:)

[tetsujin1979]

no details of the draw have been announced, there's only one story on eleven-a-side.com that even mentions it

Can we get the thread locked until there is something official?

[Uncle_Joe]

All that has happened is that uefa have decided to implement their coefficient system for uefa 2012.

http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefa/KeyTopics/69/80/93/698093_DOWNLOAD.pdf
thats the only official document i can find about the coefficient.

Seeding is based on
2010 world cup qualifiers (40%),
2008 Euro qualifier & tournament (40%)
2006 world Cup Qualifiers & tournament (20%),

Basically results for 2010 & 2008 are worth twice that of 2006 results

Now If anyone has a calculator and a spare weekend they can work out what pot we will be in.

[tricky_colour]

I can donate an online calcualtor :)

[stevieontour]

How can a competition get this far and only now we find this out??

This is sick.

[seanfhear]

How can a competition get this far and only now we find this out??

This is sick.
Are Fianna Fáil running FIFA.

[geysir]

Where exactly can the source of alleged seeding news be found?

[Colbert Report]

I'd like to know the source as well. Not that I don't trust elevenaside.com, but I can't find it on soccernet or skysports.

[Stuttgart88]

I think Tets posted that a guy was on newstalk saying that it'd be seeded. So rather than crosby responding along the lines of "that'd be depressing if true" he starts a new thread getting people all alarmed.

We all know it won't be seeded but that the big teams will be drawn against the small teams.

Luckily for FIFA there are probably only 3 teams they'll need to keep apart making it far easier to disguise it when the draw is fixed. I doubt they'll be so crass as to make sure they all get drawn away first.

[Schumi]

So now that we know we will face a top club, like Germany, Croatia or France or the like, Bayern or Bordeaux would be tough but I think we'd have a good chance against Dynamo Zagreb.

No link to this news that I can find anyway.

[tiktok]

Are Fianna Fáil running FIFA.

Where did you think FIannaFAil got the name?
Disappointing that they seem to be pulling it out of the hats now in an attempt to get Platini's team a soft draw!

[carloz]

How can a competition get this far and only now we find this out??

This is sick.

Thats what angers me so much. if FIFA announced this before the qualifiers then it would be fine, but doing it now is so so wrong. An obvious and callous attempt to assiste Germany, France or Russia. As i said, if this was mentioned at the start of the qualifiers i would have been for it, as for example, a team in second that finished on 22 points deserve to play another second team that finished on about 15 points. But it grossly unfair bringing it in little over a month before the playoffs. It surprises me in no way though, it is FIFA after all

[Drumcondra 69er]

Lads, waity until there's an official announcement, there's nothing anywhere yet online bar elevenaside so let's not jump the gun.

[Drumcondra 69er]

I think Tets posted that a guy was on newstalk saying that it'd be seeded. So rather than crosby responding along the lines of "that'd be depressing if true" he starts a new thread getting people all alarmed.

We all know it won't be seeded but that the big teams will be drawn against the small teams.

Luckily for FIFA there are probably only 3 teams they'll need to keep apart making it far easier to disguise it when the draw is fixed. I doubt they'll be so crass as to make sure they all get drawn away first.

Didn't stop UEFA in 1999.....

[DeLorean]

For the 2006 WC they seeded the playoffs. The seeding was based on the FIFA World Rankings from September 2005, ie. the start of the qualification process. This wouldn't serve us too well I'd imagine.

[Uncle_Joe]

This confirms that the teams are seeded according to the UEFA national team rankings. Posted on Uefa on 20th Sept 2010

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro2012/news/newsid=887067.html

and here is how Uefa ranks teams.

http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/uefa/KeyTopics/69/80/93/698093_DOWNLOAD.pdf

they brought this in on May 2008, so 2012 would be the first tournament that this has been used.

[Schumi]

That's how they seed teams for making up the qualifying groups. I didn't see anything there about how the play offs would be done.

[Uncle_Joe]

wow. I could have run with that for months. Cheers Schumi:o

[OneForTheFuture]

Tis in the Star today about the liklyhood of this happening to ensure the powerful nations travel to SA

[galwayjames]

I think we would have a good chance against Germany. In our worst qualifying campaign for 20 years, we drew & only lost 1-0 to Germany. We've got better & Germany have got worse. I think we would lose to Portugal, but I think we could have a chance with france. Until it's confirmed though I hope we get an easy draw.

[shakermaker1982]

I opened this thread fearing the worst. They won't announce anything until they see how Germany fares in Russia and whether the tanned Ronaldo and his buddies will be needing a nice play off draw.

[Murfinator]

Germany won't be in the play-offs for a start, they've been top and gone unbeaten all campaign, don't see that changing.

France and Portugal are in dire form, there's no reason we should fear them because of reputation.

[irishbaz]

To be honest I think its a disgrace we have fantastic support and have fought to finish in second place this should be an even playiing field full stop as everyone is second are there on there merits you just cant announce that now it is an absolute joke in my opinion!! Making sure the so called bigger teams qualify is a cop out if they were that good they would finish first its a discrimiantory approach. Well done UEFA a bunch of clowns

[Lenny82]

Still no concrete evidence of this. There is no way they could do it at this late stage. They will just fix the draw instead so hopefully, we beat France, Slovenia beat Portugal and Latvia beat Germany and sicken the cheating f*ckers!!!

[philliyk]

Since some fans have put this on the internet without official confirmation(not that i'm not saying it won't be forecoming) but since drawing with Bulgaria back in March why is no-one asking why no one from the FAI have lobbyed FIFA or UEFA for a definate decision as it was always on the cards we would finish second if we failed to win all remaining games after that match?? As a member of the organisation's(UEFA+FIFA) you would think they would at least enquire & publish an answer for the fans - i'll bet if it was the english or italians in Eire's position(possibly being in a 2nd pot) they would have a definate answer long ago

[geysir]

To be honest I think its a disgrace we have fantastic support and have fought to finish in second place this should be an even playiing field full stop as everyone is second are there on there merits you just cant announce that now it is an absolute joke in my opinion!! Making sure the so called bigger teams qualify is a cop out if they were that good they would finish first its a discrimiantory approach. Well done UEFA a bunch of clowns
I think it a disgrace too but I never go to the bother of reading a thread, never question what's written in a post, never try to understand the relevance of what's written in a post, never look for a supporting link to the main story and always believe any old nonsense, what's your excuse?

[Qwerty]

The evil crony Sepp Blatter strikes again.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/29/world-cup-play-offs-seeded-sepp-blatter

"We have decided on seeding the teams into two groups of four, taking the Fifa world rankings into account, with the top four in one pot and the others in another pot," Blatter said. "There will be a separate draw to decide home and away," he added of the two-leg ties to determine four European places at the 2010 finals in South Africa.



I'm going to vote no to Lisbon, it doesn't make sense but I'll feel better :mad:

[Colbert Report]

the procedure for the draw of the play-offs in the European zone, scheduled on 19 October in Zurich, was approved. Teams will be seeded on the basis of the next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which will be published on 16 October. A draw will also be conducted to determine the home teams for the first legs

[Noelys Guitar]

Disgraceful making a decision like that now. I always feel this impacts referees decisions as well. **** them. I don't care who we get anyway as I feel we are better suited against a team that will attack us.

[MeathDrog]

Needless to say, but this should have been clarified well before the Group started.

FIFA will always suit themselves, and never have the real interests of football at heart. Whatever decision or method they use, it's just to make sure that the teams they want to go to SA do so as smoothly as possible.


FIFA/UEFA - Full of sh*t.

[irishfan86]

Needless to say, but this should have been clarified well before the Group started.

FIFA will always suit themselves, and never have the real interests of football at heart. Whatever decision or method they use, it's just to make sure that the teams they want to go to SA do so as smoothly as possible.


FIFA/UEFA - Full of sh*t.

What exactly are "the real interests of football?" Some would say having the best teams at the major tournaments is in the best interests.

If we can't beat another second placed team, regardless of their reputation, we don't deserve to be in South Africa.

[NeilMcD]

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/media/newsid=1109930.html#key+decisions+reached+rio

[EastTerracer]

FIFA did announce the seeding plan at their executive meeting in Rio today.

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/media/newsid=1109930.html

However, depending on how the groups finish up there might still be a slim chance that we might be one of the four seeded teams.

Sweden, Latvia, Slovenia, Bosnia are all still in the running for 2nd place and we are currently ranked above all of these teams. Two wins could be very important to us as it would improve our ranking and maybe sneak us into one of the top 4 seeds.

However, with Portugal, Czech Rep, Turkey and Greece also in the running for those groups we could also be well down the list. Of the current 2nd place teams Greece would be seeded at the moment along with Russia, Croatia and France.

[irishultra]

I think we would have a good chance against Germany. In our worst qualifying campaign for 20 years, we drew & only lost 1-0 to Germany. We've got better & Germany have got worse. I think we would lose to Portugal, but I think we could have a chance with france. Until it's confirmed though I hope we get an easy draw.

bit of a cliché. the german team is getting good. its starting to look like they might have a few proper individually talented youngsters. maby the best individuals they have had for years.

[Montenegrin]

I'm going to vote no to Lisbon, it doesn't make sense but I'll feel better :mad:



Please vote yes:( :o.

[boysingreen]

I'm going to vote for Ireland.. for the win!!

[shakermaker1982]

Gutted. It should have been an open draw. One of the big guns it is then.

[Reality Bites]

I think a team containing Whelan, Kilbane etc cannot expect to beat one of the top four - Portugal, France, Russia or Germany, a draw at home and honourable defeat away is my prediction...I think these seedings are the Final Nail in our coffin.

[Hibs4Ever]

Don't understand why people are rating France & Portugal so highly. Both are struggling in average groups now. IMO France would be a very good draw

[ifk101]

Don't understand why people are rating France & Portugal so highly. Both are struggling in average groups now. IMO France would be a very good draw

Totally agree. France make very poor use of the players they have, Portugal continue to have problems scoring goals.

[eaststand85]

If the draw was made today (based on the current top eight teams in the second place table and FIFA rankings) we'd play Greece which I'd definitely take.

Russia (6) v Slovenia (54)
Croatia (9) v Bosnia & Herzegovina (46)
France (10) v Norway (43)
Greece (12) v Ireland (38)

(Current FIFA Ranking in brackets.)

[Drumcondra 69er]

If the draw was made today (based on the current top eight teams in the second place table and FIFA rankings) we'd play Greece which I'd definitely take.

Russia (6) v Slovenia (54)
Croatia (9) v Bosnia & Herzegovina (46)
France (10) v Norway (43)
Greece (12) v Ireland (38)

(Current FIFA Ranking in brackets.)

I don't think it works like that, there'll be a draw made with 4 teams in one pot and 4 in another and then a second draw to determine home and away legs will take place. It's not a case of just bottom ranked team plays top and so on.

Disgraceful decision by FIFA but not in the least bit surprising.

We tend to struggle against weaker teams anyway, bring it on if we get second. Had a terrible dream last night that we got beaten 1-0 by Montenegro and missed out on 2nd, think it was down to watching that Montenegrin lad destroy Liverpool last night! Mind you Dunne had got injured so Gary Breen had been recalled and was at fault for the goal so it wasn't exactly realistic!

[eaststand85]

Apologies, you're right. Just re read the article:

"We have decided on seeding the teams into two groups of four, taking the Fifa world rankings into account, with the top four in one pot and the others in another pot," Blatter said. "There will be a separate draw to decide home and away," he added of the two-leg ties to determine four European places at the 2010 finals in South Africa.

Even more annoyed now as there's no benefit in being 5th seed as opposed to 8th (although I know this may all change).

[Lenny82]

FIFA are definitely like Fianna Fail. Look after their friends and sh*t on the little people.

People are saying that France and Portugal are not performing well of late but with the calibre of players available to them, they can always pull a win out of the bag. Wouldn't mind playing Croatia or Greece out of the current top 4 2nd placed teams.

[ArdeeBhoy]

FIFA did announce the seeding plan at their executive meeting in Rio today.

http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/federation/bodies/media/newsid=1109930.html

However, depending on how the groups finish up there might still be a slim chance that we might be one of the four seeded teams.

Sweden, Latvia, Slovenia, Bosnia are all still in the running for 2nd place and we are currently ranked above all of these teams. Two wins could be very important to us as it would improve our ranking and maybe sneak us into one of the top 4 seeds.

However, with Portugal, Czech Rep, Turkey and Greece also in the running for those groups we could also be well down the list. Of the current 2nd place teams Greece would be seeded at the moment along with Russia, Croatia and France.

Let's hope the bottom 7 mess-up in their remaining games and we get 4 points to put us in the strongest possible position.

Anyway, this is Ireland. We don't do things the easy way....

[Leeside Swagger]

Depressing news indeed, on a slightly brighter note newstalk are reporting that if we do get to South Africa we'll be in pot number 2 for the group draw.

[elroy]

This is a complete joke and there is no way FIFA can justify this, the FAI and others really should be making more of a song and dance about this. If anything the seeding should be based on the number of points accumulated in each respective group. Even still that wouldnt be necessarily fair, an open draw is the only thing that makes sense. I'd take Greece, France and Croatia above Russia anyday.