Euro 2012 - Fixtures Meeting [Archive]

Paulie

18/02/2010, 1:06 PM

Seems the Russians have pulled rank!! Fixtures meeting for Euro 2012 to be held in Moscow March 16th!!!

Have you got a source on this? I only ask because it was posted on ybig that the meeting was due to take place this Saturday, but that it wasn't as yet an absolute definite. Out of curiosity I rang the FAI this morning and they confirmed this to be the case.

Greenforever

18/02/2010, 2:34 PM

I posted the info on YBIG, which now appears to be wrong even though confirmed by receptionist in the FAI.

It looks like the meeting is now Mar 16th in Moscow.

THe same girl in the FAI that yesterday said it was confirmed for Sat now claims she doesnt know anything. (maybe Manuel from Barcelona's sister)http://www.ybig.ie/forum/smileys/smiley2.gif

If the Russians and Slovaks cant even agree on a poxy meeting, the fixtures could take ages to sort out! Complete pain in the ass

Girl in Green

18/02/2010, 3:34 PM

I never reveal my sources..........lets just say I have good contacts!!!!!!!!

Paulie

18/02/2010, 3:36 PM

Fair enough. March the 16th it is then.

Kingdom

18/02/2010, 4:03 PM

If the Russians and Slovaks cant even agree on a poxy meeting, the fixtures could take ages to sort out! Complete pain in the ass

Which could be good for the FAI, given that we're not stuck in the same gash position we've been in for a while with regard to needing to play at home on specific dates.

There is more room to manoeuver now, which could be a blessing. Also the dates that are available, plus the type of opposition means you could put a run of away games together without it being defeatist.
I think this could be our time, in terms of getting a good fixture list, and a good group. I'm so bloody excited.:)

SUB of the day

18/02/2010, 5:14 PM

Its always the top seeds get to host the fixtures meeting afaik.

Think the last one was in Sofia, I also remember one in Dublin, and we were never top seeds....were we?

Schumi

18/02/2010, 5:21 PM

I also remember one in Dublin, and we were never top seeds....were we?

We were top seeds the time we had Russia and Switzerland in our group. Didn't do us much good though!

gspain

19/02/2010, 9:15 AM

IIRC we were also top seeds for Euro96 and for France98. Again it didn't do us much good.

elroy

19/02/2010, 1:21 PM

IIRC we were also top seeds for Euro96 and for France98. Again it didn't do us much good.

Top seeds indeed for Euro 1996, however Portugal beat us to top spot and we know what happened in the play off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_1996_qualifying#Seedings

I think Romania were the first seeds in our group for 1998. Same result though, second in group followed by playoff disaster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_(UEFA)#Qualficat ion_seeding_.28UEFA.29

mypost

19/02/2010, 1:35 PM

Seems the Russians have pulled rank!! Fixtures meeting for Euro 2012 to be held in Moscow March 16th!!!

That's the Russians showing how awkward they're going to be in this group. On and off the pitch. Scotland got theirs sorted out already.

What I'd like:

September 2010:
Russia (a)

October 2010:
Slovakia (h)
Armenia (h)

March 2011:
Armenia (a)
Macedonia (h)

June 2011:
Macedonia (a)

September 2011:
Slovakia (a)
Andorra (a)

October 2011:
Russia (h)
Andorra (h)

Being Realistic

Russia (h)
Andorra (h)
Slovakia (a)
Macedonia (h)
Armenia (a)
Armenia (h)
Andorra (a)
Russia (a)
Slovakia (h)
Macedonia (a)

i.e. Pretty rough.

SuperDave

19/02/2010, 1:35 PM

As long as Slovakia and Macedonia away games are in the same week, i don't care! Direct trains from Bratislava to Skopje (even though the game may not be in Bratislava). Russia and Armenia in the same week would also be good. Loads of direct flights between the two which should make it easier for fans to travel to the two games. Plus, having those two together should reduce possible jet lag effect on players. Not quite the Czech Republic / Slovakia ease of a couple of years ago but even if one of these double headers came to pass, it would be good for us. As long as we don't have Andorra away the same week as another, I'll be happy. I think the following should be priorities:

1) Home at the end
2) 2 of the first 3 games at home
3) Andorra away immediately after a tough home game (Russia or Slovakia)
4) Armenia and Russia to be away games in the same week
5) Slovakia and Macedonia to be away in the same week

Ideal scenario would be as follows:

Russia (h)
Andorra (a)
Macedonia (h)
Armenia (h)
Armenia (a)
Russia (a)
Andorra (h)
Slovakia (a)
Macedonia (a)
Slovakia (h)

or something like that

Serb

19/02/2010, 1:37 PM

I definitely think ending with as many home matches as possible (2 most likey) would be a good outcome for us. It would suck to have to head off to Russia or Macedonia in the closing games.

Kingdom

19/02/2010, 2:30 PM

At the end of the day, the important factor is that the FAI get the best draw for the team, not the fans. Sure it would be great for the fans to have Moscow on the Friday followed by Yerevan on the Tuesday, for convenience, but I just don't believe the team would react well to it.

I'm pretty sure Macedonia in Skopje in June is right up there with Moscow in October for mind-numingly stupid requests!
When you look at the games singularily, the three awkward ones are Skopje, Moscow, and Russia at home. Getting those played at the right time of the year, and with favourable follow up fixtures or even individually will be crucial.

The other games should hold no worries to us with all due respect, not that I'm saying we'll coast them, but any combination of Slovakia, Andorra, Armenia and Macedonia (Home) wouldn't bother me. Slovakia sure are a competent team, but Bratislava is a doddle to get to for the squad, and we're more than a match for them. Armenia away will probably be the hardest place to get to, and maybe quite hostile, but I believe we'll beat them over there regardless.

There was a template knocking around last season with potential dates. If we've the same scenario where there is a standalone February date, I'd be looking for us to utilise it with a home date against one of the lessers, in order to free up a date later on (instead of a double header) or to skip a game in June.

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 3:09 PM

My ideal fixture list:

Tues 7th Sep Russia Away

Fri 8th Oct Macedonia Away
Tues 12th Oct Slovakia Home

Weds 17th Nov Andora Home

Weds 9th Feb Andora Away

Tues 29th Mar Russia Home

Tues 7th June Armenia Home

Tues 6th Sep Armenia Away

Fri 7th Oct Slovakia Away
Tues 11th Oct Macedonia Home

The Nov and Feb dates are allocated for friendlies and would only require clubs to release players 3 days ahead instead of the 5 for a official qualifier date.

Playing Andora home and away on these dates would reduce the number of double headers.

I wouls seek to play Russia each time as a stand alone fixture on the tuesday keeping the players as fresh as possible.

No Macedonia away in Summer, like no Russia / Armenia away in height of winter.

No double headers away.

Not a very likely fixture list but one I think would be a dream for the team.

mypost

19/02/2010, 3:48 PM

No Macedonia away in Summer, like no Russia / Armenia away in height of winter.

No double headers away.

Not a very likely fixture list but one I think would be a dream for the team.

We're not going to be playing in the depths of winter, so that's one thing taken care of. I love the June games, and don't understand why so many are opposed to them. Do you not want us to play in the finals cause they're in June? We went to Bulgaria last June in 35c heat, and held our own.

Hate this "home-away-home-away" obsession. That's the Kerr approach, which led to a 4th place finish. It's largely impractical, given the calendar we have these days.

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 4:08 PM

We're not going to be playing in the depths of winter, so that's one thing taken care of. I love the June games, and don't understand why so many are opposed to them. Do you not want us to play in the finals cause they're in June? We went to Bulgaria last June in 35c heat, and held our own.

Hate this "home-away-home-away" obsession. That's the Kerr approach, which led to a 4th place finish. It's largely impractical, given the calendar we have these days.

We got a draw, we wanted a win.

Why would you agree to give your opponents an advantage like that if you can avoid it????

Surely if you are a real fan you would put the teams best interest ahead of when you want a sun holiday???

My favoured fixture list isnt a simpe home, away, home, away, howver to say it's largely impractical is a strange statement, do you mean impractical for travelling fans????

mypost

19/02/2010, 4:14 PM

A draw in Bulgaria was a great result, first ever point there, when we went there before in pising rain and lost the lot.

Nothing to do with holidays, it's good to get as many of the away games over with asap, and if we're going to play in Polish/Ukraine heat, we may as well play in heat the year before. What exactly are we afraid of?

Getting the away games over with asap, is why I'm also in favour of double header aways.

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 4:25 PM

A draw in Bulgaria was a great result, first ever point there, when we went there before in ****ing rain and lost the lot.

Nothing to do with my wants, it's good to get as many of the away games over with asap, and if we're going to play in Polish/Ukraine heat, we may as well play in heat the year before.

Getting the away games over with asap, is why I'm also in favour of double header aways.

A great result but not a result good enough to win the group, Bulgaria were a very poor team.

Saying it was our first ever point in Sofia doesnt carry any weight, i mean when was the last time we played Bulgaria in a qualifier?? 20 yrs ago, not comparing like with like really are we.

Would you not agree with playing Andora on the dates suggested to free up dates and do awway with the need for double headers.

Most people would look at trying to mis up the fixtures so as to keep points rolling up while spreading out the top seed matches so as to stay in touch at all times with the group leaders unless of course we are leading the group. All managers will tell you they would prefer to have the points than matches in hand!

Would you prefer to start off with 4 away games Russia and Armenia in Sep followed by Macedonia and Slovakia in Oct, get them over and done with and praye that we are noit out of it before a home game??

mypost

19/02/2010, 4:31 PM

A great result but not a result good enough to win the group, Bulgaria were a very poor team.

Would you not agree with playing Andora on the dates suggested to free up dates and do awway with the need for double headers.

Would you prefer to start off with 4 away games Russia and Armenia in Sep followed by Macedonia and Slovakia in Oct, get them over and done with and praye that we are noit out of it before a home game??

Can't play Andorra on your dates suggested, as they are unavailable for qualifiers. There's 12 dates available for 10 games, so there's little room for preference dates.

We went to Bulgaria looking for a point, and got it. We went to Cyprus in extreme weather and won. There's nothing to be afraid of. As I've said before, if we want to play in the finals, we're going to have to play in heat, so we'll have to cope with it and get results, which we've shown we can get if needs be.

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 4:39 PM

Can't play Andorra on your dates suggested, as they are unavailable for qualifiers.

We went to Bulgaria looking for a point, and got it. We went to Cyprus in extreme weather and won. There's nothing to be afraid of. As I've said before, if we want to play in the finals, we're going to have to play in heat, so we'll have to cope with it and get results, which we've shown we can get if needs be.

You are wrong re not being able to play on those dates, as I previously posted clubs only have to release players 3 days before these match dates rather than the usual 5.

I dont remember the heat being that extreme in Cyprus last year.

You dont answer any of my questions, and saying we went for a point is not correct, we went looking for a win but had to settle for a point.

mypost

19/02/2010, 4:48 PM

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 4:53 PM

We went to Cyprus in 38c. Wasn't that hot at ko time, but it wasn't much cooler.

We did go for a point in Bulgaria, as you could see when we barely got out of our half for the second half. We were happy to keep the point and preserve second spot, and everyone went home happy with our first point ever from Sofia. Italy didn't even win there in the group.

So you accept we can play on those dates in Nov and Feb

We didnt play well enough to beat Bulgaria, and I would say we accepted a point rather than went home happy, personally most people i was with at the game felt we lost a great chance to make up 2 points on Italy.

It was a hell of a lot cooler than 38c at kick off time against Cyprus and we played them in Sep not June!!

mypost

19/02/2010, 5:06 PM

So you accept we can play on those dates in Nov and Feb

We didnt play well enough to beat Bulgaria, and I would say we accepted a point rather than went home happy, personally most people i was with at the game felt we lost a great chance to make up 2 points on Italy.

It was a hell of a lot cooler than 38c at kick off time against Cyprus and we played them in Sep not June!!

We played in Cyprus at the beginning of September, which is still the height of summer over there. We asked for a 9.30 ko to cope.

We finished well behind Italy as expected, but in Sofia we bought back the 2 points lost to Bulgaria here, and kept us well out of danger.

I'll accept your dates if you can link them, so far I haven't seen any evidence that they are available for qualifiers.

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 5:19 PM

We played in Cyprus at the beginning of September, which is still the height of summer over there. We asked for a 9.30 ko to cope.

We finished well behind Italy as expected, but in Sofia we bought back the 2 points lost to Bulgaria here, and kept us well out of danger.

I'll accept your dates if you can link them, so far I haven't seen any evidence that they are available for qualifiers.

http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/worldfootball/calendar&live/51/52/61/internationalmc-fifa-dates-2010-2014-updateseptember2009-e.pdf

Friendly dates can be used for qualifiers, you just cant insist on players being released 5 days in advance, 3 is the max.

Don't undersand we brought abck the 2 points lost????, had we won in Sofia we would have been going into the Italy match at Croker needing 2 wins to win the group.

We have no control over KO time for away games, so it is best to avoid the possibility of having to play in such conditions.

mypost

19/02/2010, 5:36 PM

Greenforever

19/02/2010, 5:45 PM

Our aim at the start of the group was to finish second, that's what we did. As we lost 2 points from the home game, we had to go to Sofia and get a result. The fans were delighted and the players were ecstatic with it. Most teams will play at night at any time of the year, so if we have to go to play in June, we'll cope if we have to. We'll have to do it in the finals as well if we get there.

There'll be a warm-up friendly just before it to help with the preparation. It's not a major concern.

You contradict yourself, IF we have to play in June we'll cope if we have to....but we dont have to so why take a risk

MOst countries play at night....they dont have to, Macedonia V Scotland and our last trip to Malta are 2 that spring to mind for afternoon kick offs.

I can assure you the players were not overly happy to only draw in Sofia, the fans stayed behind to celebrate as we were locked into the ground...not quite the same....of course if we are to only play for 2nd thats a different story

mypost

19/02/2010, 6:26 PM

You contradict yourself, IF we have to play in June we'll cope if we have to....but we dont have to so why take a risk

MOst countries play at night....they dont have to, Macedonia V Scotland and our last trip to Malta are 2 that spring to mind for afternoon kick offs.

I can assure you the players were not overly happy to only draw in Sofia, the fans stayed behind to celebrate as we were locked into the ground...not quite the same....of course if we are to only play for 2nd thats a different story

The players were ecstatic, they were congratulating each other as if they had qualified at the whistle, rather than got a point to keep the Bulgars away from second spot.

Macedonia - Scotland was an exception to the rule. Scotland lost that game not because of the heat, but because they were crap. They lost to a goalkeeping error iirc.

Last time in Malta was a 6.30 ko local time in 1999, under lights. 10 years before, they had to play us in the afternoon, as their stadium had no lights. No choice.

zenokelly

19/02/2010, 6:42 PM

Imo the most important thing is to avoid Macedonia away in June/Sept. The Scots were forced to play there at 3pm in september,and they're likely to go for that approach again. Realistically we would need to beat them to be in the shake up for top spot.

mypost

19/02/2010, 7:04 PM

And if we have to play in Poland/Ukraine at 3pm in June, will you prefer we withdraw from the tournament, and hand a more acclimatised team to compete instead?

To get there, we have to clear different hurdles. Time differences, plastic pitches, hostile crowds, etc, etc. We are unlikely to play any afternoon games, but if we have to, we'll be well prepared for it.

carloz

19/02/2010, 8:34 PM

We have a tendancy to be very hard to deal with when it comes to fixtures. I remember once the fixtures meeting nearly collapsed due to our demands. I hope we are the same here and the important thing is not to be bullied by Russia. Personally I hope we don't go for the usual Irish trick of playing the first seeds away first. Yes it worked once for Mick McCarthy but it has also failed for us. We might be able to get Slovakia on the hop in this meeting as I am quite sure they are focussing everything on the world cup and have not put much thought into this fixture meeting. Id actually like to get Macedonia and Armenia away games out of the way early enough. Very trickey venues and I feel it would be best to get them early in the group if at all possible. Under no circumstances should we accept Skopje as our last match after 1999 :(

elroy

19/02/2010, 10:15 PM

Yes, playing the bigger teams was something Mick McC favoured, worked for him when we played Croatia first in the 2000 campaign and obviously the 2002 campaign, not so much in 2004.

Id tend to agree with Johnny Giles when he says its important to amass a decent amount of points from your first few games. Better to have points on the board, even just from a psychological point of few, rather than playing catch up. Id like us to play Andorra, Armenia and either Slovakia or Russia in the first three games. Its a decent mix and we should be looking to take at least 7 points from the games. 9 if the Russia/Slovakia games was at home.

elroy

19/02/2010, 10:20 PM

Under no circumstances should we accept Skopje as our last match after 1999 :(

Looking back wasnt that the biggest fcuk up of a qualifying we have made in recent times. Going into the last min against Croatia in the second last game, we were more or less qualified and blew it. Then despite that set back and because Yug and Croatia drew in their final game, a win in Macedonia wouldve meant we topped the group. Again we had it all in place until the dying the mins........painful.

eaststand85

19/02/2010, 10:47 PM

mypost

20/02/2010, 12:06 AM

We have a tendancy to be very hard to deal with when it comes to fixtures. I remember once the fixtures meeting nearly collapsed due to our demands.

That was in the meeting here for Germany '06. Mainly down to Kerr's insistence on the home-away-home formula, and another anti-June fanatic. He eventually backed down on the June issue, and we got most of what we wanted.

Newryrep

20/02/2010, 2:14 PM

I would hope that the waste of space that is the Celtic cup will have no bearings on our date selection/available dates

Greenforever

20/02/2010, 3:24 PM

I would hope that the waste of space that is the Celtic cup will have no bearings on our date selection/available dates

When i posted my ideal dates, I forgot about this tournament.

If I remember right there is 1 match in Feb (friendly date in FIFA calender) and 2 in May. I still beil=eve we should use the Nov friendly date for one of the games against Andora, and possible the Aug 2011 friendly date for the return. I know there is no guarantee that Andora would play ball but that is what I would be hoping for if I was JD or Trap.

Dont know about the Celtic cup being a waste of space, the idea of 3 reasonable competitive games for introducing new players quite apeals to me, providing the standard substitution rules apply and the games dont end in farce with 6 or even more changes on either side. The one thing I dont overly like is spliting the dates between Feb and May, why not play all the matches in May over a week.

Crosby87

20/02/2010, 4:13 PM

[QUOTE=Greenforever;1323069

Dont know about the Celtic cup being a waste of space, the idea of 3 reasonable competitive games [/QUOTE]

And perhaps most importantly it creates revenue.

backstothewall

20/02/2010, 7:30 PM

I would like to get Russia away first up, followed by one of the Andorra games, then Macedonia away in the october round of games. I would also like to get the other Macedonia game out of the way long before the end of qualifying. After that i don't see that it makes a lot of difference.

finbarrk

20/02/2010, 10:39 PM

All the speculating here is similar to the thread that lads were speculating on who we would get in the actual draw.

mypost

21/02/2010, 1:24 AM

True, but at least with only 5 teams to discuss, we can be more accurate than when discussing 44 opponents.

Newryrep

21/02/2010, 1:16 PM

Dont know about the Celtic cup being a waste of space, the idea of 3 reasonable competitive games for introducing new players quite apeals to me, providing the standard substitution rules apply and the games dont end in farce with 6 or even more changes on either side. The one thing I dont overly like is spliting the dates between Feb and May, why not play all the matches in May over a week.

And perhaps most importantly it creates revenue.

From a football point of view i would of thought it would be more benfefical to play continental opposition. From a financial point of view I appreciate the need for revenue and the fact that we the fans will ultimately end up paying for it I would just rather the opposition was exotic for want of a better word. Also there is the possibility of things getting out of hand. Eg our northern bretheren and the Scots arent to enamoured with Macarthys decision to lay for us

Gather round

21/02/2010, 3:09 PM

I would hope that the waste of space that is the Celtic cup will have no bearings on our date selection/available dates

I expect the Euro qualifiers will be the priority, but the Celtic Cup might generate more interest than people are assuming. Even a mini-tournament is worth winning for teams who rarely qualify for bigger events, and I'm not convinced the 24 team finals will ever happen. Let's see how well South Africa and Ukraine/ Poland work out.

From a football point of view i would of thought it would be more benfefical to play continental opposition

If you assume competitive games are the priority (and the best means to assess your own and other teams' strengths), then aren't semi-competitive ties next, with (usually half-paced friendlies) bringing up the rear? Bosnia or Azerbaijan's fringe players aren't necessarily much of a guide to how Macedonia or Armenia will approach a qualifier.

I would just rather the opposition was exotic for want of a better word

Doesn't 'exotic' in international football nowadays just mean teams you haven't played for a while, rather than trips behind the impenetrable Iron Curtain? For example, we haven't played Scotland in competition since the Home Internationals ended in 1984. Whereas potentially we could be playing in Italy/ SMR three times in 18 months.

Also there is the possibility of things getting out of hand. Eg our northern bretheren and the Scots arent to enamoured with Macarthys decision to lay for us

We'll all have to play each other sometime, you could think of this as a dry run (similarly if an English team reaches the Europa final when it's at Lansdowne next year).

backstothewall

21/02/2010, 10:29 PM

Are we mature enough for this yet? When North plays south at Windsor there will be a lot of people getting tickets for the NI part of Windsor to support the south. Possibly me. I would obviously prefer to be in the proper end of the ground, but I'd sooner see it as not. If Robbie Keane belts one in from 30 yards and I jump up, will certain knuckle draggers be able to restrain themselves is my worry*

Suppose thats the big test

* BTW, not suggesting NI fans are knuckle draggers, just that there are more ROI fans in the north than Ni fans in the south, so likely to be more of a problem at Windsor

mypost

22/02/2010, 3:46 AM

Nedser

22/02/2010, 7:32 AM

You don't jump up, end of story. If you go to the game, you either go to the right end or keep quiet if you're not. It's not a rugby/GAA sit where you like environment.

Fully agree.

And before anyone asks if I have been in the wrong end at a game, yes I have, at a Rovers-Shels game in Tolka. And yes when we equalised in the last minute, I had to keep quiet or face a lynch mob. I chose the easiest option.

What? Why would you not have just gone to the Rovers section? :confused: It's not like Tolka would have been anywhere near full. And a lynch mob of Shels fans???

Most teams will play at night at any time of the year, so if we have to go to play in June, we'll cope if we have to. We'll have to do it in the finals as well if we get there.

Hardly fair to equate Armenia with Poland/Ukraine in terms of climate. Ave max temps in June (from Wikipedia):
Warsaw - 21
Kiev - 23
Moscow - 27
Skopje - 28
Yerevan - 31

And Macedonia have a track record of playing in the afternoon in hot weather (as they did v Scotland in the last campaign, and won).

You're right that we'll (probably) cope if we have to, but if we have the option of avoiding that scenario, we should take it. Also remember that June is early-mid season in Russia, and quite possibly in Armenia/Macedonia too, compared to end of season in Britain, where our entire squad play. For that reason too, June is not a good time to play those countries, especially away.

backstothewall

22/02/2010, 5:13 PM

You don't jump up, end of story. If you go to the game, you either go to the right end or keep quiet if you're not. It's not a rugby/GAA sit where you like environment.

And before anyone asks if I have been in the wrong end at a game, yes I have, at a Rovers-Shels game in Tolka. And yes when we equalised in the last minute, I had to keep quiet or face a lynch mob. I chose the easiest option.

I've been 3 rows from the back of the Stretford End, but I honestly never felt in much danger. I know what you mean, you don't start singing songs, but what worries me is you always get one or two who are pished.

mypost

22/02/2010, 11:16 PM

What? Why would you not have just gone to the Rovers section? :confused: It's not like Tolka would have been anywhere near full.

The Shels fans moved to the far goal for the second half, I didn't want to move from where I was. All the goals were scored in the second half. We came back from 2 goals down in the last 5 minutes.

Hardly fair to equate Armenia with Poland/Ukraine in terms of climate. Ave max temps in June (from Wikipedia):
Warsaw - 21
Kiev - 23
Moscow - 27
Skopje - 28
Yerevan - 31

Games will be at night anyway. Day or night, Central and Eastern Europe has the same climate from May to September. Hot, sticky, sunny, so there is not much difference between the cities and countries.

Macedonia have a track record of playing in the afternoon in hot weather (as they did v Scotland in the last campaign, and won).

You're right that we'll (probably) cope if we have to, but if we have the option of avoiding that scenario, we should take it. Also remember that June is early-mid season in Russia, and quite possibly in Armenia/Macedonia too, compared to end of season in Britain, where our entire squad play. For that reason too, June is not a good time to play those countries, especially away.

As said before, their game with Scotland was a fluke, could have been even for tv reasons. They play in winter. We should be able to beat Armenia any season of the year, while it will be warm in Russia whenever the game is on. Just something we'll have to cope with.

Nedser

23/02/2010, 1:37 AM

Games will be at night anyway. Day or night, Central and Eastern Europe has the same climate from May to September. Hot, sticky, sunny, so there is not much difference between the cities and countries.

So you're claiming that climate is uniform over the whole of Central and Eastern Europe over a 5 month period? Utterly bizarre. I'm guessing you didn't do geography for the leaving.

it will be warm in Russia whenever the game is on

No it won't, unless you're saying we can only play them in the summer? Outside of June-August, Moscow is colder on average than Dublin. In March, the average maximum is 2 degrees! In October it's 8. So it's more likely to be freezing than "warm".