No Agreement reach at Irelands Euro2012 fixtures meeting

[SkStu]

for a random draw it couldnt really have worked out much better. Only major problem i see is Russia away 4 days after Slovakia at home. There'll be some tired legs after that flight.

[Colbert Report]

I don't like the Russia/Slovakia double headers. I'd rather have two home matches against them and then two away matches against them. Stu is right, tired legs after a long flight.

I'm not impressed with the Friday/Tuesday thing. I'll have to take extra afternoons off work to watch them as I'm seven hours behind Dublin.

Russia home on October 8 2010 is the most important fixture. Three points would sure be nice there.

NO reason we can't win this group. We're better than we think. I don't see Trap making major changes to the squad, bar Kilbane retiring I can see us starting and finishing the qualifiers with this team:

Given
O'Shea-Dunne-St. Ledger-Kilbane
Lawrence-Whelan-Andrews(more than likely McCarthy though)-Duff
Keane-Doyle

hopefully some young players like Coleman can make the breakthrough, allowing St. Ledger to make way for O'Shea should he ever recover from injury.

[pineapple stu]

I don't like the Russia/Slovakia double headers. I'd rather have two home matches against them and then two away matches against them. Stu is right, tired legs after a long flight.
They're professional footballers. Fly out Saturday morning, light training session Saturday evening maybe, then full training Sunday and Monday. I always think the "the players will be tired after five hours sitting on a plane" excuse is over-stated. In practical terms, there's no difference between that and five hours on a coach going from Liverpool to London (or wherever five hours takes you).

[SkStu]

They're professional footballers. Fly out Saturday morning, light training session Saturday evening maybe, then full training Sunday and Monday. I always think the "the players will be tired after five hours sitting on a plane" excuse is over-stated. In practical terms, there's no difference between that and five hours on a coach going from Liverpool to London (or wherever five hours takes you).

yeah but they'll have a full blooded game on the Friday night followed by a long flight to Russia on the Saturday morning - i wouldnt fancy it myself. Long haul flights do take quite a bit out of the body and mind. Not saying that it should necessarily affect their performance a few days later, just that it is not ideal.

[pineapple stu]

Four hours isn't a long flight time.

And they'll be well used to playing two games in a week from club football (often involving four hours plus of travel, particularly if they're playing in European competition).

[SkStu]

okay then, you obviously think its an ideal draw and those fixtures couldnt be better. Grand so, argument over.

[mypost]

That would be October for us, so it would still be under lights. I never want to see a competitive match during the day in Ireland again. We just can't do them.

Us and Russia are home on the last day. Though we can't rely on Andorra doing us a favour there, so we could get a 5-6pm ko here, if as likely the group is still open.

[pineapple stu]

okay then, you obviously think its an ideal draw and those fixtures couldnt be better. Grand so, argument over.
Where did I say that?

[elroy]

No way will Kilbane be retiring before this campaign, the guy is 33, has another year or two of professional football left. Plus his dedication to the cause knows no end.

I think the Russia home game will set the tone for the campaign. After the last campaign and considering how reasonable our draw is, we really need to be aiming for top spot this time. Therefore, I think 9 points from the first 3 games is a MUST. If we managed that, there is a good chance, we would be in the region of 3-4 points ahead of both Russia and Slovakia after only 3 games played.

Off the pitch for a second, Im sure the FAI are probably quite happy to play home games on a friday night, it probably works well for them from an attractive time for a corporate point of view. However, from a fan perspective, particularly travelling to away games, its not so good, will mean an extra day off work in most cases.

[SkStu]

Where did I say that?

by arguing against the point that i made - that the fixtures in Sept. 2011 werent ideal due to the distance to be travelled between our home game and our away game. You disagreed with that assertion by countering that it was only 4 or 5 hours and that there will be no tired legs after the flight. Suggests to me that you have no problems at all with the logisitcs or affect on the players of those particular fixtures. Fair enough, argument over, you have your opinion, i have mine. I dont want to get into this crap with you again.

[Duggie]

lads never mind russia just yet. 6 points is a must in the first 2 games. armenia away will be tricky but we have to win these games if we are to qualify in top spot.

[mypost]

There's only two each at home on a Friday and Tuesday night, and none between November and August. I don't think any fans home or away are happy with the day arrangements, but I think we've done fairly well out of them in general.

No reason why we can't go to Slovakia on the back of 9 points, and if we get a result there, we could have 13 or 15 points going to Skopje. That will set us up for the September tough schedule, and if we get 4 points from those, we have a comfy finish in October to look forward to.

[pineapple stu]

by arguing against the point that i made - that the fixtures in Sept. 2011 werent ideal due to the distance to be travelled between our home game and our away game. You disagreed with that assertion by countering that it was only 4 or 5 hours and that there will be no tired legs after the flight. Suggests to me that you have no problems at all with the logisitcs or affect on the players of those particular fixtures.
You are aware that disagreeing with your point doesn't automatically mean I think the exact opposite? There's a shade in between black and white.

The fixtures are grand.

[SkStu]

which is what i said in my original post but that if i had to pick a problem, it would be the September 2011 fixtures which i described as not ideal (i.e. not terrible, not amazing, somewhere in between).

[sixesandsevens]

All in all not a bad set of fixtures, besides, we have to play them all twice no matter what!
Armenia will be a tough place to start the campaign but a good result there will hopefully build momentum. I'm happy to see we'll be at home first in both of the Russia Slovakia double headers. Hopefully good home results against those two will add confidence in the tough away ties

[abcd]

Quite happy. Needless to say we need a good start in Armenia but Russia at home in game 3 gives us a chance to steal an early march on them, Slovakia away might be tricky on the wednesday. Good to see the two Macedonia games as standalone fixtures. We should pretty much know either way by the time we've returned from Moscow

[bennocelt]

No way will Kilbane be retiring before this campaign, the guy is 33, has another year or two of professional football left. Plus his dedication to the cause knows no end.

.

That and the fact he is rubbish.....................

[Declanus]

So what happens now. When will they anounce the cities and venues.

[jbyrne]

That and the fact he is rubbish.....................

103 caps later and we still get this

[back of the net]

All in All, i have to say im very happy with the fixtures, yep there are 1 or 2 that i would be cautious off, but i figure we would have fared alot worse in the Fixtures meeting 2 weeks ago due to our seedings.

Am happy enough to play russia in russia in the second leg, plus that its in early september hopefully means that the weather wont be to bad over there.

But all we can do is take it 1 game at a time on the road to moscow in 2011 and make sure that we have ourselves in prime position to top the group before that game ,which i do believe our fixtures pre that game will enable us to do. I actually think our fixtures for the last 4 games is fantastic for us.

Roll on Armenia in September.

[bennocelt]

103 caps later and we still get this


Sure he might as well still play for Ireland till his 50, sure he loves playing for his country............................

[mypost]

For the record the draw was:

A: Armenia
B: Us
C: Andorra
D: Russia
E: Slovakia
F: Macedonia

[KR's Post]

by arguing against the point that i made - that the fixtures in Sept. 2011 werent ideal due to the distance to be travelled between our home game and our away game. You disagreed with that assertion by countering that it was only 4 or 5 hours and that there will be no tired legs after the flight. Suggests to me that you have no problems at all with the logisitcs or affect on the players of those particular fixtures. Fair enough, argument over, you have your opinion, i have mine. I dont want to get into this crap with you again.

STU v STU!!

[Dodge]

Sure he might as well still play for Ireland till his 50, sure he loves playing for his country............................

HE should play for them until someone better comes along

[bennocelt]

HE should play for them until someone better comes along


Never rated him, but then that my opinion..............and he is even worse in defence........................

[elroy]

Am happy enough to play russia in russia in the second leg, plus that its in early september hopefully means that the weather wont be to bad over there.



Good point, didnt think of that, chances are we'll play on a proper pitch in that case and not on the artificial pitch.

[mypost]

So as expected, we're not going to Russia or Armenia in the freezing cold. Meanwhile, Emmet Malone is all upset at going to Skopje in June.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0326/1224267096650.html

Was he in Stuttgart '88?? Genoa '90?? Albania '93?? Niigata '02?? Sofia '09?? All occasions we had to play in summer heat, and coped.

You'd swear we were off to Orlando the way he's talking. Then you might have a problem with heat. As we're not, I expect us to play there with little problem dealing with the conditions. Yes Scotland played there last time and lost, but Scotland lost half their games in the group anyway. We're looking to qualify instead.

[geysir]

"the trip to Skopje must be negotiated at just about the hottest time of the year possible"

June 4 :confused:

[Spudulika]

I think the whole weather issue is mightily overblown and used as an exucse in advance. Same with pitches. Our players, last I saw, are all professionals, able to adapt and have experience in both hot and cold climates as well as on natural and artificial turf.

For the record Skopje is muggy that time of year but nothing murderous, it wasn't even the hottest spot in ex-Yugoslavia. Even if we played in Russia in May we'd still almost certainly be on artificial turf due to the fact that the Luzhniki and Lokomotiv stadia have such surfaces, they only lifted the astro for the CL final because of continued complaints from the english (according to media reports). Armenia in Yerevan is going to be tricky, they have a decent side and are largely young. Yerevan is going to be a great spot to visit, it has the best cognac and wines, food and sights. Plus it's pretty cheap.

[gspain]

So as expected, we're not going to Russia or Armenia in the freezing cold. Meanwhile, Emmet Malone is all upset at going to Skopje in June.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0326/1224267096650.html

Was he in Stuttgart '88?? Genoa '90?? Albania '93?? Niigata '02?? Sofia '09?? All occasions we had to play in summer heat, and coped.

You'd swear we were off to Orlando the way he's talking. Then you might have a problem with heat. As we're not, I expect us to play there with little problem dealing with the conditions. Yes Scotland played there last time and lost, but Scotland lost half their games in the group anyway. We're looking to qualify instead.

It is a fair point. Playing in the afternoon heat will be an issue. Sofia was at nightr btw.

However apparently the tv money will be better for a saturday night game. They played Scotland in their first match when they believed they had a chance of qualifying. Hopefully they'll be out of contention by then and will take the cash. They will probably still fancy themselves for a playoff spot though reckoning they can beat us and the Slovaks in Skopje.

[DannyInvincible]

So as expected, we're not going to Russia or Armenia in the freezing cold. Meanwhile, Emmet Malone is all upset at going to Skopje in June.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0326/1224267096650.html

Was he in Stuttgart '88?? Genoa '90?? Albania '93?? Niigata '02?? Sofia '09?? All occasions we had to play in summer heat, and coped.

You'd swear we were off to Orlando the way he's talking. Then you might have a problem with heat. As we're not, I expect us to play there with little problem dealing with the conditions. Yes Scotland played there last time and lost, but Scotland lost half their games in the group anyway. We're looking to qualify instead.

I don't have a major issue with this, but you keep raising the point that we can cope in heat, which, indeed, I don't doubt. We want to do more than just cope though. Just coping suggests you might be content with scraping a draw over there. If we're to have a serious chance of topping this group, I think we need to be taking six points off Macedonia. That's not necessarily to say that I don't believe we can take six off them, although surely you must agree that playing the game in Spring or Autumn would have been optimal. We are a team of professional players and all that, but maybe it would have made things slightly easier. Not that it matters now though. We just have to make do with the draw we've been given.

[ifk101]

If they are worried about the heat, they have plenty of time before the game to get used to it. I presume most players wouldn't have played competitively for a few weeks prior to the Macedonia game so some sort of training camp should be organised in preparation.

[Spudulika]

Won't the team be at camp in the run up to the June 4th game? Simple, you have 2 weeks at the end of May somewhere warm/hot, and then go to Macedonia. It definitely shouldn't be a problem, but again it's an excuse in advance and will sell a few more newspapers.

[geysir]

Daytime temp in Skopje in early September (time of Scotland game) is about 10C hotter than early June

[Serb]

Daytime temp in Skopje in early September (time of Scotland game) is about 10C hotter than early June

According to Wikipedia, both months are about the same temperature on average:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skopje#Climate

[zenokelly]

If they are worried about the heat, they have plenty of time before the game to get used to it. I presume most players wouldn't have played competitively for a few weeks prior to the Macedonia game so some sort of training camp should be organised in preparation.

Don't forget we'll have 2 fixtures in the Celtic Cup in May.

[Duggie]

best thing about how these worked out is we dont say have russia and slovakia away after each other. we got one at home and one away both times. we need maximum points of all the other teams and get a decent return form thr russia/slovakia games to top this group. we cant drop points against macedonia/armenia/andorra.

[ifk101]

Don't forget we'll have 2 fixtures in the Celtic Cup in May.

Yeah I forgot about that.

Can't say I'd happy about risking players in those fixtures. Macedonia will be a difficult fixture regardless. We certainly can't afford to risk getting players injured in those Celtic Cup games. Maybe we can use the Celtic Cup to showcase the new U21 management team with a few senior squad players thrown in for good measure.

[geysir]

According to Wikipedia, both months are about the same temperature on average:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skopje#Climate

I assume the talk arose because the game was played against Scotland at 3pm.
Let's just say in real comparisons in the last 5 years I looked, Sept 5 has a greater chance of being hotter than June 5th
and in 2008 when that game was played against Scotland (Sept 5), there was a 10C difference between that day and the hottest temp recorded June 5.
Some years the difference is less than 10C and in others the difference is even greater than 10C.

Skopje temps (http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/Skopje-Petrovec/135860.htm)

[jbyrne]

Yeah I forgot about that.

Can't say I'd happy about risking players in those fixtures. Macedonia will be a difficult fixture regardless. We certainly can't afford to risk getting players injured in those Celtic Cup games. Maybe we can use the Celtic Cup to showcase the new U21 management team with a few senior squad players thrown in for good measure.

some of our players could be as much as a month without a game before june 4th. in my opinion the risk of getting injuries to one or two is far more palatable than the whole lot of them going stale before a critical qualifier. only games keep players truly sharp

[mypost]

We've got one point from 6 there before, in Spring and Autumn. Indeed it's almost 13 years to the day since the loss there. Macedonia at home are no pushover, and we may well have to take a point if offered.

Given the chance, the FAI would love to play on Saturday at 3pm. It was the policy for many years to play then at home.

[Kingdom]

You're either deluded or forgetful. They played at 3 pm becuase of floodlight issues, i.e. having none, rather than anything else.

[mypost]

You're either deluded or forgetful. They played at 3 pm becuase of floodlight issues, i.e. having none, rather than anything else.

I'm neither.

We've had access to lights at home games since 1994. Until recently, the policy was to play every weekend (Saturday) home game at 3.00, whatever the circumstances.

[Crosby87]

Didnt they used to line up cars and tell them to put their lights on the pitch when they wanted a night game? I seem to remember that from my first trip to the motherland, circa 1992.

[Declanus]

At least we won't have the ogange jerseys in Macedonia this time. Does the FAI have the option of negotiating with any of the countries to change the fixtures to a Saturday.

[eaststand85]

No, e-mailed the ticket office last week and they confirmed that the dates will stay as per the draw.