Champions League/Europa League draws 2010 [Archive] - Page 21

Charlie Darwin

01/08/2010, 1:01 AM

Who am I supposed to play against? There are no teams in Canada, save for Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
I would have thought you'd start at a lower level than the MLS, given that it's your first time and all...

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. barstoolers wouldn't support Dublin FC unless they were instantly successful in the league, and in Europe. That pretty much means top 4.
I wouldn't go that far. People would probably get behind a Dublin team in the Championship or something, as long as there was a realistic chance of making the Premiership. Otherwise they'd just keep supporting United/Chelsea/Liverpool.

I'm sure all of the residual Leeds fans wouldn't find it too much of a stretch, mind.

peadar1987

01/08/2010, 1:22 AM

I wouldn't go that far. People would probably get behind a Dublin team in the Championship or something, as long as there was a realistic chance of making the Premiership. Otherwise they'd just keep supporting United/Chelsea/Liverpool.

I'm sure all of the residual Leeds fans wouldn't find it too much of a stretch, mind.

Perhaps, but as a Stoke supporter, I know all too well that most barstoolers see mid-table EPL as crap. I know there'd be the added draw of local connection, but sure that hardly does much for the current league. I reckon the barstoolers would just call anyone who supporter Dublin FC a "plastic", and keep on being "true fans" of their British clubs

mypost

01/08/2010, 9:51 PM

I would have thought you'd start at a lower level than the MLS, given that it's your first time and all...

I wouldn't go that far. People would probably get behind a Dublin team in the Championship or something, as long as there was a realistic chance of making the Premiership. Otherwise they'd just keep supporting United/Chelsea/Liverpool.

To most Irish people, the Premiership extends to Liverpool and the other north-west minnows.

Chelsea and Arsenal, like the rest of the league have virtually no support here.

monkey9

01/08/2010, 9:55 PM

To most Irish people, the Premiership extends to Liverpool and the other north-west minnows.

Chelsea and Arsenal, like the rest of the league have virtually no support here.

Eh.......what???? There may be more Liverpool and Utd fans in Ireland, but to say Chelsea and especially Arsenal have virtually no support here is nonsense.

Charlie Darwin

01/08/2010, 10:01 PM

Ah there's plenty of Chelsea fans around these days.

peadar1987

02/08/2010, 12:29 AM

Ah there's plenty of Chelsea fans around these days.

Probably the same crowd who were Blackburn fans between 1994 and 1996. Don't see any of them any more!

mypost

02/08/2010, 4:36 AM

Eh.......what???? to say Chelsea and especially Arsenal have virtually no support here is nonsense.

Most of them I come across are ex-pats born within a corner kick of their stadium.

That isn't the case with the big two clubs that Irish people obsess over.

monkey9

02/08/2010, 11:07 AM

Probably the same crowd who were Blackburn fans between 1994 and 1996. Don't see any of them any more!

You'll see them soon enough wearing their Manchester City jersys.

ped_ped

02/08/2010, 2:00 PM

Huge crowd of Arsenal fans where I'm from, and a small Celtic/Arsenal supporters club too.

monkey9

02/08/2010, 2:03 PM

There's plenty of Arsenal supporters in this country. Certainly not ex-pats either. I don't know where that poster is going with that 'virtually no support' comment.

dcfcsteve

02/08/2010, 2:25 PM

Most of them I come across are ex-pats born within a corner kick of their stadium.

Sure even in London most of the Arsenal/Chelsea fans you meet weren't born within miles of their respective stadiums...!

Ciaran W

02/08/2010, 3:08 PM

Back from the gaeltacht :) cant wait to get back into the rovers matches

dcfcsteve

02/08/2010, 3:46 PM

There's plenty of Arsenal supporters in this country. Certainly not ex-pats either. I don't know where that poster is going with that 'virtually no support' comment.

And it stretches back at least to the Brady/O'Leary/Stapleton era.

poster

02/08/2010, 4:13 PM

Chelsea and Arsenal, like the rest of the league have virtually no support here.

Probably more fans of one of those clubs in this country than there are LoI fans.

mypost

02/08/2010, 5:45 PM

And it stretches back at least to the Brady/O'Leary/Stapleton era.

A few years ago, Chelsea had Duff on their books, City had Dunne, Reading had Doyle, Spurs had Keane, Newcastle had Given, yet there wasn't a vast surge of support with those and other Premiership clubs among Irish people.

If you see RTE/TV3 competitions to English games, invariably it'll be either to Anfield or the other place. Their European coverage is always either club when playing. If you look at travel agent newspaper promotions to EPL games, well over half of them are trips to see both teams' games. Thats the market here. Therefore, among Irish people anyway, the Premiership interest boils down to two teams, and only one of their players is Irish now.

Charlie Darwin

02/08/2010, 6:16 PM

There's a bit of a difference between those teams that had one Irish player on their books for a couple of years and Arsenal, who had three Irish legends on their books for well over a decade. Nobody's saying they're close to as popular as the big two but they've always been popular. Maybe not so much now that the Irish influence has dwindled.

Nah Nah Nah Nah

02/08/2010, 8:23 PM

A few years ago, Chelsea had Duff on their books, City had Dunne, Reading had Doyle, Spurs had Keane, Newcastle had Given, yet there wasn't a vast surge of support with those and other Premiership clubs among Irish people.

If you see RTE/TV3 competitions to English games, invariably it'll be either to Anfield or the other place. Their European coverage is always either club when playing. If you look at travel agent newspaper promotions to EPL games, well over half of them are trips to see both teams' games. Thats the market here. Therefore, among Irish people anyway, the Premiership interest boils down to two teams, and only one of their players is Irish now.

O'Shea and Gibson...

Ciaran W

03/08/2010, 3:37 PM

Look at the video of the rovers fans with the bnei yehuda fans its deadly

Riddickcule

03/08/2010, 3:43 PM

I support Arsenal.

dcfcsteve

03/08/2010, 4:14 PM

Look at the video of the rovers fans with the bnei yehuda fans its deadly

Link ?

I wonder did the Rovers fans twig that Bnei Yehuda are a right-wing nationalist club, with a rather 'intolerant' fan base.

Delightful ditties along the lines of 'Death to Arabs' and 'Mohamed is a homosexual' wouldn't be unusual from their terraces.....

sheao

03/08/2010, 9:17 PM

Link ?

I wonder did the Rovers fans twig that Bnei Yehuda are a right-wing nationalist club, with a rather 'intolerant' fan base.

Delightful ditties along the lines of 'Death to Arabs' and 'Mohamed is a homosexual' wouldn't be unusual from their terraces.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxBgCzdMUmY

dcfcsteve

04/08/2010, 11:08 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxBgCzdMUmY

Rovers fans aligning themselves with Israeli nationalists. Brilliant.......! :D

:p

Dublin Red

05/08/2010, 7:05 AM

pineapple stu

05/08/2010, 9:13 AM

Don't think 3-0 counts as a hammering, or 6-1 on aggregate as a trouncing, to be honest. Decent showing from them.

marinobohs

05/08/2010, 9:36 AM

Anderlecht hammered TNS 3 - 0 in the second leg of their match for anyone who is interested. Trounced by an aggregate of 6 - 1 over the two legs.

Think TNS are in the next round of the Europa league now.

TNS now drop into the last qualifying round of the Europa League (two legged playoff for a place in League stage). Well beaten by Andelecht but hardly a thrashing.

Rasputin

06/08/2010, 7:02 AM

Rovers fans aligning themselves with Israeli nationalists. Brilliant.......! :D

:p
Quality.

Fry

06/08/2010, 12:12 PM

Rovers fans aligning themselves with Israeli nationalists. Brilliant.......! :D

:p

The PA man won't be happy.

Cymro

06/08/2010, 12:36 PM

TNS drew CSKA Sofia, who played Cliftonville in the last round and won 5-1. Good draw/ bad draw? On paper it seems like they have a small chance of progressing which would be excellent for the Welsh Premier, but maybe not. Anyone watch them in the last round and can give an opinion?

By the way I thought the performance by TNS against Anderlecht was pretty decent, when you consider the gulf in terms of pedigree. 1-3 and 0-3 was no disgrace.

pineapple stu

06/08/2010, 12:48 PM

At that stage, it sounds like a bad draw. You're not going to get into the groups - CSKA should win handily enough; remember Levski Sofia beat Dundalk 8-0 on aggregate, which also puts the Bulgarian league in context - and really you want a money-making draw (I would imagine). PSV, Stuttgart and Aston Villa in the same pot were much more attractive draws.

Dodge

06/08/2010, 12:51 PM

yeah, but they're different teams. CSKA struggled against Cliftonville

pineapple stu

06/08/2010, 1:02 PM

I know that alright; just trying to put the Bulgarian league in general in context.

Didn't see the games obviously, but CSKA won 3-0 in Bulgaria, so I assume that they took it a bit easy in the return leg. Could be well wrong on that obviously.

Candystripe

06/08/2010, 2:01 PM

CSKA are a decent side,they beat us 2-1 on agg last year.

TNS now drop into the last qualifying round of the Europa League (two legged playoff for a place in League stage). Well beaten by Andelecht but hardly a thrashing.

You're right,it's only when ye get beat 4-0 that it counts as a thrashing. ;)

Dodge

08/08/2010, 9:23 AM

Dodge, will you marry me?

From another thread. Just sealed the deal for me in terms of Colbert's knowledge. Yikes

Unreal. 3 million pounds for Walters? I play with Ipswich all the time in FIFA and he's a half decent player. Listed as a central midfielder, not a striker as the article states. Does anyone know where his best position actually is?

So, no won't be marrying anyone who prefers fifa over PES

R�iteoir

08/08/2010, 12:30 PM

Boo_Boy

19/08/2010, 7:36 PM

50 mins gone in Sofia and TNS are holding their own at 0-0.

What could have been if Bohs weren't ****e.

Boo_Boy

19/08/2010, 8:09 PM

1-0 CSKA after 82 minutes.

edit: 2-0 now.

2 goals in 1 minute.

pineapple stu

20/08/2010, 9:05 AM

Ended 3-0. Quite the collapse. Good showing though.

legendz

14/09/2010, 12:59 PM

If Boh's were in the place of TNS and had gotten to the Europa League play-offs, it would have been great. It's what Irish football needs on a regular basis, not just one hit wonders. If you keep knocking on the door, you'll eventually be heard and you might get in as well.

The Champions League group stage kicks off tonight. It's hard to know what sides Irish football fans will support? Unfortunately Ireland's wait for a Champions League representative at this stage continues. Scotland's Glasgow Celtic have a habit of getting a bit of support in this county but they failed to qualify as well. Werder Bremen wear green!

osarusan

14/09/2010, 1:40 PM

If Boh's were in the place of TNS and had gotten to the Europa League play-offs, it would have been great. It's what Irish football needs on a regular basis, not just one hit wonders. If you keep knocking on the door, you'll eventually be heard and you might get in as well.
It would have been great for Bohs. I don't know how much the financial reward is for a place in the Europa league, but I'm guessing it would solve their financial problems, and they'd probably have some left over.

I don't see how it would be beneficial for the league as a whole though. Maybe people in other countries might look at our representative in the europa league and see our domestic league in a different and better light, but I see no evidence that it would raise the standard of the league or get more people in through the turnstiles.

Charlie Darwin

14/09/2010, 1:43 PM

Any financial gain for Bohs would have to go straight to servicing debt. At least if Sligo or somebody got into Europe they'd be in a position to invest the money in development projects.

legendz

14/09/2010, 1:45 PM

peadar1987

15/09/2010, 9:37 AM

If Boh's and Shamrocks Rovers were getting to the play-offs most season's and getting some big games, it would raise their profiles. I have to stress that it'd have to be over a few seasons and not just a once off. It would most likely have a good affect on their attendances but also when sides play them around the country it'd be a bigger fixture.
Shamrock Rovers had a decent European campaign this season but they have go to follow it up next season or in a way they are back to square one.

But it's this sort of thinking that leads clubs to overreach themselves and go the way of Shelbourne. There are far more cost-effective ways of raising the profile of a club than chasing regular European success, as nice as that would be! Once the clubs are on a sustainable footing, then we can think about getting solid European performances on a regular basis.

legendz

15/09/2010, 1:00 PM

But it's this sort of thinking that leads clubs to overreach themselves and go the way of Shelbourne. There are far more cost-effective ways of raising the profile of a club than chasing regular European success, as nice as that would be! Once the clubs are on a sustainable footing, then we can think about getting solid European performances on a regular basis.
I agree with that as well, it's a hard one. Both have to go hand in hand. It's a vicious cycle. For club's to be more successful, they need more support. They will only get the more support if they become more successful.

peadar1987

15/09/2010, 1:43 PM

I agree with that as well, it's a hard one. Both have to go hand in hand. It's a vicious cycle. For club's to be more successful, they need more support. They will only get the more support if they become more successful.

I'd have to disagree with that. Teams like Port Vale and Scunthorpe are far less conventionally successful than teams in Ireland with similar catchment areas, but they still pull in higher crowds than every side in Ireland, even in spite of competition from bigger and more successful teams in the same region, or even the same city. The difference there is that the clubs are, or have been, an integral part of the fabric of the community, building a culture of attending games. I think it's possibly easier, probably cheaper, and definitely less risky to try and boost attendances this way, while thinking of Europe as a nice possible bonus, certainly not the greatest and only goal.

legendz

15/09/2010, 2:12 PM

There is that side of it as well, I think a youth structure need to be put in place and work from that level up. For the league to, and it's clubs, it's only through European football that there will be box office stuff. More big draws and more coverage of league of Ireland sides. They both need to be worked on. I would see group stages as bonus territory at the moment.

Schumi

15/09/2010, 2:20 PM

I would see group stages as bonus territory at the moment.

Group stages are fantasy territory. The champions have a good chance of making the Europa playoff round but when you consider that Rovers got Juventus the round before that this year, getting past the kind of teams that in the playoff round is an enormous ask.

legendz

15/09/2010, 2:33 PM

Group stages are fantasy territory. The champions have a good chance of making the Europa playoff round but when you consider that Rovers got Juventus the round before that this year, getting past the kind of teams that in the playoff round is an enormous ask.
Not entirely. Boh's were beaten by a TNS side they should not have fallen to. TNS lost their next round but dropped into the Europa League play-offs. Had Boh's been there, they'd have given CSKA Sofia a better game. Shamrock Rovers would have as well. It's a path our champions should be capable of.

pineapple stu

15/09/2010, 2:49 PM

Bohs would have given CSKA Sofia a tougher game than a team who hammered Bohs?

Rose-tinted glasses there, I'm afraid.

dong

15/09/2010, 2:50 PM

Not entirely. Boh's were beaten by a TNS side they should not have fallen to. TNS lost their next round but dropped into the Europa League play-offs. Had Boh's been there, they'd have given CSKA Sofia a better game. Shamrock Rovers would have as well. It's a path our champions should be capable of.

You base this assertion on what? Should have, would have, could have? TNS beat them fair and square over two legs.
You should become a chairman at a LoI club. Your unrealistic attitude would fit right in.

legendz

15/09/2010, 4:25 PM

Well, it's true, hat's off to TNS they did their job on the night but it was very poor by Boh's. Could have, should have, would have is I still consider Boh's to be a better side than TNS, they lost on the night yes but they are still a better side. Based on that, I think they would have given CSKA Sofia a better game and I don't believe it to be rose-tinted glasses here.