Who do we want to get in the play-offs? [Archive] - Page 2

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12/10/2011, 10:37 AM

Usual pessimism is rife in here. And it's understandable.

I don't think it matters who we get in the Playoffs, if we're not capable of beating any of those sides, then we shouldn't be going to Euro 2012. I don't think the players will be particularly intimidated by any of them and that's all that matters.

BonnieShels

12/10/2011, 10:38 AM

That was some free.

shakermaker1982

12/10/2011, 10:42 AM

We drew with Montenegro twice in the last campaign and they have been beaten by Wales & the Swiss this time around. What is so frightening about them?

Get an away goal and draw in Turkey & we'll be fine.

Estonia? If we can't grind out a result against them then we don't deserve a spot in the finals.

Bosnia. Tricky but again I'd prefer them to Portugal & Croatia.

zero

12/10/2011, 10:53 AM

i was sure i read that the seeded team would be at home for the second leg. i am a bit miffed - but not surprised - that this seems to have changed.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1689808.html

who would i like to draw? in order of preference:

estonia
montenegro
turkey
bosnia

legendz

12/10/2011, 11:52 AM

We've always been away for the second leg or in a neutral venue in my time: Holland (N) one-off match, Belgium (A) second-leg, Turkey (A) second-leg, Iran (A) and France (A). Thankfully we did the business away to Iran in '01.
Having the second leg at home should be a great boost. Whoever we play, if we're the tie alive for the return-leg, it could be an electric night in the Aviva.

backstothewall

12/10/2011, 2:06 PM

jbyrne

12/10/2011, 2:34 PM

i was sure i read that the seeded team would be at home for the second leg. i am a bit miffed - but not surprised - that this seems to have changed.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1689808.html

would you believe that it was FAI representations after the france play-off that resulted in the change?!!

thats what i heard today

French Toasht

12/10/2011, 3:58 PM

Turkey are the ones I want to avoid. Guus Hiddink is a tactical genius and would have us sussed, not that its hard to do that at all. Also the chances of taking anything away from home against them I reckon would be slim.

Of the rest I think it would be tight, but certainly nothing to be frightened of.

I just know we'll draw Turkey, mark my words.

cavan_fan

12/10/2011, 4:23 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGnP7kpmac

take a bow son
Wow, I hadn't seen or heard about that. what's amazing is the height he put on it. from that distance you'd expect a much lower trajectory. as someone else said it's like a garryowen.

On the play offs, I would give us a 50/50 chance against turkey or Bosnia (there's a good article in the guardian today about how they may struggle to motivate themselves for a playoff after coming so close to first place.)

Montenegro feel like an over rated team, I would rate Armenia ahead of them.

Finally Estonia look like the easy draw and their results against faroes seem weak. would any of the Norn Iron fans like to tear themselves away from the 150 page black hole that us the eligibility thread to give us their views?

freewheel30

12/10/2011, 4:48 PM

If you go to 1:00 in the video you can see the crazy, crazy spin that's on the ball as it descends upon the 'keeper.

French Toasht

12/10/2011, 5:23 PM

Who do you think they want in Estonia, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia?

My guess is that all 4 are praying for Ireland.

DannyInvincible

12/10/2011, 5:31 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGnP7kpmac

take a bow son

Terrible cross. ;)

MeathDrog

12/10/2011, 5:36 PM

Trappatoni would have a wet dream if he saw that goal.

Bayern Munchies

12/10/2011, 5:36 PM

Who do you think they want in Estonia, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia?

My guess is that all 4 are praying for Ireland.

Everyone would rather face Estonia then us, they lost 4 games in qualyfing we lost 1 to the team who went on to win the group we also conceeded 7 goals in the process compared to Estonias 14...We also on paper have a better selection of players then they do.

People are starting to under-rate Ireland becuase of style of play which is fair enough I suppose but I know for a fact that no side will pull us apart in the play offs so I do't think any side bar estonia would want to face us first...maybe second choice though :p

French Toasht

12/10/2011, 5:40 PM

Everyone would rather face Estonia then us, they lost 4 games in qualyfing we lost 1 to the team who went on to win the group we also conceeded 7 goals in the process compared to Estonias 14...We also on paper have a better selection of players then they do.

People are starting to under-rate Ireland becuase of style of play which is fair enough I suppose but I know for a fact that no side will pull us apart in the play offs so I do't think any side bar estonia would want to face us first...maybe second choice though :p

I think the seeding system has been lost on you.

Bayern Munchies

12/10/2011, 5:45 PM

I think the seeding system has been lost on you.

How so?

tricky_colour

12/10/2011, 5:51 PM

I hope we don't get Armenia :p

French Toasht

12/10/2011, 5:55 PM

How so?

Because I asked who the unseeded teams (Estonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Turkey) would like to draw from the seeded teams.

And my guess is that they would all prefer Ireland as opposed to Portugal, Croatia and Czech Republic.

legendz

12/10/2011, 5:58 PM

When FIFA did the draw for the World Cup play-offs, a separate draw was made for home and away venues. Ireland were the only unseeded team that were drawn to play the second-leg away from home.

Bayern Munchies

12/10/2011, 6:19 PM

DannyInvincible

12/10/2011, 6:23 PM

When FIFA did the draw for the World Cup play-offs, a separate draw was made for home and away venues.

It appears that the same will be done tomorrow: http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/1012/uefa_ireland.html

IsMiseSean

12/10/2011, 7:14 PM

Sullivinho

12/10/2011, 7:34 PM

Who do you think they want in Estonia, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia?

My guess is that all 4 are praying for Ireland.

I'm guessing the same. What I'm sure of is that they'll all want to avoid Portugal and Croatia.

legendz

12/10/2011, 7:39 PM

Everyone seems to want the 2nd leg at home. I'd prefer to play at home first, our system is suited more to away games. Its imperative we don't concede at home though.
As to who we get drawn against Estonia are the probably the weakest team so its the most favourable, but I have a feeling we'll be playing Montenegro which isn't a bad drawn either.

I'd agree at times but for this one I want a home game. Ireland have drawn the short straw too often with away games for the second leg. It'll be great to see a tie alive coming back to Dublin. Hopefully with a bit of luck their could be an electric night at Lansdowne Road with Ireland going through.

Crosby87

12/10/2011, 11:53 PM

Who do you think they want in Estonia, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia?

My guess is that all 4 are praying for Ireland.

I dunno French.
Many here are (sometimes understandably) hard on the team but we rarely concede and are almost unbeatable at home vs that sort of opposition which is to say not the tops. From afar it probably offers a different outlook, fans of those other teams are as prone to overreaction as we are-- remember people on here making Pandev sound like a combination of Pele and George Best when this draw first came out? Our players suck, their players are amazing, etc... I don't think many people in Turkey are thinking that the team is a sure thing in Dublin. They dont have a Richard Dunne. (I say that on purpose as a joke knowing ten people will tell me they have the best player ever back there.) (But if said player played for Ireland they would deem him a stupid waste of time.)

mypost

13/10/2011, 12:15 AM

They're hard on the team because they don't look at the results. Too busy going through every misplaced pass, every long ball, every possession statistic etc, and drawing their conclusions on that basis rather than see whether we actually won or not. Apparantly Spain scored from a 42-pass move last night. Who cares? We scored from a tap-in off someone's waist, but they all count.

We didn't scrape into the playoffs like other teams have done. We've been consistently top or top two in this group the whole way through. We've scored a fair amount of goals, and conceded relatively few. The team is very hard to beat, with just 1 group phase defeat in 4 years, against teams from every spectrum of the game. We're there on merit, and we've every chance of going through.

DannyInvincible

13/10/2011, 3:37 AM

Just had a look at Turkey's results through their group and I wouldn't say they're anything to fear if it did happen we draw them. The one result of note was a home victory against Belgium, but other than that they were fairly average, losing even to Azerbaijan. Germany beat them convincingly twice; 3-0 in Germany and 3-1 in Turkey. Still, I'd rather avoid a team with Hiddink in charge. It's also a notoriously hostile place to go. Estonia has to be the dream really. I'd fancy us against Montenegro as well.

ArdeeBhoy

13/10/2011, 8:02 AM

We should want to avoid Bosnia. And for the Turks (and Montenegro), the second leg being away.
So not much, really.

AlaskaFox

13/10/2011, 8:41 AM

Who do you think they want in Estonia, Turkey, Montenegro and Bosnia?

My guess is that all 4 are praying for Ireland.

Here's your answer:
http://greenscene.me/2011/10/how-potential-playoff-opponents-rate-ireland/
Us or Croatia mainly.

mypost

13/10/2011, 8:47 AM

the most dangerous is McGeady

:)

Reminds me of how everyone, even Bangor City, wanted Rovers as seeds in the CLQ's. They didn't get their wish, and Rovers are still in Europe.

DeLorean

13/10/2011, 8:52 AM

Apparantly Spain scored from a 42-pass move last night. Who cares? We scored from a tap-in off someone's waist, but they all count

Good post, I particularly like this bit! And to think...that was the better of our two goals on the night!:D

BonnieShels

13/10/2011, 9:10 AM

That's mental stuff. Roll on 12pm.

French Toasht

13/10/2011, 9:12 AM

I really dislike articles like this:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/1013/1224305704592.html

They always arise around any time of a draw and are completely short sited. Discussions about how the FAI would be thrilled to draw Germany, Spain etc and in this instance Turkey as the revenue generated from a tie against Turkey would be exponentially higher than against either the other three sides.

But by the same token if we draw Turkey our chances of qualification are exponentially lower than were we to draw the other 3 sides. And thus our opportunity to cash in on the real windfall that is the Euros themselves are reduced dramatically.

AlaskaFox

13/10/2011, 9:23 AM

Bosnia are better than Turkey. But no-one seems to believe me.

zero

13/10/2011, 9:29 AM

Because I asked who the unseeded teams (Estonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Turkey) would like to draw from the seeded teams.

And my guess is that they would all prefer Ireland as opposed to Portugal, Croatia and Czech Republic.

i'd rather the czechs. they lost 3 games in a poor group, and only a dodgy looking pen in the last minutes away in scotland got them over the line. they are nowhere near the force they were in the past.

from our potential opponents, bosnia are interesting. they won all their games at home, bar france, but only won once away - v luxemembourg. if we get them it would be better to be away first.

turkey have a very similar record - all wins at home bar v germany, one win on the road v Kazakhstan.

pineapple stu

13/10/2011, 9:34 AM

Bosnia are better than Turkey. But no-one seems to believe me.
I believe you, don't worry!

Much rather Turkey over Bosnia. Much rather again one of the other two though.

ArdeeBhoy

13/10/2011, 9:35 AM

Bosnia are better than Turkey. But no-one seems to believe me.

We all do.
Or should.

ArdeeBhoy

13/10/2011, 9:37 AM

Montenegro are now better than Turkey, surely?

One for the statisticians...

pineapple stu

13/10/2011, 9:39 AM

Montenegro are more of a known quantity, I suppose.

DeLorean

13/10/2011, 9:57 AM

I think Turkey could suit us well enough alright. They're main strength over the years has been their intimidating atmosphere in Istanbul. I think our biggest strength is being able to go away from home and 'do a job'. That would give us a reasonable chance. Overall I'd rate our chances something along the lines of:

Bosnia & Herzigovina (40%)
Turkey (50%)
Montenegro (55%)
Estonia (85%)

pineapple stu

13/10/2011, 10:00 AM

An hour to go now to the start of the draw.

So probably an hour and a half till we find out who we play.

Murfinator

13/10/2011, 10:40 AM

Bosnia are better than Turkey. But no-one seems to believe me.

We're ****ed plain and simple if we get Bosnia, they're a fantastic team and oceans better than us. We have a chance against anyone but them.

French Toasht

13/10/2011, 10:51 AM

tetsujin1979

13/10/2011, 10:51 AM

just looking at the ranking and performance of the second placed teams: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2012_qualifying#Ranking_of_second-placed_teams
Turkey got by some distance the worst results, and are the only team in the play offs to finish with a negative goal difference. Won all their home games, bar a loss to Germany, but only won once away to Kazakhstan
Estonia had possibly the worst result in qualifying across every group, losing 2-0 away to the Faroe Islands, and are by a distance the team we want
Despite the claims that we don't score that often, Montenegro only scored seven goals in qualifiers, but only conceded seven, and failed to score away to England and Switzerland, incidentally they are the only team not to score in Switzerland
Bosnia's home form was excellent, winning all but one game, a loss to France, and scoring 10 goals in the other 5 games including 5 past Luxembourg. Slightly weaker away from home, only beating Belarus and Luxembourg, scoring seven goals in five games, but failing to score against Romania in a 3-0 loss.

Predictions:
Estonia: Win both legs
Turkey: draw away, win at home
Montenegro: win at home, can't call the away game
Bosnia: very tough away from home, possibly home win

Oink

13/10/2011, 10:52 AM

Anyone have a stream for this.... not on in Oz! Cheers!

Doire Abu

13/10/2011, 10:53 AM

We're ****ed then, we've got to have used up all our luck this campaign in Moscow.

Doire Abu

13/10/2011, 10:54 AM

Anyone have a stream for this.... not on in Oz! Cheers!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/livestreaming/soccer.html

But not working for me.

Straightstory

13/10/2011, 10:55 AM

It's on the UEFA website.
Also - previous experiences in play-off for the teams in the draw. http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/news/newsid=1695878.html
They've failed to recall Ireland's play-off against Spain for the 1966 World Cup. So we've actually lost five out of six.

Oink

13/10/2011, 10:56 AM

http://www.rte.ie/sport/livestreaming/soccer.html

But not working for me.

Thanks for the effort, but RTE is only available within Ireland..... think I might have it on Eurosport!

Murfinator

13/10/2011, 10:56 AM

On what evidence are they "oceans" better than us? Their record in the last two campaigns is almost identical to ours. A very tight one to call, but by no means whatsover are they "oceans better than us".

Dear God of football, don't draw Turkey, please!

They've only finished behind Spain, Portugal and a post Domenech France. We've finished behind a Round 1 defeated Italy, a Round 1 defeated Domenech France and a weak Russian side. We are as I said oceans behind them.