League of Ireland in Europe 2016

[Yossarian]

No if they beat bate they are into the group stages via the champiojs route.

Not quite unfortunately. If we beat BATE we're into the Champions League play off round. If we lose its the Europa League play off round.

[paul_oshea]

And if they lose they are into the playoff

[paul_oshea]

Ya sorry i read something on rte.ie thayt confused me its still there actually. The champions route have a final playoff from the ten winners.

[Yossarian]

Ya sorry i read something on rte.ie thayt confused me its still there actually. The champions route have a final playoff from the ten winners.

Never trust RTE when it comes to news relevant to LoI clubs!!

[paul_oshea]

Ya they said that if they win they are in the group stages that didnt sound right to me as i thought back to rovers so i went on the Wikipedia sight and the way i read it was the winners go through and dont have a 4th round which i thiught was a bery fair way of ensuring 10 champions to go through :D i just never looked at the table below :

[Nesta99]

To give 3 sloppy goals away, miss a penalty and still go through well we've rarely done it the easy way! Could have and probably should have had 2 wins. No pressure for BATE so helps a bit. Depending on EL Play-Off draw if thats where we end up and its a big prize again! Lots of very tired people, with both sore voices and heads in Iceland....

[patrickccfc]

Absolutely delighted for dundalk. Definitely could've made it easier for yourselves tonight, think hanging on at the end could've been avoided. But bringing Benson on at half time really changed the game. Great to have the cushion of a Europa league play off but hopefully ye can have a good go off BATE now. Very impressive away support there tonight also very vocal, unlike the home fans.

Fingers crossed another two, or at least one of us or pats can get through tomorrow. Feeling very confident about us so here's hoping we can deliver. Tickets are selling fast by the sounds of it so should be a very healthy crowd at it and the same in Inchicore from what I've heard

[Charlie Darwin]

Are these really the champions ot iceland? I thought the Icelandics could play i said to the3 lads before the euros iceland football is decent and so is the national team. I was very wrong
Hang on... hang on.

Are you saying you talked up Icelandic football without actually being at a game to judge for yourself?

[Nesta99]

Took geysir at his word! Not intending to sound like gloating but if that is the best Icelandic domestic football offer there is no way that it superior to the top 4 in LoI currently. We made heavy weather of it but if we had been on form there wouldnt have been the nervy end!

[Charlie Darwin]

To be fair, they did what few LOI teams can do and scored three times against Dundalk, so they're at least as good as Longford. Possibly even better.

[Pablo Escobar]

Took geysir at his word! Not intending to sound like gloating but if that is the best Icelandic domestic football offer there is no way that it superior to the top 4 in LoI currently. We made heavy weather of it but if we had been on form there wouldnt have been the nervy end!

KR were no great side last year either. They were a side that we should have put out, and on this years performances in Europe, we would. There's no reason to fear these guys whatsoever.

Anyway, it's rare that I'm delighted at a Dundalk result, but buzzing now from that result.

Hopefully us and Pats can do the same. I think Pats obvious problem is their defence. They'll probably concede which will make it difficult. It also won't be easy for us, but we do have the perceived easier tie (albeit they do have a budget of €25m) and a close to capacity Turner Cross. It'll be an interesting night.

[The Donie Forde]

You might be right, he scored about 4 goals against us in a week, as we played Sligo in our next game.

Scored once in each game v City for UCD and Sligo in successive league games.

[El-Pietro]

I always think the target is 1 point minimum. Below that is a bad year and above that is a good year. 2014 was a bumper score, yet no team got past 2 rounds. This season is an excellent one so far results/progress wise, yet the score is 1.250. Still min 6 games (maybe 8-10+) to go so that total could go up.

Am I right in thinking we've matched or exceeded the amount we are due to lose this year or was that 1.500?
1.500 is what we are losing, 1.250 is what we're up to so far. Two more draws, or a single win will bring us up to that level.

[pineapple stu]

No, he scored twice for us (http://www.goal.com/en-ie/match/ucd-vs-cork-city/1426004/report) against Cork (though not three as I said). That was his last game for us, so I presume Cork v Sligo was his next fixture.

[El-Pietro]

Scored once in each game v City for UCD and Sligo in successive league games.

Is that all? I reallly thought he'd scored more than that.

[gufcfan]

Fairplay to Dundalk.

Unfortunately for us, it likely means another moved fixture. We've been hit very badly with scheduling. We play Wexford tomorrow, 49 days after our last home match.

[nr637]

Absolutely delighted for dundalk. Definitely could've made it easier for yourselves tonight, think hanging on at the end could've been avoided. But bringing Benson on at half time really changed the game. Great to have the cushion of a Europa league play off but hopefully ye can have a good go off BATE now. Very impressive away support there tonight also very vocal, unlike the home fans.

Fingers crossed another two, or at least one of us or pats can get through tomorrow. Feeling very confident about us so here's hoping we can deliver. Tickets are selling fast by the sounds of it so should be a very healthy crowd at it and the same in Inchicore from what I've heard

Expecting close to 5,000 at the Cross tonite, don't forget €20 for adults is expensive enough when you consider that it is only a Europe competition which can be difficult at times to attract fans who prefer the domestic league campaign.

St. Pats on the other hand can only expect around 2,500 max as unlike Turners Cross is not an all seated ground, Richmond has a Main Stand seating and open seating behind one goal.

Would they ever consider installing temporary bucket seats if they progressed to the next round?

[pineapple stu]

With €1.2m now, is there any plans to upgrade Oriel to allow it host the next rounds rather than move to Tallaght?

Obviously too late for this year (!), but you'd imagine they'll have European campaigns the next couple of seasons anyway. Daft to have to move the games completely out of the town and county.

The FH ground looked a nice tidy one which put most of the LoI grounds to shame.

[gufcfan]

With €1.2m now, is there any plans to upgrade Oriel to allow it host the next rounds rather than move to Tallaght?

It's pointless putting any money into Oriel with the ownership issues.

[brendy_éire]

With €1.2m now, is there any plans to upgrade Oriel to allow it host the next rounds rather than move to Tallaght?

Thought that'd be a good idea myself, but possible issues with the ownership still, no?

Regarding prices, I think clubs generally tend to stick a fiver (or more) onto the price of European tickets. What are Pats and Dundalk charging, €20?

[White Horse]

Absolutely delighted for dundalk. Definitely could've made it easier for yourselves tonight, think hanging on at the end could've been avoided. But bringing Benson on at half time really changed the game. Great to have the cushion of a Europa league play off but hopefully ye can have a good go off BATE now. Very impressive away support there tonight also very vocal, unlike the home fans.

Fingers crossed another two, or at least one of us or pats can get through tomorrow. Feeling very confident about us so here's hoping we can deliver. Tickets are selling fast by the sounds of it so should be a very healthy crowd at it and the same in Inchicore from what I've heard

Robbie Benson changed the game. Not only is he a class player but it allowed Finn to play further up the field. It has taken a while for Benson to attain the required level of conditioning. Now that he has he needs to play in our midfield.

Best of luck to Cork and Pats, it won't be easy in either case. These games never are.

[Burnsie]

is it too soon to ask about ticketing arrangements for the home leg v BATE in Tallaght? Would people expect a sell-out?

[legendz]

Getting through the round is like a badge of honour. Dundalk join the list of being a higher level of champion like Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers.

For teams in the Europa League the bar should be getting to playoffs as well. If Cork and/or Pat's get through two rounds to Q3, it'll be a decent achievement. Going one step further and reaching the playoffs would be great.

[D24Saint]

Getting through the round is like a badge of honour. Dundalk join the list of being a higher level of champion like Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers.

For teams in the Europa League the bar should be getting to playoffs as well. If Cork and/or Pat's get through two rounds to Q3, it'll be a decent achievement. Going one step further and reaching the playoffs would be great.

sounds delusional that our bar should be set so high when our opposition has international players & have qualified for the group stages the two previous season.

[paul_oshea]

Hang on... hang on.

Are you saying you talked up Icelandic football without actually being at a game to judge for yourself?

Well youre always the one saying you dont need to go to games. I saw a few on TV from the last few years, thats always enough for you to comment in the Ireland forum. ;-)

[kksaints]

€15 for adults into Richmond this evening same as the prices for leagu matches.

[legendz]

sounds delusional that our bar should be set so high when our opposition has international players & have qualified for the group stages the two previous season.

You're entitled to your opinion. Getting to the EL playoffs via whatever route is what I have respect for from any of the league's representatives.

[disgruntled]

Robbie Benson changed the game. Not only is he a class player but it allowed Finn to play further up the field. It has taken a while for Benson to attain the required level of conditioning. Now that he has he needs to play in our midfield.

Best of luck to Cork and Pats, it won't be easy in either case. These games never are.

Benson made a huge difference & when Dundalk were coming under pressure late in the game Shields came on to protect the back four.
Dundalk were excellent & well deserved to go through.

[El-Pietro]

Getting through the round is like a badge of honour. Dundalk join the list of being a higher level of champion like Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers.

For teams in the Europa League the bar should be getting to playoffs as well. If Cork and/or Pat's get through two rounds to Q3, it'll be a decent achievement. Going one step further and reaching the playoffs would be great.

We have to win 3 rounds to get that far. If we win tonight we will have beaten a team with a budget over 16 times bigger than ours. Then we will have to Beat Genk. Genk haven't qualified in a couple of years and its hurting their coefficient but when they were in they were consistently qualifying for group stages.
2011/12, CL group Stage, drew their three home games, lost their away games to Chelsea, Lerverkusen and Valencia.
2012/13 EL Last 32, unbeaten with three wins and three draws in the group against Sporting, Basel and Videton. Beaten 3-1 by Stuttgart on agg.
2013/14 EL Last 32 unbeaten with four wins and two draws in the group against Dynamo Kyiv, FC Thun and Rapid Vienna. Beaten 2-0 on agg by Anzhi Makchachkala.

Pats will probably need to knock out a team who last year knocked out Samdoria, winning 4-0 in Italy.

Also, Cork City won a round in the CL in 2006, why aren't we on your arbitrary list of "higher level of Champion". Dundalk have literally won a single tie, they will get to the EL Playoff because its designed to get Champions League teams there, same as Rovers. Its incredibly difficult to do so from the first round of the Europa League, especially as an unseeded side.

[legendz]

What were Cork's results in 2006? Was it the year they missed out on playing Milan?

[geysir]

KR were no great side last year either. They were a side that we should have put out, and on this years performances in Europe, we would. There's no reason to fear these guys whatsoever.

You mean to say that Cork who went a goal up early on, who decided to defend en masse around their goalmouth for the rest of the game (incl.ET) against 10 men, deserved to go through?
A 10 man KR dominated the 2nd leg, Cork were a cowardly, negative embarrassment that night, in complete contrast to Dundalk yesterday.

Last evening was great game to attend between league champions who gave their all, with a cup tie rocking atmosphere all the way through. The Dundalk fans were brilliant. The first 20 minutes of the 2nd half Dundalk really upped the tempo and caught FH cold. This was a hard earned and totally deserved victory. it was easy to see that FH were out on their feet in the 2nd half, they had a tough away game last Sunday. The LOI rescheduling makes total sense.

One factor against Dundalk is that Bate pretty much know what they are facing and that they won't stroll the game.

[El-Pietro]

What were Cork's results in 2006? Was it the year they missed out on playing Milan?

Beat Apollon Limassol 1-0 in Cork, Drew 1-1 in Cyprus. Lost 1-0 at home and 3-0 away to Red Star Belgrade. Would have played Milan in the next round.

[El-Pietro]

You mean to say that Cork who went a goal up early on, who decided to defend en masse around their goalmouth for the rest of the game (incl.ET) against 10 men, deserved to go through?
A 10 man KR dominated the 2nd leg, Cork were a cowardly, negative embarrassment that night, in complete contrast to Dundalk yesterday.

He never said we deserved to go through. he said we should have been able to knock KR out. If we had played the way we can then we would have done. If we played like we have done in Europe this yearthen we would have.

[Dodge]

Current club co-efficients

Dundalk 4.040
Pats 4.040
Sligo 3.040
Rovers 2.790
Derry 2.040
Cork 1.790
UCD 1.540
Bohemians 1.290
Drogheda 1.290
All others 1.040

The national coefficient is 5.075 and we're ranked in 41st place

[legendz]

Beat Apollon Limassol 1-0 in Cork, Drew 1-1 in Cyprus. Lost 1-0 at home and 3-0 away to Red Star Belgrade. Would have played Milan in the next round.

Yeah sure look Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers stand out in the memory. I remember that good Cork side alright. After winning in Cyprus two good players got suspended for indiscipline in the tunnel after the game. I always saw that as what costed Cork the opportunity of a glamour tie against the might Milan.

The Drogheda side that came within a whisker of knocking out Dynamo Kiev is another fine champion that I'd rate.

My top 5:
1. Shelbourne
2. Shamrock Rovers
3. Dundalk
4. Drogheda
5. Cork City

[pineapple stu]

Dodge - I'm sure I could look this up, but bit trickier on mobile - but what's the general score needed to be seeded?

[Yossarian]

is it too soon to ask about ticketing arrangements for the home leg v BATE in Tallaght? Would people expect a sell-out?

I would say you'll not have any issues getting a ticket. There are already complaints from people as to why the game will be in Tallaght, and most of these complaints are from people who don't bother going to Oriel for league games.
BATE will have virtually no fans at the second leg and the key for us is to make sure the tie is not over after the first leg to ensure a decent turnout.

[El-Pietro]

3.7ish should get you seeded in the EL First round.

[pineapple stu]

It has taken a while for Benson to attain the required level of conditioning. Now that he has he needs to play in our midfield.
I know there's a jump to full time (as I presume Benson is now), but given he was controlling midfield in European matches last year, did he really need four months to be ready to do it again this year?

Is it not more likely than Kenny just has too much choice in midfield?

[Yossarian]

5.4 was the lowest seeded team in the 2nd round CL qualifier this year.

[nigel-harps1954]

Expecting close to 5,000 at the Cross tonite, don't forget €20 for adults is expensive enough when you consider that it is only a Europe competition which can be difficult at times to attract fans who prefer the domestic league campaign.

St. Pats on the other hand can only expect around 2,500 max as unlike Turners Cross is not an all seated ground, Richmond has a Main Stand seating and open seating behind one goal.

Would they ever consider installing temporary bucket seats if they progressed to the next round?

Eh? What? Only a Europe competition?

[White Horse]

I know there's a jump to full time (as I presume Benson is now), but given he was controlling midfield in European matches last year, did he really need four months to be ready to do it again this year?

Is it not more likely than Kenny just has too much choice in midfield?


He was on an intense training programme that left him sluggish in games. It is only in the last month that he has looked sharp and quick.

I would have started him in both matches as I think he is one of the best players in the league.

I hope he starts against Bate. His technical ability is outstanding and he now has the physical strength to use it to its fullest extent.

[Dodge]

Dodge - I'm sure I could look this up, but bit trickier on mobile - but what's the general score needed to be seeded?

In CL? Lowest seeds for last 5 years
2016 - 5.400
2015 - 5.575
2014 - 7.435
2013 - 5.333
2012 - 4.733

[Ezeikial]

Dundalk have literally won a single tie, they will get to the EL Playoff because its designed to get Champions League teams there, same as Rovers. Its incredibly difficult to do so from the first round of the Europa League, especially as an unseeded side.

So getting to the EL group stages is easier for the team that wins the league? Some would suggest that it is "incredibly difficult" to get that benefit in the first place.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Will tickets be on sale at Inchicore tonight?

[El-Pietro]

I'd say its tougher to get to the group stage from the EL than it is to win the league. We've all won the league at some point!

[Ezeikial]

I'd say its tougher to get to the group stage from the EL than it is to win the league.

Agreed, but that was hardly your original contention!

[pineapple stu]

In CL? Lowest seeds for last 5 years
2016 - 5.400
2015 - 5.575
2014 - 7.435
2013 - 5.333
2012 - 4.733
Or EL as well - though others are pinning that around the 4.000 mark.

So a fair bit to go for clubs to be regularly seeded - looks like only the regulars can hope for it soon, which I guess is a factor of having such a competitive league.

[El-Pietro]

Agreed, but that was hardly your original contention!

Kinda was.... Its much easier to reach the EL playoff round/Group stages as a CL team then it is as a EL team. You introduced the difficulty to win the league aspect.

[El-Pietro]

Or EL as well - though others are pinning that around the 4.000 mark.

So a fair bit to go for clubs to be regularly seeded - looks like only the regulars can hope for it soon, which I guess is a factor of having such a competitive league.

You'd need to play in the CL once or twice (1 point for playing in the second round), or get to the third round of the EL (1 point) a couple of times to boost your total. For us we realistically need to reach he group stages (2 points) and get a draw (1 point) there to have a chance to be seeded next year.