League of Ireland in Europe 2019

[ger121]

Not looking good besides Rovers tonight

[pineapple stu]

Norrkoping just about value for their lead. Don't know if Pats have it in them to score twice

[ToberonaTornado]

North shopping well worth it (£1 : €1.10)

[CorribsideSteve]

The end product from Pats is very disappointing

[ger121]

What is it about LOI teams losing first legs 2-0 at home

[pineapple stu]

North shopping well worth it (£1 : €1.10)
Sorry - what?

[joey B]

Really disappointing couple of days for LOI teams in Europe......

[Partizan]

2-0 to Norrkoping.

::laugh::laugh:

[sbgawa]

I'd make dundalk favourites based on first leg, fancy them to score.
Huge chance for rovers now......Aaron greene , feel sorry for him his head must be melted.....

[Partizan]

The Rats will be destroyed in Sweden.

[CorribsideSteve]

Well that's that. 2-0 is slightly harsh, but the Swedish side are just too good. And for all Irish sides in Europe, you've got to score nearly every chance you get, or you're going out.

[ger121]

2-0 to Norrkoping.

::laugh::laugh:

Just think. That could have been you ;)

[Straightstory]

Pats outclassed, really. Cork - uh!
Still a fair chance for Dundalk and Rovers to go through.
Impressed by eirsport coverage. Thanks lads!

[pineapple stu]

Well that's that. 2-0 is slightly harsh, but the Swedish side are just too good. And for all Irish sides in Europe, you've got to score nearly every chance you get, or you're going out.
Dunno. Once the opener went in, there was only one team in it. Could have been more

[CorribsideSteve]

Dunno. Once the opener went in, there was only one team in it. Could have been more
True, but they were competitive up to that point I felt.

[D24Saint]

The Rats will be destroyed in Sweden.

Sweden is lovely this time of year, cut along now you bitter individual.

[D24Saint]

Pats outclassed, really. Cork - uh!
Still a fair chance for Dundalk and Rovers to go through.
Impressed by eirsport coverage. Thanks lads!

predictable enough result tbh I thought we did well in the first half but where poor in the second up to the subs. I think Harry missed the page in the coaching manual were you put the round thing between the white stick type yokes.

[Jack B]

The Rats will be destroyed in Sweden.
We'll send yous a post card if you still have a club to send one to xo

[Partizan]

Sweden is lovely this time of year, cut along now you bitter individual.

You will have to rob quite a few handbags to fund your trip and still have enough to pay your dealer. Bleedin' Righ!

[Partizan]

We'll send yous a post card if you still have a club to send one to xo

I'm surprised yous can bleedin write Anto.

Where's me bleedin smack?

[Partizan]

2-0

It will be eleventy nil in Sweden.

[pineapple stu]

True, but they were competitive up to that point I felt.
They were, but that left almost half the game where they were quietly outclassed I thought

Could see 2-0 at least in the return

I predicted Cork could struggle, but didn't see them doing this badly

[Jack B]

Waterford fans are gas. Their own owner and the FAI conspired to absolutely make a shambles of this season for them but the finger gets pointed at Pats. Makes sense that a fan base that turned a blind eye to signing...certain players would do that though.

I'd rather the smack jokes and a trip to Sweden tbh.

[Jack B]

We were poor but was to be expected, this was essentially a free shot at Europe thanks to the charity of Lee Power, Waterford and their friend John Delaney. No point in banging on about Kenny when there'll be games in the league where we'll play similarly against far lesser teams and the complaints will hold more merit. He's been atrocious though and three formations in one game is indicative of that.

[D24Saint]

You will have to rob quite a few handbags to fund your trip and still have enough to pay your dealer. Bleedin' Righ!

Still online must have ran out of pants to sniff.

[Nesta99]

The Rats will be destroyed in Sweden.

Go and find a lemon to suck on to sweeten you up!

Look to Mr Power and the bills he tried to dodge for why you weren't playing tonight. I dont want to see Waterford implode but Power looks to have spat the dummy when he lost his Waterford crony to pull a fast one.

[White Horse]

Mixed night. Very good result for Rovers, puts them in pole position to go through. Tallaght should be packed next week.

Pats did as well as could be expected for a team that were parachuted into the completion at the last minute. Cork are unrecognisable from the team that earned their place in the competition. I feared a humiliation for them but they did well to keep the score line respectable. That in itself is a great achievement for Cotter.

[D24Saint]

It’s time to stop seeing Luxembourg as a soft draw , we barely got by each a few year back. I reckon both leagues are as bad as each other now.

[Real ale Madrid]

Embarrassing night for us.

A bad error by Horgan on the end line gifted them the first and the air just went out of the place. Horgan gave away a penalty then for a clumsy challenge before he was hooked off and we went back to 4-5-1 after starting 3-5-1-1. Then Sheppard missed a penalty to complete a miserable 30 mins. Game ebbed away after that. We had all the play but didn't manage to fashion a single decent chance. They were ok but physical, well organised and that was it really. Not a good team at all as evidenced by the two games against Cardiff anyway. We could have gone to Ibrox.

[pineapple stu]

So the LoI has dropped to 41st in the UEFA rankings, having ended last year 37th. Armenia and Finland are within half a point and could yet catch us. It's our lowest ranking since 2014; 1997 and 1998 are the only other years we were ranked as low. Our (post Communist break-up) peak was 29th in 2010.

Basically we've had two group stage qualifications in the past decade and that's about it for Europe. Take the last three years only, and we're in 49th position - so this is potentially how far we'll drop if we don't replace Dundalk's 2015/16 season in the next two years. That's pre-qualifying for the Europa League phase territory.

Coupled with how much the national team has regressed, and how bankrupt the FAI evidently are, it's safe to say John Delaney is only brilliant and absolutely the best person ever to be CEO of the FAI.

Football in this country really needs a thorough overhaul if it's to catch up to the rest of the continent (though that's going slightly off topic; it's not because of tonight's results!)

[sbgawa]

The underage leagues are reason for optimism Stu.
Some of the football in 13s 15s 17s is excellent and technique is better than most of the senior players

[D24Saint]

So the LoI has dropped to 41st in the UEFA rankings, having ended last year 37th. Armenia and Finland are within half a point and could yet catch us. It's our lowest ranking since 2014; 1997 and 1998 are the only other years we were ranked as low. Our (post Communist break-up) peak was 29th in 2010.

Basically we've had two group stage qualifications in the past decade and that's about it for Europe. Take the last three years only, and we're in 49th position - so this is potentially how far we'll drop if we don't replace Dundalk's 2015/16 season in the next two years. That's pre-qualifying for the Europa League phase territory.

Coupled with how much the national team has regressed, and how bankrupt the FAI evidently are, it's safe to say John Delaney is only brilliant and absolutely the best person ever to be CEO of the FAI.

Football in this country really needs a thorough overhaul if it's to catch up to the rest of the continent (though that's going slightly off topic; it's not because of tonight's results!)

Wouldnt be that far off topic very salient point imo , the game in this country needs massive root and branch reform. We should leave triabism aside this is the game we love and it’s in pearl in this county.

[pineapple stu]

The underage leagues are reason for optimism Stu.
Some of the football in 13s 15s 17s is excellent and technique is better than most of the senior players
Possibly, though I'll believe it when players start coming through at senior level. For now, there's been lots of talk about good underage teams - including the national underage teams - for the past couple of years, but no end product at senior level as yet.

And of course, a falling ranking makes it less likely we'll be let into the UEFA Youth League next year. Only a couple of games of course, but great to be able to test yourself at that level in underage.

[seand]

Just regarding coefficient, we know already where we'll be starting next season, that's set in stone before this season starts. From 2021-22 it's all change with Europa League 2. Staying above 52 in the rankings seems to be the only main target (in terms of avoiding losing spots or starting earlier). But yeh another poor season looking probable. Best case maybe Rovers hold on and Dundalk beat Riga and win a round in the EL

[paul_oshea]

Rovers well worth their draw player some lovely football and for 20 mins at the start of the second half they were dominant. Tired in the last 15 mins or so but they deserved that late equaliser. A bit like Dundalk yesterday a lot of physical late exchanges mainly from the opposition. Byrne spread the ball well too but what's the story with kavannagh and loving being offside? Himself and Idah could do damage together in a nightclub.

[pineapple stu]

Just regarding coefficient, we know already where we'll be starting next season, that's set in stone before this season starts. From 2021-22 it's all change with Europa League 2. Staying above 52 in the rankings seems to be the only main target (in terms of avoiding losing spots or starting earlier). But yeh another poor season looking probable. Best case maybe Rovers hold on and Dundalk beat Riga and win a round in the EL
True on the EL2 actually. Had Dundalk lost away to FH in 2016, then we'd be down 48th at the moment and would have started in the preliminary round of the Europa League this year. But it seems the plan at the moment is for everyone below 30th to start in the first round of EL2, so it looks like we'll avoid that fate alright.

Losing the Youth League spot isn't great, although we qualified when Ireland were ranked 41st.

But it is more the general malaise alright.

[swinfordfc]

We have to honest here - it looks like the league is going backwards! Out of 55 countries, Ireland are 48th placed based on co-efficient points gather so far this year (0.25). N Ireland have 1.0 and Wales have 0.5 already! We are at 41st at the moment but being honest, that's too high for us. It could have being worst - Rovers equalised in the last minute! Next week, we need Dundalk and Rovers to get through but its going to be tough.

[sparky12345678]

It’s time to stop seeing Luxembourg as a soft draw , we barely got by each a few year back. I reckon both leagues are as bad as each other now.

I mean Dudelange drew 2-2 against Maltese opposition at home.
Obviously there are no "soft" draws. There are always unseeded teams beating seeded teams and "surprises" when a country we consider lacking in Football culture does well but we also need to be aiming for a certain standard.

some other interesting tidbits;
Bratislava drew 1-1 at home against Montenegrin opposition.
The Europa draw against Legia and The *Latvians* v Ljubljana as mentioned.
Minsk 1-1 v *Latvian* opposition.
Radnicki Nis (Serb) were seeded against Flora Talinn and Talinn won 2-0.
The Israeli team only managed a draw against Albanian opposition.
The Lithuanians only managed 1-1 at home v Faroe Islands
Macedonian team also performed well away from home. They all show that irish clubs should be able to manage a decent result or 2. Rovers did well and Dundalk will hopefully get their **** together and if 2 clubs go through a round or two it wont be a terrible year but yea...

Its disappointing that Irish clubs cant manage a bit of consistency and look to role models like the Scandanavians.
Football is still a very popular sport in Ireland we should be better than this.

[PartySaint]

The end product from Pats is very disappointing

Welcome to our season.

[pineapple stu]

We have to honest here - it looks like the league is going backwards! Out of 55 countries, Ireland are 48th placed based on co-efficient points gather so far this year (0.25). N Ireland have 1.0 and Wales have 0.5 already! We are at 41st at the moment but being honest, that's too high for us. It could have being worst - Rovers equalised in the last minute! Next week, we need Dundalk and Rovers to get through but its going to be tough.
It has to be borne in mind that the likes of NI and Wales are "benefitting" from playing in the pre-qualifying round against easier opposition. So the North got two wins and two draws in the EL qualifying I think - that's 0.750 that we simply didn't have access to.

[CorribsideSteve]

Welcome to our season.
Seeing it with my own eyes like that was unbelievable. I wrote that after Desmond (I think) had ballooned a shot almost over the ground from 20 yards out. Other examples include weak as water first time crosses that never reached anybody except a defender. The overall level of technical, attacking ability of our sides is one of the worst in Europe, along with our rankings in the co-efficient.

[Kingswood Rover]

and the only way the league will get better is with investment and constantly driving our underage coaching structures to deliver players with the technical abilities/abilities to be able to receive a pass under pressure, shield control and pass again. This is starting to happen you can see the improvements in the National underage leagues. At this stage as once avid Ireland fan now little interest in the National team for me the National League is it where i see some teams genuinely trying to play ball. If we somehow manage to get that all island league with the investment level mentioned, i think we could jump well up the co efficient.

[D24Saint]

disappointing that Irish clubs cant manage a bit of consistency and look to role models like the Scandanavians. Football is still a very popular sport in Ireland we should be better than this.

money talks until we get the backing from then department of sport , local councils, the football association nothing is going to change.

[oriel]

Super result for Rovers, they just need to be careful now and not to think they have already got through, wasn’t expecting too much from Pats though. The Cork result was just very disappointing, I think this is the first time an Irish side has ever lost to Lux club too, the meltdown must be almost complete now with Cork, what a decline and how quick also.

I think both Dundalk and Rovers will get through next week, that will get things a little back on track.

[oriel]

Embarrassing night for us.

A bad error by Horgan on the end line gifted them the first and the air just went out of the place. Horgan gave away a penalty then for a clumsy challenge before he was hooked off and we went back to 4-5-1 after starting 3-5-1-1. Then Sheppard missed a penalty to complete a miserable 30 mins. Game ebbed away after that. We had all the play but didn't manage to fashion a single decent chance. They were ok but physical, well organised and that was it really. Not a good team at all as evidenced by the two games against Cardiff anyway. We could have gone to Ibrox.

Missed out also on a potential tv deal too, I think clubs are free to negotiate this up to play off rounds, then on the other hand the locals / business / cops would have had the nuisance of thousands of ticketless Rangers fans descending into Cork City centre areas / TC, before / after the game.

[swinfordfc]

It has to be borne in mind that the likes of NI and Wales are "benefitting" from playing in the pre-qualifying round against easier opposition. So the North got two wins and two draws in the EL qualifying I think - that's 0.750 that we simply didn't have access to.

Fair point but so should be go further down the table to get access to these games or are be developing as a league trying to push up the table. Dundalk and Rovers in fairest to both are at a decent level but Pats and Cork aren't - simple as - its a shame Bohs are not in Europe this year. The rest of the league needs to get up to this level if we are to move on instead of thinking playing pre-qualifying games - in fairest, Pats and Cork probably would lose these games as well!

[Dalymountrower]

Fair point but so should be go further down the table to get access to these games or are be developing as a league trying to push up the table. Dundalk and Rovers in fairest to both are at a decent level but Pats and Cork aren't - simple as - its a shame Bohs are not in Europe this year. The rest of the league needs to get up to this level if we are to move on instead of thinking playing pre-qualifying games - in fairest, Pats and Cork probably would lose these games as well!

There was no reason to think that Cork would implode so badly this season. Waterford looked to have a good squad to compete in Europe and now the wheels have come off there too.

Pats are performing pretty much at the level of their squad and were up against a goodish team last night , but not great.

Rovers midfield would at least be the equal of most at this stage of the Europa League, and were far better than Brann, even with the usual malfunctioning defence and front "line". Could win 3-0 in Tallaght.

Dundalk will score away so hopefully a 1-1 or better will see them through. Would have been a year too early for Bohs. With the core of the team signed for next season, if we qualify , I think we will compete with a bit of passion and spirit anyway.

The bigger issue here is that the support for the senior league here is negligible. In every other country we play against, high nett worth individuals,some with dubiously acquired wealth, can heavily invest in a tax efficient way , in a game that is universally loved. Similarly Tech, comms, finance and other blue chips weigh in as additional sponsors. Meanwhile here, every bank and supermarket chain in the state is heavily invested in the GAA (and Rugby), to the extent that the GAA`s efforts to spend/hide their vast wealth while stlll getting state hand outs , is like an episode of Breaking Bad.

On the other hand, "big" sponsors in our league are on line betting, high interest loan companies for poor people, pubs etc. With the exploding clown car that is the FAI, Government have ready excuses not to fund the infrastructure.
Dundalk and Rovers are the exception now in being in a position to compete against well funded clubs from some of the poorest countries in eastern Europe. If their backers get cold feet we will be dropping down to Northern Ireland Level.

[pineapple stu]

The Cork result was just very disappointing, I think this is the first time an Irish side has ever lost to Lux club too
UCD and Pat's both lost away from home in 2015 and 2016 (UCD with ten men), but both went through on aggregate.

It's the first time a Luxembourg side has won in Ireland, and it looks like the first time they'll knock out an LoI side too.

[wonder88]

There seems to have been a revival in Sottish soccer in recent years. It might not do any harm to make some connections over there and maybe pick up a few hints. Big game in Tallaght next week, for the club and the league.

[pineapple stu]

Has there?

Progres beat Rangers in 2016

Kilmarnock needed an injury-time winner in Wales last night, and Aberdeen face a nervous second leg in Finland after conceding late in a 2-1 win. Aberdeen scraped past Jeunesse Esch in 2016.

Last year was ok, but take Celtic and Rangers out and they're not great at all