LOI In Europe 2020

[ger121]

Too early? :tongue: So this is what it feels like,up this high. The air is so clean!

[Ezeikial]

Too early? :tongue: So this is what it feels like,up this high. The air is so clean!

Exactly what the Waterford lads felt.

I hope Bohs admin has improved

[pineapple stu]

I know a good book (https://foot.ie/threads/249252-New-LoI-book-One-Night-in-Dudelange) you could read to get you in the mood in the meantime. :) [/shameless plug]

Hope it goes better for ye than the last couple of ties! Thor and TNS, eh? :p

Is it the first time a LoI club has qualified for Europe while still being in Europe? Or did Cork do it a couple of years back when they were in the Youth League too?

[sundance kid]

One things for sure, every granny in Austria wiĺ be hoping bohs don t come to town.

[Couch Potato]

Heard Pats are looking at getting Bohs kicked out for pulling out of the leinster senior😁

[ger121]

I know a good book (https://foot.ie/threads/249252-New-LoI-book-One-Night-in-Dudelange) you could read to get you in the mood in the meantime. :) [/shameless plug]

Hope it goes better for ye than the last couple of ties! Thor and TNS, eh? :p

Is it the first time a LoI club has qualified for Europe while still being in Europe? Or did Cork do it a couple of years back when they were in the Youth League too?

Funny enough. When I think of us in Europe, with a small budget, playing style and maybe progressing a round, I think about UCD that year they put out Dudelange. That book is actually on my list.

[pineapple stu]

A Bohs fan thinking of themselves as being like UCD? There's a first anyway!

[marinobohs]

A Bohs fan thinking of themselves as being like UCD? There's a first anyway!

Speaking of FIRST 😁😁😁

[seand]

Too early? :tongue: So this is what it feels like,up this high. The air is so clean!

The 2020-21 Champions League thread has been live on Dundalk Talk for several weeks ;-)

Worth mentioning the Swedish league briefly. With two games to play the top four are level on points, incredible stuff.

[El-Pietro]

I know a good book (https://foot.ie/threads/249252-New-LoI-book-One-Night-in-Dudelange) you could read to get you in the mood in the meantime. :) [/shameless plug]

Hope it goes better for ye than the last couple of ties! Thor and TNS, eh? :p

Is it the first time a LoI club has qualified for Europe while still being in Europe? Or did Cork do it a couple of years back when they were in the Youth League too?

Rovers and Dundalk were still playing group games when the season ended so they have done it. In 2017 we qualified extremely early but I believe we were knocked out of the qualifiers before we officially qualified.

[EatYerGreens]

A Bohs fan thinking of themselves as being like UCD? There's a first anyway!

Everyone eventually finds their level.

[marinobohs]

Everyone eventually finds their level.

Some still live in blissful ignorance. But you'll soon realise that ;)

[bennocelt]

Never too early, love it
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=4FE4712A1E3EA4FA!293&ithint=file%2Cxlsx&authkey=!ADkGldrPjJ1UdUc (https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=4FE4712A1E3EA4FA!293&ithint=file%2Cxlsx&authkey=!ADkGldrPjJ1UdUc)

[Sidefx]

Never too early, love it
https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=4FE4712A1E3EA4FA!293&ithint=file%2Cxlsx&authkey=!ADkGldrPjJ1UdUc (https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=4FE4712A1E3EA4FA!293&ithint=file%2Cxlsx&authkey=!ADkGldrPjJ1UdUc)

Some very interesting (budgetary) figures there...

Any idea of source?

[sbgawa]

Not a very good source i think :)

Dundalk ...................................1,380,000
Finn Harps................................. 775,000
Cork............................................75 0,000
Waterford.................................. 425,000
Rovers .....................................2,450,000 Double the Dundalk Budget , Bradley out :)

Turns out Ollie Horgan has been doing a **** poor job after all my defence of him , time for change

[sidewayspasser]

I think it's not budgets, but estimated market values of the squads according to transfermarkt.com. Which is absolutely useless for smaller leagues, because you only have nonzero estimated values for players who once played in one of the bigger leagues, and even those estimates would often be a few years old, i.e. from the time when they were still in those bigger leagues.

[TonyD]

Heard Pats are looking at getting Bohs kicked out for pulling out of the leinster senior😁

We'll definitely find a technicality somewhere :D

[geysir]

Too early? :tongue: So this is what it feels like,up this high. The air is so clean!
Is this the first time for Bohs in Europe since that fateful summer's day in the clean air of Iceland?
The other month I phoned up a company in Akureyri (home of Thor) and asked to speak with Siggi, the receptionist replied 'which Siggi? Siggi Paul, Siggi Jon, Siggi Mar or Euro Siggi?' I said who's Euro Siggi? then the kronur dropped, it was the very same Siggi who scored the hattrick plus 2 assists v Bohs and apparantly has been branded Euro Siggi in honour ever since.

[brendy_éire]

So first three rounds of CL/EL to be one leg.
Draw to determine who gets home advantage, neutral venues if the match can't be hosted.

Draws on 9/10th August, matches on week of 17th August.
More details to come, but at least we've got some idea of how things will work. The away team may get more money to off-set travel costs, for example.

Could actually be better for LoI in terms of progressing. You'd have to think there'll be a better chance over one leg than two.

[placid casual]

There will be no chance for LOI clubs if they have no competitive games beforehand.

[pateen]

When is the draw lads?

[nigel-harps1954]

When is the draw lads?

First round draws scheduled for 9th August.

[EatYerGreens]

Is this the first time for Bohs in Europe since that fateful summer's day in the clean air of Iceland?
The other month I phoned up a company in Akureyri (home of Thor) and asked to speak with Siggi, the receptionist replied 'which Siggi? Siggi Paul, Siggi Jon, Siggi Mar or Euro Siggi?' I said who's Euro Siggi? then the kronur dropped, it was the very same Siggi who scored the hattrick plus 2 assists v Bohs and apparantly has been branded Euro Siggi in honour ever since.

Disappointed to hear there is no Siggi Stardust there.

[brendy_éire]

I see Bohs are to use Lansdowne if drawn at home.
Any reason why?

If it's for distancing, surely Dalymount being used for league matches means it's fine for the EL.
Unless the FAI want a match there so they can plan for the NL matches in September?

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Bohs have done it because uefa have said they'll reverse ties if the away team has a stadium more suited to allowing social distancing procedures. Dundalk are considering asking the same.

[D24Saint]

https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/0804/1157290-uefa-rules-mean-uncertainty-for-irish-clubs-in-europe/

Very messy for the clubs involved.

[sbgawa]

Gavin Bazunu in the Manchester city champions league squad. Pretty impressive, obviously doing well

[Nesta99]

Any clause activated by the like?

[sbgawa]

Doubt it for being named in a squad but if he gets game time you'd have to hope so

[ger121]

Not a good draw. Away to potentially the best non seed in the pot

[The Lilywhites]

Not a good draw. Away to potentially the best non seed in the pot

Thought the Finnish team looked good on paper, but the Slovenians a really tough draw for sure. Slovenia not on the green list either so God knows where it'll be played.

We were one ball away from getting the Faroes!

[sidewayspasser]

NK Celje (Slovenia) vs. Dundalk. I would have said they were the ones to avoid in that pot.
As Slovenia isn't on our green list, I assume the match will be moved to Hungary or Greece: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020/0806/1157722-loi-clubs-could-play-at-hubs-in-greece-or-hungary/

[pineapple stu]

Presume the Europa League draws are at 12?

Edit - wiki says it's tomorrow at 12. No pots up as yet though, it seems

[sidewayspasser]

Presume the Europa League draws are at 12?

Seems to me only the preliminary round is drawn today.

[2 Year Contract]

Probably the toughest or second toughest draw Dundalk could’ve got but they’ve got 0 players that are full internationals so at least that’s something. By comparison Norrköping that Pats played last season had 17 full internationals in their squad. I think if the pre-lockdown Dundalk turn up on the night they have a good chance of going through

[pineapple stu]

Compared to the Faroes or Estonia (two other countries in the pot) it's obviously a tough draw, especially for the first round.

But they've not won a European tie in 15 years. They've not even been in Europe in the last five seasons, and this is their CL debut as they'd never won the league before. It's arguably the kind of tie LoI ties should be aiming to be a bit confident going into.

[The Lilywhites]

Compared to the Faroes or Estonia (two other countries in the pot) it's obviously a tough draw, especially for the first round.

But they've not won a European tie in 15 years. They've not even been in Europe in the last five seasons, and this is their CL debut as they'd never won the league before. It's arguably the kind of tie LoI ties should be aiming to be a bit confident going into.

That's it. I actually thought the Finnish were tougher possible opponents - they ran Legia Warsaw close last season and Copenhagen the season before.

People seem to be basing NK Celje's strength purely on them winning the Slovenian league a couple of weeks ago, finishing above Maribor. They finished 5th in the previous 4 seasons, so maybe there has been a big squad overhaul?

No European pedigree at all. If we're serious about group stage football, and that's why the owners are here and what the club keep talking about, then we should be winning this tie, no excuses.

[DCSIL]

Dundalk off to Slovenia then.

Up North Glentoran at home to HB Torshavn and Coleraine Home to La Forita(San Marino)

[joey B]

2 kind draw's for the Irish league teams,Dundalks post lockdown form will have to improve if they are to progress,looked very flat since the restart .

[pineapple stu]

In fairness, they only had kind draws available to them. 3 Faroe teams or the San Marino team.

Gas thing is both NI sides were unseeded - I presume because the Faroese and Sammarinese teams have picked up extra coefficient points at the preliminary stage, which the IL sides have skipped before now.

Similarly in the other pool, the Andorran and Gibraltar sides were seeded over the Montenegro and Kosovan sides. So effectively it all balanced out with everyone really on the wrong side of the pools.

[mcgonigle]

Never really understood statements like they've no European pedigree, they finished 5th the last few seasons etc. Dundalk aren't playing the team from a few seasons ago. They're playing the team that just won the league. Past results and finishes mean nothing.

Very difficult draw considering the ****shows since the restart.

[The Lilywhites]

Never really understood statements like they've no European pedigree, they finished 5th the last few seasons etc. Dundalk aren't playing the team from a few seasons ago. They're playing the team that just won the league. Past results and finishes mean nothing.

Very difficult draw considering the ****shows since the restart.

Well what else have we to go on?

They won the league because Olimpija threw it away (2 points from the final 12). How strong is the Slovenian league? I don't know what state Maribor have been in recently. People can say it's the toughest possible draw from the 4 in the pot, but it's still alright.

The owners are only here for Europe so if we can't beat this crowd, then the Americans will be off soon enough.

[nigel-harps1954]

Dundalk off to Slovenia then.

Up North Glentoran at home to HB Torshavn and Coleraine Home to La Forita(San Marino)

Linfield beat La Fiorita 2-0 at the weekend in the first qualifying round of the CL. Presumably Coleraine should have enough for them as well.

Interestingly, the CL qualifying round games were played in Nyon, in the same ground, a few hours apart.

[pineapple stu]

Same as the last couple of years (venue aside). It was Gibraltar last year, with the "final" in a couple of days there too

[Nesta99]

Its definitely true that at this stage of 'European Squad' development that we should not be so afraid. But we have been stung before, we nearly all have suffered the LoI European calamity goals and been in games we should have won, were unlucky to lose, sitters missed to put clubs through and going out on careless goals conceded at home. It's become an annual tradition to watch games between fingers expecting the worst to happen at any moment. If were 3 away goals up with 10 minutes to go we'd still be sweating!

On the Slovenians European pedigree, well ye'd like to think that we'd have a bit more guile than them and that we'd do to them the sort of naive stuff we were doing c2014, as unlikely as it might be that they'd be naive. But quick throw-in, and frees, keeping the tempo up, if they do switch off we need to take advantage. Non of this missing sitters or needing to create multiple chances to score one.

You really cant look too much at their former european record as this side could be set to dominate their league after poaching Maribors players...

Back to basics though, get some good domestic results and play in to form, even if the league has gone, take some confidence in to the CL games and let the rollercoaster begin! Its in Europe that Oduwa coud really shine, Colovic too although he has become a main man domestically already.

[pineapple stu]

Never really understood statements like they've no European pedigree, they finished 5th the last few seasons etc. Dundalk aren't playing the team from a few seasons ago. They're playing the team that just won the league. Past results and finishes mean nothing.

Very difficult draw considering the ****shows since the restart.
Fair point.

I guess if you look at previous seasons, they won the league with quite a low points tally. So the question then is is it a transition season for Maribor/Olympija coupled with good form for Celje?

If Bohs won the league this year (not impossible), I'd chalk that down at least in part to Dundalk fading/being in transition, and wouldn't expect Bohs to do as well in Europe as Dundalk.

Could be wrong of course.

I think either way though, Dundalk need to be going into this with a positive mindset, or it could potentially be their last Euro campaign for a while

[holidaysong]

The game is set for Hungary. Helps a bit in terms of making it less of a nightmare draw.

[Nesta99]

Fair point.

I guess if you look at previous seasons, they won the league with quite a low points tally. So the question then is is it a transition season for Maribor/Olympija coupled with good form for Celje?

If Bohs won the league this year (not impossible), I'd chalk that down at least in part to Dundalk fading/being in transition, and wouldn't expect Bohs to do as well in Europe as Dundalk.

Could be wrong of course.

I think either way though, Dundalk need to be going into this with a positive mindset, or it could potentially be their last Euro campaign for a while

I'm not sure what ye mean here Stu? In that we would fade out of euro places next season or even that P6 pull the plug. We've 4 games minimum and who knows but I dont think a poor campaign would mean we'd be waiting a while for another european game. I do think winning the league this year by whomever could be very important with an additional competition. I can see the UEFA Conference delayed due to the whle covid stuff where adding additional games might not be the best idea at the moment. If it is delayed it would be a bit of a sickener for the 2020 champs.

[Nesta99]

The game is set for Hungary. Helps a bit in terms of making it less of a nightmare draw.

There is social distancing at grounds in Hungary but will fans be allowed travel from either club. No trip back to the the spot where Ricky McEvoy got our hopes up (only to be dashed at home by a multi deflected goal) with that ground recently gone i think.

[pineapple stu]

Well the Euro cash is vanishing quite quickly it seems. If the budget is cut, will ye still be competitive or will ye become a mid-table side?

Maybe "last campaign for a while" is a bit over the top. But it does seem to be a very make-or-break year.