LoI in Europe 2024

[MichaelCherrito]

Great draw to try and get two extra games in the final rounds.

[joey B]

Jesus, they couldnt have asked for much more from that draw

About as fortunate a draw travel wise they could have ever imagined getting…..

[pateen]

Larne at home would prob have drawn a bigger crowd than TNS.

Jack Byrne to prove himself against APOEL.
Great draw

[nigel-harps1954]

No difficult away trips, home to TNS and away to Larne. They have to feel good about their chances of picking up a couple of wins.
Only disappointing thing is not getting any really exciting exotic trip but Chelsea probably makes up for that.

Assume the only game where they will have issues getting tickets would be Larne

Larne will be playing in Windsor Park so I'd say they'll be able to take as much as they want.

Rovers have a genuine chance of progression here.

[2 Year Contract]

About as fortunate a draw travel wise they could have ever imagined getting…..

A bit of everything you’d want as a fan. The glamour tie of the trip to London, then the trip up north and at home to TNS as well as Borac, they should be targeting 9 points from those, and then maybe even nick a point at home to APOEL

[El-Pietro]

About as fortunate a draw travel wise they could have ever imagined getting…..

You can fly to Bratislava with Ryanair from Dublin for next to nothing, only an hour/90 minutes by bus. You could even travel by boat up the Danube if you wanted to. I'm extremely jealous of how doable this is.

[pineapple stu]

Larne have Gent (H), Molde (A), Olimpija (A), Rovers (H), St Gallen (H) and Dinamo Minsk (A). Actually not a bad draw up until the last pot

TNS have Fiorentina (A), Djurgardens (H), Astana (H), Rovers (A), Panathanaikos (H) and Celje (A). Tough pool, but a great set of fixtures in fairness.

Rovers need to finish ahead of 12 of the 36 teams to make it through this stage, which is very very doable. Even if you assume no points from the top three teams.

[placid casual]

As beautiful a draw as we could have imagined.
There should be good Rovers numbers for all 3 away games.
Enjoy your weekend folks.

[sbgawa]

Unbelievable draw .
We should be targetting 6 points against LArne and TNS and 1 more result to make the next stage.
No excuses really. Obviously Chelsea and Rapid Vienna are likely lossess away to quality oposition but home against Apoel and Borac is a possible point.
From a travel perspective its fantastic as well

[pateen]

Do Rovers have a fans forum anymore?

[Philosophizer]

Oh my god, the scum of the Earth.

Worst fans in London by a country mile. Only down the road from me, I'll be looking forward to that one.
Millwall take that title all day long imo.

[sbgawa]

Do Rovers have a fans forum anymore?

facebook only unfortunately

[pateen]

Millwall take that title all day long imo.

No, not even close.
Super anti Irish as well are 'The Chelz' as they like to call themselves.

[outspoken]

No, not even close.
Super anti Irish as well are 'The Chelz' as they like to call themselves.

Yet any amount of gob****es in this country supporting them and refereeing to the Irish hating Chelsea as "we"

[ger121]

Great group from Rovers. 3 winnable matches at home and also away to Larne. I include APOEL in that list because they are very good at home but not so on the road. RFS of Latvia beat them last night on penalties in Cyprus.

Chelsea will be a hell of an away day and lots of hype around it. Like Spurs in 2011 but this time with Neanderthals.

Rapid Vienna very good in EL qualifying but again somewhere new to travel and a great away day. Dundalk had that crazy 4-3 game with them in 2020.

[Philosophizer]

No, not even close.
Super anti Irish as well are 'The Chelz' as they like to call themselves.
Never seen it spelled with a “z”. I’ve been to Stamford Bridge numerous times and drank in the pubs around the stadium - never any issue.

[ger121]

Larne have Gent (H), Molde (A), Olimpija (A), Rovers (H), St Gallen (H) and Dinamo Minsk (A). Actually not a bad draw up until the last pot

TNS have Fiorentina (A), Djurgardens (H), Astana (H), Rovers (A), Panathanaikos (H) and Celje (A). Tough pool, but a great set of fixtures in fairness.

Rovers need to finish ahead of 12 of the 36 teams to make it through this stage, which is very very doable. Even if you assume no points from the top three teams.

Larne’s fixtures read like the Rovers group in 2022. Just missing Djurgarden

[Acornvilla]

It must be said the pride of the entire league is on the line here, they may take 6 points from Larne and TNS or give it up :D

[Philosophizer]

Yet any amount of gob****es in this country supporting them and refereeing to the Irish hating Chelsea as "we"
I think this type of thing is way overblown tbh. I’ve been to Stamford Bridge numerous times, usually with a few other Irish, and there’s never been any anti-Irish sentiment at all.

[yurt]

Could barely have handpicked a better set of fixtures.

Glad the Chelsea fixture is away, could have been a circus with Irish Chelsea fans getting tickets. Not a winnable fixture either so better off having the winnable ties at home.

Rovers will have 4 group games in Ireland, 1 in England and 1 in Austria. Reckon that result in a really decent support for all of these fixtures.

People in general hate change but I actually do like this new format. I've probably been in the states too long but getting to play 6 different teams and splitting off into a bracket like how the NFL works is a good format.

10 points looks like it's about the ceiling for rovers. hard to know what'll be needed given the new format but you'd think they'll need at least 7 to be in the mix for top 24.

[nigel-harps1954]

Every win is worth €500k and a draw €166k to Rovers, so even if they manage to get two wins and a draw and just miss out on progression, I'm sure they'll be reasonably happy with that return.

[pineapple stu]

Highlights of the Pat's game here. Includes a full-on Phil Babb at 1:57


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P44CMksdXpY

[pineapple stu]

And Rovers 0-2 PAOK here. Second week in a row Pohls - who made a couple of good saves in fairness - seems to dive out of the way of a near-post shot and let in a goal.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRm9Yu-wnuI

[nigel-harps1954]

That second goal...holy sweet mother of god Pohls.

[Philosophizer]

That second goal...holy sweet mother of god Pohls.
Shocking! Could be his worst one yet…

[ger121]

Pohls made some amount of saves but that 2nd goal was a shocker. Rovers always get cut open with that little right side diagonal pass into the box.

[legendz]

Are three wins achievable for Rovers from their six opponents? Should put them well in contention for finishing in the top 24 of 36. 9th to 24th playoff for the Round of 16. The knockout phase play-offs are in February.

[Acornvilla]

I think Pohls is actually growing in to the position a bit, isn't miles away from being good enough, but definitely something between the ears he needs to work on if he's ever going to make it at any decent level. Looks great in patches, but always has a mistake when there's pressure on. Big few months for his own career ahead as you'd assume Rovers will make moves to replace him unless something drastic happens.

[sbgawa]

If by growing into it you mean he is only responsible for 2 howlers every 3 games instead of one every match I agree

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Every win is worth €500k and a draw €166k to Rovers, so even if they manage to get two wins and a draw and just miss out on progression, I'm sure they'll be reasonably happy with that return.

400 and 133 per UEFA

[CorribsideSteve]

Rovers hit the jackpot figuratively and literally there with that draw. There's definitely 6 points to be taken there which is worth around a million euros to them whatever way you look at it. I'd caution against any more than 6 points though, as I just feel they're not ruthless enough in front of goals often enough. It's at this level that you have to put away your chances when you get them, a thing any number of LOI teams have been guilty of, historically, not just Shams. The game against Chelsea should be a good opportunity for English eyes to get dialled in on the likes of Farrugia etc, creating another potential lucrative outlet for them down the line, as well as being a tie where they can just play free of any possible expectations. And aside from that, a decent amount of hype and publicity and shining a bigger light on our league. Good for Rovers all around.

On a side note, I think the criticism of Pohls is harsh. Rovers would have lost 8-0 in the PAOK first leg without him, and 4 or 5 nil the other night. Even at the highest of levels, goalkeepers let in the softest of goals occasionally that would leave you going 'Ah Jaysus'.

[ForeForeToo]

Great draw to try and get two extra games in the final rounds.

Only Gent and Heidenheim face opposition wiyh a higher average coefficient than Rovers. Panathnaikos of Greece face an equal average coefficient to Rovers @ 23.8

Legislation face opposition with the lowest average coefficient of 13.3

Tougher draw based on that but skewed by Chelsea I guess.

[Acornvilla]

If by growing into it you mean he is only responsible for 2 howlers every 3 games instead of one every match I agree
haha, he's under a lot of pressure at a level he's barely experienced, he's having to make far too many saves in any match I've been watching, while games v Vikingur the amount of crosses coming in was wild. He definitely needs to improve in that regard too. I think playing for Rovers in goals in Europe would be very mentally taxing. it's a very tough learning experience for someone which such little playing experience at any level. He obviously wasn't really ready for it last year, and it was an incredibly risky strategy by Rovers to go with him as #1 this season. It may have been a contributing factor to costing them the league, but they've gotten away with it in Europe so far.

For Pohls I think this experience could be the making of him and I've seen signs of growth.

[EatYerGreens]

The New Saints in Tallaght and Larne away!

What a draw.

Anyone kow what happens re gate receipts ? Do teams get their keep their own home income (tickets and broadcast) or is the ticket money split more like a cup final would be?

[Nesta99]

For starters great draw for Rovers, must focus on the potential benefits to the domestic Irish game not to be jealous or resentful at such a time, ye know all those things some Rovers fans think every other LoI thinks about them at all times.


No difficult away trips, home to TNS and away to Larne. They have to feel good about their chances of picking up a couple of wins.
Only disappointing thing is not getting any really exciting exotic trip but Chelsea probably makes up for that.
Assume the only game where they will have issues getting tickets would be Larne

Exotic is would be one way to describe a trip o Stamford Bridge!! In a Joe Exotic kind of way....


Millwall take that title all day long imo.

Nope nowhere near close!


No, not even close.
Super anti Irish as well are 'The Chelz' as they like to call themselves.

As Pateen says a truly horrible shower! Formerly a West London resident and also just up the road from 'the Chelz' cnuts as Billy Butcher might put it, never been both as scared around a football ground and viscerally angry as a not particularly sensitive Paddy in London than at those badly judged visits to that kip of a club (Id love to see a few of our own little halfwits thrown in among that mob and see their shadow dancing impresses. Brentford, Fulham, QPR super to visit, slightly further afleld Orient fine, & Leyton is no Richmond!! as long as you aint Spurs, Arsenal or Hammers fans. On trains out to Watford with Milwall fans plenty of time and no hassle at all though always got a bit nervy as the two sets of supporters got within shouting distance. Other high profile games in Glasgow, Naples, Madrid eg where the only unnerving things were the Robocops all over the place. I'd go as far as to say Rovers fans should take care and cover up colours until in the ground and after for a few tube stops away from Kings Road unless they are very familiar with the area. May sound ott but once is unlucky, twice well ok, third time - never again and not including encountering crowds coming and going matchdays. I cant recall much too much to redeem Chelsea fans away from ground or games either tbh. Never got the Irish Chelsea fan, poor gullible nouveaux glory gobsh1tes!

[Nesta99]

Anyone kow what happens re gate receipts ? Do teams get their keep their own home income (tickets and broadcast) or is the ticket money split more like a cup final would be?

Im pretty sure the home club keeps the gate - would be tough to argue why there looked like 20k more, or less at home, than officially announced figures ala LoI. Would be nice to play at a full EPL ground and pick up half the income - could be close to worth picking up a point or a prelim round progression. Broadcast money depends on stage, domestic, international markets. At group stages its bound to be a central TV deal?

[Philosophizer]

Some serious scaremongering going on here. As mentioned already, I’ve been to Chelsea loads of times with Irish lads and never had any issues, just to give the other perspective. Also been to matches around Europe, and can’t say I’ve ever felt nervy at any of them tbh, even the ones with so called hooligan issues. I’ve had far scarier encounters outside Irish nightclubs than I ever had around any football ground.
Having said that, as the old adage goes, if you go looking for trouble, you’ll probably find it. But that applies to any place in the world. Having attended Rovers match over in Gent a few years back I remember some Rovers fans getting a few boxes because they went into the Gent section with a Rovers flag. As I said, if you go looking for trouble…

[Nesta99]

Some serious scaremongering going on here. As mentioned already, I’ve been to Chelsea loads of times with Irish lads and never had any issues, just to give the other perspective. Also been to matches around Europe, and can’t say I’ve ever felt nervy at any of them tbh, even the ones with so called hooligan issues. I’ve had far scarier encounters outside Irish nightclubs than I ever had around any football ground.
Having said that, as the old adage goes, if you go looking for trouble, you’ll probably find it. But that applies to any place in the world. Having attended Rovers match over in Gent a few years back I remember some Rovers fans getting a few boxes because they went into the Gent section with a Rovers flag. As I said, if you go looking for trouble…

Are you seriously suggesting that I went looking for the brick that hit my friend, lobbed over a police cordon in to a section of away supporters being walked by police to the tube station. That we were looking to spend hours in Hillingdon ED because C&WM A+E was closed due to being at capacity cause of the amount of other incidents in the vicinity of the ground. That the tube doesnt stop for about 3 or as many as needed stations where Chelsea thugs congregate to intercept travelling fans heading in toward the city to safely get to intercity services north. That I went looking for cups of p1ss thrown from home sections of the crowd, paper bags of faecal matter being lobbed in on fans another time. The subsequent high number of security and policing which was heavy handed to watch and experience, family groups geting seperated and zero help or concern for the distress in that as their hands were already full. The quickly getting out of the way of mounted police charging to back up colleagues as thugs used sidestreets to ambush indiscriminately with pre prestashed bottles etc. The random and admitidely wider English football fan no surrender bull**** and vitriolic IRA taunts upon hearing an accent, generalised anti Irish sentiment. Multiple incidents experienced across a number of games. Maybe you sat up among the posh home seats and not in with commoners in the away end - Dundalk treat away fans like royalty by comparison. Maybe you travel in to games? Not dealing with the organised disturbances and disruption for residents in the hinterland. I too have been to high profile/high risk games abroad and across the UK (Im pretty of dismissive of what is seen as high risk in LoI), in little fear, with positive experiences, well policed, as I have alluded too above.

I dont tend to be an overreactive type flipping out over minor stuff from England to foot.ie, by all mean correct me if im deluding myself on this. I happy for you that you have such happy experiences traveling to Stamford Bridge, but you can pish off with the going looking for it, did you go looking for trouble outside Irish nightclubs, of which I have had few and far between scary encounters just to give the other perspective. If in doubt surely its better to err on the side of caution - Dundalk fans in Warsaw were told not to wear colours around the city in the days and hours leadiug up to that CL Playoff game in 2016 due to the culture of groups of Legea fans. White t-shirt to ye know not 'go looking for trouble'. I dont know your affinity to Chelsea FC but you sound damn like the 'we'll give you trouble, nothing to see see here guv' attitude thats not untypical. I'm far from a fan of the Donal McEntyre redtop style Channel 5 exoposé 'dramas' by the wat tha may have spooked some back in the day. You call it scaremongering, Ill call it experience....looking for trouble and finding it - dya know what, that attitude of yours really is classic Chelsea thuggery apologist!

[Nesta99]

Dispite the insinuations irking me above. Some humour was not missed in the aftermath of one unpleasant incident that as a Dundalk fan all my life I have seen a fair share sh1t shows, but only once did I ever actually see sh1t hit the fan!!

[pateen]

Some serious scaremongering going on here. As mentioned already, I’ve been to Chelsea loads of times with Irish lads and never had any issues, just to give the other perspective. Also been to matches around Europe, and can’t say I’ve ever felt nervy at any of them tbh, even the ones with so called hooligan issues. I’ve had far scarier encounters outside Irish nightclubs than I ever had around any football ground.
Having said that, as the old adage goes, if you go looking for trouble, you’ll probably find it. But that applies to any place in the world. Having attended Rovers match over in Gent a few years back I remember some Rovers fans getting a few boxes because they went into the Gent section with a Rovers flag. As I said, if you go looking for trouble…

Agreed. Been a few times as a neutral with no problems. That said, if you want trouble you'll have no problems find it there.

Have no doubt how scummy and a very disliked bunch their fans are in London.

If you're drinking near the ground hide your colours.

[Calcio Jack]

Are you seriously suggesting that I went looking for the brick that hit my friend, lobbed over a police cordon in to a section of away supporters being walked by police to the tube station. That we were looking to spend hours in Hillingdon ED because C&WM A+E was closed due to being at capacity cause of the amount of other incidents in the vicinity of the ground. That the tube doesnt stop for about 3 or as many as needed stations where Chelsea thugs congregate to intercept travelling fans heading in toward the city to safely get to intercity services north. That I went looking for cups of p1ss thrown from home sections of the crowd, paper bags of faecal matter being lobbed in on fans another time. The subsequent high number of security and policing which was heavy handed to watch and experience, family groups geting seperated and zero help or concern for the distress in that as their hands were already full. The quickly getting out of the way of mounted police charging to back up colleagues as thugs used sidestreets to ambush indiscriminately with pre prestashed bottles etc. The random and admitidely wider English football fan no surrender bull**** and vitriolic IRA taunts upon hearing an accent, generalised anti Irish sentiment. Multiple incidents experienced across a number of games. Maybe you sat up among the posh home seats and not in with commoners in the away end - Dundalk treat away fans like royalty by comparison. Maybe you travel in to games? Not dealing with the organised disturbances and disruption for residents in the hinterland. I too have been to high profile/high risk games abroad and across the UK (Im pretty of dismissive of what is seen as high risk in LoI), in little fear, with positive experiences, well policed, as I have alluded too above.

I dont tend to be an overreactive type flipping out over minor stuff from England to foot.ie, by all mean correct me if im deluding myself on this. I happy for you that you have such happy experiences traveling to Stamford Bridge, but you can pish off with the going looking for it, did you go looking for trouble outside Irish nightclubs, of which I have had few and far between scary encounters just to give the other perspective. If in doubt surely its better to err on the side of caution - Dundalk fans in Warsaw were told not to wear colours around the city in the days and hours leadiug up to that CL Playoff game in 2016 due to the culture of groups of Legea fans. White t-shirt to ye know not 'go looking for trouble'. I dont know your affinity to Chelsea FC but you sound damn like the 'we'll give you trouble, nothing to see see here guv' attitude thats not untypical. I'm far from a fan of the Donal McEntyre redtop style Channel 5 exoposé 'dramas' by the wat tha may have spooked some back in the day. You call it scaremongering, Ill call it experience....looking for trouble and finding it - dya know what, that attitude of yours really is classic Chelsea thuggery apologist!

Dear God , what an over the top combination of mansplaining and gas lighting ….

[ger121]

Well “mansplaining” is certainly not a word I’d ever have on a virtual foot.ie bingo card.

[mypost]

Rovers Fixtures, starting in October

v Nicosia (h)
v Larne (a)
v TNS (h)
v Vienna (a)
v Borac (h)
v Chelsea (a)

[sbgawa]

If we could nick something in the first match we should be targeting 7 points after 3 games. All going well which is a big ask :)

[legendz]

If we could nick something in the first match we should be targeting 7 points after 3 games. All going well which is a big ask :)
Big ask but yeah, that'll be a great start. The last home game then for 10 points! Hard to gauge with the new format but 10 points might be see a club finish around 12th to 18th. 9th to 16th are seeded for knockout playoff, should Shamrock Rovers dare to dream of getting to the Round of 16!

[BonnieShels]

These things are happening a lot, it must just be spur of the moment, Gavin Cummiskey in Irish Times last week mentioning the chance of Pats making the group stage, made reference to it was only done only '3 times' previously by Irish Clubs, Rovers x 2 and Dundalk under SK in 2016, maybe his thinking was SK could do it a second time to make it 4 Irish clubs in total when it would have been 5, as it was also done in 2020 which he failed to mention.

Amazing how these things get past Editors, plus there were some really good games in that 2020 group stage, Dundalk losing 4-3 away to Rapid Vienna was probably the highlight, should really have got a draw there, and possibly a momentous win if McCarey wasn't in goals, also scored twice v Arsenal, but end of the day it was still 6 defeats in the group.

TBF, nobody remembers 2020.

[ger121]

Conference League ELO Sims give Rovers a good chance of getting to PO Round. I did seen another graph that had 7 & 6 points giving a team a reasonable chance of making a play-off.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GWWHcG_XQAEi327?format=png&name=900x900

[pineapple stu]

Slightly surprised it's so low tbh.

That said, lose at home to APOEL (who are a good team, albeit in a bit of a slump lately) and at to Larne (possible...) and it's likely all over before it gets started. So it is a thin line alright.

Fifth seeds Panathanaikos expected to do quite well I see!

[nigel-harps1954]

I do think Rovers would need to get an experienced goalkeeper in before the league phase kicks off, but at this stage it doesn't look likely they'll be adding anyone.

[Nesta99]

Dear God , what an over the top combination of mansplaining and gas lighting ….

Mansplaining and gaslighting? I do apologise for not consdiering your to your sensitive inner lady parts CJ!