LoI in Europe 2024

[Plib]

Did Rovers get €400,000 for that win? Reading up on the prize money and a bit confused

[ger121]

Been watching the TNS match, 1-0 up v Astana, and possibly robbed of a penalty, keeper just flattened a man. They've been 2nd best, but winning, reckon they're a bit more solid than Larne, but not much better.

Thought there was surprisingly large gap in physicality and technical ability v Rovers and Larne. Great result.

Astana looked out on their feet at the end. Long trip probably a factor. TNS have had some good results in Europe this season. Won 3-0 in Lithuania in the PO Round so they’ll be thinking they can get a result in Tallaght.

[Acornvilla]

They won 2-0 in the end, getting a pretty soft penalty. Astana should have scored a load of goals, but fair play to TNS they got their win. Nothing to fear for Rovers honestly, but I'd definitely see them putting up more fight than Larne, they work very hard, created decent chances. Will be interesting to see how they do in a game where they're more ball dominant, or if they can be in Dublin.

Incredible opportunity for Rovers to make the knockouts now.

[sbgawa]

The physicality gap surprised me, rovers players consistently just out muscling larne all over the park

[dundalkfc10]

The physicality gap surprised me, rovers players consistently just out muscling larne all over the park

I watch a lot of the Irish League when it's on the BBC i player and would go see Cliftonville a few times a season.
I expected Larne to give Rovers a good game, at times last season they played some lovely stuff but tonight was men against boys. Rovers were better at every aspect of the game and if they wanted to go for it could easily have scored 7 or 8.


Hopefully your even a little bit tired Sunday and we can pull off a win to sign off on a horrible season of games at Oriel

[Plib]

This is absolutely only a thought, no justifying proof to this. But is it possible Rovers have been playing "within themselves" against opposition they don't know? They might have a confidence against Larne and TNS we may not see elsewhere. Just a thought

[placid casual]

Well that was a piece of pi$$...
Can't remember ever having a more comfortable night playing in Europe.
Great support from the 1,700 Rovers there, even if the nordie press try and fashion a negative out of a "derby" situation.
The linfield players training on the astro outside the ground as Rovers fans were leaving looked a tad upset with the reception they received.:)

can only presume the welsh will put up more of a fight,but for now 4 points from 2 games is tidy progress

[Nesta99]

Third goal was a bit of a laugh, dont think Ive ever seen a player dragged in to position to score almost from the edge of the box to inside the far post. Like everyone else I thought at the very least it would be a physical battle but Larne were just bounced about the place.

[legendz]

Rovers Seed 4 drew with Seed 2 APOEL and beat Seed 6 Larne. Could home wins over fellow Seed 4 TNS and Seed 5 Borac be enough for the top 24?

[ger121]

Rovers Seed 4 drew with Seed 2 APOEL and beat Seed 6 Larne. Could home wins over fellow Seed 4 TNS and Seed 5 Borac be enough for the top 24?

Lot of talk last night about 7 points being the magic total. I did also see 6 in the SIM models being almost equally likely to get you Top 24. Win against TNS would very likely be enough then to get Top 24.

[legendz]

Lot of talk last night about 7 points being the magic total. I did also see 6 in the SIM models being almost equally likely to get you Top 24. Win against TNS would very likely be enough then to get Top 24.
6 or 7 could be the final magic total. 10 points should be a reasonable guarantee. If teams are losing more than half their games and qualifying though, it will seem a weak qualifying format.
Looking at the financial rewards for results, Rovers should be targeting an achievable 3 wins and 1 draw in total at least.

[pineapple stu]

The goals from UCD's game are online now -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IUGppjjLp4

[Nesta99]

Stu? are you sill a student spending all day playing FIFA instead of going to lectures? Rovers were good but they dont knock the ball about like that....

[pineapple stu]

Whoops!

Who uploads all those stupid FIFA games after matches? I can't understand that!

Anyways, means more time to enjoy UCD's opener I guess :p

[Nesta99]

The at 1st goal is as good a break away goal as youll get, well coached, heads up, picking the right pass at the right time, putting the ball across where defenders cant stick out a foot and keeper cant come collect. If we can develop kids that have that awareness and ability to execute well there is hope for improving the international standards down the line. I like the second goal for the tenaciousness, tough takcle and ball out of the feet and getting the shot off, good individual effort. The third was bit sloppy, maybe fatigue an issue? Without seeing the build up or how UCD lost possession hard to know. Could be a great home leg that hopefully gets a lot of neutrals out.

[Nesta99]

Whoops!

Who uploads all those stupid FIFA games after matches? I can't understand that!

Anyways, means more time to enjoy UCD's opener I guess :p

Cheap clicks I presume. Its a pain in the ass when looking for highlights of fringe games. Trying to get footage of games ye were at or away games like in 2016 were all damn FIFA uploads

[CorribsideSteve]

Whoops!

Who uploads all those stupid FIFA games after matches? I can't understand that!

Anyways, means more time to enjoy UCD's opener I guess :p

They've caught me out more than once before looking for different highlights! Anyways, an expected victory for Rovers but maybe not as easily expected. The TNS match should be interesting after their demolishing of Astana who were in the Champions League not that long ago IIRC.

[sbgawa]

The TNS match is our big chance. Chelsea, rapid and Boruc will be big asks.
7 will almost certainly make last 24.
An accident of scheduling in terms of our 3 easiest matches first could potentially have us in 5th or 6th place if we beat TNS. nosebleed altitude

[geysir]

Vikingur (Reykjavik) are playing Boruc next at home, that should give an indicator of the challenge to Rovers. Strange how it has turned out but there is a strong element of mirroring between Rovers and Vikingur since they met. Both are playing much better football these past two months. Both were /are challenging for the league, In Vikingur's case they beat Bruges on Thursday eve in a exciting game, and then met Breidablik in a winner takes all match on the Sunday, Breidablik shot out of the blocks and hammered a lifeless Vikingur to win the league.
I see that Rovers just about managed to beat Dundalk in the immediate game after their emphatic Conf L win, but should be fresh enough to do what they need to do in their final game. Probably though not enough to win the league.

Therefore it'll be Shels v Breidablik next year :)

[joey B]

Israeli officials for Rovers on Thursday, no controversy there I'm sure!!



SHAMROCK ROVERS FC (IRL) - THE NEW SAINTS FC (WAL)
Referee: Snir Levi ISR Assistant Referee 1: Omer Barbiro ISR Assistant Referee 2: Tuval Rahamim Koltunoff ISR Fourth Official:
Idan Leiba ISR Video Assistant Referee: Ziv Adler ISR Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Eli Hakmon ISR
UEFA Referee Observer: Hannes Kaasik EST UEFA Delegate: Peter Lundström FI

[pateen]

What sort of attendance expected in Tallaght?

[joey B]

What sort of attendance expected in Tallaght?

I'd imagine the game being at 5.45 will hurt the attendance ,TNS not exactly a glamour name either....

[brendy_éire]

I'd imagine the game being at 5.45 will hurt the attendance ,TNS not exactly a glamour name either....

How are the kick off times determined, has it been laid out?
It seems strange that it's 17:45 in Tallaght, yet 20:00 in Belfast and also for APOEL in Nicosia (22:00 local time).
Also, Vikingur have got a 14:30 KO, but there must be an explanation for that one.

It's never been the case that an international match in Dublin/Belfast has kicked off in an earlier slot, so what's the difference for clubs?

[sbgawa]

AFAIK it's tv dictating the more interesting ties get the better tv broadcast times. Tahst what I heard anyway.

[nr637]

What sort of attendance expected in Tallaght?

A 17:45 kick-off in Tallaght, TNS not exactly an attractive team, live on TV and Shamrock fans still down after missing out on a 5 in a row league title are all possible distractions!


5,000+ would be a good turnout! :confused:

[pineapple stu]

7pm tonight in the Bowl too - UCD looking to turn around a 2-1 deficit against 2 Korriku of Kosovo in the Youth League. Maribor or Dinamo Kyiv for the winners in the next round; they drew 1-1 in Poland in the first leg

[seand]

Every week some of the Europa League and Conference League games kick off at 545, the rest at 8, to facilitate TV. It's been that way for a few years. Clubs have no choice in the matter.
Vikingur is an exception because they don't have floodlights where they're playing (I think the national stadium is being upgraded and is unavailable)

[EatYerGreens]

Israeli officials for Rovers on Thursday, no controversy there I'm sure!!



SHAMROCK ROVERS FC (IRL) - THE NEW SAINTS FC (WAL)
Referee: Snir Levi ISR Assistant Referee 1: Omer Barbiro ISR Assistant Referee 2: Tuval Rahamim Koltunoff ISR Fourth Official:
Idan Leiba ISR Video Assistant Referee: Ziv Adler ISR Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Eli Hakmon ISR
UEFA Referee Observer: Hannes Kaasik EST UEFA Delegate: Peter Lundström FI

That's one way to cut down on the number of Palestinian flags anyway!

[pineapple stu]

UCD 1-3 2 Korriku tonight; 5-2 on aggregate

Very frustrating - had just got back into the game when we let them walk the ball into an empty net from the edge of the box. Just can't do that in Europe or anywhere unfortunately

Don't think they were a better side than us which makes it more frustrating, but they certainly were more clinical and I think fitter too

We should have won out there but we missed too many chances. They play Dinamo Kyiv next who should have too much for them.

But am experience for our guys anyway

[legendz]

Hopefully Rovers can claim a win tomorrow, Thursday. 7 points after 3 games will put them in a good position. It'll set up the penultimate game on December 12th, regardless of the trip to Vienna.

[pateen]

Will many TNS travel. 100 maybe?

[EatYerGreens]

Will many TNS travel. 100 maybe?

I'd be shocked if they had 100 there. They played Linfield in Europe a couple of years ago and had something like less than 5 people at it. They really are not well supported at all, despite their success/dominance.

[ger121]

Vikingur 2 up at HT vs Borac. Hard to know what to make of the Bosnians. A very good away win against APEOL.
Maybe they don’t like the cold!

[placid casual]

They're screwed when they get to tallaght then!
It's freezing cold there in the middle of a heatwave.
Hoping for a dominant performance and win this evening but id gladly take a snakey 1 nil win .

[ger121]

They're screwed when they get to tallaght then!
It's freezing cold there in the middle of a heatwave.
Hoping for a dominant performance and win this evening but id gladly take a snakey 1 nil win .

Think it will be tight and you will need more than 1,as you are not renowned for clean sheets at home.

[geysir]

A winter midweek game in Stoke has nothing on a wet and windy November day in Reykjavik. An early start because of a floodlighting quality issue. No bottle Borac just could not get a handle on their game (whatever it may be) nor the conditions. The newly named 'Eurovikes' were mostly in control of the game, just their goalie had to make 2 first class saves. Rovers at home will be favourites beat this lot.

[ccity]

Disappointed to see both Graham Burke & Jack Byrne on the bench for today's game.
With nothing else to play for this season, I expected both to start.
Gary O'Neill also named on the bench.

[pineapple stu]

Jaysus - 1-0 TNS

Lot of time left of course

[ger121]

Jaysus - 1-0 TNS

Lot of time left of course

What did I say about Rovers not good at keeping clean sheets at home and needing 2 to win.

[yurt]

Lot of time left. Can't exactly say it was completely against the run of play as they come in to the game a few minutes before after Rivers dominated the first 10.

I thought it'd be 5 or 6 for Rovers after seeing the first 5 minutes. They should be able to create chances against this lot, hopefully they finish a couple because not getting 3 points here would be a calamity

[Nesta99]

if a result iisnr secured could call it off season or very early preseason to save blushes. Some smack of the ball from Kenny

[Burnsie]

what a bloody goal

1-1

[pineapple stu]

And as you type that, Johnny Kenny equalises

[EatYerGreens]

Poor start, but nice and early anyway. Rovers will score.

Crowd seems very muted - even before the goal. Maybe a hangover from last Friday? Starting to feel glad I didn't go along to the game now

[EatYerGreens]

And then as if on-command :D Great strength hy Kenny to get in front of the defender there.

[ger121]

They also have Burke and Byrne on the bench.

[Kiki Balboa]

The Rovers back 3 look fairly soft.

[EatYerGreens]

A second for Rovers. If it hadn't gone in they'd have had a penalty shout for a blatant push in the box seconds before it went in.

I expect Rovers to win this. Maybe I should've gone along after all :embarrassed:

[Burnsie]

lads TNS are no good

[Nesta99]

Its was getting a bit dull and laboured and predictable then one whipped cross and dinish and the win should be a formality if Rovers can now be a dull as possible and kill off the game, pick moments to get a 3rd but can play Bradley's natural game without any questions.