Euro Draw - Friday 27th

[loscherland]

In my eyes:

Toughest Group on Paper:

Netherlands
Italy
Russia or Serbia & Montenegro
IRELAND
and 3 horrible away trips to lesser nations...
Albania
Georgia
Kazakhstan

Easiest on Paper:

Greece
Poland
Bulgaria
IRELAND
Estonia (Savage away trip!..Re. $luts)
Cyprus (Another sun holiday)
San Marino

Dodiest group with a distinct possibility of a few riots (Not on account of Irish supporters of course)

England
Turkey
Russia
IRELAND
Wales
Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan

and a group of purely savage away trips regardless of the results:

Czech Republic/Netherlands
Germany
Norway
IRELAND
Estonia
Cyprus
Malta


Given a choice I'd pick the last group.

[Stuttgart88]

Done. see above
Tks.

For places I'd like to go to:

Sweden
Italy
Norway, Denmark or Slovakia
Finland / Estonia / Iceland
IRELAND
Nowhere attractive in Pot 6 really.
Pot 7 - anyone but Azerbaijan & Kazakhstan

To do well:
Greece. Maybe France as the 3 musketeers will all have retired again.
Romania
Slovakia
IRELAND
Finland
Pot 6 all potential trouble
Pot 7 - avoid the former Soviet states

[colster]

I wouldn't mind.

France
Germany,
Norway,
Rep of Ireland
Finland,
Cyprus
Malta.

[Roo69]

IMO most exciting/toughest group we could get would be.....

Netherlands
Spain
Serbia and Montenegro
Republic of Ireland
Albania
Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan

Best for qualifying would be.....

Greece
Poland
Bulgaria
Republic of Ireland
Iceland
Cyprus
San Marino

[Soper]

I really want to get Wales in our group.Guarenteed 6 points.And Irish fans would get a lot of tickets.

[Green Tribe]

I can't believe we're in the same pot as Belgium! :eek: :mad: :o

No wait..... (thinks about recent performances) I can!!

Sorry Gerrit!

[Kingdom]

I really want to get Wales in our group.Guarenteed 6 points.And Irish fans would get a lot of tickets.
I would rather not have to play a team from the UK. I think there are better options than that. I'd take Greece before England, Finland or Hungary before Wales, and Cyprus before the North. Scotland wouldn't count as they are the same seeds as us.

As it stands we all have different opinions these days over who is better or worse. For example , the majority of people here don't want to draw them again. Why, I haven't a clue. The last performance aside, which we still won, we have never been troubled by them, and in my opinion they are a team we will always take 6 points from them.

Also this lark of not playing one of the former Soviet states is crap too. With the exception of Kazakstan(due to the obscurity of the location), none of the others like Azerbaijan, Moldova or Armenia would present any problems. We mightn't hockey any of them, but hey, we rarely do anyhow.

We have the potential for a poxy group, however with a slice of luck, we might get a decent enough group, considering automatic qualification for the top two.
My preferable group would be:

Greece/Sweden
Poland/Romania
Slovakia
Ireland
Estonia
Cyprus
Luxembourg.

I'd be confident of coming second in a group containing any of those teams.

[Stuttgart88]

Also this lark of not playing one of the former Soviet states is crap too. With the exception of Kazakstan(due to the obscurity of the location), none of the others like Azerbaijan, Moldova or Armenia would present any problems.
Not sure if that's in response to my earlier comment but I reckon the former Soviet states are the banana skins to be avoided in Pot 7. England only beat Azerbaijan 1-0 and Wales drew there I think. Not bad for a 7th seed.

Looking at Pot 6 the alternatives are Cyprus who nearly beat us, Norn Iron which would introduce a tricky "derby factor", Macedonia (oh, no, not again!) or a ex-Soviet so in that context I'd probably prefer an ex-Soviet.

[eirebhoy]

Aye, Azerbaijan are actually half decent. They didn't deserve to get beaten by England at home.

[highlight100]

has to be the last group here,plus we always do better against bigger teams....remember macedonia,israel,etc etc,

In my eyes:

Toughest Group on Paper:

Netherlands
Italy
Russia or Serbia & Montenegro
IRELAND
and 3 horrible away trips to lesser nations...
Albania
Georgia
Kazakhstan

Easiest on Paper:

Greece
Poland
Bulgaria
IRELAND
Estonia (Savage away trip!..Re. $luts)
Cyprus (Another sun holiday)
San Marino

Dodiest group with a distinct possibility of a few riots (Not on account of Irish supporters of course)

England
Turkey
Russia
IRELAND
Wales
Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan

and a group of purely savage away trips regardless of the results:

Czech Republic/Netherlands
Germany
Norway
IRELAND
Estonia
Cyprus
Malta


Given a choice I'd pick the last group.

[mypost]

Best for qualifying would be.....

Greece
Poland
Bulgaria
Republic of Ireland
Iceland
Cyprus
San Marino

Analysis-Forecasts:

Greece: 2 heavy defeats to current holders
Poland: 2 more defeats to WC finalists
Bulgaria: At best, 1 point at home
Iceland: 2 draws
Cyprus: 2 wins, but sick of playing them
San Marino: Two 2-0 wins, but we never play them anyway.

It boggles me that people make Greece to be whipping boys from Pot 1. :confused: They may have failed to qualify for the WC out of a very hard group, but they are reigning European Champions, and deserve respect. They also have players playing regular first-team football in top European leagues. We alternatively, have players struggling to get into poor, exclusively English teams, and together with a coach who knows as much about coaching as the fans do, we would be no match for any half-decent side.

Staunton will be out after our Euro campaign ends in June '07, when we're about 60th in the world, having left a trail of destruction behind him, that someone else brave/foolish enough is going to have to try and clear up. :mad:

[pineapple stu]

Remind me what happened the last time we played the reigning European champions in a qualifying group? Remind me when the last time Greece hammered anyone was? Don't think anyone is saying Greece are whipping boys, but they are unarguably the weakest top seed in the draw, given that they should be in the third pool strengthwise.

I posed this question on the Bert Kassies forum (http://kassiesa.com/uefaforum2/viewtopic.php?t=30) - a few interesting replies from people around Europe... Ireland well up on the list of teams people don't want to face, though probably more because there are easier fourth-pool draws.

[mypost]

Remind me what happened the last time we played the reigning European champions in a qualifying group? Remind me when the last time Greece hammered anyone was? Don't think anyone is saying Greece are whipping boys, but they are unarguably the weakest top seed in the draw, given that they should be in the third pool strengthwise.

I posed this question on the Bert Kassies forum (http://kassiesa.com/uefaforum2/viewtopic.php?t=30) - a few interesting replies from people around Europe... Ireland well up on the list of teams people don't want to face, though probably more because there are easier fourth-pool draws.

I believe Sweden to be the weakest of the top seeds, and are manageable. A weak Irish team with a highly inexperienced coach facing a rough, hostile trip to the Olympic Stadium in Athens to face the current European Champions is a different prospect altogether, and one to be preferably avoided. :cool:

[Dublin12]

I don't really mind who we draw,every group is gonna be a tough one, plus being realistic,I don't expect us to qualify and would be happy if we were too be still in with a shout going into the last few rounds of matches,as long as we aren't out of the running after the first couple of rounds,and still have some sort of interest in the competition.I imagine a third place finish would be good work considering the pool of players that we have.Maybe then can we feel we can push for a world cup spot in Africa 2010.

[pineapple stu]

Sweden the weakest of the top seeds?! Greece lost to Albania in qualifying and managed just one win from their six games against Ukraine, Turkey and Denmark, while the Swedes are usually exceptionally consistent (eight wins from ten last time, with the best goals-per-game in the entire of Europe). Greece are quite clearly the weakest of the top seeds. That doesn't make them a better team - they'd be favourites to beat us, especially in Greece - but they are the team we should be hoping for from the draw.

[NeilMcD]

Sure why let facts get in the way of a good argument though ha ha

[pineapple stu]

Facts shmacts. Sure mypost can use shmacts to prove anything - 75% of posters know that! :p

[mypost]

Sweden the weakest of the top seeds?! Greece are quite clearly the weakest of the top seeds. they are the team we should be hoping for from the draw.

Athens remains a place of fear for both club and International teams to visit. Greece are European Champions, so that suggests that they're not very weak. What have Sweden ever won?? The Scandinavian Championship?? :confused:

[Conor H]

Hope we get Ingerland id love to see us get a result over there.

[pineapple stu]

Athens remains a place of fear for both club and International teams to visit. Greece are European Champions, so that suggests that they're not very weak. What have Sweden ever won?? The Scandinavian Championship??
Tehran was a fairly intimidating atmosphere as well, but Iran were one of the worst teams I've seen in a long while. If Greece are so good, how did Albania beat them? How did they only get one win out of six games against Turkey, Ukraine and Denmark?

Sweden have been in a World Cup quarter and semi, a Euro Championships quarter and a Euro semi in the past 15 years while Greece have only reached one other finals tournament in the same period - when they recorded one of the worst World Cup records ever. Sweden are consistently among the best teams in qualifying. But if you're going to be more worried about a few noisy fans than the 11 players actually playing the game, then fair enough.

[Irish_Praha]

I would like:

Greece
Germany
Bulgaria
Ireland
Hungary
Moldova
Liechtenstein

[Irish_Praha]

Tehran was a fairly intimidating atmosphere as well, but Iran were one of the worst teams I've seen in a long while.

Yes and we lost 1-0

[pineapple stu]

True...though I have never been less nervous during a match ever. Don't forget, the winner was in injury-time, by which time, we'd all but won the tie anyway.

Anyway, the point about Greece being a better draw than Sweden still stands, which I can see you agree with! The point is not that Greece would be easy opposition.

[mypost]

If Greece are so good, how did Albania beat them? How did they only get one win out of six games against Turkey, Ukraine and Denmark?

Ireland had 3 home games against our rivals to qualify for the World Cup. Did we win any one of those games? No. Greece lost local derby matches against Albania, and Turkey in a much tougher group, but they actually won one game against their rivals, and also beat us on their only visit to Dublin. Bad side eh?? :rolleyes:


Sweden have been in a World Cup quarter and semi, a Euro Championships quarter and a Euro semi in the past 15 years while Greece have only reached one other finals tournament in the same period.

So? :confused: What would you prefer? Win tournaments, or be continously the bridesmaid? What have Sweden ever won?? Answer - as much as we have. Going to Sweden is more manageable than facing a long, hostile trek to Athens to face the European Champions, and be soundly walloped into the bargain.

[Irish_Praha]

True...though I have never been less nervous during a match ever. Don't forget, the winner was in injury-time, by which time, we'd all but won the tie anyway.

Anyway, the point about Greece being a better draw than Sweden still stands, which I can see you agree with! The point is not that Greece would be easy opposition.

Yeah I would have to say Greece would be the easiest team in the 1st seeds. However, that doesn't mean that we would beat them :D
I guess you could compare their era under Rehhagel with our era under Charlton. A well organised team that is difficult to score against and has a style of play that takes a lot of effort to play against, except of course Rehhagel has been more successful. Just like with us under Charlton it appears that after a few years Greece are not a surprise element anymore and other international teams have become accustomed to their style of play. So now the opposition is better prepared to play against that style, which has resulted in a disimprovement in their recent results.
However, they are still dangerous if you are not properly prepared. That would be down to Stan and Bobby.

[pineapple stu]

Ireland had 3 home games against our rivals to qualify for the World Cup. Did we win any one of those games?
Irrelevant. This is about Greece, not Ireland.


also beat us on their only visit to Dublin.
So? That was a friendly. By that logic, we shouldn't fear Portugal, the Czechs, Brazil or Romania, but God help us if we face NI.


Bad side eh??
Show me where I said that? I said - and I'll repeat it again for the slow - Greece are the weakest of the top seeds, which does not make them a bad side, just the one we want to draw.


So? What would you prefer? Win tournaments, or be continously the bridesmaid? What have Sweden ever won?? Answer - as much as we have. Going to Sweden is more manageable than facing a long, hostile trek to Athens to face the European Champions, and be soundly walloped into the bargain.
The point is Greece's win was a once-off, while Sweden have been a consistenly good team for the past 15 years. Therefore I know which I want to avoid. And I repeat I have no fear of a team just because they're European Champions - so were Denmark in 1992, and we knocked them out of the World Cup. Greece also rarely "soundly wallop" anyone, as evidenced by 15 goals in 12 World Cup qualifiers. Compare that to Sweden's 30 goals in ten games. I know which country sounds more likely to "soundly wallop" us.

[mypost]

Irrelevant. This is about Greece, not Ireland.

True, but only if we don't get them in the draw. Then the comparison is relevant.


Greece's win was a once-off, while Sweden have been a consistenly good team for the past 15 years. Therefore I know which I want to avoid.

...which imo, would be Greece. Going on your logic, I take it you regard France's WC win in '98 as a one-off too. :rolleyes: Sweden however, are nothing special, and while they should be respected, they're also nothing to be afraid of.


Greece also rarely "soundly wallop" anyone, as evidenced by 15 goals in 12 World Cup qualifiers.

Well, some people regard a comprehensive 3 or 4 goal beating as a sound walloping. Maybe you don't.

[eirebhoy]

Well, some people regard a comprehensive 3 or 4 goal beating as a sound walloping. Maybe you don't.
Greece haven't won by more than 2 goals in 6 years.

[loscherland]

Having seen the new Wembley coming together on the snooker last nite, I actually wouldn't mind Ingerland now either. Would be some away trip

[Stuttgart88]

I see the new Wembley quite often as I live in NW London. Very impressive looking.

[NeilMcD]

I would take any of these scenarios


Pot 1

Greece or
Czech Republic (I dont think they are as good as they were and they have an ageing team in my view)


Pot 2

Poland
Romania


Pot 3

Norway
Bulgaria

Slovakia

Pot 5


I think they are all a bit of a much of a muchness in this pot.
Hungary
Finland
Estonia
Wales
Lithuania
Albania
Iceland

Pot 6


Armenia


Pot 7

Luxembourg
San Marino

[pineapple stu]

Czech Republic (I dont think they are as good as they were and they have an ageing team in my view)
Interesting...Another team with a superb record in qualifying in recent years...will be looking to avoid them myself! Good trip though.


True, but only if we don't get them in the draw. Then the comparison is relevant.
Eh, no. This is about which team you would rather draw - Sweden or Greece. How good Ireland are has nothing to do with it.


Going on your logic, I take it you regard France's WC win in '98 as a one-off too.
Eh, no. Again. I don't know how you define a one-off. They were one of the favourites for the tournament, had won a major tournament before, have done so since, generally qualify and generally do well when they qualify. Greece, however, were in one major tournament ever that I can think of (1994 World Cup), so it was quite clearly a one-off.

[QUOTE=Well, some people regard a comprehensive 3 or 4 goal beating as a sound walloping. Maybe you don't.[/QUOTE]
Of course I do. See eirebhoy's post.

Incidentally, you bring up Greece's last trip to Dublin as an example of why Greece are better than Sweden. Should I bring up our last meeting - in Greece in 2002, with Greece in the middle of qualifying for the tournament they would win. With Ireland managed by the person generally considered to be the worst Ireland manager at any level in a long time (Givens), with a threadbare squad necessitating the first eL player (Crowe) to start for Ireland in 20 years and with another (Hoolihan) on the bench, Ireland secured a quite comfortable 0-0 draw. Ireland, incidentally, have never won in Sweden - even when we were both rubbish.

Anyway, you're entitled to your opinion. I'm entitled - with everyone else, it seems - to rubbish it. Neither opinion matters a hoot when the draw's made, so there's no point continuing this argument. But I for one won't be scared of the nasty, noisy, past-it Greeks.

[pineapple stu]

On a separate note while I think about it - Lawrie Sanchez was on BBC there sayiing how he'd love to get Ireland in the draw and play in Croker...don't know if he quite knows what he's saying!

[boysingreen]

The draw procedure has been announced for the UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying competition draw in Montreux, Switzerland on 27 January at 12.00CET.

What time is this Irish time and anyone know what site will have the draw live?

[eirebhoy]

What time is this Irish time and anyone know what site will have the draw live?
CET (central european time) is an hour ahead of us so the draw is at 11.00 our time.

UEFA.com would be the best for the draw. You just sit there looking at the teams being grouped together on your screen. :)

[boysingreen]

Great heh. I'm in Connecticut so guess I'll be setting the alarm for 6am. Not gonna like the nerves that go with a draw at that hour of the morning :(

[Irish_Praha]

Great heh. I'm in Connecticut so guess I'll be setting the alarm for 6am. Not gonna like the nerves that go with a draw at that hour of the morning :(
Well the ceremony starts at 11am God only knows when they'll actually start taking the balls out of the bowl!

[Thunderblaster]

Who is UEFA employing to tickle the balls before pulling the balls??:D :D

[mypost]

This is about which team you would rather draw - Sweden or Greece. How good Ireland are has nothing to do with it.

I'm afraid it has everything to do with it. By even suggesting teams that you want in the draw, it automatically implies it is so, because you feel that we would fare best against those teams. So yes, Ireland has everything to do with it.


[France] generally do well when they qualify. Greece, however, were quite clearly a one-off.

France of course do well when they qualify. All the tournaments they have staged and qualified for, has yielded only 1 WC, and a couple of Euro wins. France will never forget their last World Cup adventure of course. Out first round. They will also remember how "well" they did in their last European Championship adventure, where they were knocked out by....you'll never guess....:DGreece!!!:D

Greece are European Champions, and will walkover an Irish team in decline with an out-of-his-depth boss should we meet them in the next campaign, as will Poland if the situation arises.


Should I bring up our last meeting - in Greece, with Greece in the middle of qualifying for the tournament they would win. Ireland, with a threadbare squad necessitating the first eL player to start for Ireland in 20 years...

Actually, Crowe earned his call-up, and didn't disappoint either. Other more senior players couldn't be bothered turning up, citing "injuries". :rolleyes: That excuse always surfaces when we play away friendlies.

[boysingreen]

Of the #1 seeds I think the teams I would least want are Sweden or Czech Republic.

[eirebhoy]

Greece are European Champions, and will walkover an Irish team in decline with an out-of-his-depth boss should we meet them in the next campaign, as will Poland if the situation arises.
Poland probably would walk all over us as they have proven they can do that, Greece haven't. Greece don't do thumpings and they would not beat us by a big margin. We might find it hard to beat them but its in our hands if they came to Dublin.

[NeilMcD]

[QUOTE=pineapple stu]Interesting...Another team with a superb record in qualifying in recent years...will be looking to avoid them myself! Good trip though.

They do have a fantastic qualifying record For the Euro's but not for the World Cup. This is their first ever World Cup that they are qualifying. I just think a lot of their main players are coming to the end and will retire after the World Cup. It has been this squad that has earned them their 1st seed place. The Czechs are not like Italy, England Spain, Germany etc who always will have very good teams. They are a smaller country with a smaller pool of players so they will have cycles to a certain extent. I just think out of the Top seeds, Greece stand out as the easier of the top seeds to draw but after that I would like the Czech Rep, both for the trip and also I dont think they will be as good as they were. But I dont think it would be easy.

[NY Hoop]

Poland probably would walk all over us as they have proven they can do that, Greece haven't. Greece don't do thumpings and they would not beat us by a big margin. We might find it hard to beat them but its in our hands if they came to Dublin.

Walk all over us?? No chance. How have they proven that?? Those days are gone. They struggled to beat the north at home in the WC qualifiers. Having been out there for the friendly I wouldnt fear them and hope we get them again.

KOH

[eirebhoy]

Walk all over us?? No chance. How have they proven that?? Those days are gone. They struggled to beat the north at home in the WC qualifiers. Having been out there for the friendly I wouldnt fear them and hope we get them again.

KOH
mypost said Greece and Poland would walk all over us. Greece most definitely wouldn't as they don't do thumpings. Poland recently beat Azerbaijan 8-0, they proved they can score. They beat Ecuador 3-0 in Spain a couple of months ago too, Ecuador came 3rd in the S.America qualifiers (Brazil and Argentina only ahead of them). Poland can beat thems heavily, Greece don't seem to be able to. That's all I'm saying. BTW, the team they put out in the friendly against us is a different team to the current one. In fact, only 3 players that played against us that day played against England in their last competitive.

If we were drawn against Poland I'd give us both an equal chance of qualification, I was talking about Greece not having the ability to "walk all over" other teams.

[NY Hoop]

mypost said Greece and Poland would walk all over us. Greece most definitely wouldn't as they don't do thumpings. Poland recently beat Azerbaijan 8-0, they proved they can score. They beat Ecuador 3-0 in Spain a couple of months ago too, Ecuador came 3rd in the S.America qualifiers (Brazil and Argentina only ahead of them). Poland can beat thems heavily, Greece don't seem to be able to. That's all I'm saying. BTW, the team they put out in the friendly against us is a different team to the current one. In fact, only 3 players that played against us that day played against England in their last competitive.

If we were drawn against Poland I'd give us both an equal chance of qualification, I was talking about Greece not having the ability to "walk all over" other teams.

Ah wouldnt read to much into what mypost posts. The days of us getting thumped are over. Last time was Portugal in 95 and Denmark in 85.

Kazhakstan sounds fun!

KOH