Will we be in South Africa in 2010?

[Seagull-4-life]

I honestly think we will...Anyone else?

[carloz]

Well its a World Cup thats far away, so yeah we will qualify. When its close by like in Germany we never qualify. im thinking we will qualify throuhg the playoffs after beating Greece thanks to a 86th minute Andy Reid strike in the second leg in Croker. now off to the bookies

[Seagull-4-life]

Well its a World Cup thats far away, so yeah we will qualify. When its close by like in Germany we never qualify. im thinking we will qualify throuhg the playoffs after beating Greece thanks to a 86th minute Andy Reid strike in the second leg in Croker. now off to the bookies
best of luck with that one mate!!!

[Morbo]

What odds are the bookies giving Ireland of qualifying anyway? I can't check because betting sites are blocked at work

[Seagull-4-life]

What odds are the bookies giving Ireland of qualifying anyway? I can't check because betting sites are blocked at work

With Paddy Power we're 5-2 to qualify, 1-4 not to.

[Morbo]

Cheers, that sounds about right, I reckon we have an even money shot of getting 2nd and if we get 2nd we got an even money shot of winning the playoff

[CJTheGull]

Yeah reckon we'll pip the Bulgarians to 2nd in the group by the skin of our proverbials. Play-off's are dodge city so who knows. Anyway whatever happens it's going to be interesting times ahead - that Friendly against Serbia is going to be a thenstart of an era rather than the usual non-event.

[jmurphyc]

Remember that only 8 of the 9 groups get into the play offs though. It would be disastrous if we finished 2nd and didn't make the play offs.

[Sligo Hornet]

I honestly think we will...Anyone else?


I haven't even thought about this year's holiday yet!

[Seagull-4-life]

I haven't even thought about this year's holiday yet!
Believe it or not ill be in Bulgaria!!! booked it before the draw...me and the lads can't wait

[jbyrne]

think we'll make the play offs but lose out there i'm afraid. would love to get belgium again.... what a weekend back in '97 (apart from the result of course!)

[Greenforever]

All going well i'll be there, and with a bit off luck so will the team :D

[Deckydee]

think we'll make the play offs but lose out there i'm afraid. would love to get belgium again.... what a weekend back in '97 (apart from the result of course!)

We'd love to have you :D

[pineapple stu]

What odds are the bookies giving Ireland of qualifying anyway?
What are the odds on the World Cup being held in South Africa too?

[Greenforever]

What are the odds on the World Cup being held in South Africa too?

sure if we don't qualify they'll probably transfer the tournament to Ireland and we'll qualify as hosts:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[RogerMilla]

i dont think we will qualify , most likely just lose out in playoffs , or just lose out on the playoff place, a massive improvement though and deffo qualification for the next euros.

[Deckydee]

I think we will do it, I see that Trap has had instant success wherever he has gone and I think that it will be no different with Ireland

[elroy]

After the last campaign its hard to be optimistic but surely it cant reach as low as last time. I would like to think we'll make the playoffs and who knows then, if we're playing well, we'd have a good chance.

[Mark Breen]

What odds are the bookies giving Ireland of qualifying anyway? I can't check because betting sites are blocked at work


Check this site out :

http://www.hidemyass.com/

You can log onto any site from here.. It hide's your IP address...

Its a great site for going onto Paddy powers from in work...

[endabob1]

I'll be there, not sure about Ireland though, we'll do well to get 2nd and then win a play-off. Depends on Trapp getting the best from a pretty thin squad and our big players being on form and availible for all the games

[Oink]

It will be a struggle but I reckon if we get to the playoff's we'll make it.... The Italians are masterminds when it comes to winning games over 2 legs.

[Deckydee]

It will be a struggle but I reckon if we get to the playoff's we'll make it.... The Italians are masterminds when it comes to winning games over 2 legs.

Excatly!! Thats why we are going to do it!! :D

[Hibernian]

I honestly think we will...Anyone else?

Yes we can. If we go out to try and win every game then there is no doubt that we can get there we have the players to get there.

I think Trapattoni will change our thinking on the approach to games and will give us a winning mentality.

[Wolfie]

I think Trapattoni will change our thinking on the approach to games and will give us a winning mentality.

Yes - hopefully Trapp can make the difference.

An obvious point though is that the responsibility will remain primarily with the players. You can lead a horse to water etc etc.....................

[Block G Raptor]

Check this site out :

http://www.hidemyass.com/

You can log onto any site from here.. It hide's your IP address...

Its a great site for going onto Paddy powers from in work...

Thats blocked for me too

[elroy]

Thats blocked for me too

Yip and me, fcukers

[Torn-Ado]

Not on our nelly

[boovidge]

if we get six points from the first two games then theres a very good chance we'll make it.

[jmurphyc]

if we get six points from the first two games then theres a very good chance we'll make it.

Not so sure about that. It would give us a decent chance but we could still fall away as there's a chance that both Italy and Bulgaria could get 6 points from those two games as well.

I will personally be very happy if we make the play offs (even if we go out).

[johnmayo]

We might not be going to south Africa at all if things keep going the going the way they are

http://www.sundayherald.com/search/display.var.2032947.0.wounded_nation.php

[bennocelt]

Ireland should at least make the playoffs, despite everything.
This group is not the hardest to get out of, and i see a lot of the teams taking points off each other

[carloz]

Dont a certain number of teams in second not make the playoffs? Looking at our group, every team can take ponts off each other so personally i would think it is likely that the second place team in our group might not be in the playoffs. That would be a crushing blow

[Morbo]

Don't group 9 only have 8 games each instead of 10 since they have 5 teams instead of 6? So hopefully they should the lowest 2nd placed team

[boovidge]

the games against the lowest seeds don't count.

[Morbo]

Damn, that would be a cruel way to go out, they really should have more than 13 european countries, I know they want to represent every contenent but the likes of Saudi Arabia are nowhere near being in the top 32

[eirebhoy]

Not including the points against the bottom seeds does us a favour. Georgia and Cyprus aren't any better than their equivalent seeds.

[carloz]

Damn, that would be a cruel way to go out, they really should have more than 13 european countries, I know they want to represent every contenent but the likes of Saudi Arabia are nowhere near being in the top 32

Again this goes back to blody Sepp Blatter. I understand what he is trying to do(spread the world cup to around the world:rolleyes:) but the simple fact is teams are getting in that shouldnt. You can bet your bottom dollar that 6 of the 8 quarter finalists will be from Europe. Also there is always one no hoper from CONCECAF ie Jamaica or Costa Rica, there will be at least one very poor team from Africa, in the last world cup Angola and Togo were an example of this. And there is one too many teams from Asia, Saudi Arabia anyone. Id actually like to see a few more playoffs between the different federations, like we had with iran for the 2002 World Cup. Will make it interesting and will be somewhat of an unknown match. AFAIK Africa will have 7 teams in the world cup in South Africa. At least one too many

[Seagull-4-life]

Not on our nelly
C'mon mate a bit of pride and optimism. Trap hasn't even started yet and already you're pretty much ruling him out

[Guidedbyvoices]

Oh..Dunno about all this optimism on here. I think we will struggle against Georgia and the mighty Cyprus again .Bulgaria will be a tough trip away. What do people think that Trapp can do to turn things around so much considering we have the same players bar one or two of the better ones Finnan, O'Brien and Ireland??:confused:

[ifk101]

What do people think that Trapp can do to turn things around so much considering we have the same players bar one or two of the better ones Finnan, O'Brien and Ireland??:confused:

Well he speaks English, has a history of organising teams, knows how to win matches, doesn't believe in the power of Mick Byrne's magic sponges and if he says "I'm d'gaffer" you won't doubt it. Massive improvement on what we have become used to.

[Guidedbyvoices]

Well he speaks English, has a history of organising teams, knows how to win matches, doesn't believe in the power of Mick Byrne's magic sponges and if he says "I'm d'gaffer" you won't doubt it. Massive improvement on what we have become used to.


Ah that's a brilliant reply. you may be right Thanks for this. My view.. Knows little English. Has the ability to organise good teams with 11 good players not just a handfull. A miracle i would say.

[Torn-Ado]

C'mon mate a bit of pride and optimism. Trap hasn't even started yet and already you're pretty much ruling him out

Zero match winners = zero qualification.

We don't have the leadership on the park in vital positions to get to a finals. Who's going to drive us in midfield? Lee Carsley?

[jmurphyc]

Zero match winners = zero qualification.

We don't have the leadership on the park in vital positions to get to a finals. Who's going to drive us in midfield? Lee Carsley?

We have plenty of match winners in Duff, McGeady, Keane and a fair few more. Part of the reason we didn't have leadership in the middle of the park in the last campaign was due to poor management. Staunton didn't seem to know how to bring the best of the players. IMO it's better to have a manager with leadership than players with leadership and a manager who doesn't have a clue. We came close in the 2006 qualifiers with what many people would regarda far weaker side.

[RogerMilla]

massive Giles/brady/whelan/keane/townsend shaped hole in our midfield.

[eirebhoy]

Andy Reid no? All jokes all aside. ;)

[geysir]

Andy Reid? As in filling that massive shaped hole in our midfield :)

[Seagull-4-life]

Well he speaks English, has a history of organising teams, knows how to win matches, doesn't believe in the power of Mick Byrne's magic sponges and if he says "I'm d'gaffer" you won't doubt it. Massive improvement on what we have become used to.

Probably speaks better english than stan!!!