3 points against Slovakia and a draw against the Czechs would be ideal. I'm always overly optimistic about our chances (until the final 5 minutes of a game) but I think 4 points is feasible.
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3 points against Slovakia and a draw against the Czechs would be ideal. I'm always overly optimistic about our chances (until the final 5 minutes of a game) but I think 4 points is feasible.
We don't have a chance of qualifying if we don't take at least 4 points in the next two away games whatever Doyle believes. I personally think that even 4 points will only be enough if we beat the Czechs and draw with the Slovaks. If the Czechs draw with us when you look at the remaining fixtures in reality it looks like we will be relying on one of the poorer teams to do us a big favour. Very hit and miss.
6 points it is then!!!
Not necessarily if we beat the Czechs and draw with the Slovaks we should qualify (at least it's in our hands).Quote:
Originally Posted by shakermaker1982
Where did I say we'd qualify?Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
You didn't, i was awaiting to see what you think will happen. Hence the use of the word "if" ;)
Unfortunately my insightful contributions to this forum don't stretch to a God like ability to alter the future. But I'm working on it. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Four points will only be good enough if we beat the Czechs. Really think we're going to need to beat the Germans also. Their manager was saying that they've alot of injuries for their game against England due to the ferocity of the Bundesliga. Hopefully it will affect the Slovaks and the Czechs over the coming weeks as well!
Personaly, I think we have no hope of qualifying.
Czechs and Slovaks will have too much for us.
Hopefully the young lads will get some valuable experience from it. I expect little else to be gained from these matches however.
I agree with this, but the problem is that we play slovakia first and if we drew against them then i cant see us beating the czechs, whereas if we beat the slovaks that moment would more than probably be used to help us get a draw in czech as the team thinking 4 points is mission accomplished, so its a tricky one either way.Quote:
Four points will only be good enough if we beat the Czechs. Really think we're going to need to beat the Germans also. Their manager was saying that they've alot of injuries for their game against England due to the ferocity of the Bundesliga. Hopefully it will affect the Slovaks and the Czechs over the coming weeks as well!
We couldn't be playing the Czechs at a better time. By all accounts they're moving into a difficult transition, with players like Nedved, Poborsky, Galasek, Koller and Bolf either retiring or fading away. Dunne and McShane shouldn't have anything to fear from Milan Baros. However, I would question if our players have the confidence and belief that they can do it. That should come from the manager. :(
I guarantee that we will be terrific in one game and atrocious in another.
probably, a frustrating and boring 0-0 in Bratislava with no creativity followed by a terrific fighting Irish performance in a 2-2 in Prague, where we are robbed of victory by an offside Rosicky goal in the dying minutes. Doyle and Ireland will score the goals.
Afterwards, Stokesie will join the Czech team for the after-game festivities in the top stripclubs in Prague!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungle
Bloody hell Bungle......even Zippy and George would have to be impressed by your level of foresight!:D
Agree completely. I believe that we are a better team on paper than them. However, I don't know if the players believe that. Our team is made up in core areas of very good premiership players such as Given, Finnan, Dunne, Ireland, Carsley???, Hunt and Doyle. In contrast their team is in decline.Quote:
Originally Posted by Supreme feet
Watched the Ireland v Slovakia game with a German friend and he coudn't get over seeing us celebrate our victory. He said that alot of the Irish team are highly rated over there, while many of the Slovak players would be viewed as second tier. He suggested that we need to raise our expectations just a little!!
:) Well I think the Stokesie prediction is a nailed on certainty given what I've been hearing about him lately!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sligo Hornet
Of course we can still qualify with 2 draws in the next 2 games. If we won our 3 games after that (3 easier games imho) then we'd be on 24 points. The Czechs still have to play Germany away.
Of course at least 4 points should be the aim though. Someone said 4 points would only be enough if we beat the Czechs. Seriously??? A win against Slovakia and a draw against the Czechs and I'll be over the moon.
Probably not. Still the Cyprus game says more about the attitude of the players than it does their talent.
ya and EB you were over the moon with most of Brian kerrs results last year and look what happened.
You kept saying how we are still in it and holding out for the last result. The way we play we need to win these games, and worry about those ones afterwards as we can never win a game when we really really need to win it.
Saw the last 30 mins of Eng vs Germany. OK, both teams missing a few, but we'd have little to fear if that same German XI came to Croker. They couldn't retain the ball at all and England without impressing should have scored a hatful while I was watching.
Ballack, Frings, Klose etc were all out though.
While 2 points may be enough to qualify we can't go out to Czech Republic/Slovakia and set that as an acceptable target. We would be relying on the Czechs not to win in Cyprus and us getting three points in Wales. We need to be aiming for four at the very least, if not six now that confidence is high.