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Belgium, Switzerland, Hungry and Portugal in friendlies 1st. If things don't go well we could have new man with 4 losses from 4 heading into NL in September. Could easily lose 3 games there before Xmas so we could have the Carsley out campaign going in full voice before end of this year....
On the flip side, Kenny managed three draws and two goals from eight games against those teams (I'm discounting Belgium B, unless they do the same this year) so it's a low bar for the new manager to show improvement...
Wonder if Poyet still wants to jump ship? Or will Carsley want to manage against England? (And he really might)
Ah realistically there are upsides to the draw. We would have taken Finland before it starts. Greece is good opportunity for revenge and hopefully we'll be vastly improved by time we face them. England should hammer us, but it's a derby and we can raise our game against better opposition. They also might attract a sponsor with the high profile nature of the games.
The new manager should look at it as a good challenge, but I have to say if they announce Lennon on the back of this I'll be extremely disillusioned
England should win all six games which may help us get second. Turns out into a three-team group, not one where we might be expected to get a result off the top seed
Unfortunately second, while a good result, would be useless in terms of World Cup playoff qualification. Meaning the qualification groups are now our only real hope. But this tough draw, plus the run of difficult friendlies we have lined up, limits our chances of getting a second seeding for those groups, meaning another shocker of a draw could be on the way.
We just seem to be on a negative spiral of bad results and bad draws that we can't seem to get out of. I look at the likes of Greece and Norway who have gone 10 and 20 years without a qualification and that looks to be the road we're heading down too. Benefitting from an easier qualification path for euro 2028 as hosts is about the only positive I can see at the moment, to maybe haul us out of this cycle and back towards where we want to be.
It'd get us a promotion playoff against a League A team at least - heck of a difference between that and a relegation playoff against a League C team.
We could even get lucky and draw, say, Scotland or Israel in a playoff and win and get promoted. One season in League A, almost a guaranteed Euro 2028 playoff spot, and a few quid extra off the Delaney debt
Might be an idea to get him in at least first, before we focus ourselves on getting him out again ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Razors left peg
I know I’ll probably get lectured for saying this but I still don’t understand the Nations League
What happens in the nations league stays in the nations league !Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
It's the same as a Tracker MortgageQuote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
Though it's flattering to be wanted even for the wrong reasons, those of us in Iceland wouldn't have batted a lid if 'we' had drawn Ireland, our (sometimes vastly) inferior sporting neighbors, in any event at present we have more important things ( such as Euro play offs) on our plate.
On Ireland's draw, what's important? avoid relegation, aim to at least finish 2nd, both are doable but to beat England might need a manager who has been shunned by the FA or has something personal to prove to them.
I don’t get any of the ill-feeling towards Grealish tbh. He never played for the senior team.Quote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
How did you end up in Iceland btw?Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Higher stakes than friendlies. I just wish the supposed benefit of playing teams on a comparable level shows up some day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
If Rice hadn't been a thing, it probably wouldn't be as touchy a subject.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fly
I think it's similar to the early rounds of Only Connect as explained by Victoria Coren-Mitchell.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82
I like it though.
Is it the Shop or the Country ? !Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fly
a worrying and dangerous shift in language there Geysir. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
This is an ideal time to ask as no one has any pre-programmed biases because of who the manager is etc.
How many points do people think represents success in that group?
It's a good question. Best case scenario is home wins against Greece and Finland, Draws away. Anything against England is a bonus. That's the best case, not exactly what I expect to happenQuote:
Originally Posted by backstothewall
I can't work it out either, I rely on others on here for broad stroke updates of the event sequences we require. I like it because it is better than friendlies which established players used to not bother with sometimes, it keeps things interesting for us in these low tide times following the side, a giver of false hope basically is what it is, but its necessary false hope because we have f u c k all else.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fixer82