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Yes. Yes it does.Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilMcD
But Finn Harps wouldn't beat Georgia anyway, so it's all moot. :D
Soper, they must have very recently turned professional as FM has them semi-pro for every year since I started buying it, including this year. I'll take your word for it, though. I still don't think they'd beat Georgia.
I have my doubts. It might be a good thing that they got that result out of their system. Having said that i really think its a better idea to play in Tblisi at the start of the campaign rather than at the end, as Scotland showed.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
The reason why Scotland had unexpected problems was effectively because Georgia's Manager (Topmuller) tore up his team sheet and started again against the Jocks with one of the youngest teams ever to play senior international football. As such, they were fearless (or naive, if you prefer).Quote:
Originally Posted by carloz
Therefore, if I had to guess, I'd say that notwithstanding how inept they were in the first half in Belfast, they are liable to be equally fearless as against Scotland in their first home match of WC2010 qualification, with the crowd giving it ninety at the Anthem etc. Far better imo to play them in Dublin first, then later in Tbilisi after they've had the stuffing knocked out of them by the Italians and Bulgarians etc.
As for playing your next match in Montenegro, it might turn out to be inspired. Personally, however, I fear it could be a disaster, since as well as coming up against Montenegran fearlessness, you will also face the patriotism which comes with a "new" nation: i.e. their hearts will be pumping out of their shirts!
Look at the results achieved by e.g. Latvia and Slovenia when they first achieved nationhood (i.e. qualifying for Euro and World Finals), or even the likes of the Faroes.
P.S. Don't hold me to this when the time comes, since it wouldn't be the first time I've got it completely wrong with my predictions! ;)
I'm not so sure about that. Georgia have now had two bad results in a row. They got beaten comprehensively against you and lost 3-1 at home to Latvia. They may get better in the qualifiers - I'm certainly dreading playing them in September - but the Scottish result may have just been due to a new set of players trying to prove themselves. Their bubble may well have burst by then. There are no guarantees in that game, but I think it's a good risk to take, as it'll give us confidence and could set us up nicely should we win.Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
Whilst Montenegro do look like a dangerous team to play (especially for 6th seeds) they will have played their first competitive home game a few days before against Bulgaria so we won't have to play them in their first ever competitive game and I think the Bulgarians have a lot more to be worried about in that respect.
Our away record is abysmal so both Georgia and Montenegro away will be difficult games. Georgia and Montenegro will be well aware of our away record so they know that we are very much beatable. But at this stage it's difficult to assess our chances against these sides as we don't know how good (or bad) we are under Trapattoni.
The harder game is away obviously. It didn't work for Scotland to play them at home first. Scotland scraped past them at home and then they played very poorly away.
Georgia's one off renaissance didn't last very long.
We should be a few degrees better set up that we were with Stan. I think we will be looking at 4 to 6 points out the first 2 games.
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Toppmoller has resigned
http://www.eleven-a-side.com/worldcu...ws.asp?n=31636
Could be very good news or us. They will certainly NOT attract a manager of the quality of Toppmoller so they will be on a downer going into our game. However there is a flip side that they might be motivated more under a new manager. I believe the latter is most likelyQuote:
Originally Posted by ifk101