lads never mind russia just yet. 6 points is a must in the first 2 games. armenia away will be tricky but we have to win these games if we are to qualify in top spot.
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lads never mind russia just yet. 6 points is a must in the first 2 games. armenia away will be tricky but we have to win these games if we are to qualify in top spot.
There's only two each at home on a Friday and Tuesday night, and none between November and August. I don't think any fans home or away are happy with the day arrangements, but I think we've done fairly well out of them in general.
No reason why we can't go to Slovakia on the back of 9 points, and if we get a result there, we could have 13 or 15 points going to Skopje. That will set us up for the September tough schedule, and if we get 4 points from those, we have a comfy finish in October to look forward to.
You are aware that disagreeing with your point doesn't automatically mean I think the exact opposite? There's a shade in between black and white.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
The fixtures are grand.
which is what i said in my original post but that if i had to pick a problem, it would be the September 2011 fixtures which i described as not ideal (i.e. not terrible, not amazing, somewhere in between).
All in all not a bad set of fixtures, besides, we have to play them all twice no matter what!
Armenia will be a tough place to start the campaign but a good result there will hopefully build momentum. I'm happy to see we'll be at home first in both of the Russia Slovakia double headers. Hopefully good home results against those two will add confidence in the tough away ties
Quite happy. Needless to say we need a good start in Armenia but Russia at home in game 3 gives us a chance to steal an early march on them, Slovakia away might be tricky on the wednesday. Good to see the two Macedonia games as standalone fixtures. We should pretty much know either way by the time we've returned from Moscow
That and the fact he is rubbish.....................Quote:
Originally Posted by elroy
So what happens now. When will they anounce the cities and venues.
103 caps later and we still get thisQuote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
All in All, i have to say im very happy with the fixtures, yep there are 1 or 2 that i would be cautious off, but i figure we would have fared alot worse in the Fixtures meeting 2 weeks ago due to our seedings.
Am happy enough to play russia in russia in the second leg, plus that its in early september hopefully means that the weather wont be to bad over there.
But all we can do is take it 1 game at a time on the road to moscow in 2011 and make sure that we have ourselves in prime position to top the group before that game ,which i do believe our fixtures pre that game will enable us to do. I actually think our fixtures for the last 4 games is fantastic for us.
Roll on Armenia in September.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
Sure he might as well still play for Ireland till his 50, sure he loves playing for his country............................
For the record the draw was:
A: Armenia
B: Us
C: Andorra
D: Russia
E: Slovakia
F: Macedonia
STU v STU!!Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
HE should play for them until someone better comes alongQuote:
Originally Posted by bennocelt
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge
Never rated him, but then that my opinion..............and he is even worse in defence........................
Good point, didnt think of that, chances are we'll play on a proper pitch in that case and not on the artificial pitch.Quote:
Originally Posted by back of the net
So as expected, we're not going to Russia or Armenia in the freezing cold. Meanwhile, Emmet Malone is all upset at going to Skopje in June.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...267096650.html
Was he in Stuttgart '88?? Genoa '90?? Albania '93?? Niigata '02?? Sofia '09?? All occasions we had to play in summer heat, and coped.
You'd swear we were off to Orlando the way he's talking. Then you might have a problem with heat. As we're not, I expect us to play there with little problem dealing with the conditions. Yes Scotland played there last time and lost, but Scotland lost half their games in the group anyway. We're looking to qualify instead.
"the trip to Skopje must be negotiated at just about the hottest time of the year possible"
June 4 :confused:
I think the whole weather issue is mightily overblown and used as an exucse in advance. Same with pitches. Our players, last I saw, are all professionals, able to adapt and have experience in both hot and cold climates as well as on natural and artificial turf.
For the record Skopje is muggy that time of year but nothing murderous, it wasn't even the hottest spot in ex-Yugoslavia. Even if we played in Russia in May we'd still almost certainly be on artificial turf due to the fact that the Luzhniki and Lokomotiv stadia have such surfaces, they only lifted the astro for the CL final because of continued complaints from the english (according to media reports). Armenia in Yerevan is going to be tricky, they have a decent side and are largely young. Yerevan is going to be a great spot to visit, it has the best cognac and wines, food and sights. Plus it's pretty cheap.
It is a fair point. Playing in the afternoon heat will be an issue. Sofia was at nightr btw.Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
However apparently the tv money will be better for a saturday night game. They played Scotland in their first match when they believed they had a chance of qualifying. Hopefully they'll be out of contention by then and will take the cash. They will probably still fancy themselves for a playoff spot though reckoning they can beat us and the Slovaks in Skopje.