Too right it wasQuote:
Originally Posted by endabob1
Scotland v England
Israel v Denmark
Slovenia v Ukraine
Ireland v Turkey
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Too right it wasQuote:
Originally Posted by endabob1
Scotland v England
Israel v Denmark
Slovenia v Ukraine
Ireland v Turkey
We just need to be the home crowd on both occasions then
The Celtic Tiger will be back for one night only
But outside of maybe England why would they care who made it from the other ties, granted they look to be the slightly stronger teams?Quote:
Originally Posted by Arnold Layne
The problem was, they wanted to seed the 4 teams that got draw away first, thats why the finger of suspicion was pointing at them. They only backed down when a fuss was made of it, but the 4 still got what UEFA wanted.Quote:
Originally Posted by DeLorean
Ok, I understand what you're saying I just don't see why they'd even bother.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arnold Layne
You must be joking, how stone wall was McShanes hand ball, and the ref looking straight at, unblocked, seemed he bottled it in favour of the home team, thank god.Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
Thats one of millions of examples.
I think if you need a player for player analysis of the eight teams in the play offs, ourselves and greece would be one of the weakest. However, you've gotta take into account the shape and organisation of the team and under Trap we are certainly strong in that regard. A team will always make mistakes but generally we are well drilled and have a sense of purpose. Arguably last night was the first match (competitive) under Trap that we got a result that we wouldnt have been satisified with beforehand.Quote:
Originally Posted by irishultra
Quote:
Originally Posted by mypost
Its not a game of luck with FIFA rig it the way they have so far and clearly couldnt care less what anyones think judging by their comments. In a sense, I think we may perform better if we are the clear underdog, however I would prefer France or Greece over Russia or Portugal.
I think Paul is right, Greece will be the sacrificial lambs from the first pot, thrown to the wolves- us and will be the only team from Pot 1 to play at home first.
Yes I did see it, and no it wasn't a fix.Quote:
Originally Posted by endabob1
And cameras can and do zoom in on the balls while they're been stirred around. Every single ball is identical in the pot it's in.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
Another ridden rock-solid theory. If we were first seeds, none of this would be discussed.
Didn't see it at the game, so didn't think it was a penalty. Having seen it today, it still wasn't a penalty. Ball to hand if anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Polster
If I were Irish I'd want to avoid Portugal more than the others.
Having watched Russia a few times recently I think they are a little over-rated and could be beaten if you defend well because they do occasionally give you chances. Although they have good attacking players they often try and pass the ball into the net so a well organised defence stands a decent chance.
France are a team that can get complacent at times I think, they don't have as good a record historically as teams like Germany and Spain in qualification rounds. For all their talented individuals I'm not sure of their teamwork.
Greece on the other hand had a nice group containing no really big teams in it. Hard to say whether they'll come through the play-offs, probably the side I'd most like to get.
The trouble with Portugal is that they have a tendency to score 3 or 4 on their good days even when the opposition doesn't really do anything wrong, simply because of the quality they have. for that reason I'd say they're the team to avoid.
That might have something to do with their top seed status in the group.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cymro
I agree with you, "hey ronaldo, you're not going to the world cup unless you get your finger out.... " ehm, no thanks, we dont need that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Cymro
What time is the draw on Monday.
1 in the afternonn according to the radio.
Don't know if this has been posted before, but St. Ledger is confident:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/ne...ilence+critics
Quote:
"We are going to be coming up against a very good team, so we are probably going to have to step up another level. That's the nature of being in the play-offs. The best teams have got through to the World Cup and now the remaining ones are there. "They are there for a reason, we are there for a reason and they are going to be really, really tough games. Whoever we are going to get at this stage is going to be a tough team to play, but I feel we can beat anybody.
"We are unbeaten in the campaign, and I would imagine it's a long time since that has happened. That's what the boss has brought in here, a lot of steel, grit and mentality not to lose."
Save of the night for meQuote:
Originally Posted by mypost
Shay would have been proud of that one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Polster
All the 2nd seeds had their home legs first aswell, something was a bit fishy about it alright.Quote:
Originally Posted by Arnold Layne
Personally im sh*tting it of France, I can see them delivering when it matters. Fair enough they've been poor so far but the talent they have is frightening compared to us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cymro
as i said in another threadQuote:
Originally Posted by geysir
yeah for all the conspiracy theory people, Russia Portugal and France will all qualify and Ireland will draw greece and the ref will favour us and we will qualify because Trap used to manage Platini at Juve and will have a word in the ear of his former star pupil.
thus fifa will then say they did not favour the seeded teams as they all did not qualify. so iam in favour of fifa/uefa and their underhand ways
Ireland will also be drawn away to greece first as Trap has said he wants an away draw first and low and behold his "lucky" manager tag will come through again. But it is not what he knows in football but who he knows that will be the hallmark of this story.
This tongue in cheek comment was made in jest but i for one will not complain if we benefit some favourtisim and get through
Im sorry but if i thought there was underhandedness in the way we didnt qualify, and it was pretty clear cut, I dont think I could support the team again, its not the teams fault i know but it would be brick wall stuff.
Jaysus, Paul!!! That's not the attitude!!Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
If that was the case nobody who was around in the 70's would bother with us!!!
This is exactly what will happen:D. Plus out of the 4 unseeded teams, i think FIFA will know we will bring a lot more fans to South Africa than Bosnia, Ukraine and Slovenia. 92nd minute Paul McShane handball on the line will be missed by the ref while we score the winning goal in the 97th minute. Bound to happenQuote:
Originally Posted by wexfordman
That won't bother FIFA, it's TV audiences they're interested in. In Japan/Kores Spain only had about 50 fans.
Ireland is a small market.
cant think of a good analogy here, ok i dont mean that but it would feel like supporting the mafia, fifa that is. Corrupt to the core and nothing can be done about it as all competitions are run by them, like playing in a casino where ye know ye cant win any money as you are being cheated cos its mafia run. Obviouslly on a far bigger scale.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfie
I know what you're saying, but I honestly think the seedings thing is the worst they will do.Quote:
Originally Posted by paul_oshea
Call me naive, but I think refs have an interest in making the correct calls.
In addition, with the Euro tournament expanding in future years, this is not the time to jump off the Ireland bandwagon, as we will be playing in many more tournaments in the years to come.
That was the procedure used. They happened to come out in that order. Only Ukraine failed to qualify.Quote:
Originally Posted by Leeside Swagger
This is shamelessly robbed from another forum, but its from a portuguesse tabloid and asks a few people who they want in the playoffs
I guess they are judging Bosnia simply on the home defeat they had to Spain. Other than that they have been very impressiveQuote:
Octávio Machado a former Portuguese football player and coach picked Bosnia cause he reckoned they were the weakest and also Ireland because he reckoned their style of football suited Portugal. He wanted to avoid Ukraine as 'they have a fearsome selection'.
Manuel Fernandes - some other old foggie - wanted Bosnia or Slovenia - he reckons Ireland are very dangerous at home and also Ukraine are good.
Àlvaro Magalhães - wanted to avoid Ireland first because of Trappatoni and supposedly cause of the high level of our players. Bosnia he reckoned would be the one to get.
Toni - also wanted Bosnia. He wanted to avoid us and the Ukraine.
Poll from a French paper saying who the fans wanted in the playoffs
http://www.lefigaro.fr/sport/2009/10...n-barrage-.phpQuote:
L'Irlande - 22.68%.
La Bosnie - 22.43%.
L'Ukraine - 14.24%.
La Slovénie - 40.65%
What time is the draw at?
2pm local time for Zurich, so i think thats 1 pm here
Had a dream we got Portugal last night....
is the sequence of who plays at home/away first also determined by the seeding? or is this decided by the draw?
i.e. will the seeded team play us away or at home first?
sorry if this question has been asked already
a quick search answered my own question:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...pean-play-offs
Quote:
"The draw will pair the teams into four ties and then a separate draw will decide which team will host the first leg. Therefore, the seeded team will not necessarily enjoy home advantage in the crucial second leg"
In the playoffs for world cup 98, euro 2000 and world cup 2002, we played at home in every game first so hopefully this time we get a bit of luck.
Dunphy made a good point on Wednesday about this though. If we lost 0-2 away could you really see us overturning that in Croke Park? As you could see from Italy we're nervy holding a lead and very often concede it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bungle
thats spooky manQuote:
Originally Posted by dr_peepee
:D
It took me a few seconds to get proper focus, when I read it first, I was sure I saw the word wet in there.
lol lol....brilliantQuote:
Originally Posted by geysir
Gut feeling? I think we'll get Portugal.
I'm hoping for Greece. PLEASE. Even then we'd probably be classed as underdogs.
Hoping for anybody but Russia, and a home draw on the Wednesday.
If that happens, then I'm off to the away leg!
I still think we're nailed on for Russia who are weaker than France + Portugal.
My cynical draw prediction -
I'll go for Portugal v Ukraine, France v Bosnia or vice versa leaving us either Russia or Greece so that FIFA are playing it safe by numbers so to speak i.e The 2 big guns go thru & the 4 other teams will all bring relatively the same income from TV & fans attending the matches although for this reason they may pair Eire with Greece & Russia with Slovenia - some russian billionaire will offer a bit of spare cash for this no doubt:D:D.