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1) away to Serbia
2) home to Luxembourg
3) home to Qatar
Tough to play away v Serbia to start. You’d probably look at the two games vs the Serbs as the two make or break ties of the group. You’d certainly like them later in the group’s development... Anyway, c’est la vie. Thems the cards we’ve been dealt. Try sneak a draw and go from there
Away to Serbia in our 1st game . Mick McCarthy must have a voodoo doll of Kenny
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020...ord-cup-group/
Azerbaijan and Qatar away the same week is sensible. Could be an interesting away trip too!
Edit - Qatar game to be played "somewhere in Europe" per RTÉ. That's no fun
If this comes to pass then the 2 games v qatar will be played inside the intl window, 3 games on the trot inside 7 days which is not a very attractive prospect, except to play the reserve team and possibly Jack Byrne might get 10 minutes if everybody else pulls out.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
A bit of hard luck having to play the crucial away game in Serbia first. Its literally the teams next game. However pick up a point and Serbia then host Portugal 3 days later, tough turnaround for them. Having to play Serbia and Portugal in the space of 3 days is a fate we seem to have avoided, unlike the top 2. Serbia start with Ire H, Por H & Portugal Finish with Ire A, Srb H.
Not a great schedule really. It will effectively be over for us after one game if we ship a bad defeat against Serbia. Kenny can't catch a break in the job it seems, although he hasn't helped himself at times either. His job may well be on the line by the time we get to the Luxembourg game, although you'd hope we'd find a way through that one at home to keep him in post until the autumn.
the perfect draw
Azerbaiyàn at home
Luxemburg away
Serbia at home
Portugal away
Luxemburg home
Serbia away
Portugal home
Azerbaiyan away
the real draw
serbia away
lux home
port away
azer home
serbia home
azer away
port home
lux away
we are doomed unless we get something from Belgrado
Home game for them in Paris I would say.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
The only thing to say about the Qatar games, well the two things to say about them are:
1. They're not Oman
2. The games are at the end of a window, so won't really affect the preparation or the campaign itself
In the first 7 day window Serbia have the tougher start, they play us at home first, followed by Portugal, then they fly out to Azerbaijan.
For us the September window looks taxing, but with the Azeris in the middle takes some of the sting away.
I'd rather have the tough Serbia game first in a bizarre way. An edgy 0-0 draw or any form of non-loss will be considered a good result. With our full side, that's not beyond Kenny in our next game. We're tough to break down if anything so I'd rather get that game done rather than be under pressure at home to Luxembourg or something.
All things going well these should be the last games behind closed doors in the campaign, so it's good that we have a big away tie and a small home one in this window.
It'll be tough no matter what, so lets try and take the positives from the schedule
Behind closed doors is a great point to factor in. Serbia can be a tricky, hostile place to visit with the home crowd behind them. Blessing in disguise to get that out of the way in an empty stadium.
happy with Serbia away first. they're going to be thinking 'we must not lose this' so will be cautious. we will see how we are set and it's not game over if we lose.
is it fair to say anything less than 10 points from the Azeri/lux games is a bit of a disaster?
if I am totally honest based on what I've seen under Kenny so far we'll be scrapping to finish third. I hope I am wrong.
I think if we have any aspirations of finishing 2nd, we'll need 12 from the Azerbaijan and Luxembourg games. I don't think we'll get a point off Portugal and will be doing well to come out of our Serbia games with a net positive points total.
It could ultimately come down to hoping Portugal take 6 from Serbia and that one of the two others take points from Serbia.
I doubt it will be as positive as that even. I'd say we're far more likely to drop points against Azerbaijan or Luxembourg than we are to get more than a point from the four games against Serbia and Portugal. I think we'll end up on something like 11 points from the eight group games, which won't be anywhere near good enough to make the playoffs.
We played Serbia in a 3/4s empty stadium last time and it didn't do us much good.
I'd say Serbia are well happy to start with us at home. If they can beat us while the new manager has no goals in six games, that'll be a great start towards challenging Portugal for top spot (in their view)
Did we not get a point?Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Yes, but with one of the most shambolic performances I've ever seen from an Ireland team that won't earn us a point if we play like that another 20 times.
serbia are no better than slovakia imo and so we have a chance of an away draw. That would be a great start to the group for us.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
portugal will go through the group without dropping a point. 4 points against serbia or even two draws, but getting ahead of them somehow on the head to head, is where its at for us.
Qatar also due to play in the Copa America between June and July, then the CONCACAF Gold Cup from July. Busy lot. I assume there is a vested interest (plus lots of "influence" being peddled) to get them in the best possible shape for the World Cup.
Edit: Wiki tells me they are down to play a minimum of 24 games next year, if you include the "Arab Cup" in December, and more if they get out of group stages. That must be at least near a record for the modern era.
I suppose it is important to keep some perspective on Serbia alright. They did lose (on penalties) to Scotland to fail to make the Euros.Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
The Eloratings site has Serbia a decent bit better than Slovakia (125 points) though. Then there's a cluster of interesting teams in a row - Slovakia (1664), Scotland (1660), Ireland (1658) and Qatar (1640)
We certainly have a chance of an away draw, and it would be a great start to the group. My concern comes back to the lack of goals. It's like an anti-Charlton era - if we don't score, we won't win, and we'll drop points against Azerbaijan and/or Luxembourg which Serbia won't.