That works with 10 Group Winners/10 Runners up and 3 play off spots or maybe include Group D winners in with C so its C Group winners ranked 1-4 - C1 Group Winner v winners of playoff between C4 and D2 and C2 v winners of C3 and D1
True, although it sounds very simple for UEFA, so that's probably definitely not what's going to happen :)
I don't think we should set out to lose tonight, but I do think there would be up sides (and down sides - such as the money Stutts mentioned) from being relegated.
it was pointed out on YBIG that relegation to League C means we will be in Pot 4 or 5 for the Euro 2024 Qualifiers.
Staying in League B means we'll be in 2, 3, or 4.
8 or 8.9 mil or something -> https://www.independent.ie/sport/soc...-39760101.html
The Euros too, youd imagine would have been a big hole to fill already...
David Kelly in today's Indo:
"He (the Bulgarian manager) is the lucky one. His squad has been shorn of a mere 10 players through injury and Covid-relkated concerns. Kenny is down to an eye watering 25 players all told".
So I'm not sure what version of reality ""they are getting it much worse" comes from.
And I'm not sure who's feeling "hard done by" or who is asleep here to be honest. It simply can't be denied that we have had a ridiculous number of withdrawals. Only a crank would argue that that doesn't offer some mitigation to the run of form.
Paul's whole post just reads like a miserable and quite typical attempt to divide people here into camps. The naive dreamers and the hardened realists. I think such division only exists in Paul's head.
There's lots of things that only exist in my head, a euphoria of sorts.
I still maintain Kenny's been lucky from the other side of it. No pressure. Playing loads of players with little retribution from the outcome or how they play. hes had a chance to fast track u21 players into the squad and side with little negativity. Its bought him time, even if its time with players he wouldn't necessarily have wanted time with. Hes found out who isnt ready without sacrificing anything massive. He knows the problems we have now. It all bodes well for the WC qualifiers in March I feel. Once he knows that we need to compensate by changing formation to give us the best chance of scoring as we dont have a finisher, or a "false 9" now McG is gone.
Every cloud and all that....COD out.
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2020...bulgaria-game/
Btw, this NL qualifiers is important i thought - unless my info is old - as the best two group winners are guaranteed a play-off in the World cup.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_F...ication_(UEFA)
You're right.
The two best group winners in the NL 20/21 (this edition) that have not finished in the top two of their group of European WCQ, based on the NL ranking, will go into the play offs.
You would expect these teams to come from League C all things being equal.
Only 2.5 weeks 'til the WCQ draw; December 7th @ 5pm Dublin time.
Yeah, the switch was only completed about two weeks ago
Wasn't Rice's switch to England completed basically instantly? Can see where their priorities lie.
This could be Duffy's best ever chance to get a run in a competitive game. Really have to feel for him
I spoke to someone tangentially involved in the international setup at a Rovers-Dundalk match early 2019 about Jordan and Aaron. Bit hazy now, but I took it that he had already switched at that point. Obviously Aaron mentioned that it only came through 2 weeks ago but he was waiting ages for it.
Madness Duffy has had to wait over 2 years, absolutely taking the ****. Genuinely would have had an opportunity to play tonight and contribute.
We sorted Rice in 3 weeks. Imagine if Rice’s change still wasn’t processed by us now, imagine the uproar...
I hope Mallon’s change isn’t processed until Duffy’s is...
The Duffy situation seems completely unfair, I can't imagine what possible reason there could be for the hold up. This might be his best - maybe only - chance to feature for Ireland and he is being denied it.
It's not easy to keep track of the comings and goings, but David Kelly is certainly wrong to describe the Bulgarian boss as "the lucky one"
Captain Vasil Bozhikov, goalkeeper Hristiyan Vassilev and full-back Dimitar Velkovski have all tested positive for coronavirus in the latest round of PCR testing. Bulgaria were already without Georgi Terziev, Martin Raynov, Nikolay Mihailov, Kiril Despodov, Plamen Iliev, Georgi Kostadinov, Todor Nedelev, Anton Nedyalkov, Ismail Isa, Georgi Georgiev, Dominik Yankov and Georgi Yomov.
In addition Georgi Milanov & Aleksandar Tonev, experienced players with 43 & 29 caps respectively, aren't in the squad as they find themselves without a club.
We are missing Matt Doherty, John Egan, Séamus Coleman, Enda Stevens, Derrick Williams, James McClean, Jeff Hendrick, Jayson Molumby, Alan Browne, James McCarthy, Harry Arter, Adam Idah, Callum Robinson & Aaron Connolly. But we've been left with enough seasoned international players to form the spine of a team. Darren Randolph, Shane Duffy, Cyrus Christie, Ciaran Clark, Robbie Brady and Conor Hourihane are all still there. These are all guys who have played in the Premier League (overated as it is, it's still one of the highest quality divisions in the world). Some of them might not have been great for Ireland recently, but they are not bad players.
Getting better performances out of them is something I really hope Stephen Kenny is capable of doing. Because that's his job.
Edit: Add O'Dowda to our missing list.
I dont know if its just an irrational feeling but I think it will come together tonight and we will get a win. We've played relatively well, England game apart. We're creating enough chances and just have to continue do the right things.