Am I the only one that thinks this has been a terrible draw for fans. Trips to Norway and Sweden are going to cost an absolute bomb for fans. Belgium has great beer at least.
No glamour tie, no fine weather destination. I was disappointed they didn't get a trip to Villarreal or Cyprus. They'd be lovely in Autumn.
I'm with you Philosophizer. Ahead of the draw I was looking at the potential draws I'd want if it was us and only Gent was in that selection and there were plenty more ahead of them. Easy enough to get to for the most part, but no real glamour tie and not exactly winnable ties either
The trip to Belgium is the only one that will draw a huge away support I’d say. They have a nice stadium in Gent these days , the ground I visited in 2002 in the intertoto cup was nothing special. They have gone up in the world since.Originally Posted by Philosophizer
Definitely all Tallaght fixtures those. Lansdowne would be wasted on them.
It's a bit samey for sure, and with no real glamour tie as you say. Gent are a decent team and should have no trouble with Rovers, but it's not quite the same as Fiorentina or Villarreal.
Was in Molde when we played there in 2017 and the area is nice (Atlantic Road and Trollstigen nearby) but it's just an expensive and small town. Stockholm is maybe a bigger version of the same thing. If it was me, I'd have liked someone like Pyunik or Ballkani in there for something a bit different.
On the pitch, Rovers need to sort out their away form if they've to have any chance.
What are you smoking??
Tough group to get points from, but travel wise it's not too bad. Would have preferred balkani or rfs as 4th seeds but not to be
Have fond memories of Rovers away against Djurgarden all those years ago.
Shamrock Rovers- Where trophies are won and envy is scarce
Been to Sweden twice with Pats and didn’t find it the most exciting part of the world. The culture across Scandinavia is similar enough. There wasn’t much between Sweden , Denmark and Iceland on my Pats travels over the years.
If Rovers have hopes of progressing then perhaps this is a decent group. They didn't get any obvious winnable ties but you could imagine these teams taking points off each other. Molde probably arent the strongest of the top seeds. There's a chance that something like 9 or 10 points might be enough to get through.
Rovers would need to step up a significant gear from their performance in the qualifiers though.
Tough group for Rovers really,will need some big performances in Tallaght to avoid finishing bottom I think….
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
It's not a dreadful draw, and it's not a great draw. There's some winnable ties, and there's some nice enough places to visit. Costly enough getting to Sweden and Norway though, expect about €500 for a return flight to either. Should get a good crowd travelling to Ghent though, cheap enough to get to.
It'll be a real test of where they are at in terms of European levels though. Belgian league is currently 10th, Norway 12th and Sweden 23rd, while LOI is in 36th in the rankings.
Djurgaden currently 3rd in Allsvenskan with an impressive defensive record this year. Molde five points clear at the top of Eliteserien, while Gent have had a mixed start to their season with two wins and two draws in their opening four games.
A lot will depend on Rovers approach to games and playing it smart. There's no reason they can't pick up a win or two and a couple of draws and hope to sneak through in second place, but it would take a huge effort to get that far
This is the group stages we’re talking about. Granted Genk should probably win the group but there was far better pot 1 sides than them. After that you’ve got Molde and Djurgarden, both of which are good sides no doubt but both are below the standard of Ludogorets and Ferencvaros so points are definitely obtainable. Out of all the pot 3 teams, rovers group is the most favourable on the pitch.
Then again if you don’t rate your team's chances fair enough, I’m not too pushed in convincing you
Last edited by 2 Year Contract; 26/08/2022 at 1:38 PM.
Paaatrick's Agletic
Do you mean second seeds?
They were placed second among the second seeds, but yeah, they and Slovan would have been the two you'd have been hoping for I guess.
Very disappointing not to draw RFS, talk about being handed a free €1,000,000 based on what i saw last night against Linfield (highlights).
Still no complaints, hopefully we start with a home match against Molde or Djurgarden where we have a shot at 3 points and a good start, i think Gent will be too strong for us.
Gent beaten home and away 2 nil by Omonia, so not sure how strong they are to be honest.
Molde lost a couple of their games during qualifying but also had some big wins in the other leg of ties. They can win away from home too.
Djurgarden looked good in qualifying. Won 5 of 6 and only lost away to APOEL last night. They did play teams in pre-season in two of those rounds. Might be a small factor.
Rovers best bet for points is Tallaght of course and early in the group. On their day they can be a match for all 3 at home. Away from home is a different story.
My prediction is 4th in the group but they won’t finish with zero points. There is a win or a couple of draws in there somewhere.
It's one of those weird draws where it would be a disappointment if they get no points but nobody would be hugely surprised. But, then you think a win at home in the first game, confidence and momentum build and they nick a point away the next game and suddenly the thinking will be is there 8 or 10 points there to be won.
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Tallaght Stadium Regular
Looking at the draw as a whole, i cant see a better group to be in unless its just to be a group with an RFS. There are some real groups of death there considering how there could have been some England like strolls in the park combinations possible.
Last edited by Nesta99; 26/08/2022 at 2:16 PM.
Basel, Slovan and Pyunik is probably a bit better too.
Rovers have beaten Slovan at home recently, and even Basel's form in the qualifiers has been suspect (including a 1-1 draw away to Crusaders, albeit 2-0 up from the home leg)
It's a middling enough group. It kind of feels like a group of three second seeds plus Rovers
Last edited by pineapple stu; 26/08/2022 at 2:02 PM.
This group and the one Zalgiris ended up in are two of the best groups for points as a 3rd seed.
There's a lot more ways the draw could have been a lot worse but only a few it could have been better. Rovers could count themselves lucky enough up to now in the draws, getting Hibs and Shkupi so all in can't feel hard done by.
They are the weakest side in the group but will have to expect to pick up some points at home. Since it's an even group there's a chance 6/7 points would be enough to qualify.
That sounds a bit unlikely doesn't it?
6/7 points in second place means one more defeat than victory (1-3-2 or 2-1-3), which means the group winners have to get at least three more wins than defeats (3-3-0, say). But that requires a clear top seed, and I don't think Gent are them.
7 got through one ECL group last year, and 8 through two more, while all the others needed at least 10 points. One team (Rangers, strangely) got through the EL groups with 8 points, and Benfica/Atlético got through the CL groups with 8/7 points, but in the CL there's definitely clear top seeds (Bayern/Liverpool won all their group games)
I think another way of looking at the group is that Djurgarden, Molde and Gent will all fancy their chances of winning the group, and will think that starts with six points against Rovers. A tight group does open things up, but also puts pressure on every game.
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