What would be an acceptable return from next 2 games ?

[davey]

4 points out of 6 would be excellent I think and well within our capabilitly. However this is tempered by years of disastrous away performances from the Boys in Green. I suppose 3 out of 6 wouldn't be too bad neither. What are you all expecting points wise over the next 2 games ?

[boovidge]

4 wouldnt be a disaster as there are no pushovers in the group and i expect all the sides to take points off each other. I reckon montenegro might get something out of the Bulgaria game.

[shakermaker1982]

4 minimum if we are serious about qualification. 6 and I'd be delirious. I think 22 points in total should get us 2nd spot. I think Stuttgart or maybe eirebhoy did some some in-depth analysis on what you normally need to qualify (points wise) from a campaign. Apologies if that is not correct!

[Jicked]

3 points would be a disasterous start to the campaign. If we're serious about qualifying, and we should be, 3 points against Georgia on neutral territory is a must, and then we're playing the bottom seeds of the group. Yes Montenegro are a strong enough side, but we shouldn't be losing to them, I'd be very surprised if they got results against Bulgaria or Italy.

[jinxy lilywhite]

Consistency is the key. I think win your home ones and don't lose away. 30 points up for grabs in this group (Italy, Bulgaria, Georgia, Montenegro and Cyprus). Personally I think we need 6pts off Georgia, Montenegro and Cyprus each and at least 4 off Bulgaria and a minimum of 2 off Italy.

If we want to be serious about qualification then we need to beat the teams that we are meant to be beating.
Any successful Irish campaign 1990, 1994, 1988 and 2002 we haven't slipped up away from home against lesser teams and got a minimum of a draw away from home against the top sides.

[Stuttgart88]

4 minimum if we are serious about qualification. 6 and I'd be delirious. I think 22 points in total should get us 2nd spot. I think Stuttgart or maybe eirebhoy did some some in-depth analysis on what you normally need to qualify (points wise) from a campaign. Apologies if that is not correct!

That was me but I've changed jobs recently and I think I left the spreadsheet I used to compare points required to qualify across the last few campaigns at my last job!

[Stuttgart88]

4 minimum, but I'll be disappointed with less than 6. We need to outperform Bulgaria & Italy where they may lose points, we need to get early momentum and we need insurance against slip ups at home.

[gspain]

If we are serious about qualifying then 6 points is the target. Lets face if word comes through to Mainz that Bulgaria dreew 0-0 in Podgorica would you happy or upset? I know I'd be delighted if Bulgaria drop points on saturday.

Now neither game will be easy and 6 points would be a huge achievement but anything less will be a missed opportunity.

[mypost]

Consistency is the key. I think win your home ones and don't lose away.

Not good enough anymore. That's been the policy now for many years, and we've qualified for 1 tournament from the last 7. We were the only unbeaten team at home in the last campaign, which still led to our worst finish since '85.

Looking for 6 points from the 2 games coming up. We need to hit the ground running, and get off to the best possible start. We have the coaching team in place to expect no less.

[NeilMcD]

That was me but I've changed jobs recently and I think I left the spreadsheet I used to compare points required to qualify across the last few campaigns at my last job!

lets hope you did not save it to a shared server there Stutts.

[jinxy lilywhite]

Not good enough anymore. That's been the policy now for many years, and we've qualified for 1 tournament from the last 7. We were the only unbeaten team at home in the last campaign, which still led to our worst finish since '85.

Looking for 6 points from the 2 games coming up. We need to hit the ground running, and get off to the best possible start. We have the coaching team in place to expect no less.

My apologies, I went on to the next sentence saying that we needed to get a minimum of 6pts off Georgia, Montenegro and Cyrus . Sorry about 2 things

[mypost]

If we are serious about qualifying then 6 points is the target. Lets face if word comes through to Mainz that Bulgaria dreew 0-0 in Podgorica would you happy or upset? I know I'd be delighted if Bulgaria drop points on saturday.

Our game kicks off the group at the weekend. The Bulgaria game ko's after ours finishes.

[Ordinary Fan]

It has to be 6 points but it will be a big ask. Georgia will be driven by national pride and Montenegro full of enthusiasm. We have to start well and aim to top the group (very unlikely) to avoid the play-off lottery.
Italy are always slow starters and Bulgaria not great travellers, so if we can pick up away eins against Georgia, Montenegro and Cyrus it will give us a buffer if we fail to get anything in Italy or Bulgaria.

[NeilMcD]

But he will still be in Mainz.

[Wexford Delboy]

hope for 6points but 4 points wouldnt be a complete disaster...would expect us to beat georgia but montenegro are a relative unknown quantity

[Reality Bites]

Six points

[musicinmouth]

six points

[pateen]

Huge banana skins, but it you look at the 90 and 94 qualifying campaigns we dropped very few points against the so called weaker sides.

6 points, it has to be

[Claret Murph]

I think we will win on Saturday 2-1 and only manage a 1-1 draw with Monty so I have to go with 4 points and happy out .

I will say both Italy and Bul will drop points this weekend

[Dotsy]

IF we are serious about qualifying we have to expect to win on Sat at a neutral venue. A win in Montenegro would be fantasitic but I would be happy with a point. Min of 4 points, anything less is a disaster.