Euro Qualifying

[Rossi]

RTE reporting that we are going to be third seeds for qualifying. Thats a joke. We proved ourselves against Italy and France but they put us in third seed. With play-offs being introduced its going to make it difficult to qualify.

[pineapple stu]

Proved ourselves against Montenegro too. And how we hammered the Cypriots and Georgians.

Is thinking about things before complaining gone out of fashion now?

[Duggie]

RTE reporting that we are going to be third seeds for qualifying. Thats a joke. We proved ourselves against Italy and France but they put us in third seed. With play-offs being introduced its going to make it difficult to qualify.

got to do with seedings hasnt it. dosent really matter how we got on v italy+france. on our day were as good as most the top seeds(spain maybe not). might get a half decent group but would still be tough to qualify outright.

[Crosby87]

Proved ourselves against Montenegro too. And how we hammered the Cypriots and Georgians.

Is thinking about things before complaining gone out of fashion now?

Have to agree with Stuwie. The honest fact is we havent beaten a good team in years. Even got smoked at home by the Aussies in a friendly that was supposed to be "an important tune up" for good measure.

[macdermesser]

HThe honest fact is we havent beaten a good team in years. .

just checking the date of the post ... we beat France 1-0 away. I know it has been lost in all the noise.

France 0 Ireland 1

[Schumi]

We finished second in this group and a distant third last time so third seeds sounds about right.

[SeanDrog]

tyring to put the handball incident behind me and focus now on teh Europeans - when is the draw?

I really hope that this incident, this trial of pain (so to speak) will unite and glavanise the team to really push hard in the forthcoming qualifiers.

[Junior]

Draw is in Feb I believe.

[Wolfie]

Its been widely flagged on here for months that we'd be most likely 3rd seeds, has it not?

[Noelys Guitar]

We are destined to draw France as first seeds.

[Wolfie]

We are destined to draw France as first seeds.

Indeed - and the Faroe Islands as well...........................

[colemany2k]

It's not surprising we're in the third pot. We are a long way behind Romania who are the bottom team in pot 2. The damage caused during the kerr and staunton era's cannot be underestimated. We're now ranked 25th in europe with a number of teams ahead of us in pot 3. We would need to win the majority of the games in the next qualifiers to stand any chance of getting into pot 2. It looks like we have between 5-10 years to wait before going into pot 2 and that's assuming we make steady progress through the qualifiers not to mention major competitions. Just to put a downer on the whole thing, when the senior players in the current squad retire then I fear we will really struggle

On another note I feel we're destined to get the French for the euro's along with Brian Kerr's Faroes!

Please see below for the teams and which pots their in:

Seeding pots
Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia

Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania

Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus

Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein

Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino

http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/...0_DOWNLOAD.pdf

[Gather round]

It's not surprising we're in the third pot. We are a long way behind Romania who are the bottom team in pot 2

Romania finished the qualifiers as the 35th team in Europe, based only on points in this series. Below Northern Ireland, Wales, Belarus, Macedonia and Lithuania. But of course they benefit from the craziness of ratings calculated over three tournaments, where a draw against Italy in 2009 earns less credit than a win against San Marino or whoever in 2004.

We would need to win the majority of the games in the next qualifiers to stand any chance of getting into pot 2

A more positive attitude would be 'win the majority of games and we'll likely qualify- with 'promotion' to pot 2 as a bonus'. That's basically what Slovakia have done.

[stiffler]

Slovakia got a handy group so now they are in pot 2! its all luck at the end of the day

[Gather round]

Slovakia got a handy group so now they are in pot 2! its all luck at the end of the day

Slovakia's group was no harder than Italy's overall; they won seven matches out of ten, including four away from home; ultimately it's about winning more points (and while I'm opposed to measuring them over six seasons as opposed to two, that obviously reduces the element of luck).

Slovakia outpointed you both in this tournament and overall in all qualifiers in the last three series. That's why they're seeded higher.

[irishultra]

Ireland won 4 games in the group stages. 3rd seeds is about right.

[jo84]

just checking the date of the post ... we beat France 1-0 away. I know it has been lost in all the noise.

France 0 Ireland 1

Glad you pointed this out. I'm sick trying to remind people all day that Ireland beat France on Wednesday in the regulation 90 minutes, just like France beat us on Saturday. The extra time 'equaliser' doesnt take away from the fact we beat them.

[stiffler]

Slovakia's group was no harder than Italy's overall; they won seven matches out of ten, including four away from home; ultimately it's about winning more points (and while I'm opposed to measuring them over six seasons as opposed to two, that obviously reduces the element of luck).

Slovakia outpointed you both in this tournament and overall in all qualifiers in the last three series. That's why they're seeded higher.

Yeah , it was no harder, it was easier as per my original point. Obviously its easier to pick up points in an easier group!!


Does anyone know who our next game is against? are there any friendlies lined up? the only 1 I can find details of is Argentina late next year.

[4tothefloor]

It's not surprising we're in the third pot. We are a long way behind Romania who are the bottom team in pot 2. The damage caused during the kerr and staunton era's cannot be underestimated. We're now ranked 25th in europe with a number of teams ahead of us in pot 3. We would need to win the majority of the games in the next qualifiers to stand any chance of getting into pot 2. It looks like we have between 5-10 years to wait before going into pot 2 and that's assuming we make steady progress through the qualifiers not to mention major competitions. Just to put a downer on the whole thing, when the senior players in the current squad retire then I fear we will really struggle

On another note I feel we're destined to get the French for the euro's along with Brian Kerr's Faroes!

Please see below for the teams and which pots their in:

Seeding pots
Pot 1: Spain (holders), Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Croatia, Portugal, France, Russia

Pot 2: Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Turkey, Denmark, Slovakia, Romania

Pot 3: Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Pot 4: Slovenia, Latvia, Hungary, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Cyprus

Pot 5: Montenegro, Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein

Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Luxembourg, Malta, Faroe Islands, Andorra, San Marino

http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/...0_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Spain and England aside there is absolutely nothing to fear from pot one or pot two. Much of a muchness who you draw as even the big guns these days are all very very beatable

[christo]

Going to go for

France
Switzerland
Us
Cyprus
Liechtenstein
Faroe Islands