How far would we have gone at WC 2010?

**Emmet7** · 25/11/2009, 6:07 PM

Granted we don't have the world's best players, but Trap has gelled an incredibily effective defensive unit if still a little shakey going forward.

I think we would have got out of the group stages no problem.

I think after that we'd be talking minimum quarter finals with a good shout of the semi's.

**Razors left peg** · 25/11/2009, 6:14 PM

Too soon for this thread lads, although Im not sure it will ever be a good time for it... I really dont think Im gonna be able to stomach watching it at all, especially watchin the teams come out behind the fair play flag

**carloz** · 25/11/2009, 8:35 PM

Originally Posted by backtowalsall

Anyone going to adopt a country for it?

I'm thinking of becoming an honourary Algerian. Basically because they play in Green and White, and once gave the French a good hiding.

Slovenia for me. They got past the seeding and ****ed FIFA over. Fair dies to them and they have my support for it

**shakermaker1982** · 25/11/2009, 8:39 PM

I think we'd have got 3 score draws. 2nd round would have been the aim.

**Gather round** · 25/11/2009, 9:32 PM

Originally Posted by elroy

Presumably we wouldve been second seeds?

Oh god this is even too painful to consider

(Without wishing to add to your pain)

I think the seedings will be geographical rather than on ranking. There will probably be four pools something like what follows:

1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and five from Europe (Italy, France, Germany and Spain as the last four big tournament finalists, plus one of England, Netherlands or Portugal). Maybe France will lose out in the fallout from Stade de France?

2 the remaining eight European teams

3 the remaining five African teams plus the three remaining South American

4 the five Asian/ Oceanic teams plus the three from North America

South Africa's group won't include another African side, Brazil's and Argentina's no other South American.

**tricky_colour** · 26/11/2009, 2:17 AM

Italy are 5th favourites and France 8th favourites, so that puts us in the last 8 I believe.
So quarter finals likely, maybe semi's, possiblely final, and perhaps winner!!

**mkbucks** · 26/11/2009, 7:29 AM

Originally Posted by paul_oshea

i cant handle this, its like breaking up with a girl before you felt she really gave you a chance and wondered what might have been and then you see her all over the place everywhere ye looking flaunting it and with another guy. Everytime you try and forget about her it comes back through some random small thing that makes you want to cry again. And then get angry.

heartbreaking

if it was a girl i'd tell ya move on but keep crying my friend, Don't stop for one minute!

**Ozymandias** · 26/11/2009, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by tricky_colour

Italy are 5th favourites and France 8th favourites, so that puts us in the last 8 I believe.
So quarter finals likely, maybe semi's, possiblely final, and perhaps winner!!

no it puts us waiting on the EURO draw as our dream is over..unfortunately

**old git** · 26/11/2009, 9:29 PM

Originally Posted by Noelys Guitar

I am convinced we would have gotten out of our group. The weather and the timing of games would have suited us. Trap probably would have unearthed another 2 or 3 players. And we would have gone to South Africa with two draws and a win against the last two finalists under our belts. Real pity.

jesus ... how can you say we would have gotten out of or group we cant even guess at who would be in our group..

as for weather suiting us summer in south africa yes simaler weather to summer in uk .. weather totally against our style of play and work rate.. if any players to unearth then trap should start going to matches in uk looking for players instead of letting others attend games and reporting back to him ..

**tricky_colour** · 27/11/2009, 2:02 AM

Originally Posted by Ozymandias

no it puts us waiting on the EURO draw as our dream is over..unfortunately

True but the OP asked a hypothetical question as to how far we would have gone if we were there.

**irishfan86** · 27/11/2009, 2:06 AM

Originally Posted by old git

as for weather suiting us summer in south africa yes simaler weather to summer in uk .. weather totally against our style of play and work rate..

Temperatures will probably be in the 7-15 degree Celsius range with it being winter in South Africa, which would have really suited us.

**Junior** · 27/11/2009, 9:05 AM

Originally Posted by old git

if any players to unearth then trap should start going to matches in uk looking for players instead of letting others attend games and reporting back to him ..

Any good management 'team' needs to rely on delegation & trust. Trap doesnt need to be attending an EPL game every weekend. He has Brady, Tardelli and Co to assist in this regard.

**endabob1** · 27/11/2009, 9:06 AM

One thing which hasn't been addressed by many people is that only 3 stadiums are at sea level. Quite a lot of games will be at altitude and most teams will have to play games at both sea level and altitude, which will cause issues for acclimatisation. Winter in SA varies depending on location, Durban is a tropical climate and will be a very nice 20 ish degrees whereas the Cape & PE will be much cooler and Cape Town specially has the likelihood of cold wind and rain, as anyone who watched the emerging Springboks game during the Lions tour will know.

**Zizou** · 28/11/2009, 9:17 PM

We'd have been knocked out in second round by Italy.

**ArdeeBhoy** · 28/11/2009, 9:36 PM

Who cares? Why would we even be interested in anything adminstered by those poxy fools.

We would have course gone on to win it and the next twenty-seven consecutive tournaments......

**sligofan4ever** · 28/11/2009, 9:45 PM

If we played the way we did against France, only convert more chances, we could easily have gottne out of the group. The furthest we would've gotten would be the quarter finals IMO. I have a feeling France will repeat there performance of 2002 and finish the group rooted at the bottom without 1 single point, considering the team they have now its very possible.

**Jicked** · 29/11/2009, 2:05 AM

Originally Posted by old git

. if any players to unearth then trap should start going to matches in uk looking for players instead of letting others attend games and reporting back to him ..

Jaysus.

You have to wonder about what exactly is wrong with some fans. You'd swear Trap had picked an 'old guard' all the way through the campaign and had been completely unopen to experimentation or new players. If some of the morons putting him down actually took the time to look at the facts, they'd have noticed we started in both qualifiers with 3 out of 4 midfielders most of us wouldn't have thought had a chance of doing anything much in the green shirt at the start of the campaign. Instead Lawrence, and especially Andrews and Whelan completely justified their unglamorous selection.

For gods sake, the likes of St Ledger, Gibson, Andrews, Whelan, Lawrence and Best who have all become big players for us by the end of the campaign, how can anyone possibly say that Trap never takes a look at new players.

Of course, if we went in to those games with a squad containing Delap, Carsley, McCann and Clinton Morisson at the expense of someone like Glenn Whelan, there'd be the fantasy football experts on here pointing out how many points Whelan scored last week on the official budweiser fantasy football league crap, which clearly proves how great a player he'd be.

Honestly, I really do think a depressingly large proportion of Irish football fans don't have a clue about football, watch highlights of Liverpool, Man Utd and the odd Barca v. Internazionale Champions League game to show how well rounded their football knowledge is, and instead just get by on spouting off whatever crap they read in the paper or heard off Andy Gray.

But yeah, if only Trap had have 'unearthed' Keith Fahey, who knows what might have happened. Sure we might have played France off the park in Paris...

**Closed Account** · 04/12/2009, 5:22 PM

We'd of been in a group with

South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay

We've of topped that.....

**elroy** · 04/12/2009, 5:29 PM

Originally Posted by joe_denilson

We'd of been in a group with

South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay

We've of topped that.....

Agreed. South Africa as first seeds, what a draw!!! God I hate the french even more.

**Closed Account** · 04/12/2009, 5:30 PM

Worst of all will be watching France topping it without breaking sweat, getting an easy second round draw and effectively reaching the quarter final of a world cup, with the major turning point, being a handball. Anyway, I'm over it now.