No Agreement reach at Irelands Euro2012 fixtures meeting

[Junior]

Thank you Armenia for saving us from ourselves, looks to me like the FAI were determined to get in as many home games as quickly as possible to be sure of filling Lansdowne Road while interest is high in the new stadium without any regard for how it might affect our chances of actually qualifying! No great surprise I suppose but glad it didn't work out.

Was also interesting to see Delaney say "The draw with Uefa is an open draw, they do take climate into account but that won’t affect us in this case."

Spot on. What a $hitey set of fixtures that would have been, cant believe Trapatoni was on board with 3 home fixtures to start with.Smells of $$$$$$$$ alright.....

[geysir]

Some cheek by Delanet complaining about the "smaller" teams. They've every bit as much rights as we do to get the fixtures they want.

Where is "smaller" quote from?

Like others I was more disturbed by the fixtures Delaney had agreed to.
But on the actual failure to reach consensus, his explanation was descriptive rather than condescending.
“What is strange is that the top three seeds, ourselves, Russia and Slovakia, had all agreed when to play each other and, normally, when that happens things fall into place. But there was one country, I don’t want to say who, who was vetoing everything. It’s easy to say no all the time but sometimes you have to say yes. It was frustrating. I think you need the experience of being at these meetings."

[zenokelly]

glad we didn't get that fixture list. We don't have a good record in double headers, and we could've been out of contention by the end of the year if we failed to beat either Slovakia or Russia at home.

The proposed November fixture is pure madness, suppose it could have gone either way, but preparation of 48 hours isn't long enough for a decisive fixture like that.

Nothing less than disturbing that Delaney agreed to this.

[Dodge]

Where is "smaller" quote from?

He used the term smaller countries on an RTE radio report yesterday.

This report mentions lower seeds, and isn't nearly as condenscending as the radio report was ; http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/eu...y-2100926.html

[mypost]

Nothing less than disturbing that Delaney agreed to this.

He must have turned up with a model of his shiny new stadium and waxed lyrical about it, until he was reminded he had to play away games as well. 3 home games to begin with, would have put us at an enormous disadvantage.

Journos seem upset, because nothing happened. One is warning of having to play a home game followed by a trek to Yerevan days later. They didn't seem that bothered when Kerr insisted that trips to France-Switzerland, and Cyprus-Israel were all at separate times.

Any chance someone could send a Paddy's Day card to the Armenian FA, for looking out for our own interests as well as theirs?

[elroy]

The three home games to start with is maddness alright. If Delaney wanted his cash why not start with two home games and play a November friendly at home, he gets his cash and we arent jeopardising our campaign. You'd really wonder about these guys, I know they have to balance the books but if anything imo friendlies in LR are more likely to sell out in the first few months (novelty factor etc) than thereafter, therefore it would make sense to play a couple of friendlies in there shortly after opening and save the attractive guaranteed sell out of the qualifiers till later next year.

[SuperDave]

I actually thought some of the fixtures agreed to were okay. Particularly playing Russia and Armenia away as a doubleheader (lessens jetlag to Armenia plus suits fans) and Slovakia and Macedonia as a doubleheader too (useful again for fans and players). Lest we forget, it is also in the team's interest to have as many fans as possible at each away game.

[eaststand85]

I don't have any objections to away double headers like that either, the issue I had was that the FAI were trying to play too many of our home games in one bunch at the start of the campaign which could go either way and doesn't leave much, if any room for error should things go wrong.

[mypost]

I actually thought some of the fixtures agreed to were okay. Particularly playing Russia and Armenia away as a doubleheader (lessens jetlag to Armenia plus suits fans).

I don't think any of the travelling to Russia and Armenia will suit fans. The experience should be good but the logistics of getting in and out will be chaotic to say the least.

Hopefully we'll know for sure when this time next week.

[gspain]

I don't think any of the travelling to Russia and Armenia will suit fans. The experience should be good but the logistics of getting in and out will be chaotic to say the least.

Hopefully we'll know for sure when this time next week.

Obviously neither are easy however doing both in one trip is better than 2 separate trips. It is not going to happen now but it would have meant a couple of flights to get to
Moscow and then a return trip to Yerevan from Moscow.

I don't think the Macedonia/Slovakia doubleheader was particularly helpful for fans but would have allowed train travel in between. I did separate trips to Prague and Bratislava in
2007 and would most likely have done the same had that doubleheader worked out this time.

[SUB of the day]

I'm no apologist for the FAI, but a constant theme running through the threads, is one of damning them whatever they do.Getting points on the board early in the group, would in my opinion provide a platform to ultimately top the section.Obviously failing at home would hamstring our campaign, but all fixtures must be played at some stage.Three home wins would also inject incredible momentum for team and fans alike.

[eaststand85]

The issue imo is that playing too many important home games together at the start of the campaign risks putting all our eggs in one basket. Great if we get three home wins but not so great if we're struggling with injuries/form etc. and don't. In that scenario we then make it almost impossible to recover.

[mypost]

Meanwhile, maybe it's not quite the open draw UEFA say it is:

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/new...d=1465821.html

Will the fixtures be decided according to this?:

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

[EastTerracer]

Meanwhile, maybe it's not quite the open draw UEFA say it is:

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/new...d=1465821.html

Will the fixtures be decided according to this?:

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

This could lead to a horrible amount of travelling for the supporters. Only the team selected in Position A or in Position C will get a home double header and an away double header. All 4 other teams will alternate home and away games. Even in the two positions I mentioned we could in theory get an Andorra / Moscow double header which would be a nightmare.

I know the original FAI suggestion wasn't ideal but, from a supporter's perspective, this could turn out to be a lot worse.

[mypost]

I had thought that A-F were awarded based on the seedings in the group. If it is, then we're Team C, and the schedule is a home-away format. No double headers, and after 5 games, they're directly reversed. Wouldn't be great for travelling, but at least we wouldn't be putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage like last week.

[EastTerracer]

I had thought that A-F were awarded based on the seedings in the group. If it is, then we're Team C, and the schedule is a home-away format. No double headers, and after 5 games, they're directly reversed. Wouldn't be great for travelling, but at least we wouldn't be putting ourselves at a competitive disadvantage like last week.

Reading the details on the UEFA website it looks like none of the places (A-F) are pre-determined and there will be an open draw next week in Tel Aviv to decide the order.

[eaststand85]

Just been looking at the standard fixture list on which tomorrow's draw is based (http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/...0_DOWNLOAD.pdf) and in all cases where there's two matches to be played in the same week the weekend ones are scheduled for Fridays which would mean any of our weekend matches this year would be on a Friday (presumably at night).

Does anyone know if the associations can switch a game to the Saturday after the draw if they both agree? They may not want too, particularly if there's travelling to be done but be interested to know if it's a possibility.

[mypost]

Reading the details on the UEFA website it looks like none of the places (A-F) are pre-determined and there will be an open draw next week in Tel Aviv to decide the order.

I presume we'll be the first group to be drawn, as it's the first in alphabetical order that hasn't been decided. If so, we should know by about 1pm. Although Ryanair and Aer Fungus will probably know before then for "seat protection".

This place will be in overdrive tomorrow.

[bwagner]

When is the draw?

[mypost]

McDonnell is still grumpy

No team drawn out today in our group will start and finish at home or away. If you start at home, you finish away, and vice versa. All games will be reversed, i.e. who you play first, you will also play last, second = second last etc. In that case, I'm looking for Team B, D, or F, as it means we'll be home last.

Though if we, and Russia or Armenia are at home last and the group is not settled, with time difference taken into account, there could be an early ko on the last Tuesday to ensure everyone plays at the same time. e.g. 4-5pm ko for us.