I agree with Fixer. Also, it's just not true to say we need a miracle to get into the playoffs. If Sweden win in Vienna then I will believe it is highly unlikely alright, especially as it's goal difference that counts and not head-to-heads...does the criteria ever work out to our advantage?! Might be just me but it never seems to. Anyway, assuming Austria avoid defeat at home to Sweden, the table will either look like this (after both Sweden and ourselves beat the Faroes)...
If Austria beat Sweden PLD W D L PTS AUSTRIA 6 3 2 1 11 SWEDEN 6 3 2 1 11 IRELAND 6 3 2 1 11
or this...
If Austria and Sweden draw PLD W D L PTS SWEDEN 6 3 3 0 12 IRELAND 6 3 2 1 11 AUSTRIA 6 2 3 1 9
This will be the state of play going in to Ireland v Sweden and Germany v Austria. Does anybody really believe it would be a "miracle" to beat the Swedes at home?
Last edited by DeLorean; 27/03/2013 at 12:17 PM.
See my posts passim on this...Originally Posted by Duggie
No outstanding candidates, but come next month Coyle, McDermott, Martin O'Neill and O'Driscoll could all be available. Or could be obtained.
And that's just the Irish candidates....
assuming wins over Kazakh and Faoroes and a defeat to Germany all we'd need is a win and a draw from Sweden and Austria to get a playoff spot. It's as good a position as we could expect to be in at this stage of the campaign. The playoff battle is perfectly poised, in terms of power points we're 1 behind Sweden and 1 ahead of Austria. We're doing fine.
With Trap in charge. Yes, definitely.
Only in soccer would 2 englishmen, a scot and a Northern Irishman represent the "Irish" candidates. A sad state of affairs.
Rangnick has cfs or some other serious illness, isnt that why he left Schalke?
Schaff's at Bremen so I dont know if he would leave for us, although he might get the sack at the end of the season as Bremen's form is imploding - they should still be safe from relegation though.
Same story with Favre, dont see him leaving Gladbach, and unlike Schaff I cant see him getting sacked as Gladbach are midtable.
Adriaanse would be ironic given he replaced Trap at Saltzburg (and did a similar job to Trap there), but I think his training methods could be a problem for the team, and he's a bit of an egomaniac (not that much of a suprise in the context of Dutch footballers/managers) and tend to walk out on clubs early (Porto, Al Saad, Qatar).
Daum just left Bruges because of a prolonged / ongoing family illness, so I'm not sure he would consider a role with us.
Tuchel could be a good one, but again would he leave Mainz to join us, also bear in mind that Mainz has been his only job (apart from Augsburger Reserves) and with only 140 matches for them as manager (all domestic German bar one Europa preliminary which the lost to Gaz Medan or Romania) he might be a bit of a risk.
Again with Slomka you have the problem of would he realistically leave Hanover who he has been guiding up the league and into Europe, for us?
If Sweden drop points to the Kazakhs (as Austria already have) or we get an away draw to Germany (as we did away to Russia) then drawing against both Sweden and Austria could see us through. We don't even need exceptional circumstances or a win against a serious team to qualify. It would be relying on other circumstances but that's how its always been, we haven't beaten a team of any worth in a competitive game since Holland in 2001. Had we won last night Trap would have overseen the biggest result in Irish football in 12 years.
You really are quite ignorant, aren't you?
You are talking rubbish. Poor as they were and us when we got there, winning in Estonia to reach the Euros was a bigger game than last night...
Sweden may also drop points in Astana, its right after playing us in Dublin and with a long (and probably non-direct) flight in a reasonably tricky venue they might end up draw. They only eeked past them 2-0 in Malmoe (second goal was in 94th min) and the Kazakhs held the Austrians to 0-0 in Astana (as they did a year earlier in Euro 2012 qualification).
Accurate. None of them were born in the country you're touting them to manage. None of them work or have worked in the country either. Their connection is distant at best. If we're going to go foreign we can do better, if we're going local we should get somebody who understands the landscape.
In significance, not in the caliber of opposition. Estonia were a poor team who we were very fortunate to draw. Austria are more comparable to the level of Bulgaria or Montenegro who we failed to beat 4 times in a successful playoff campaign.
It won't and we do.
If it pans out like you think above, we will be palced 9th in the play-off table.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Who are the realistic candidates?
Coyle
McDermott
O'Driscoll
Noel King
Keane
That's what we're looking at I reckon. Nothing fancy this time around.
If that's what we're picking from I would be grand with that to be honest.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
Brian McDermott was born an Irish citizen in England, how is that a distant connection? Seeing as he has experience managing players at the bottom of the Premier League, where most of our players ply their trade, he "understands the landscape" very well.
I am Irish-born Irish, but have lived outside of Ireland since 1986, and as such I can relate to those Irish who are born outside of Ireland. I find your comments that these people are somehow less Irish to be offensive.
No
No
Unsure
Leave him where he's useful
Definitely not.
Foreign doesn't mean fancy. Fancy means expensive. We don't need expensive. We need intelligence, wit and reason.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
I love how the only solace for the optimists and Trapologists here is relying on other results to go our way. The truth of the matter is that we are relying on Sweden and Austria to drop points and for us to get close to maximum points. Desparation and, for all intents and purposes, we require a mini-miracle.
Trap out.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Would be a ridiculous decision to get rid of him now. The only way a manager chosen for an international campaign shouldn't finish it is if it becomes an unmitigated disaster (Scotland for example). Ours isn't a disaster, as DeLorean highlighted a few posts above this, we still have a good chance of making the play-offs and we should see this out with Trap in charge.
I say that as someone who felt he should have gone after the Euros and as someone who feels he should leave after the World Cup campaign (even if it ends in Brazil) too.
Probably could add Sam Allardyce to that list, West Ham seem to be paving the way for him leaving when his contract is up this summer
It certainly doesn't seem like it would be a miracle, but the last time Ireland beat a team seeded higher than them in a qualifying group was September 1st, 2001. Our success in reaching playoffs for World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 was based on routinely beating teams like Austria at home in qualifying (and taking at least a point off them away). If we're left in a situation where we need more than a point vs Sweden or Germany then I think we're in trouble.
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks