In the 44 games we've played against the four group opponents, we won 15 of them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CjfvQgIo9H5/
If that FAI tweet above is the final group standings, I'd be happy enough. Would like us to be in with a shout of top 2 in the final round of games. A revengeful away win against France would be nice.. especially if VAR misses a handball in the build up.
Kenny has had a chance to blood new players. He deserves this campaign, I think. If we go backwards (4th) then he should go. The players will be REALLY well blooded at that stage!
This draw was all about who we would get from the 2nd pot and we drew the worst option.
Some crumbs, apart from Greece in mid June the scheduling looks good and France in the latest WC qual & euro qual had some some poor results.
Greece could be a bit of a Trojan horseand take points from the big 2.
In qualification for the 82 WC Eoin Hands Ireland team had Holland and France, with Belgium thrown in for good measure, so no. We only missed out on second place by goal difference too. Plus had a couple of very dodgy reffing decisions away to Belgium. We were so unlucky in that campaign, beat France and Holland at home and drew with Belgium, also drew with the Dutch away. That team was possibly even better than Charlton team that eventually made the breakthrough in 88.Originally Posted by elatedscum
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
France Away The first match
Exciting draw. We should have an ever-strengthening team.
Kenny?s tactics and decision making has me concerned, he appears to be out of his depth and hasn?t learned on the job as much as I had hoped. But I?m willing to give him the full Euro 2024 qualifying campaign to see how he does.
Looking forward to the campaign
He didn?t directly say it but Greece manager Gus Poyet is the latest manager to go down the ?Ireland play British style football? root.
Exactly the one I was thinking of alright
2002 World Cup with two Euro 2000 semifinalists was tough too
There’s an idiotic headline to an Indo article,
“Horror draw is Ireland's punishment for Nations League woes”
Who decides that Ireland should be punished and the terms of such punishment? Does that most evil power control how the draw turns out?
So in all reality we could be out of the running before we even play a game?!
Joking : D
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
I still think getting France at home first is not a bad start. France have a tendency to play to their oppositions level, they are the sort of team that could beat the Dutch 3-0 and then drop points against Ireland afew days later (in 2017 they beat Netherlands 4-0 in Paris and then 4 days later drew 0-0 with Luxembourg in Toulouse!). I wouldn?t be surprised if we upset them and got a point or dare I say it even a win as we did very well v Portugal & Belgium under Kenny.
Greece away would have been perfect for October/November or March time which is my only gripe with the fixture list.
Yeah I'm happy with France at home first. Crowd will be well up for it, and the way France play should suit us better by leaving some space to counter attack.
Don't know if it's better or not that the friendly will be before the France game. Think I would have preferred France match day where the strongest XI available can give it 100% and then swap out half the starting XI for the friendly game on match day two.
Could probably still do the same maybe with possibly throwing out most of your strongest defenders and giving some lads in attack who your not 100% about starting against France the chance to impress in the friendly.
Yeah would have much preferred Greece away not to be in mid June when the weather could be in the high 30s. Was gonna possibly go to that game and in mid June gonna have to plaster on the SPF with a paint roller haha.
Last edited by JR89; 10/10/2022 at 10:52 AM.
Amused by people insisting Gibraltar is six easy points. Forgetting our performances against them in the not too distant past, and Kenny's established propensity for terrible results against lower seeds. We were a shot put a foot wide away from being 3-2 down to Armenia at home just a few weeks ago before they self-destructed.
I really do think thoughts of getting points against France are wildly optimistic. They have had some iffy form recently, but they are better than Portugal, and certainly better than the Belgium B-team. I can imagine Kenny getting 10 points from Greece and Gibraltar, but I can also imagine him getting four or five. Gibraltar will be looking at Ireland like Luxembourg and Armenia did, as a scalp to be taken if they set-up well at the back and snatch a chance at the other end.
Third place and being reasonably competitive against the top seeds is as much as we can hope for within the group while we wait again for other groups to do us a favour. We weren't destined to be in this position, but this is what happens when you lose to sides like Luxembourg and Armenia. In a way Kenny is lucky: having spent a while listening to people claim we're building for a tilt at qualification for 2024, now it's a "free hit" for him. Next people will be talking about how it'll be easier to qualify for the World Cup in 2026.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
kenny will be gone if we dont qualify. i dont get this idea he will keep his job with some decent performances vs big guns. he doesnt have a leg to stand on if we cant qualify.
Nobody knows the thoughts of those who'll be making the decisions. The play off isn't guaranteed and might not get a play off. If for example we were to somehow get 13/14 points they very well could say results were good we'll be keeping you on for another campaign.
He could just as easily be gone in October even if the play off is more or less guaranteed because of results in other groups.
Holland, France, Greece and GIBRALTAR: talk about being caught between a Rock and a hard place
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
It is 6 easy points. The mistake you are making is comparing Armenia with Gibraltar as if they are similar challenges, one was in League B and the other is still in League D.
The point is France are of a similar ilk to Portugal as in they are a top national team. Yes on paper France are better but not so much better that the comparison isn?t valid.
Except the big difference is Luxembourg and Armenia can actually field professional XI?s and are NT?s that have r proven they can cause teams problems?there?s that and then there?s Gibraltar. Comparing the two is chalk and cheese. I do get what you are saying about banana skins but Gibraltar aren?t good enough to be a banana skin, there?s a certain level you need to be at to be of that standard which Gibraltar just aren?t same as San Marino,Lichtenstein, Malta, Andorra etc.
Well it is a free hit as I doubt there?s a single team in pot 3 with any manager that would go into this group with any expectations of finishing 2nd. Hope yes but no way expectation.
I actually think this is a great draw for Kenny from his personal point of view.
1. We’ve been better against good teams and worse against teams where we’re expected to own the ball and break down stubborn defences
2. There’s really only one team here where failing to beat would be a career-ending disaster
3. We don’t start with Gibraltar away!
4. There might not be a runaway winner
5. It’s a great test of progress, will draw big crowds to Dublin and will be a brilliant coming of age experience for the squad
6. The group offers a real chance to outperform expectations – which offers Kenny a chance to extend his stay
7. There’s still a good likelihood of a NL payoff – though not much room for things to go against us (Sweden & Romania might upset the apple cart)
I’m excited by it. Some great matches in prospect.
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