QuoteHave to agree,like to see progression to group stagesOriginally Posted by Poor Student
Drawing Newcastle has great publicity and money making potential but for all the wrong reasons. You'd have a significant amount of people coming only for Newcastle and when you combine travelling and domestic support you'd have a sizeable amount behind them. It could also be quite embarrassing if they won by a heavy score and give the barstoolers another stick to beat the league with. I'd rather easiest possible draws and more progress.
Have to agree,like to see progression to group stages
No Comment.
Ok, bit of research here. The countries ahead of us in somewhat catchable range are Macedonia and Georgia.
Macedonia have one team left in Europe, their CL representatives who are Rabotnicki Skopje. They drew 1-1 away in Hungary for the first leg of their 2nd round CL qualifier and have the second leg to come at home.
Georgia have two teams left. Sion Bolnisi who are in the CL and lost the away leg of their tie to Levski Sofia 2-0 and have the home leg next week. Their other representative is Ameri Tibilisi who are in the UEFA draw tomorrow.
So, we hope for a tough draw for Ameri in the UEFA and that the other two clubs lose their 2nd legs. Even if we can't catch them this year Macedonia and Georgia will lose scores of 1.166 and 1.333 respectively next year whereas we'll be dumping a pathetic 0.166. We'll get ahead of them next year if things stay the same and we do similar next year.
Well, I think we have to walk before we can run. The next stage I see is making it to the 3rd round of CL qualifiers more often and our UEFA Cup representatives to get to the 1st round proper. Group stages are another step ahead of that.
Fair enough,but getting newcastle wont help
No Comment.
Thats the key, we should never, ever have such a dreadful score holding us back again. After the 0.333 the year after being dropped we should be flying
Don't make these assumptions though. Have a glance over the list and you'll see practically every country has an exceptionally bad year. It would actually be freakish to have 5 consistent years behind us. Here's hoping though.
We are doing well to maintain our current run. All 3 clubs put out sides that were expected to beat us.
The big step is to have our 3 clubs seeded in their first games. This should lead to at least awin and a draw each and allow us to keep the seedings and then move on.
The group stages of the Champions league are still a long way off. Even getting to the 3rd qualifying round probably means a draw v the likes of Milan, Valencia or Arsenal. We need to be getting there regularly and thne get a bit of luck in a draw.
True, but a few of the countries directly above us are also relying on one freakishly good year - look at Slovakia who are relying on Artmedia Bratislava's fairly freakish performance last year.
IMO last night was a huge step forward for the league and I would fancy any of the teams in the 2nd round apart from Newcastle - though to be honest, they wouldn't intimidate me too much given their track record
Mick D. for Ireland!
Ofg course if any of our clubs played Newcastle we could chant "stand up for the Irish team/club" "is your union jack at home" "were Irish and we know we are" amongst many others to remind our brethern of the clubs they should be supporting. Might not achieve anything but it would good fun!
I like the positive thinking Hecko. Any team are do-able. There are upsets all the time in football. Bigger ones than Cork beating Newcastle.
Any team that lets their guard down in the qualifiers will be in a mess.
Granted having to beat Red Star and Newcastle over two legs makes it a lot harder. The key is getting into the 3rd round more often by getting seeded in the 2nd round (25th ranking 10-11 co-eff points). Then instead of 2 hard 2-legged games you got a slightly easier and one hard game. Those days could be as little as 4 years away. Don't forget the Uefa 1st round proper awaits any beaten 3rd round team and double co-efficient points!
As Poor Student says, its a step by step process but we are getting there. And quickly too!
If Cork was to beat Red Star Belgrade, they got drawn against AC Milan in 3rd Round - what a tie that would be
Hope Derry and Drogheda get nice draws and they be in first round proper ie group stages of UEFA Cup
We up to 37th in co-efficient with at least another 5 games to play in European football
1.666 points already - with all 3 teams still in competition & at least 5 games (legs) to go - turning out to be a great European season.
Things looking rosey for the rankings for 2009 & beyond: http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/...crank2009.html (imagine - 21 countries ranked below us!)
I think Cork can really say goodbye to the Champions league for this season. I cant envisage how they will score two goals over there. A couple of draws from Derry and Drogs will be fantastic.
This season defintely has been a step up. The clubs look a lot stronger in Europe than ever before. If we can keep this up for another 3 seasons there will be a massive improvement in the standard of the league. We could be 31st by 2009 and northern ireland 48th. Almost 20 places in difference. I think the clubs up north will surely want to join the EL then.
If we could get an average of 2.0 each season we jump to 25th - 27th. Of course thats when you miss out on the first qualifying round and go straight into the second qualifying round AFAIK.
Playing big teams in the 3rd qualifying round may be a daunting challenge but if the clubs do well and dont loose by a hockey score then the irish public will defintely start paying attention to the league. Shelbourne did fantastically against Deportivo.
The big difference this year is have our best teams in europe & we cannot rely on that every season. Still though definitely more points to be earned this year. With more clubs consistently winning & getting more experience it can only improve & the irish public might view as more than flash in the pan.
Could Cork get a draw tonight and boost the co-efficient but i doubt it. i think they get beat 2-0 but love to be wrong
Mixed news last night for the coefficient. The country above us in Macedonia got an extra win last night as their champions Rabotniki won 4-1 and got through to the next round. They'll now pick up further points as they're guaranteed to go into the UEFA 1st round when they will probably lose to Lille in the CL 3rd qualifying round. The other country within touching distance is Georgia. Their representatives were dumped out with a loss last night. They now have just one side left in the UEFA Cup. If Derry and Drogs do the business then we can make some headway in catching up with these two.
The the upside only Liechenstien can catch us. estonia the only country below us with 2 teams left & most of the countries just above have only 1 team left.
Swedes continue their downward spiral with only 1 from 4 teams left as Djungardens dumped out last night.
Sweden's only representative is Åtvidaberg from the first division - Superettan. There are coincidently a feeder club to Djurgården. Highly unlikely that they will add to Sweden's current score for this year so there is a risk that Sweden's representatives will be playing in the Champions League first preliminary round next season. Pretty amazing considering the finances that are available to Swedish clubs.
I suppose we should get used to Swedish teams scouting top eL player so...
I think will be hard to make any further jump in ranking this season but every point counts as makes it easier for future years.
Looking at minimum 1.7 club points for any eL side in the CL/Uefa Cup next season with Shels at 2.7. I think 1.7 would be enough for seeding against teams only using national ranking points but not enough for anyone with club points like Shels.
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