Are we in the weakest qualifying group?

[carloz]

I disagree with this-I would say of the fifth seeds maybe Finland are a better team than us. The others are on a par or below us. Albania are a reasonable team but are fairly limited individually.

As for Cyprus I strongly disagree. Their away form's sh1t but they can get results against genuine top sides at home. They're the only team to have taken any points off Germany in this group ffs. Not a team you'd want to go away to. I know you'd hardly relish a trip to any of the others, but you can get results. We've played Belarus four times in the last decade or so and got 9 points if my memory serves me right. We got absolutely tonked last time we went to Cyprus. It was 1-0 but could have been a lot more if not for a good performance from Price in the goal. We were never in it. Obviously we'll hope to be closer when we have to play them competitively but I'd never take them for granted.

Cyprus could feasibly finish third in this group, although it's rather unlikely.

Northern Ireland have had a good campaign and are probably a tougher task. That's it though, out of the sixth seeds.

well im talking about my opinion at the start of the group, obviously Cyprus have come on in this group. But out of these choices Georgia, Macedonia, Belarus, Armenia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus & Moldova, Cyprus would have been my second choice for our group after Moldova. Yes they are difficult to beat in Nicosia but they are not as technical as Belarus and in a qualifier Minsk would be alot more hostile than Cyprus, and Macedonia and Northern Ireland would be much tougher places to go to get a result. Hell we have had more trouble than anyone in Cyprus but if i was given those choices for the World Cup qulaifiers, Moldova and maybe Armenia and Georgia would be the only ones id consider as possibly an easier draw

[OwlsFan]

I see the "great" Eddie O'Sullivan almost met his San Marino last night. Can happen to a bishop as they say. WOnder are the rugby fans calling for the sacking of him and the IRFU?

Our group probably has two of the strongest top seeds and as 4th and 5th seeds Slovakia and Wales are tough enough. We were probably one of the weaker 3rd seeds to be honest

[green army]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2008_qualifying

No man.

I was right.

If we had of beat the swiss in the last game of the last qualifying campaign, we would have been 3rd seeds at the expense of slovakia.

[tetsujin1979]

Anyway, on the bright side, Ireland's game against Georgia in the rugby tonight ought to allow soccer to reclaim about 50,000 10 year olds from rugby!

Famous last words there Stutts

[carloz]

Our group probably has two of the strongest top seeds and as 4th and 5th seeds Slovakia and Wales are tough enough. We were probably one of the weaker 3rd seeds to be honest

errr, no it hasn't. Our group has the second weakest top seed in the Czech Republic. Slovakia are also the poorest 3rd seeds by quite a distance(we were actually 4th seeds for this group).

[OwlsFan]

My mistake about Ireland's seeding but Czech/Germany combination is stronger than any of the top seeds in the groups listed at the start of this thread. Other than against Germany, I wonder when the last time was the Czechs lost at home in a competitive game. We were always going to have to perform miracles to finish ahead of either of them and a loss in Cyrpus spellt the end of any such miracle.

[Irish_Praha]

If we had of beat the swiss in the last game of the last qualifying campaign, we would have been 3rd seeds at the expense of slovakia.

If that happened we would also have qualified for the playoffs against Turkey (I think) and if we qualified and we got to the the second round or 1/4 final of the WC we could have been second seeds, or am I totally wrong?
If Kerr wasn't so negative we wouldn't have to be listening to this "building for the future" sh!te. The building would already have been well under way before this campaign started, but that's for another thread.

[Cymro]

well im talking about my opinion at the start of the group, obviously Cyprus have come on in this group. But out of these choices Georgia, Macedonia, Belarus, Armenia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus & Moldova, Cyprus would have been my second choice for our group after Moldova. Yes they are difficult to beat in Nicosia but they are not as technical as Belarus and in a qualifier Minsk would be alot more hostile than Cyprus, and Macedonia and Northern Ireland would be much tougher places to go to get a result. Hell we have had more trouble than anyone in Cyprus but if i was given those choices for the World Cup qulaifiers, Moldova and maybe Armenia and Georgia would be the only ones id consider as possibly an easier draw

So what you're saying is not actually that we are in the weakest qualifying group, ie the quote of yours I put in bold at the start of this thread, but basically that you underestimated a lot of teams in it at the time of the draw.

We agree then, more or less.

Minsk is a difficult place to go to but we've never been outclassed by Belarus in the same way Cyprus beat us last time out.

[carloz]

So what you're saying is not actually that we are in the weakest qualifying group, ie the quote of yours I put in bold at the start of this thread, but basically that you underestimated a lot of teams in it at the time of the draw.

We agree then, more or less.

Not at all. i believed we were blessed with an easy draw when the draw was made. I still feel we were probably in the best group but i underestimeated Germany( which i shouldnt have really) and to a lesser extent Cyprus. I think the rest of the teams have proven themselves to be the standard that i taught they were when the group was made. The Czechs were every bit as poor as i taught they would be, despite the fact they have qualified as good as. Apart from one match against Slovakia they have been quite poor. Slovakia were worse than i taught they would be. I have already mentioned my opinion on Germany and Cyprus. I felt other than the match against us and Slovakia at home the welsh have looked decent, partcivlarly against the Czechs. The point im trying ot make is the reason we(Ireland) are practically out of the group is due to our own failings, and we missed a golden opportunity. I still think looking through the groups, i wouldnt have swapped with any other 4th seeds and that is my main argument. You are viewing it from a Welsh perspective and obviously have different opinons than me.

[carloz]

My mistake about Ireland's seeding but Czech/Germany combination is stronger than any of the top seeds in the groups listed at the start of this thread. Other than against Germany, I wonder when the last time was the Czechs lost at home in a competitive game. We were always going to have to perform miracles to finish ahead of either of them and a loss in Cyrpus spellt the end of any such miracle.

why were we going to have to perfrom miracles against the Czechs??? This isnt the Czechs of the era 2000-2004 Nedved led team. They are a poor shadow of that team and Wales performances aginst them, and also Germany and cyprus's performances in Prague have proved that case.

[Stuttgart88]

Well, Jonathon Douglas beating Petr Cech from 12 yards (he saved it with his foot going the wrong way) and Robbie Keane scoring from 10 yards would have helped. So too would have been any result in Cyprus. Neither would have been a miracle.

In fairness, Czech game at home is a possible example of Stan getting it right and learning from a bad mistake. I'd blame player errors for failing to pick up a win at home.

[Cymro]

Not at all. i believed we were blessed with an easy draw when the draw was made. I still feel we were probably in the best group but i underestimeated Germany( which i shouldnt have really) and to a lesser extent Cyprus. I think the rest of the teams have proven themselves to be the standard that i taught they were when the group was made. The Czechs were every bit as poor as i taught they would be, despite the fact they have qualified as good as. Apart from one match against Slovakia they have been quite poor. Slovakia were worse than i taught they would be. I have already mentioned my opinion on Germany and Cyprus. I felt other than the match against us and Slovakia at home the welsh have looked decent, partcivlarly against the Czechs. The point im trying ot make is the reason we(Ireland) are practically out of the group is due to our own failings, and we missed a golden opportunity. I still think looking through the groups, i wouldnt have swapped with any other 4th seeds and that is my main argument. You are viewing it from a Welsh perspective and obviously have different opinons than me.

Well you haven't really been able to adequately back up your previous statement that we are 'in the weakest qualifying group by far'. That's what I was disagreeing with, I didn't say I thought Ireland would not qualify or that it was not a good chance for you to qualify. However when you look at the other groups there are some groups I'd rather be in than this one that's for sure.

[carloz]

Well you haven't really been able to adequately back up your previous statement that we are 'in the weakest qualifying group by far'. That's what I was disagreeing with, I didn't say I thought Ireland would not qualify or that it was not a good chance for you to qualify. However when you look at the other groups there are some groups I'd rather be in than this one that's for sure.

Well thats your opinion. I agreed on you with one group. I would take Greece's group over ours probably just, i think they are in Group C but i may be mistaken. I think i have justified my opinion. I said i believed we got the second weakest 1st seeds in the Czechs. I believe we got the weakest 3rd seed in the Slovaks. I believe that there were trickier teams than the Welsh in the 5th and i believe that San Marino are the weakest in Europe...though we didnt prove that. Looking at it that way i believe it is a weakish group but maybe i have a problem of thinking Ireland are better than we actually are. there are many groups where we could have used the excuse that there were at least two superior teams to ireland. i firmly dont believe this was the case in this group. the standings prove me wrong but thats my belief