Czech Rep
Hungary
Scotland
Estonia
Sweden
Andora
Definitely agree there! Kazakhstan would be interesting too. Of the big countries, Italy would be my choice.Originally Posted by Ash
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
Czech Rep
Hungary
Scotland
Estonia
Sweden
Andora
'How can I hate women, my Mums one!!!' Chris Finch
Hell take it as it comes , but on the other hand England would be one hell of a game for one reason or another .
I would hate to get England........with my wife English, and me having "persuaded" my two kids(who were born in England ) that Green is better than White.....whatever the result my household would be a disaster zone!
Tact is for people who are not witty enough to be sarcastic
You'd be outvoted cos they would play in greywould probably side with mammy (Mrs H)
AidoM
Starting on the long pilgrimage to South Africa
Greece
Czech Rep
Ireland
Belgium
Hungary
Malta / Luxembourg.
An eminently winnable group, were we to have a half decent manager, a nice run of injury-free squads, and some hypnotherapy to stop our lads thinking a one goal lead is money in the bank, and to stop the defence feeling compelled to do the mad person dance instead of defending in the last 5 minutes and throwing away 1 goal leads.
Luxembourg & Belgium in the Summer & Greece and Malta in the Autumn would be a nice couple of double headers too...
On the way into the stadium, an elderly San Marino Steward waved us in and said "Tonight, may the best team win"
And they nearly did.
England at the new Wembley in September, with the return in Croker the following year, if that doesn't excite,then you are not a football fan or clinically dead.
Just for the trips I'd choose:
1. Netherlands/England
2. Norway
3. That's us
4. Not much here, probably Belgium
5. Iceland
6. Kazakhsatan
The best possivle group in terms of qualifying:
1. Czech Republic
2. Serbia
3. Us
4. Moldova
5. Liechtenstein
6. San Marino
Once the latter meant a trip to South Africa in 2010 I could live with them trips. But I would not go to Russia if we drew them. They are no go's after 2002 on a footy trip.
San Marino are going to be a handful as the group goes on." - Steve Staunton reacts to performance against San Marino.
well seeing as it's based on fifa rankings, then i suppose this is as close as you'll get prior to the next rankings coming out this thursday (they actually changed the date of ranking calculation to be later on this week so the final euro qualification results and other internationals could be taken into consideration):
Pot 1
Italy
France
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
Portugal
Czech Rep
Croatia
England (right at the bottom. if they **** up against croatia, they could go second pot)
Pot 2
Romania
Scotland
Greece
Russia
Poland
Norway
Ukraine
Sweden
Serbia
Pot 3
Turkey
Denmark
Ireland
Bulgaria
Northern Ireland
Israel
Switzerland
Finland
Hungary
Pot 4
Bosnia
Slovakia
Belgium
Cyprus
Wales
Moldova
Albania
Georgia
Macedonia
Pot 5
Slovenia
Iceland
Armenia
Latvia
Austria
Lithuania
Belarus
Azerbaijan
Liechtenstein
Pot 6
Kazakhstan
Estonia
Malta
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Andorra
Faroe Islands
San Marino
Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan ... probably worst we can expect in terms of travel, though double headers would make things easier. (croatia serbia and albania azerbaijan)
easiest in terms of travel would probably be something like England, Scotland, Wales, Austria, Luxembourg/San Marino.
Anywho, they'll have new rankings out soon, and we'll see seedings then
Great post, are we safe in 3?......not having norn iron israel or switzerland is a bonus.well seeing as it's based on fifa rankings, then i suppose this is as close as you'll get prior to the next rankings coming out this thursday (they actually changed the date of ranking calculation to be later on this week so the final euro qualification results and other internationals could be taken into consideration):
Pot 1
Italy
France
Germany
Spain
Netherlands
Portugal
Czech Rep
Croatia
England (right at the bottom. if they **** up against croatia, they could go second pot)
Pot 2
Romania
Scotland
Greece
Russia
Poland
Norway
Ukraine
Sweden
Serbia
Pot 3
Turkey
Denmark
Ireland
Bulgaria
Northern Ireland
Israel
Switzerland
Finland
Hungary
Pot 4
Bosnia
Slovakia
Belgium
Cyprus
Wales
Moldova
Albania
Georgia
Macedonia
Pot 5
Slovenia
Iceland
Armenia
Latvia
Austria
Lithuania
Belarus
Azerbaijan
Liechtenstein
Pot 6
Kazakhstan
Estonia
Malta
Luxembourg
Montenegro
Andorra
Faroe Islands
San Marino
Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan ... probably worst we can expect in terms of travel, though double headers would make things easier. (croatia serbia and albania azerbaijan)
easiest in terms of travel would probably be something like England, Scotland, Wales, Austria, Luxembourg/San Marino.
Anywho, they'll have new rankings out soon, and we'll see seedings then
The group i would pick would be
Spain
Norway
Rep of Ireland
Belgium
Liechtenstien
Andorra
For me this would be the ideal group for us, all teams are beatable home and away(apart from Spain maybe), and there is also some good away trips to Spain twice (Andorra will play in Barcelona), Norway and Belgium
based on the results of the teams beneath us since last results:
wales 2-2 ireland - will probably harm us slightly
bulgaria 1-0 romania - might overtake us, especially if they beat slovenia
northern ireland 2-1 denmark - might overtake us, especially if they get a result in spain
israel 2-1 russia - might overtake us, especially if they beat macedonia
swiss - haven't played, and don't, so we should be safe enough
finland 2-1 azerbaijan - shouldn't be enough, unless they beat portugal
hungary 0-3 moldova - ****ed. probably going to be fourth seeds themselves
bosnia - haven't played yet
slovakia - 1-3 czech rep - even if they beat san marino, probably won't be enough
belgium - 0-2 poland - not a threat
cyprus 0-4 germany - even if they beat czechs, not likely to overtake us.
there is a big gap in rankings points between finland and hungary, so i'd say we are 99.99% certain to be third seeds. a win in wales could even have propelled us into second, with other results going our way, like denmark, sweden and norway losing. though i think that was highly doubtful.
Kazakhstan would be a great trip. Just started reading a book about the place - In Search of Kazakhstan by Christopher Robbins; highly recommended apparently. Birthplace of the apple, 17000ft mountains on your doorstep, steppes, horse riding, falconry - different world entirely, and a great excuse to visit.
Netherlands
Norway
Republic of Ireland
Belgium (double header week with Holland?)
Latvia
Kazakhstan
travel to kazakhstan? cheap? horseback from the airport into town?
p.s. the country is mega oil wealthy and the president is a lunatic. i'd imagine you need about ten visas, including one for russia as you probably have to fly through.
Direct flight from London, with a stop in Yeketarinburg. Get in about 4am.
Turkmenistan's the one (or was the one) with the nutty PM. Though maybe Kazakhstan has one too; hadn't heard anything about one though.
Turkmenistan's president for life died last year. as far as i know, they haven't appointed a replacement, but worship his corpse as a deity or somesuch.
the kazakh guy is having a new capital built in the desert, including a gigantic glass pyramid, designed by norman foster, with a 'church of the world' or somesuch on the top floor. gigantic folly. he's a bit weird too, by all accounts, but because he has oil and is willing to sell at a reasonable price and isn't too pro moscow, nobody bothers him much.
what i really love though is the "truth about kazakhstan" section on the kazak embassy website. (www.kazakhstanembassy.co.uk)
For the opposition:
Croatia
Norway
Ireland
Slovakia
Liechtenstein
Andorra
For the trips:
Italy
Greece/Sweden
Ireland
Bosnia
Slovenia
Kazakhstan
This is the cooooooooooooolest footy forum I've ever seen!
The first is winable the second is qualify-able (?)
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Having been there for the game in 2002, never again. Russia and Turkey are the two places I would completely rule out for a football trip.
paulie, I've heard a few people giving out about Russia, just wondering could you tell me what all was wrong with the last trip there?
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