New thread as the last thread seems to be broken.
The graphic I saw had Wales in pot 2 already. It must have been wrong.
Yep this seems right. The only other realistic changes would be Denmark or Germany to drop to playoffs as they both play the team currently in 2nd in their group. But those other teams (Scotland and Slovakia) are also ahead of us in the rankings so it would change Pots 1 and 2 but not affect 4th place in Pot 2 which is what we should occupy
So as you say, Austria and Wales are the 2 teams who could push us to Pot 3
Took rights away from gay people. Believes different races shouldn’t mix. Dismantled the courts and the media and fair elections . Funnelled tax revenues into his own businesses. He is not a good guy.
Collins looks like he is afraid of the ball sometimes the way he hesitates. Was awful for their second goal yesterday.
If the tables had been turned and Ireland engaged in the same kind of negative, defensive play and conceded a last minute winner as a result, the critics would have blamed that negative, cynical mindset and ask why the team wasn't more proactive in securing the win. Questions that members of the Hungarian press are asking of their team this morning.
He's a little error prone alright for Ireland.
talking about good under 17 is pointless as they are just too young to judge them.
There’s no real good midfielders in the 21s
When we were 1up against Portugal we took anout 3 minutes to take a throw in. We absolutely wpuld have done the same. No idea why people are banging on about it.
Their players making crying gestures after scoring is another story. That kind of wakner behaviour is a delicious meme now.
Apologies yeah meant pot B.
Ideally we would rather not have to deal with either Germany or Denmark at any stage in the playoffs 😂
so I would respectfully say that the idea we are a midfielder away from a good team isn’t really accurate.
we need a right back, I don’t think scales or manning are “good” really at international level if viewing from non green tinted glasses . Brady still our best there but he’s not “good” either. He just has some quality.
Our wingers aren’t good either as seen by the level they play at and the fact that we pick smodics there and he ain’t no winger.
so really we are a long way off a “good” team as I understand what that means but Troy Parrott is on fire and the rest are providing tonnes of grit and we play to a plan so we are in the playoffs
Yep. The only Pot 1 change that'll cost us is Austria replacing Bosnia in the play offs. Otherwise its just higher teams swapping around with eachother.
Bosnia getting in automatically and being replaced by Austria knocks ourselves and Poland down a spot and thus into the lower pot.
True, but if it works - and mostly it seems to work - it's called professional and street smart. Great management etc.
They just came up against a bunch of starved, hungry bastids willing to die with their boots on.
Every team has weaknesses, even the top teams.
I just mean we'd be a decent tier 2 European team if we had a proper midfielder.
It's the most important position. It's a glaring hole in our team.
We have decent GKs, CBs, LBs, Strikers. Ogbene, Azaz and Schzmodics are decent also.
Cullen's a decent DM but his passing is limited.
I thought Collins had a good game against Portugal, but Ronaldo was probably the ideal forward to be marking.
At fault for Hungary's 2nd yesterday though.
ok we’ll agree to disagree. I don’t believe Ireland are that close to being a good team as just needing a midfielder. It ignores other large shortcomings and the fact that the heartbeat of the team is a 37 year old.
I don’t think the top teams are saying those kind of things. Maybe Croatia.
I think the crying gesture was AI.
interestingly the Yerevan debacle doesn’t really matter now, bad and shocking as it was the fact is even if we got the three points over there we’d be in the exact same position as we are now - in the play offs.
I don’t want to take anything away from our brilliant comeback yesterday but Hungary aren’t great and the fact is they only picked up 2 points from 12 from the top two in the group.
Fcuk was it 🤣 Jesus cant trust anything nowadays!
So name 1, any National League side that would draw away to AEK Athens with half your starters rested? Name 1 national league coach that has managed in European group stages.
I get it, you hate SK but stop talking bollocks.
Oh and Mick was partnered up with a young coach and how did that go again. People seem to forget how bad the football was under Mick. If Mick had stayed on half the current squad would not be hitting 30 caps.
I like Kenny but based on attendances and salaries, the LOI is National League level or lower L2 at best. There's no denying that.
If the players were L1 level, they'd be playing there as the salaries are way higher. L2 salaries are higher also.
Why doesn't Kenny manage in the English League if he's so brilliant?
Utter nonsense. Kenny didn't cap anyone unexpected aside from youngsters like Mark Sykes, CJ Haimlton and Will Keane. The rest were all inevitable.
The best moment of this was when that Armenian player headbutted Azaz. Yes, that was technically a head butt, but more in the sense of 'butting heads', like an aggressive physical gesture as opposed to a strike. You even saw a split second between contact and Azaz deciding to make the most of it. Yes, that is being 'street smart', but do I like that it is the done thing in professional football? Not really.
So where do you put the SPL? Many players on the LOI have played L1 and came home. The few extra bob wasnt worth it. You massively over inflate the quality of L1. Wages has little to do with the quality at those levels.
Where would Shamrock Rovers finish in L2 then? A team that drew with AEK Athens with half the team rested a week after AEK beat Aberdeen 6-0?
SK has family, why move to the UK when the average manager stint is less than a year? Would you move your whole life for a job you could be sacked from in 9 months?
We replaced you with Kevin O'Toole and things are much better now.
I saw people doubt him before, absolute madness. As a Liverpool fan the greatest compliment I give him is, when he filled in for Alisson we never really missed him. Never missed arguably the best goalkeeper in the world! Sky's the limit for that lad, he'll go from strength to strength playing week in week out now.
I’d hope it’s one and done season at Brentford before a move to a bigger club
The bottom line is SK did not have the CV to manage at International Level and the FAI where wrong to put him that position. SK is a nice guy and all that but doesn't win you matches. History has shown us that, similar to Brian Kerr who also failed to qualify for a major tournament that managers from the League of Ireland do not have the experience to manage at International Level. In contrast Trappatoni & Martin O'Neill who had the qualifications got us to the Euros with fairly average squads. The problem now though is that we will most likely pay the price for our poor ranking and have an away fixture in the playoff.
He's only 26, plenty of time to move on but I'd be surprised if there isn't interest in him next summer. Brentford saw the absolute bargain he was.
https://youtu.be/j_jb16b_e94?si=9mt95Ij7deATiLDt
