The World Cup Draw.

[Dub13]

Pot 1:Italy,Spain,Germany,Czech Republic, France,Portugal, Netherlands, Croatia, Greece

Pot 2: England, Romania, Scotland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Russia, Poland, Sweden, Israel

Pot 3: Norway, Ukraine, Serbia, Denmark, Northern Ireland,Republic of Ireland, Finland, Switzerland, Belgium

Pot 4: Slovakia,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova, Wales, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Lithuania, Cyprus

Pot 5: Georgia, Albania, Slovenia, Latvia, Iceland, Armenia, Austria, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan

Pot 6: Liechtenstein, Estonia, Malta, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Andorra, Faroe Islands, San Marino

Winners Qualify, Best Eight runners up go into playoffs.
Ireland best possible Group for the 2010 World cup qualifiers:

The draw to take place on November 23, 2007 in Durban

[Dub13]

The best we could hope for would be...

Greece
Romania
Rep of Irelnad
Belarus
Armenia
San Marino

[Alex Raisbeck]

I would love it if we get England, LOVE IT!

[sean]

The best we could hope for would be...

Greece
Romania
Rep of Irelnad
Belarus
Armenia
San Marino

Would be an even better if we got into the group of five teams thus avoiding having to play San Marino altogether! Was reading there that the worst 2nd placed team doesn't even get a play off spot and misses out altogether - looking at the amount of draws we've accumulated over the last 3 campaigns I'd be concerned about our points total should we come 2nd in the next campaign.

[GaryMc]

I would love it if we get England, LOVE IT!

If we get England we are ****** as they are in the second seeds. This would be ultimate nightmare


Spain
England
Cyprus
Austria
Estonia....

We would be lucky to win one of those away from home

Ideal Scenario -
Greece
Scotland
Moldova
Azerbaijan
Andorra

Could see us topping that

[redeagle]

has this happened yet?

[Dub13]

has this happened yet?


No Sunday.

[paddypower111]

when is the draw

[mypost]

Ideal Scenario -
Greece
Scotland
Moldova
Azerbaijan
Andorra

Could see us topping that

I see everyone wants the current Euro champs as 1st seeds again. :rolleyes: Just like last time, so what happened?? They won their group by October. :eek:

What do I want??

Germany
Bulgaria
Bosnia
Slovenia
Malta

Bugger England, what we must avoid is long haul trips to the arsehole of Russia again, especially Kazachstan. And a 5-team group, where there's less games, and less chance of recovering from our draws and defeats.

[Dub13]

Is this on the Box...?if so what time and station...?

[sean]

Is this on the Box...?if so what time and station...?

Its going be on SSN from 3, their starting with the Asian draw so I imagine it'll be closer to 4 by the time they get to the European part of it.

[Dub13]

Its going be on SSN from 3, their starting with the Asian draw so I imagine it'll be closer to 4 by the time they get to the European part of it.


Thanks for that.

[Alex Raisbeck]

I want England

[Aido82]

I want England

you mad they will destroy our new lansdown road stadium :eek:

only jokin by the way.

I definetly dont want them, who ever is in there group basically have two pot 1 teams

[sean]

This draw is now live on rte.ie

http://www.rte.ie/live/index.html

[Aido82]

Group 8 for us

italy
bulgaria
Ireland
cyprus ,
georgia ,
montenegro
------------------------------------------------------------

Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino

Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia

Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro

Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland

[sean]

It could have been much worse alright - 2nd should be a very attainable target for us.

[paddyb]

not a bad group for us

[Aido82]

italy and bulgaria are beatable, damn cyprus again

[sean]

damn cyprus again

At least we get a chance to put things right against them this time around, plus it'll be a nice place to go for the week of the game!

[Fowler's God]

Revenge is in the air...

[Jockser]

You gotta be happy with that draw.

[Malzheimer]

Group looks easy enough on paper as in we'd fancy ourselves against Bulgaria for 2nd place.However I don't imagine trips to Georgia,Bulgaria,Cyprus and Serbia will bear much fruits, not to mention Italy (definately going to do my best to get to this fixture).

Were Serbia and Montenegro really bottom seeds? They were in the WC in 2006!

[Alex Raisbeck]

Not too bad is it?
Might get a few noises from managers fancying the job now.

[Aido82]

Also - only 4 second place teams go through

[Alex Raisbeck]

And we aint so hot at playoffs are we?

[sameold]

Scotland's euro effort has given them a very good chance.

[corkkopite]

Not the worst draw we could of getting, i'd be hopeful we could qualify from this.

[corcaigh]

could have been better and worse ie better-group 2 worse-group 1, didnt know Montenegro were separate to serbia now...

[megager]

Not overly ecstatic about that draw. NO easy games, thoough we will beat Cyprus twice this time. WE will beat Georgia at home, a draw away would be good. We should beat montenegro twice, italy, a draw and a defeat I thick and we could take 3-4 points off Bulgaria. That should be good enough for 2nd, but with a good manager, maybe 2 draws against italy, 4 point off bulgaria and 6 off georgia would see us top. Why not dream. We have better players than scotland, so lets prove it by pipping italy.

What a joke Group 2 (Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg) is. Id fancy cambridge united to top that...

[sean]

Were Serbia and Montenegro really bottom seeds? They were in the WC in 2006!

Its actually just Montenegro mate, gained independence only in June 06, and only played their first international football game in March when they beat Hungary in a friendly 2-1. They are definitely by far the best of the bottom seeds and will no doubt take points off supposed better teams in the group.

[robm67]

2nd could be a real possibility, if we get ourselves together. it will depend largely on who we appoint as manager. We will hav to win our home games because every away trip could be tricky as recent times hav shown. At least we wont be taking any points for granted unlike San Marino away game.

[scousedub]

I presume our proposed friendly with Italy is now off?

[redchariot]

Until I saw Italy coming out of the pot, I was quite happy with the draw. Still no reason we can't get something out of the Italy games, but realistically, 2nd is our best chance and not to be the worst 2nd place and then get through by the play-offs; though our play-off history is diabolical; i.e. the only team we have beaten was Iran and even then just.

[BornaRedLass]

Well im happy enough with that draw. We have a good enough squad to come second, just need the right manager :) Dont think ill be travelling to Cypus again (altho did have a great holiday). Italy looks good tho.

[mypost]

What a joke Group 2 is. Id fancy cambridge united to top that...

:confused:

There's 2 teams in Euro 2008 there, the hosts and holders. There's only 1 in our group, and it's thought to be harder.

[GaryMc]

hmmmmm.... Its quite possible that we will not win one of those games away from home. I can see us doing well at home, but trips to Cyprus, Bulgaria and Georgia are going to be tough.

Wonder will this affect the manager's job. I have a bad feeling about Venables, he has done nothing of note since 96 except be part of the England fiasco. He was rubbish at Palace and he nearly bankrupt Portsmouth as well.

[bryanod]

not too bad a group, decent manager and we should be at least aiming for a battle with bulgaria, they are no great shakes even if they came closse to the dutch.

We'll get ourselves fired up for the italians no doubt can take two points possibly, they'd play into our hands.

jsut don't f*ck up against the poor teams is the key......

[Paul]

Lads this group is a lot harder than it looks.
I cannot see us getting out of it.
Even if all goes well and we come second we're very likely to be the worst performing second place so we wouldn't even get the play-offs.
Drawing Montenegro is a complete disaster. They will turn out to be a pot 4 team when they get some ranking points. They were only pool 6 because they haven't played a competive match as a nation yet.
They will take points at home from a lot of teams and reduce the points needed to finsh second place for sure.
I wouldn't be surprised if we even go through the campaign without an away win :eek:

[pmaharaj]

i'd have a hope for us, i reckon we can get second. I'd fancy our chance's against the italians as well. we always play well against the big teams.

[sean]

Drawing Montenegro is a complete disaster. They will turn out to be a pot 4 team when they get some ranking points. They were only pool 6 because they haven't played a competive match as a nation yet.
They will take points at home from a lot of teams and reduce the points needed to finsh second place for sure.
I wouldn't be surprised if we even go through the campaign without an away win :eek:

I know where your coming from mate, but both Italy and Bulgaria are in the same boat as us. No doubt Montenegro will take points in this group, granted they could snatch a draw off us, same as they could do so against Italy and Bulgaria. Bulgaria was one of the best 2nd seeds we could draw, not trying to undermine them but there were alot more difficult teams about. Italy could be caught on the hop as they have show in previous qualifying tournaments, and we'd do very well to secure a game against them at the start of September when we traditionally play well and they'll only be back to playing football in often later start to the Serie A.

[megager]

:confused:

There's 2 teams in Euro 2008 there, the hosts and holders. There's only 1 in our group, and it's thought to be harder.

IN fairness, the swiss are at best an average outfit, I dont rate greece and the others.

Montenegro could be a banana skin (love that expression).

[Paul]

i'd have a hope for us, i reckon we can get second. I'd fancy our chance's against the italians as well. we always play well against the big teams.

My fear is second wont be enough!

[Paul]

I know where your coming from mate, but both Italy and Bulgaria are in the same boat as us. No doubt Montenegro will take points in this group, granted they could snatch a draw off us, same as they could do so against Italy and Bulgaria. Bulgaria was one of the best 2nd seeds we could draw, not trying to undermine them but there were alot more difficult teams about. Italy could be caught on the hop as they have show in previous qualifying tournaments, and we'd do very well to secure a game against them at the start of September when we traditionally play well and they'll only be back to playing football in often later start to the Serie A.

Thats my point, Montenegro could take points of other teams not just us. My worry is coming second might not be good enough the make the play offs. Lets just win the group :D

[yodabenitez]

I think the general tone of this thread is a bit overly optimistic.

Much will turn on the management appointment obviously but we have some really sticky travelling to do.

I reckon second in the group is our best possible outcome & just hope it gives us enough to get a shot at a playoff.

Always wanted to go to South Africa............

[redbitch6]

Revenge for Cyprus me thinks

[kopster]

when watching the draw live before the top seeds came out , i thought the group was was not too difficult but drawing italy put a dampner on things a bit..i still think with the right mangement, we could top this group..the other teams are well capable of taking points of each other..but the new manager is the key to south africa and hopefully it opens the lock

[GaryMc]

Having saw Roma a few times this season, the guy from Montenegro Vicunic will pose us a few problems, they are defo the toughest of the bottom seeds