Ireland to qualify? Any mad bets

WoollyRedHat

Got 200 Euro down on this, so every match makes compelling viewing, for watching Ireland, but also the knowledge that every win means I'm that more closer to banking on it as well!

Anybody have bets on us qualifying?

eirebhoy

The only problem is we could finish 2nd and not even get into the playoffs. Considering how strong Georgia, Montengro and Cyprus are for the bottom 3 seeds I really think it could be our group that misses out on the playoff (the team in 2nd with the least amount of points loses out).

DeadSkin

What odds ya get?

eagle eye

I have a mad bet for you.

Ireland to qualify and Stephen Ireland to be in World Cup squad and to leave the World cup to fly home for his grandmothers funeral.

DeadSkin

eagle eye wrote: »

I have a mad bet for you.

Ireland to qualify and Stephen Ireland to be in World Cup squad and to leave the World cup to fly home for his grandmothers funeral.

I'll have a tenner e/w on that my good sir :pac: hic!

joe123

Surely the fact that its Ireland playing in world cup qualifiers should make for compelling viewing?

Gareth37

eirebhoy wrote: »

The only problem is we could finish 2nd and not even get into the playoffs. Considering how strong Georgia, Montengro and Cyprus are for the bottom 3 seeds I really think it could be our group that misses out on the playoff (the team in 2nd with the least amount of points loses out).

But Georgia, Montengro and Cyprus are poor teams

Any country who cannot beat those teams should not qualify. Cork City knocked the Cypriot champs out a number of seasons ago and they were littlered with Internations. Richardson's boys made them look average.

Even NI could walk through Georgia.

Montengro may be a tad harder but they are ranked low so I cannot see then taking many pts off the top 3 in the group.

joe123

Gareth37 wrote: »

But Georgia, Montengro and Cyprus are poor teams

Any country who cannot beat those teams should not qualify. Cork City knocked the Cypriot champs out a number of seasons ago and they were littlered with Internations. Richardson's boys made them look average.

Even NI could walk through Georgia.

Montengro may be a tad harder but they are ranked low so I cannot see then taking many pts off the top 3 in the group.

Montenegro are only ranked low as they are newly formed from serbia....We are unlucky to of got drawn with them.

eirebhoy

Gareth37 wrote: »

But Georgia, Montengro and Cyprus are poor teams

Montenegro are by far and away the best team in Pot F. Their attacking quartet would get into many international sides.

Georgia are probably the best team in the Pot E. 5 of their players playing regularly for AC Milan, Blackburn, Lokomotiv Moscow, Schalke and the team top of the Russian league (which we now know isn't a bad league at all). And the rest of their team play for teams of the standard of most of the Bulgarian team.

And football in Cyprus is flying at the moment. One of their teams beat Olympiakos to make the Champions league group stages this season. Another knocked Red Star Belgrade out of the UEFA cup. And the other knocked AEK Athens out of the UEFA cup. They'll trouble every team on their home ground, no doubt.

Surely the toughest of the bottom 3 seeds. We could've got a lot worse than Bulgaria for 2nd seeds though.

Tom65

joe123 wrote: »

Montenegro are only ranked low as they are newly formed from serbia....We are unlucky to of got drawn with them.

Exactly. They're easily the best team in that pot. I think they'll be a lot more difficult than people think.

Unearthly

Since Montenegro are bottom seeds don't their results not count towards the 2nd place rankings?

There is 1 or 2 other groups with less teams in it so thats what they are doing. Kinda works in our favour if that's the case

Big Ears

Unearthly wrote: »

Since Montenegro are bottom seeds don't their results not count towards the 2nd place rankings?

There is 1 or 2 other groups with less teams in it so thats what they are doing. Kinda works in our favour if that's the case

Is it the lowest seed or is it results against the team which came last which are discounted ?, can't remember myself but it's one of those.

But the point stands that this is a tough group and if we're to quality we're going to need at least 4 points from the first 6. If we want to contend for winning this group we'll need 6 from 6.

Luckily a tricky away game in Georgia has turned into a neutral venue which is more favourable for Georgia than Ireland and although not quite a home game for us it way be enough to help secure a win.

One Cold Hand

Gareth37 wrote: »

Even NI could walk through Georgia.

What do you mean even NI could walk through them? NI are ranked 6 places above us in the world rankings.

OP I think you can kiss your 200euros goodbye.

MementoMori

Big Ears wrote: »

Is it the lowest seed or is it results against the team which came last which are discounted ?, can't remember myself but it's one of those.

But the point stands that this is a tough group and if we're to quality we're going to need at least 4 points from the first 6. If we want to contend for winning this group we'll need 6 from 6.

Luckily a tricky away game in Georgia has turned into a neutral venue which is more favourable for Georgia than Ireland and although not quite a home game for us it way be enough to help secure a win.

Results against lowest seed vs last team could make a big difference - definately a tough group and could easily see only one team getting out. Also Bulgaria are a tricky team - I watched their recentish friendly against Norn Iron and I can see them giving Ireland problems. The whole Georgia war thing might well go against us - cant really imagine the team giving less than 100% when representing their country at the moment. Passion, desire, and hunger can go along way towards negating skill in a situation like this.

Big Ears

MementoMori wrote: »

Results against lowest seed vs last team could make a big difference - definately a tough group and could easily see only one team getting out. Also Bulgaria are a tricky team - I watched their recentish friendly against Norn Iron and I can see them giving Ireland problems. The whole Georgia war thing might well go against us - cant really imagine the team giving less than 100% when representing their country at the moment. Passion, desire, and hunger can go along way towards negating skill in a situation like this.

It's results against the side which finishes last which won't count. Seeding has no effect on it.

Gareth37

eirebhoy wrote: »

Montenegro are by far and away the best team in Pot F. Their attacking quartet would get into many international sides.

Georgia are probably the best team in the Pot E. 5 of their players playing regularly for AC Milan, Blackburn, Lokomotiv Moscow, Schalke and the team top of the Russian league (which we now know isn't a bad league at all). And the rest of their team play for teams of the standard of most of the Bulgarian team.

And football in Cyprus is flying at the moment. One of their teams beat Olympiakos to make the Champions league group stages this season. Another knocked Red Star Belgrade out of the UEFA cup. And the other knocked AEK Athens out of the UEFA cup. They'll trouble every team on their home ground, no doubt.

Surely the toughest of the bottom 3 seeds. We could've got a lot worse than Bulgaria for 2nd seeds though.

Come on now, you are having a laugh.

Cypriot football has many foreigners, one of those even signed a Sligo Rovers player during the summer. Even with those foreighers LOI sides can confidently play any Cypriot side. If I remember correctly british side Tottenham hammered one of those Cypriot sides 6-0 last year.

Anyone who has seen Georgia lately will tell you they are absolutely terrible. They did beat Wales but I think St pats or Bohs would beat Wales handy enough. If Ireland cannot get 12 points from those games lets forget about it.

Ireland always used to hammer Cyprus until Staunton took over. Cyprus were very poor but Staunton's regime was a farce.

Irish players are on between 10K-100K per week with British clubs such as Celtic, Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City etc. It would be another disgrace if Ireland cannot brush aside these other teams.

_blank_

Gareth37 wrote: »

Ireland always used to hammer Cyprus until Staunton took over. Cyprus were very poor but Staunton's regime was a farce.

Untrue.

There was one game where Roy Keane pulled Ireland kicking and screaming through a match In Cyprus.

That ws before the Staunton era.

Gareth37

One Cold Hand wrote: »

What do you mean even NI could walk through them? NI are ranked 6 places above us in the world rankings.

Where have you been for the last 2 years. We have had Steve Staunton in charge. :pac:

NI normally don't try to play football, its purely counter attack stuff. Its a very good tactic but they attacked against Georgia and litterelly walked through

Gareth37

Des wrote: »

Untrue.

There was one game where Roy Keane pulled Ireland kicking and screaming through a match In Cyprus.

That ws before the Staunton era.

Past Results against Cyprus, I think its pretty conclsive:

World Cup Europe
08.10.2005 qrg4 Cyprus 0-1 Republic of Ireland
04.09.2004 qrg4 Republic of Ireland 3-0 Cyprus
06.10.2001 qrg2 Republic of Ireland 4-0 Cyprus
24.03.2001 qrg2 Cyprus 0-4 Republic of Ireland
19.11.1980 qrg2 Republic of Ireland 6-0 Cyprus
26.03.1980 qrg2 Cyprus 2-3 Republic of Ireland

European Championships (Staunton in Charge)
17.10.2007 qrgd Republic of Ireland 1-1 Cyprus
07.10.2006 qrgd Cyprus 5-2 Republic of Ireland

Gareth37

Past Results Against Georgia:

European Championships
11.06.2003 qrg10 Republic of Ireland 2-0 Georgia
29.03.2003 qrg10 Georgia 1-2 Republic of Ireland

ibh

Gareth37 wrote: »

Anyone who has seen Georgia lately will tell you they are absolutely terrible. They did beat Wales but I think St pats or Bohs would beat Wales handy enough. If Ireland cannot get 12 points from those games lets forget about it.


Irish players are on between 10K-100K per week with British clubs such as Celtic, Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City etc. It would be another disgrace if Ireland cannot brush aside these other teams.

Complete rubbish. No LOI team would beat a team of the calibre of Wales. Majority of their players are from PL or Championship. Both are a higher level than Pats or Bohs are at.

I do not expect us to take 12 points from these games against Georgia and
Montenegro. I would expect a draw in at least one of these. Probably Montenegro away.

I really don't think that the wages our players get paid entitles them to squash opposition who are in less prestigious clubs or leagues.

People would do well to take note of how well the Georgian rugby team fares in the last World Cup. They played with pride and passion. I expect this from their footballers tomorrow as well.
However i would also like to see it from our players. Especiialy the experienced one's. I would be worried if there is any complacency in the team from people who have their place almost guaranteed. I think passion is one element that has been missing from the team, as a whole in the last couple of years.

We will get back out of these two games in results, what the players put in. So hopefully they are hungry for it.

Gareth37

Georgia's record, its pretty pathetic:
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/international/georgia

Cyprus record, even worse (Ireland last year sticks out):
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/international/cyprus

Montenegro recently drew 3-3 in a friendly with Hungary and lost 4-0 to Romania before.

This must be the easiest group in it

LuckyLloyd

Word of advice:

never bet on anything which causes your heart to cloud out your head.

Carroller16

Gareth37 wrote: »

Georgia's record, its pretty pathetic:
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/international/georgia

Cyprus record, even worse (Ireland last year sticks out):
http://www.statto.com/football/teams/international/cyprus

Montenegro recently drew 3-3 in a friendly with Hungary and lost 4-0 to Romania before.

This must be the easiest group in it

just looking at Cyprus' stats for euro 2008 qualifying..

They lost 6-1 to slovakia a month before they walloped us 5-2 .... unbelievable

noodler

Also when we were in Cyprus under Kerr's reign we got out alive with a 1-nil wil with Given saving a peno. They were absolutely all over us that night. We should have been well beaten.

Its quite clear for me that the Cypriots have improved.

Someone hit the nail on the head, I want passion to match our supposed 'better' ability.

Unearthly

Big Ears wrote: »

It's results against the side which finishes last which won't count. Seeding has no effect on it.

Ah right, well that certaintly doesn't suit us

eirebhoy

Gareth37 wrote: »

Come on now, you are having a laugh.

Cypriot football has many foreigners, one of those even signed a Sligo Rovers player during the summer. Even with those foreighers LOI sides can confidently play any Cypriot side. If I remember correctly british side Tottenham hammered one of those Cypriot sides 6-0 last year.

Anyone who has seen Georgia lately will tell you they are absolutely terrible. They did beat Wales but I think St pats or Bohs would beat Wales handy enough. If Ireland cannot get 12 points from those games lets forget about it.

Ireland always used to hammer Cyprus until Staunton took over. Cyprus were very poor but Staunton's regime was a farce.

Irish players are on between 10K-100K per week with British clubs such as Celtic, Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City etc. It would be another disgrace if Ireland cannot brush aside these other teams.

I just realised who you are. A big wind up merchant from foot.ie.

I don't care how much they earn. Even look at the Montenegro team. Vucinic is easily worth at least €10m. Fiorentina just paid €8m for an 18 year old who was captain of Partizan. Bolton were recently linked with €7m bid for Vukcevic . He scored against them in the UEFA cup and scored 6 in 26 in the league for Sporting Lisbon last season.

Like Bulgaria that's 3 highly rated attacking players. Like Bulgaria the rest of their team play for mediocre teams. They just lack the experience of the Bulgarians.

Then there's Georgia with players playing regularly for Milan, Schalke, Lokomotiv, Rubin Kazan and a squad player for Blackburn.

If you really think this is Pats/Bohs standard..... you don't really think it. Word of warning to everyone: Take note of that username and don't waste your time doing what I just did.

jimmyboy

Gareth37 wrote: »

Even NI could walk through Georgia.

Norn Iron beat them 4-0 in a friendly recently

aidan24326

Gareth37 wrote: »

But Georgia, Montengro and Cyprus are poor teams

Not necessarily. Cyprus caused problems for all the teams in our EC qualifying group. They drew with France and the Swiss at home, only lost 1-0 in Paris and were 1-1 with Switzerland in Basle up to the last 10 minutes. Montenegro are almost certainly the best team (by far) of the bottom seeds. They're only a bottom seed because they're new, no other reason. I don't know alot about Georgia but I expect they will be no pushover.

Any country who cannot beat those teams should not qualify

I agree with you on that much. It's just that there's very few easy games now at international level, teams like Cyprus and Malta for example, they used to be 4-0 pushovers but are now very difficult to beat on their ground, even though they don't always travel well. Added to that is the fact that we're not exactly a team of world-beaters either.

Montengro may be a tad harder but they are ranked low so I cannot see then taking many pts off the top 3 in the group.

Hard to know. They will definitely be above average for what you'd expect from a bottom seed. In short, they're no San Marino or Faroe Islands. They could well take points off the top 3 when they play at home, those points often make the differenc in the end. If we could get two wins in these first two games it would be a huge boost.

delija_sever029

I feel i am eligible to comment this group while all your oponents are from east or close to Serbia so i know them well i supose.And about your group.ireland is definitly 2nd best team in that group.

Italy,we all know them,they seems to be in small crisis judging by Euro but with them man never knows,i think Ireland cant lose it at home and with a bit luck they can get draw in Italy,but loss would be also nothing surprising.

Bulgaria,well they were good till few years ago and now they are some average team who is closer to suck than to be good team,their new players arent good as generation before them,this could be even 6 points for Ireland or least 4,ecpet if Berba dont get really mad;)


Georgia,teams like this are worst for us,yes we can play 2 times draw with Portugal and to lose from some ex soviet team who plays on field that is modified lawn,i supose all the thing about it is motivation,i am scared more for games like these than games against France,Italy or something,its all about motivation,and about quality of Georgia...no comment,6 points for ireland,everything else would be bad

Cyprus,i dont know this team very well,they are average team but they can make problems to every team and i noticed that so far,it seems man with them never knows,lately their clubs making some good results and they invest a lot of money in football,tough matches for Ireland

Montenegro,our ex brothers,got independent and now have problems to make national team coz they dont have players,lately they are getting serbian,croatian and albanian players to play for them,so with them man can never know,maybe they will bring some stars till qualifications begin so they can be number 1 in the group:D
So far,all the players they have i know coz they played in Serbia,almost 100% of them,some of them still playing here.There are some good names and quality players,but not so huge quality they would be some good team who can be candidate to go on WC.Thats fastest i could remember so far,maybe i will add something i forgot but my conclusion is that if Ireland plays as they can and know they can be least 2nd in this group without problems,i am not sure Serbia can do same coz our group is very tough but Ireland has a really good chance for it

Nalz

ireland even money

not bad