Boynze Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 we should be getting 9 points from this group. from the outset the israel away game was the most difficult, although we should have been aiming for 12 points, or 10 at the worst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in5omniac Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 There's a very real possibility of everybody winning their home games - a loss in Albania really wouldn't surprise me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) 7 hours ago, Third Lanark said: Which play-off route will suit us best? Finishing top may well give us an easier option you would think bu then it may be better to finish second? If we finish second and still scrape a playoff we will probably be playing a league A or B team away from home which would give us a very slim chance of even reaching the playoff final. Edited October 15, 2018 by Texas Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 19 hours ago, dandydunn said: Doesn’t matter the result. We need to win both games. We don’t need to beat Albania. A draw, or even a narrow defeat, would do as long as we beat Israel but winning both games would probably give us a home tie in the first playoff tie which would be a huge advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveyDenoon Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Texas Pete said: We don’t need to beat Albania. A draw, or even a narrow defeat, would do as long as we beat Israel but winning both games would probably give us a home tie in the first playoff tie which would be a huge advantage. Yes, you are right and this is HUGELY important Two wins will likely see us as Hampden for the playoff semi. A draw in Albania coupled with a win over Israel and we’d probably be away for the semi. If we are to even hope to win the playoff semi then a home tie is an absolute must. Although I don’t fancy our chances much with McLeish in charge, a home tie and we could just about do it. If we can find some kind of form between now and the playoff I’d quite fancy us at a packed out Hampden at home to Serbia or Romania for example. Over there? No chance. Not a chance in hell. It’s that clear in my mind and we all know our habit of failing to win crunch away games. I really hope McLeish realises this and goes for the win accordingly. Edited October 15, 2018 by DaveyDenoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 2 hours ago, DaveyDenoon said: Yes, you are right and this is HUGELY important Two wins will likely see us as Hampden for the playoff semi. A draw in Albania coupled with a win over Israel and we’d probably be away for the semi. If we are to even hope to win the playoff semi then a home tie is an absolute must. Although I don’t fancy our chances much with McLeish in charge, a home tie and we could just about do it. If we can find some kind of form between now and the playoff I’d quite fancy us at a packed out Hampden at home to Serbia or Romania for example. Over there? No chance. Not a chance in hell. It’s that clear in my mind and we all know our habit of failing to win crunch away games. I really hope McLeish realises this and goes for the win accordingly. I wouldn’t say there’s no chance of us winning on Finland or Serbia or wherever but it would be far less likely than us beating that type of team at home. The playoffs aren’t for another 18 months or so so there could be the unusual situation of some teams on the playoffs not being in good form. We could also be a lot better than we are now. A home tie would give us an excellent chance though. Albania seem to be weakest team in the section so as long as we get our act together there’s no reason we can’t beat them over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamboman Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 4 minutes ago, Texas Pete said: I wouldn’t say there’s no chance of us winning on Finland or Serbia or wherever but it would be far less likely than us beating that type of team at home. The playoffs aren’t for another 18 months or so so there could be the unusual situation of some teams on the playoffs not being in good form. We could also be a lot better than we are now. A home tie would give us an excellent chance though. Albania seem to be weakest team in the section so as long as we get our act together there’s no reason we can’t beat them over there. Playoffs are actually at the start of June.. We had the potential to be qualified for euro 2020 by mid June 2019.. I think we can top this group but Serbia/romania/Greece will all beat us.. At hampden is a must if we hope to progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 5 minutes ago, jamboman said: Playoffs are actually at the start of June.. We had the potential to be qualified for euro 2020 by mid June 2019.. I think we can top this group but Serbia/romania/Greece will all beat us.. At hampden is a must if we hope to progress The playoffs are not in June 2019. How could they have the playoffs in the middle of the qualifiers ffs? If we are in a group of 6 we will have qualifying matches in June 2019. Also, if we qualified in June 2019 we would still have 4-6 qualifiers to play depending on how many teams were in our group. What would be the point in playing those matches? The playoffs are in March 2020 and will only involve teams that don’t qualify through the qualifying groups next year. Romania are third in their group with one counting fixture to play. They are Unlikely to win their group. Finland also look more likely to top Greece’s group. Nobody is guaranteed to beat anyone in international football any more so I’m not sure what you’re basing these teams definitely beating us on. We are all in League C for a reason - we are all of a similar standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 2 hours ago, DaveyDenoon said: Yes, you are right and this is HUGELY important Two wins will likely see us as Hampden for the playoff semi. A draw in Albania coupled with a win over Israel and we’d probably be away for the semi. If we are to even hope to win the playoff semi then a home tie is an absolute must. Although I don’t fancy our chances much with McLeish in charge, a home tie and we could just about do it. If we can find some kind of form between now and the playoff I’d quite fancy us at a packed out Hampden at home to Serbia or Romania for example. Over there? No chance. Not a chance in hell. It’s that clear in my mind and we all know our habit of failing to win crunch away games. I really hope McLeish realises this and goes for the win accordingly. So in effect, in order to avoid facing a crunch away game in the play-offs, we have to win the crunch away game against Albania. Ain't no escaping those crunch away games! But we also have to win our must win crunch home game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magicTs Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 26 minutes ago, jamboman said: Playoffs are actually at the start of June.. We had the potential to be qualified for euro 2020 by mid June 2019.. I think we can top this group but Serbia/romania/Greece will all beat us.. At hampden is a must if we hope to progress Its just League A that play in June 2019 to decide the Nations League champions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 1 minute ago, exile said: So in effect, in order to avoid facing a crunch away game in the play-offs, we have to win the crunch away game against Albania. Ain't no escaping those crunch away games! But we also have to win our must win crunch home game! Albania away should, in theory, be easier than going to some of the other countries in League C that are likely to win their groups. Mind you I thought that about Israel and they gave us a right going over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookerman Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Let be honest here, You wouldn't fancy this current alex mcleish team to win a playoff semi final away from home, but it 16 months or so away from now, so who knows what kind of form we be in by then. That is if we even finish first, which i have my doubts. Edited October 15, 2018 by bookerman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 (edited) Albania away should, in theory, be easier than going to some of the other countries in League C that are likely to win their groups. Mind you I thought that about Israel and they gave us a right going over. Yes. And a playoff would be nice, haven't had one for ... 15 years Edited October 15, 2018 by exile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McVinceSCT Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Texas Pete said: The playoffs aren’t for another 18 months or so so there could be the unusual situation of some teams on the playoffs not being in good form. We could also be a lot better than we are now. The good thing, if you look at the bright side of it, is that we can t be worst than we are now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 18 minutes ago, exile said: Yes. And a playoff would be nice, haven't had one for ... 15 years Exactly. I’d rather have a playoff than not have one going into the qualifiers, even if it is away from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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