McTeeko Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, Terry Munro said: Not seen a thread for this so starting one as the draw is on Tuesday Some potentially good ties. Not sure if it's going to be part of world cup qualifying like the last one was with the Euros, but either way it still beats loads of shite friendlies Pot 1: Russia, Austria, Wales, Czech Republic Pot 2: Scotland, Norway, Serbia, Finland Pot 3: Slovakia, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland Pot 4: Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary, Romania This NL allows two teams from twelve to qualify through the play-offs in the same format as this March (semi-finals and a Final, so three places up for grabs for the WC). ie. 10 runners up from the standard qualifying groups plus 2 NL winners go into play-offs. Edited February 28, 2020 by McTeeko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 6 minutes ago, McTeeko said: This NL allows two teams from twelve to qualify through the play-offs in the same format as this March (semi-finals and a Final, so three places up for grabs for the WC). ie. 10 runners up from the standard qualifying groups plus 2 NL winners go into play-offs. How is it decided which Nations League teams make the playoffs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 minute ago, dohadeer said: How is it decided which Nations League teams make the playoffs? Presumably it will be the top 2 ranked teams from this years Nations League that don’t qualify or reach the playoffs through the normal qualifiers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Just now, Texas Pete said: Presumably it will be the top 2 ranked teams from this years Nations League that don’t qualify or reach the playoffs through the normal qualifiers. Not quite, seems like it’s the two GROUP WINNERS from highest up the Nations League, who haven’t already qualified or reached the playoffs. (From what I can make out.) Same as this time, that seems a bit of a strange way to do it, and could result in places undeservedly going to teams from way down the rankings. Shouldn’t be as critical as this time though, as even if a lower-standard team sneaked in to the playoffs, they’d end up with a horribly difficult two matches before they qualified - it wouldn’t be like this time, where four teams from League D are drawn against each other. Basically, the World Cup is still very, very difficult for all but the best European teams to qualify for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan cake Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Hopefully we get 3 counties iv not been so Austria Turkey and Bulgaria would be good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McTeeko Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, dan cake said: Hopefully we get 3 counties iv not been so Austria Turkey and Bulgaria would be good Romania is the only one I’ve no been to so I’m hoping for them. The other two I’m no fussed about as long as they’re beatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Jim Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 8 hours ago, Terry Munro said: Aye it annoys me that they've done so well against us in recent years. My first Scotland away game was the night they fucked us 4-0. Not nice even if it was a friendly Jeeeez, if you ever went to another, then well done you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Jim Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 Tough: Russia, Turkey, Romania. Slightly less so: Czechia, N.Ireland, Israel (ask me again after March!) My personal tartan tourist destinations: Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 7 minutes ago, Grim Jim said: Tough: Russia, Turkey, Romania. Slightly less so: Czechia, N.Ireland, Israel (ask me again after March!) My personal tartan tourist destinations: Austria, Turkey, Bulgaria. Russia look a class above the other 15 teams in League B at the moment. All those teams would be difficult opponents for us though, especially away from home. We’d fancy beating Bulgaria and Israel at home, on current evidence, but every other point would have to be very hard fought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Jim Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 2 minutes ago, dohadeer said: Russia look a class above the other 15 teams in League B at the moment. All those teams would be difficult opponents for us though, especially away from home. We’d fancy beating Bulgaria and Israel at home, on current evidence, but every other point would have to be very hard fought. Oh aye, pumped by Russia and we're looking at a steep climb back up to match them. Absolutely nobody else is a given, as you're the first to agree I'm sure. Bulgaria are a bit like Hungary and ourselves in being in the doldrums. I'd like to see us all sail out. Plus been through Sofia twice on the way to Macedonia, so feel I should be there for a game myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted February 28, 2020 Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 hour ago, dohadeer said: Not quite, seems like it’s the two GROUP WINNERS from highest up the Nations League, who haven’t already qualified or reached the playoffs. (From what I can make out.) Same as this time, that seems a bit of a strange way to do it, and could result in places undeservedly going to teams from way down the rankings. Shouldn’t be as critical as this time though, as even if a lower-standard team sneaked in to the playoffs, they’d end up with a horribly difficult two matches before they qualified - it wouldn’t be like this time, where four teams from League D are drawn against each other. Basically, the World Cup is still very, very difficult for all but the best European teams to qualify for! I suppose it’s better to reward the highest ranked group winners rather than a team that might have been relegated and also made an arse of the qualifiers. All League A group winners will likely qualify or get a playoff so winning our NL group this year could potentially be massive. This is unlikely of course but as long as we avoid Russia we have an outside chance. The World Cup playoffs will be a lot harder than the Euro playoffs of course but it would still be good to make them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Munro Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Grim Jim said: Jeeeez, if you ever went to another, then well done you! Haha one or two over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanticscot Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 (edited) Im starting to feel optimistic about the WCQ in the sense atleast that there is something to play for., even more so if the play offs are not seeded- which is TBD. Edited February 29, 2020 by romanticscot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 36 minutes ago, romanticscot said: Im starting to feel optimistic about the WCQ in the sense atleast that there is something to play for., even more so if the play offs are not seeded- which is TBD. Hasn’t there always been something to play for in the World Cup qualifiers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romanticscot Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 Right, but mathematically I was thinking this was so far out our reach, but now look at those Nations League pools - finish 1st out of those 4 teams to get a play off spot gives me anyway some hope. Our World Cup group, we are going to be 3rd seeds barring we qualify for the Euro's and run deep. I had felt with only 13 UEFA spots for the World Cup, our hopes were far too remote. Russia for me in League B seems a class apart all of the other League B team, lets avoid them please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Pete Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 10 minutes ago, romanticscot said: Right, but mathematically I was thinking this was so far out our reach, but now look at those Nations League pools - finish 1st out of those 4 teams to get a play off spot gives me anyway some hope. Our World Cup group, we are going to be 3rd seeds barring we qualify for the Euro's and run deep. I had felt with only 13 UEFA spots for the World Cup, our hopes were far too remote. Russia for me in League B seems a class apart all of the other League B team, lets avoid them please. Topping our Nations League group this year wouldn’t guarantee a World Cup playoff. The playoffs will also be seeded. They always are. Avoiding Russia would give us a good chance of winning our group. I shudder to think what would happen to us in League A in 2022 if we got promoted though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 5 minutes ago, Texas Pete said: Topping our Nations League group this year wouldn’t guarantee a World Cup playoff. The playoffs will also be seeded. They always are. Avoiding Russia would give us a good chance of winning our group. I shudder to think what would happen to us in League A in 2022 if we got promoted though. Don't worry about it. By that time mcburnie will be better than Ronaldo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 1 hour ago, romanticscot said: Right, but mathematically I was thinking this was so far out our reach, but now look at those Nations League pools - finish 1st out of those 4 teams to get a play off spot gives me anyway some hope. Our World Cup group, we are going to be 3rd seeds barring we qualify for the Euro's and run deep. I had felt with only 13 UEFA spots for the World Cup, our hopes were far too remote. Russia for me in League B seems a class apart all of the other League B team, lets avoid them please. A playoff spot is perhaps slightly easier to achieve now, given that there are 12 up for grabs, but it’s now even harder to come through those playoffs, as they require getting past two quality teams instead of one. It’s a mammoth task for a team of our level to come through World Cup qualification, probably less than a 10% shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 On 2/28/2020 at 2:54 PM, dohadeer said: We look a lot more out of our depth in that league than we did in the previous one. I believe that there’s a play-off route through the Nations League again, but obviously far trickier than last time round, given that there are far fewer European qualification places up for grabs in the World Cup than the European Championships. There certainly won’t be the ‘sympathy spots’ up for grabs next time either. Like northern Ireland 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 4 minutes ago, todd said: Like northern Ireland 😁 ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 7 minutes ago, dohadeer said: ?? Could it be more sympathetic? Never got a single point in the Nations League but still get a playoff ffs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 31 minutes ago, todd said: Could it be more sympathetic? Never got a single point in the Nations League but still get a playoff ffs! That’s not what I was referring to, I was meaning the ‘sympathy spots’ handed out to Leagues D and C. Northern Ireland earned their playoff spot by virtue of their ranking. You can’t penalise them for being ranked high enough to end up in a tougher group! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 1 hour ago, dohadeer said: That’s not what I was referring to, I was meaning the ‘sympathy spots’ handed out to Leagues D and C. Northern Ireland earned their playoff spot by virtue of their ranking. You can’t penalise them for being ranked high enough to end up in a tougher group! How is league B not a sympathy spot? When was it decided that from C down was a sympathy spot? So by your Norn Irn loving logic, we have earned the right, from this point hence, no matter how pish we play, to get a play off by virtue of our promotion to league B? Or are the goalposts going to suddenly shift to suit your self righteous argument? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 2 minutes ago, todd said: How is league B not a sympathy spot? When was it decided that from C down was a sympathy spot? So by your Norn Irn loving logic, we have earned the right, from this point hence, no matter how pish we play, to get a play off by virtue of our promotion to league B? Or are the goalposts going to suddenly shift to suit your self righteous argument? The playoff spots should be filled from the top down. It’s crazy to give playoff spots to teams in Leagues C and D, if there are teams from League A or B who have missed out. That’s like if England gave their Champions League places to the winners of the four divisions (Premier League, Championship, Leagues One and Two) rather than the top four teams in the Premier League. Obviously when handing out qualification places in a league system, you should fill from the top down. You don’t penalise teams for being in a higher league, and start handing out places to lower leagues first, that’s ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dohadeer Posted February 29, 2020 Share Posted February 29, 2020 31 minutes ago, todd said: How is league B not a sympathy spot? When was it decided that from C down was a sympathy spot? So by your Norn Irn loving logic, we have earned the right, from this point hence, no matter how pish we play, to get a play off by virtue of our promotion to league B? Or are the goalposts going to suddenly shift to suit your self righteous argument? What I meant by ‘sympathy places’: There are 24 places at the European Championship finals. There are a total of 24 teams in Leagues A and B. If everything played out exactly according to seedings, those 24 teams should be the 24 European Championship finalists. However, UEFA has created two routes, one for League C and one for League D, for teams from those Leagues to qualify, without having to depose one of the top 24 seeds. That’s what I meant by a sympathy spot. It’s a route through to the finals, that has been made easier than it should be for a team of that ranking. Logically, under any usual qualification system, a team ranked outside the top 24, would have to overcome at least one team from within the top 24, to get to the finals ahead of them. I hope that makes sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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