Caledonian Craig Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Incorrect Okay we missed out narrowly on direct qualification. Better? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattywin Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Compare it to Sweden, Northern Ireland and Albania... exactly. I'd say the draw is somewhere in the middle in terms of toughness. Much easier than our current euros group Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 The way to look at it is: - Group A - No thanks. Deadly. Group B - Perhaps a shade less tough than our Group. Group C - No thanks. Another tough one. Group D - Still prefer our group as don't want Ireland again as 4th seeds, Moldova as 5th seeds and Georgia (look how we are fretting about them this time around). Group E - Okay would have preferred this group. Group G - No thanks. Group H - Trickier than it looks so would still take our group. Group I - No thanks. No real minnows here. So you see I am not sure why the complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderer Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Every qualification draw you look at the groups and there always seems to be one or two that make you wish that we were in them............. looking at all the groups, for once I feel we are in one of those groups (Group H would probably be the most easy group to get)..... I am looking and thinking to myself "Thank Feck we are not in Groups A, C, E, G and I".... If anything, Group A screams of the type of groups we usually expect to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donaldo87 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 End of the day the way the draw went we were getting England or Spain and a 1 in 3 chance of Italy so i'm happy with how it worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 where's your ambition. lets get the kwunts beaten. international football can be boring without the proper teams that we hate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 if you're like most people, and put club before country most of the time, then you welcome the international scene being that little bit more spicy than normal. As a club fan i look forward to man u v man c, spurs v ars, hearts v hibs etc... Scotland v England is our top game. A team that is slightly better than us but very beatable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macy37 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 if you're like most people, and put club before country most of the time, then you welcome the international scene being that little bit more spicy than normal. As a club fan i look forward to man u v man c, spurs v ars, hearts v hibs etc... Scotland v England is our top game. A team that is slightly better than us but very beatable. My hatred of the Auld Enemy is as strong as anyone's but to suggest they are 'slightly better' than us is just ludicrous. Will we top the group? Not a chance. 2nd? With the way the Slovakia are emerging it's going to be tough and our home games are going to be crucial to us getting 2nd....that and the hope that others cut each others throats without ours being one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 My hatred of the Auld Enemy is as strong as anyone's but to suggest they are 'slightly better' than us is just ludicrous. Will we top the group? Not a chance. 2nd? With the way the Slovakia are emerging it's going to be tough and our home games are going to be crucial to us getting 2nd....that and the hope that others cut each others throats without ours being one of them. we are not a million miles from England. That is because England are tom kyte. Bottom of group at world cup etcc.. Slovenia recently gave them a good game tae. Strachen summed it up beautifully on the news. "i'm not scared to take this group of players anywhere" Wembley included....ya kwunt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraz65 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 It's a decent draw but we're still highly unlikely to qualify. It would be a massive upset for us to finish above England who are one of the most consistent nations in qualification. It's possible that we could finish second but this would also be a huge achievement. We would then have to negotiate a potential play-off against a top side. FIFA have made it incredibly difficult for the smaller European nations to qualify for the World Cup. New Zealand get a guaranteed play-off every campaign, Australia were allowed to switch continents to allow them to qualify and in CONCACAF it's almost easier to qualify than not. Bulgaria have reached the semi-finals of a World Cup, something no African nation has ever managed, yet they face a near impossible task of even reaching the play-offs. If common-sense were ever to prevail at FIFA then perhaps they could consider international play-offs for the sides in Europe who finish second or even extend this to third-place sides. Taking on New Zealand or Costa Rica would be preferable to playing the top European sides and would hopefully ensure that the best teams and players make the finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 It's a decent draw but we're still highly unlikely to qualify. It would be a massive upset for us to finish above England who are one of the most consistent nations in qualification. It's possible that we could finish second but this would also be a huge achievement. We would then have to negotiate a potential play-off against a top side. Well with that mindset I take it you have ruled us out of quallifying for the Euros then? Germany I'd place above England quality-wise most definitely and Poland are I'd say on a par with Slovakia so we have it tougher this time around and we are still in the hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Well with that mindset I take it you have ruled us out of quallifying for the Euros then? Germany I'd place above England quality-wise most definitely and Poland are I'd say on a par with Slovakia so we have it tougher this time around and we are still in the hunt. But this time we can finish 3rd in the group and qualify. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 if greece can win a euro then so can we Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BraveheartGordon Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Jeez you are a ray of sunshine aren't you? It is a good job you aren't on the coaching staff as you'd have them mentally beaten before they step out onto the pitch. The Scotland side will look not too different as to what it is now actually and I think it is a cast iron certainty Strachan will be in charge - why wouldn't he be? He certainly won't be sacked and by all accounts he is really enjoying this challenge as it allows him the best of both worlds plus I do believe it has been said he holds no desire now to get back into league management. Well its maybe not a cast Iron certainty because his contract ends at the conclusion of this campaign. And strange comment but what I would say to the players and what I would put on a football forum are different Should I just tow the party line and say that our opponents are pub teams? and that despite being an adult and never having seen us qualify for anything that we'll walk this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraz65 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Well with that mindset I take it you have ruled us out of quallifying for the Euros then? Germany I'd place above England quality-wise most definitely and Poland are I'd say on a par with Slovakia so we have it tougher this time around and we are still in the hunt. Euro 2016 qualification is significantly easier, in that you can finish third and still qualify. The quality of sides in the play-off will be other third-placed sides and not the big guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Well its maybe not a cast Iron certainty because his contract ends at the conclusion of this campaign. And strange comment but what I would say to the players and what I would put on a football forum are different Should I just tow the party line and say that our opponents are pub teams? and that despite being an adult and never having seen us qualify for anything that we'll walk this? stop trolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 But this time we can finish 3rd in the group and qualify. My point is about automatic qualification - not play-offs. Many here are of the mindset that qualification can be had automatically by finishing in the top two and this current group is tougher than the one we will have in the next campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Well its maybe not a cast Iron certainty because his contract ends at the conclusion of this campaign. And strange comment but what I would say to the players and what I would put on a football forum are different Should I just tow the party line and say that our opponents are pub teams? and that despite being an adult and never having seen us qualify for anything that we'll walk this? Well put it this way even the SFA are smart enough to know when they are onto a good thing with Gordon. And like I said he has said he is really revelling in the challenge and do believe he has said that he sees this as the job he'll retire on. You are missing the point as nobody here as said our opponents are pub teams - just that people here aren't sat on the pot about playing the teams we have. Since you are not old enough to remember us qualifying then I see why your glum but how would you rate this team we have now compared to others we have had and not qualified in terms of talent, team spirit, team confidence, organisation and management? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Euro 2016 qualification is significantly easier, in that you can finish third and still qualify. The quality of sides in the play-off will be other third-placed sides and not the big guns. Apologies if I never explained myself better but I was talking about us still in the race for automatic qualification by finishing in the top two. Many here think that is still a real possibility and that from a group tougher than the one we have just drawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 My point is about automatic qualification - not play-offs. Many here are of the mindset that qualification can be had automatically by finishing in the top two and this current group is tougher than the one we will have in the next campaign. But our "easier" group next time only has one automatic qualification spot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 But our "easier" group next time only has one automatic qualification spot... For many years now World Cup qualification has always been the same ie winner qualifies and runner-up into play-offs. I'd guess it has been that way as long as Braveheart Gordon can remember so we all know that was the guidelines for qualification. For the Euros the goal is top two for automatic qualification (though previously that was top team and second went to play-off) and for the World Cup the goal is top two as well so you then look at the difficulty of the groups and the current one we have is tougher than the one coming up. We are in the shake-up for a top two spot this time around so I see no reason to alter that for the next campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristolhibby Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 People forget there are more countries in Europe now, who when we last qualified were on the back of independence, upheavals and civil war. That's bound to affect their prospects. No we have some long term stability in Europe and teams like Serbia, Bosnia, Slovakia etc are qualifying for World Cups. That said, they seem to be inconsistent, so they get to one final then never get there again. Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, etc. So either things are cyclical, and we just army there yet (bout time though), or teams really get the perfect storm of good luck in the draw and get top seeds on the wane, combined with their couple of years on the ascendancy. The more I think about it. The draw is massively important, and it's the one variable that we cannot affect (other than winning games and becoming the highest seed (see Wales)). J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde1998 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I'm guessing this is the draw thread - I've only just got back from a month with no internet (or anything similar) in Uganda. I've just watched the draw... Malta - Should get 6 points. Lithuania - We're due a game against them... Should get 6 points. Slovenia - I'd be happy with 4 points. Scotland Slovakia - I'd be happy with 4 points. England - FFS. Hopefully 2 points minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonny78 Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 i want at least 3 off england. i.e. win that home game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.