[Middle East]

newboldsteve, on 12 October 2015 - 06:17 PM, said:

platini change the rules a few years ago when france finished in the playoffs

I'm surprised he found time with all the ahem...paid work he was doing for Sepp!

[azul]

Cartman, on 12 October 2015 - 06:08 PM, said:

why are the play offs seeded?

Each team finished 3rd in a seeded group so surely it should be a free draw

As I said earlier the competion is seeded to death

An attempt to ensure the elite are given every opportunity to progress which is quite frankly pathetic

MEANWHILE IN THE REAL WORLD Lithuania (ranked 120th) v England (ranked 10th).........

Hodgson is threatened with being sent to the stand for any more lip. Unfortunately it's an empty threat by the referee., Even if the Lithuanian national stadium has stands it is a sell out at 5500 attendees

This post has been edited by azul: 12 October 2015 - 07:05 PM

[Humpalumpa]

Town, "Girly on tour flag" to the left hand goal near top corner flag above adidas advert board.
Got to be better than Saturday at the Proact!

This post has been edited by Humpalumpa: 12 October 2015 - 07:28 PM

[azul]

Humpalumpa, on 12 October 2015 - 07:23 PM, said:

Town, "Girly on tour flag" to the left hand goal near top corner flag area.
Got to be better than Saturday at the Proact!

Lithuania ranked between Aruba and Cuba but as the commentator stated, weather not so good

If they lose tonight they could drop a few positions though

[cfc_scott]

Humpalumpa, on 12 October 2015 - 07:23 PM, said:

Town, "Girly on tour flag" to the left hand goal near top corner flag above adidas advert board.
Got to be better than Saturday at the Proact!

Looks like there having a good time. Make a chnage for towm fans this season at a match

[Siberian Spireite]

azul, on 12 October 2015 - 07:29 PM, said:

Lithuania ranked between Aruba and Cuba but as the commentator stated, weather not so good

If they lose tonight they could drop a few positions though

Tyldesley also took about ten minutes to realise Kane probably won't be credited with the goal, and then declared that Lithuania doesn't border Russia.

[Johnnyspireite7]

newboldsteve, on 12 October 2015 - 06:17 PM, said:

platini change the rules a few years ago when france finished in the playoffs

And then cheated Ireland out of the tournament......

[sophocles]

azul, on 12 October 2015 - 11:27 AM, said:

Both England and Wales benefited from incredibly easy groups but at leat Wales had Belgium in their group who have a "golden" generation. England's opponents in the group probably total a quarter of our population and apart from Switzerland and Slovenia have no track record whatsoever. A couple of drawn matches is the worst I'd expect.

I actually think the ease of England's qualification over the years contribute to the disenchantment surrounding the national game as much as the failures when they reach the final. Qualification is a turgid formality theses days `and isn't worth the time of day

Agree, the real 'quality' of the England team will be exposed the minute they come up against a decent team in a proper competitive situation. I think a lot of those now leaping up and down in admiration will be sadly disillusioned.

[Jud]

Johnnyspireite7, on 12 October 2015 - 09:51 PM, said:

And then cheated Ireland out of the tournament......

Don't...I still haven't let that go. I've made nay secret of my allegiance to Ireland (family thing ysee) but with England, Wales and that there northern province having made it through, I'm more desperate than ever before for us to get through to the finals. Think it should be a very interesting tournament. I'm actually tempted to go...never said that before.

[Stockholm Spireite]

newboldsteve, on 12 October 2015 - 06:17 PM, said:

platini change the rules a few years ago when france finished in the playoffs

DING DING DING! Is the correct answer!

Johnnyspireite7, on 12 October 2015 - 09:51 PM, said:

And then cheated Ireland out of the tournament......

I'm pretty certain (99.9%) that the FAI received a generous donation/compensation (delete as applicable) from UEFA & FIFA for their shiney new Aviva Stadium upgrade...

[JonB]

sophocles, on 12 October 2015 - 10:28 PM, said:

Agree, the real 'quality' of the England team will be exposed the minute they come up against a decent team in a proper competitive situation. I think a lot of those now leaping up and down in admiration will be sadly disillusioned.

I'm not jumping up and down but i also dont see the point in slating a side thats the only one in the whole of qualifying to have a 100% record! Yes there are going to be a lot tougher tests ahead and its probably unlikely we'll win it but to date its been pretty good.

Stockholm Spireite, on 13 October 2015 - 06:04 AM, said:

I'm pretty certain (99.9%) that the FAI received a generous donation/compensation (delete as applicable) from UEFA & FIFA for their shiney new Aviva Stadium upgrade...

http://www.theguardi...so-no-more-live

[CFC91]

Stockholm Spireite, on 13 October 2015 - 06:04 AM, said:

DING DING DING! Is the correct answer!



I'm pretty certain (99.9%) that the FAI received a generous donation/compensation (delete as applicable) from UEFA & FIFA for their shiney new Aviva Stadium upgrade...

They did. Was out in Dublin for the Ireland v England game in June and the loudest chant of the day was "Sepp Blatter, he paid for your ground"

[ArcticSpireite]

CFC91, on 13 October 2015 - 08:09 AM, said:

They did. Was out in Dublin for the Ireland v England game in June and the loudest chant of the day was "Sepp Blatter, he paid for your ground"

England fans chanting? Nah that can't be true.

[Bluekent]

sophocles, on 12 October 2015 - 10:28 PM, said:

Agree, the real 'quality' of the England team will be exposed the minute they come up against a decent team in a proper competitive situation. I think a lot of those now leaping up and down in admiration will be sadly disillusioned.

Whose leaping up and down? All I see is supporters who know we aren't a great side but are happy with the 100% qualification and really looking forward to being part of the summer. The only ones who seem to be disillusioned are the England bashers who again , know we aren't a great side but still seem to think we should definitely be qualifying and somehow still manage to pull the side down despite having a perfect record. They are the same people who'll tell everyone not to get too upbeat about the summer but will be the only ones going over the top with criticism when we go out at the group stage.

[lindo-spireite]

Got a camper van booked for the group stage, we also bagged ourselves a fair share of tickets for random games too, looking forward to the draw to see who we'll be watching.

One of the group got two tickets to the final.

[JonB]

lindo-spireite, on 13 October 2015 - 10:14 AM, said:

Got a camper van booked for the group stage, we also bagged ourselves a fair share of tickets for random games too, looking forward to the draw to see who we'll be watching.

One of the group got two tickets to the final.

Big group of us been looking at going and just plodding around France as i suspect a lot of fans will be doing. Worse case scenario for England fans in terms of travelling is being the second team in Group B for the draw....first game right down south in Marseille followed by second game right back up north in Lille before having to go to the south west corner for the final group game in Toulouse!

[Tha Knows...]

JonB, on 13 October 2015 - 07:34 AM, said:

I'm not jumping up and down but i also dont see the point in slating a side thats the only one in the whole of qualifying to have a 100% record! Yes there are going to be a lot tougher tests ahead and its probably unlikely we'll win it but to date its been pretty good.


http://www.theguardi...so-no-more-live

Yes we have been in a weak group but better teams than us have slipped up against weak teams in their groups on the road to qualification. 10/10 in qualifying games will count for little in the actual competition as we are not among the better sides in Europe, but it can't be knocked. It is what is, a perfect record.

[Rudeboy spireite]

We support Chesterfield FC and England, we are never going to see Premiership football, Championship football or England win a major tournament. But we can Enjoy the occasion with a few beers and a change of scenery. France here I come.

[Oscar Tone]

It'll be nice when it comes round, summers without an international football tournament doe seem to drag.

At the moment though i am just far too depressed about the situation at Town to give it the slightest bit of thought.

@saundersout & all that.

[Tha Knows...]

azul, on 12 October 2015 - 02:06 PM, said:

In most part they are - and to be honest I was really referring to England's group which has been utterly turgid and arguably the weakest on paper

However I'm not the one complaining about turgid games, other people are.

I'm complaining about the format of the competitions. if they allow England to qualify without breaking sweat and without playing particularly well so be it. But it doesn't do much for the game.

Imo there should be a pre-qualifying group competition to weed out the total dross like San marino who create no-contest games. For example, all of the pot 6 teams (San marino, faroe islands, gibraltar, luxembourg, malta, andorra, lichtenstein) in a pre-qualifier with some or all of the pot 5 teams (lithuania, Moldova, macedonia, albania, cyprus, northern ireland, azerbaijan, georgia, Iceland). We could then have smaller groups of teams with more keenly contested games, perhaps ending up with 9 groups of 4 teams. Or something along those lines.