World Cup playoffs (1 Viewer)

[Richie]

Fuck it, one of the toughest draws we could have got (especially with the home leg first).. At least it's not the Russkies. Oh well, bring it on, it'd be nice to stick to FIFA by knocking them out, revenge for '06 too.. Going to be difficult as fuck but we've got Trap to outsmart Domenech, plus our lads want it more, right?..

 

[snakybus]

wishful thinking Richie. They're gonna ride us like in a dirty French movie.

 

[Cryptid]

Just wondering, when did the Faroe Islands get a draw off France?

I think this is a tough draw, but as has already been said, Domenech is a bit of a clown.

 

[Hector Grey]

it was never gonna be pretty, was it. this just ain't pretty. fuck.

 

[binky]

Ribery and henry are both out at the minute by no means guaranteed to start.

Domenech is a looney without the confidence of the dressing room. Trap is pretty much the polar opposite in spite or, perhaps because of his pecadilloes.

Scotland beat 'em one nil home and away 2 year ago with a similarly "shaolin soccer" minded first XI to our own.

Paris has grass on it and we can get there relatively easy.

Could be worse yo!

'mon the pubalik!

 

[quackster]

shur we'll have a party and wave our inflatable green hammers no matter what

 

[CinnamonBoy]

I think it's a decent draw. We don't have to deal with Moscow, Ronaldo or the public expecting us to beat Greece. Cagey 0-0 here and a score draw in Paris in front of 10s of thousands of our fans. Atmosphere in Croker should be great with it being a Saturday too.

 

[old]

Le Paul Doyle column.

 

[Hector Grey]

we beat these cunts, and we DESERVE to be at the party, and fuck dunphy and the rest of the non-trappists. we lose and one of the best team sin the yadda yadda yadda and our confidence isn't completely shattered. bet the russians lose.

 

[maims bond]

I think it's a decent draw. We don't have to deal with Moscow, Ronaldo or the public expecting us to beat Greece.

Yeah, you're right. We only now have to deal with Henry, Benzema, Anelka, Ribery, Viera et al. Sure, Whelan and the boys will cream them!

 

[Hector Grey]

viera, benzema they've hardly kicked a ball this year. benzema is pretty poor for france, i don't think he gets on with domenech. gourcuff's the lad to look out for. they have some seriously talented players (without even mentioning sagna and nasri) and even some muscle in the midfield (diarra, toulalan) and even some bruisers up front. but their manager is a bona fide mental patient. that's our in.

 

[Richie]

Steven Reid reckons he'll be fit by then - seems to have been a bit of a breakdown in communications with Trap regarding the extent of his injury:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/trap-crocked-claim-shocks-reid-1917507.html

Would be a major boost if he was.. Going to need all the luck we can get. France didn't do particularly well in this campaign (single goal victories over Lithuania twice and the Faroes away, beaten 3-1 by Austria and held twice by Romania who were generally rubbish) but you can't really say that our results were any more impressive. If we go into the second leg level the French will be under major pressure at home, the public and press have been getting on the team's back throughout this campaign.

 

[washingcattle]

my two cents is that with Russia, Greece and Portugal we knew exactly what we were getting. with France we could get one of two things

1. A patchy bunch with some amazing and some poor players who are under extreme pressure compounded by a lunatic for a manger.

or 2. and hopefully we get these lot
A bunch of whinging spoilt brats that don't like being tackled and have imploded over and over again under pressure.

I don't like how we play, but I think Italy are a better side than France and we should have no fear. Plus we can all sing along to their national anthem again.

Overall we still don't know what opposition we're going to get because either version of France could turn up.

WashingPrediction: 0-0 at home, 1-1 away, through on away goals in Paris when Dunne gets last minute equaliser. Trap becomes a hero and Andy Ried never wins another cap.

 

[Janer]

I'd give us at least a 50/50 against them.

That is genrous to the extreme, I would give us 10/90

 

[Cormcolash]

Analysis of the draw from the FIFA point of view:

Ireland v France - Right, we have to make sure France get into the World Cup, so we'll give them the home leg second. They're the runners up from last year and won it not so long ago remember! We can't have a World Cup without them!
Ireland? They play some of the worst football we've ever seen, hardly a good advert for the World Cup. Still, they're pretty stubborn, got results against Italy, we better make sure we give them our best team so they get kicked out on their arses.
Result: Ireland v France

Russia - Slovenia : Right, we want to make sure Russia get in, cause they're a massive country. Good thing is, whoever plays them will have to go to Moscow in November, so they're probably fucked anyway. In saying that, we can't put them against Ukraine, it would be too much of a grudge match, anything could happen, and we have to make sure Portugal get a really shit team so that Ronaldo gets to South Africa. Result? We'll give em Slovenia sure.

Portugal - Bosnia - Hmmm, Portugal have been fairly bollocks through the qualifying, haven't they? We better make sure Ronaldo gets to South Africa though, he's the best player in the world after all! I know, give them Bosnia, they're fucking shit anyway, Portugal are bound to win that one! Result : Portugal - Bosnia

Ukraine - Greece - Okay, so we've Greece. They're fucking crap, let's face it, they play shit football. I wish they were in the bottom seeds, but oh well. Tell you what, let's put them up against a team that might be decent if they make it to the World Cup, but that we won't really mind either way if Greece still win. Result? Greece v Ukraine.

Cynical, moi?
I wouldn't be surprised if Slovenia cause Russia bother, they're completely under-rated I think.
As for us vs France? My prediction : 0-0 in the first leg, with a solid Irish performance and France being fairly crap. 1-0 to France in the second leg, with the goal coming from a "calamitous mistake" from the FIFA appointed referee, the ball deflecting off a balloon or Benzema being blatantly about 50 yards offside or some shit. Have to make sure France go through after all.

 

[Jerry Twig]

Andy Reid gets a call up to the squad, but doesn't play in the home match. It's 1-1 in a dour encounter, with no creation in either midfield.
2nd leg, 1-0 down with 15 minutes to go. Trap tells Reid to tog off - replaces the shamed Whelan, and scores with a bullet from 25 yards in the 86th minute. Ireland erupts.
Cat and mouse extra time...penos...4-4....Ribery hits the bar....up steps Andy Reid...KAPOW!!!!! Ireland explodes, Trap tears off his shirt and runs the length of the pitch, Dunphy has a heart attack, and Stephen Ireland sits at home crying a little tear to himself while his girlfriend tells him he's better off.

 

[coast to coast]

In preparation I played against France in a one off away qualifier in Pro Evo a week ago. The good news is Robbie Keane scored a frankly phenomenal 80 yard Weah-esque wondergoal.
The bad news is that Benzema bagged the winner in the 118th minute to bring his personal tally to 5 in a 5-4 win.

Fuck it, lets do them on pennos after two of the biggest puke fests in the history of football - fuck you Platini.

 

[CinnamonBoy]

With Steven Reid and Finnan back in the side we might actually play some decent football. Black Mountain away last year was quite a good football match with Reid in the middle. Finnan got forward well against Georgia in Mainz.

 

[washingcattle]

Oh sweet jesus I'd love to watch Platinis face if we won it in the last minute of extra time in Paris. Prick.

 

[Richie]

Might end up lining out like this:

...........................Loris
Sagna.........Gallas............Abidal............Evra
Ribery.........Diarra ...........Gorcuff.........Malouda
...................Henry.........Benzema
 
...................Keane..........Doyle
Duff.............S. Reid *......Whelan.......Lawrence\Hunt
Kilbane..........Dunne........St Ledger........O ' Shea
............................Given

* - Being optimistic here... it'll probably be Andrews.

Ribery is apparently a slight injury doubt but should be fit by next month.

If Finnan is available would Trap switch things around at the back and go with O' Shea \ Dunne \ St Ledger \ Finnan to try and plug the weak spot at left back (sorry Killer, the record breaking run has to end sometime!)?

France are stronger in just about every position except goalkeeper, and have much better squad depth.. They're apparently iffy on defending set pieces and corners, which is one chink of light given how we've scored most of our goals in this campaign.