Other Games - 2017/18

[cdbearsfan]

Very shocked that the one man team lost without their one man.

[spangley1812]

Very shocked that the one man team lost without their one man.

Good Point well made sir..............

[brontebilly]

Aaron Ramsey exposed as a complete fraud tonight. Had promise a few years back, just needs a man bun to morph into Henri Lansbury now.

Fair play to MON, could never applaud the disregard his team's have for keeping the ball but dug out a huge result tonight against the odds. Williams was diabolical for the goal, another one ghastly overrated.

The manner Wales made a hero out of Shane Duffy suggests Chris Coleman might find it tougher than he thinks to get his next job.

[Sexual Ealing]

The ball staying in play after Williams lost it suggest that a miracle took place. The ball always goes over the bye line in those situations.

[johnc]

An O Neill master class. There is a fair old spirit in that Irish squad. Wales missed Allen when he went off. Let the draw be kind. Standard of game was Championship at best.

[KRS]

It was much worse than anything I've seen in the Championship. It was an abomination of a "football" match.

[Des Little]

Two hours of my life I won't get back. What a load of utter shit.

[SoccerHQ]

Christ, that was tough and nervy to watch but great finish by McLean. Probably my favourite player in the current Irish side with his work rate and knack of scoring important goals.

McLean’s a very good player. Great result for Ireland. Let’s hope the draw is kind to us.

He gives his all on the pitch but technically he's lacking and can be very reckless in the tackle so I think very good player is tad over the top.

Still he fits well into the workmanlike ROI team and has scored two important winners in this group.

[KevinGage]

Look, the Irish pundits even said tonight that McClean wasn't going to be the one to play intricate one-twos on the edge of the box and work an opening, but he is what he is.  Seems a bit odd to bag him for technical deficiency tonight.

Wales and plenty of other sides could benefit from a combative winger, it seems.

I'm sure monkey boy Bale would and wee Barry Bannan would be OK with this level of failure. Ireland are nailed on for an absolute dog of a draw in the play-offs, though. Portugal or Italy away second leg would be my guess.

[TheMalandro]

Considering the circumstance, I thought it was a decent game. Wales played some good football up until Allen's injury.

I thought the referee deserved a mention, very sensible decisions.

[Nev]

Well I "enjoyed" it, but it was very nervy at times. After the No9 Derby, it's the second successive game where the away side were up against it and ended up prevailing, it's not particularly pretty but football isn't a beauty contest and in both instances, the stoicism, effort and application was admirable.

Ramsey joins the long list of "top" players who vanish during big games, goodness knows England have had their fair share over the years.

If they can get through the play offs, Ireland at the World Cup gives me another team to support, and an alternative to the inevitable horror of England at a major tournament.

[eamonn]

Aren't the seedings based on the next FIFA rankings (done monthly and due in a few days)? I wonder if beating Wales away might push Ireland up into the top half. Probably not, in which case, bring on Denmark.

[cdbearsfan]

The Republic had no chance of being seeded in the playoffs according to the link below. Northern Ireland had a one in five shot before the last couple of games, presumably now that is also zero chance given their successive defeats.

http://www.football-rankings.info/2017/10/2018-world-cup-simulations-6-october.html?m=1

[Comrade Blitz]

Playoff seeding process according to FIFA:

The eight teams will be seeded in two pots with the four highest-ranked teams placed in one pot. The ranking will be based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking published on 16 October.

At the moment the European playoff sides rank as follows in the Sept FIFA ranking:

2nd place in Group B (Portugal [1386]/Switzerland [1210])
France (if Sweden wins Group A) (1208)
Italy (1035)
Croatia  (977)
Slovakia (967)
Norn Iron (945)
Sweden (if France wins Group A) (918)
Denmark (848)
ROI (769)

[brontebilly]

Look, the Irish pundits even said tonight that McClean wasn't going to be the one to play intricate one-twos on the edge of the box and work an opening, but he is what he is.  Seems a bit odd to bag him for technical deficiency tonight.

Wales and plenty of other sides could benefit from a combative winger, it seems.

I'm sure monkey boy Bale would and wee Barry Bannan would be OK with this level of failure. Ireland are nailed on for an absolute dog of a draw in the play-offs, though. Portugal or Italy away second leg would be my guess.

I severely doubt if Ronaldo was even 50% fit that he would sit out a major game like last night.

As much as Northern Ireland/Occupied Six are the best draw for going through, can see it leading to carnage pre and post game in Dublin and Belfast given that they are evening kick offs and everything else that goes with it.