bob_mcshug Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Yep, the main appeal of the Euros was that it usually only consisted of big fish and dark horses - this expanded format is a terrible, terrible idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Making it 24 quaifying has removed any element of interest from the qualifiers for other than the shit entrants like ourselves and Roi. You've got too many pisspoor countries competing, and no real incentive for the decent nations to bother overly given they are going to cruise through in 1st or 2nd no sweat. I think it has been noticeable with some of the bigger nations that they don't seem to give a f*ck as they know they can be very average, make a mess of it, and still qualify quite easily. It seems to have been very positive for the middle of the road sides like us and Ireland, as you mentioned. Can't help but think that the end result will be a tournament that is too diluted and noticeably lower in quality when it comes to the finals. That being said, should Scotland qualify I will be straight on to SBB to book my train tickets to France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supras Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 The expanded format is excellent news for Scotland. Those opposed to it are cringers of the highest order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRob72 Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Making it 24 quaifying has removed any element of interest from the qualifiers for other than the shit entrants like ourselves and Roi. You've got too many pisspoor countries competing, and no real incentive for the decent nations to bother overly given they are going to cruise through in 1st or 2nd no sweat. Would be great to see the 4 home nations all qualify for Euro 2016 though, not had this sort of chance for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Those opposed to it are cringers of the highest order. Why? The elite 16 Euro format worked very well for years. There was no need to water it down. And I think this Scotland squad could well have qualified as one of the best 16 teams in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Going to 24 harms the qualifiers - and the finals, btw, given 16 of 24 will progress to KOs - hence that 'League of Nations' thing starting 2018. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepundit Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 It seems to have been very positive for the middle of the road sides like us and Ireland, as you mentioned. Can't help but think that the end result will be a tournament that is too diluted Absolutely. The Euro's has always been the best tournament in terms of quality football matches. Poor decision to expand it, albeit as you say teams like Scotland will benefit. It's all about more television money at the end of the day I suppose. And to have qualifying groups of 6 teams where 3rd can get you to the playoffs, well, that's just dumb, especially as the groups all have two or three really poor teams as it is. They should have pre-qualifying rounds for the San Marino's etc to reduce the amount of meaningless games in the qualifiers and then keep the qualification places to the top two in the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 What you've said there doesn't entirely make sense though. If you weed-out some of the small countries via "pre-qualifiers"... and that is controversial just in itself, as very few UEFA members are totally incapable nowadays... you have fewer countries in the qualifiers. That means an even higher proportion of teams from each group qualifying. For example, for Euro 2020 you could weed-out say the bottom 6 and go with 12 groups of 4... but that's only 6 games, and it's 2 of 4 qualifying from each. Expansion has damaged 3 areas, IMO: * qualifying is a procession for the big countries * it's knackered the finals tournament - it's the horrid old WC model of 6 groups of 4 with 2/3 of groups putting 3 from 4 teams through * it's made it very difficult for anyone but huge countries to consider hosting, and difficult for smaller countries to even consider co-hosting Even a 20-team finals, like Rugby World Cup 1999, would've been better than the new model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepundit Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 What you've said there doesn't entirely make sense though. If you weed-out some of the small countries via "pre-qualifiers"... and that is controversial just in itself, as very few UEFA members are totally incapable nowadays... you have fewer countries in the qualifiers. That means an even higher proportion of teams from each group qualifying. For example, for Euro 2020 you could weed-out say the bottom 6 and go with 12 groups of 4... but that's only 6 games, and it's 2 of 4 qualifying from each. It wouldn't be controversial to put teams with the lowest ranking into pre-qualifiers. Then 12 groups of 4 could be an option, but that's a lot of groups. Need to weed out more teams first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 It would be controversial to go beyond a handful - more of them have shown themselves capable of getting results. If you weed-out more than 6 more than 50% of teams in the qualifiers would qualify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supras Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Why? The elite 16 Euro format worked very well for years. There was no need to water it down. And I think this Scotland squad could well have qualified as one of the best 16 teams in Europe. Consistently Scotland could certainly not expect to qualify for a 16 team European competition. Our population just isn't big enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SodjesSixteenIncher Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 f**k sake, here we go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McQueen Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 I actually think it will make the end of the qualifiers better. The teams that always qualify will still always qualify but there should be something to play for in all groups. The finals will be worse I agree. These are the lowest ranked UEFA teams excluding Gibraltar. & even then its only San Marino & Andorra that are awful 110 45 Georgia 290 -15 112 46 FYR Macedonia 286 -36 127 47 Luxembourg 239 -18 127 48 Kazakhstan 239 4 155 49 Malta 133 -5 172 50 Liechtenstein 81 -5 179 51 Faroe Islands 67 4 203 52 Andorra 9 -4 208 53 San Marino 0 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grass Is Greener. Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Consistently Scotland could certainly not expect to qualify for a 16 team European competition. Our population just isn't big enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthernLights Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 1-0 Iceland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearwithme Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 A Sigurdsson penalty gives Iceland the lead v Holland. Looked a penalty at first sight. Needless one to give away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Naitch Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Had gone for a Belgium/Holland double tonight. Not looking great so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearwithme Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Wales 1 Cyprus 0. A Cotterrill cross finds its way in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearwithme Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Andorra equalise v Israel from a penalty. 1-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergie's no1 fan Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Wales are coasting this. I can see Bale getting a kicking tonight which would be extremely pleasing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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