Europa league

[Rougvierocks]

I would love to be confident in our chances, but do you think AFC and McInnes will now write this off as a transition period, even if you should probably be good enough on paper to go through?
Also what should our team be for next week, thoughts?

[TheRedRichard]

no, we need to go for this. One of the most important games of the season. Treat it on a par with the Cup Final. Can save us from the repetitve drudgery of the domestic competition. The draw today should give us added incentive.

[NewOrleansRed]

no, we need to go for this. One of the most important games of the season. Treat it on a par with the Cup Final. Can save us from the repetitve drudgery of the domestic competition. The draw today should give us added incentive.

Could not agree more. This is potentially worth more, money, progress and exposure for the club than lifting the Scottish Cup. It's just a massive game. The group stages are within reach if we go to Cyprus and win. Even a playoff could be a real money spinner. Plus it'd just GIRFU the Zombie nation.

I've no doubt McInnes will have the troops in the perfect frame of mind for it. We need to find that extra gear that the Bosnians haven't seen. More cutting edge and as the manager says, control proceedings for longer.

I just found out that my flight to work in Alaska is on Thursday so I'll be keeping tabs on the game from the air. *******!

[Heed_Don_In]

Same position after the Maribor result. We need to learn from that. We have another gear, i dont think they have. But will the heat and the officials influence, and more importantly will WE turn up....time will tell.

[Aldo1983]

Same position after the Maribor result. We need to learn from that. We have another gear, i dont think they have. But will the heat and the officials influence, and more importantly will WE turn up....time will tell.

GMS would have wiped the floor with them if it were not for literally just joining and it being the first game of the season.

To have two further rounds though makes it almost impossible to get to the group stages imo.

[Rochead]

My fear is the lack of match fitness and sharpness. We can still go through but will have to play in a slower more controlled manner, we are not yet ready to play a high intensity game for 90 minutes, especially in the heat.

[Sidney77]

Qualification for the groups is such a long-shot, especially when you see the sides coming into play in even the 3rd round. UEFA doesn't want the minnows making it, that much is clear.
We've been fortunate with the draws - in football terms - but given the changes and rustiness we may still fall before reaching the final hurdle.

Never mind that, anyone know of a boozer in Edinburgh showing the game on Thursday? I see on another thread that Premier Sports defo has it on.

[Landvetter83]

I would love to be confident in our chances, but do you think AFC and McInnes will now write this off as a transition period, even if you should probably be good enough on paper to go through?
Also what should our team be for next week, thoughts?

No. Reaching the group stages of the Europa League is a MASSIVE ambition for McInnes and the club. Admittedly, the Siroki Brijeg tie is on a knife-edge and looking like we're up against it. I'm quietly confident we'll sneak a result on Thursday - mainly on the back of our other away results in QR2 over the last couple of years.

[fittiered]

Qualification for the groups is such a long-shot, especially when you see the sides coming into play in even the 3rd round. UEFA doesn't want the minnows making it, that much is clear.
We've been fortunate with the draws - in football terms - but given the changes and rustiness we may still fall before reaching the final hurdle.

Never mind that, anyone know of a boozer in Edinburgh showing the game on Thursday? I see on another thread that Premier Sports defo has it on.

I'm sure you'll get a boozer showing the game. Me and the wife were in Lisbon when we were due to play Bayern 2007 I think at home and I walked into a pub to ask if they were showing the game and the guy was like yes we have British tv..... So we ate their that night with others and I was pretty blootered by the end of that!!

[TartanIvor]

Never mind that, anyone know of a boozer in Edinburgh showing the game on Thursday? I see on another thread that Premier Sports defo has it on.

Wilkies Bar in Leith or The Tron in Hunters Sq

[GASC1980]

£418,000 prize money I believe for our exploits this year.

[Don_Corleone]

£418,000 prize money I believe for our exploits this year.

Should maybe contact PSG and see if we can get Neymar on loan for 45 minutes.

[Pacman1903]

Speaking of which, why the f@ck is there nae games on tonight. Was going to be my excuse for a beer. Ach well.

[kkong]

Apollon Limassol 2-2 FC Midtjylland after 80 minutes.

[kkong]

FT: Apollon Limassol 3-2 FC Midtjylland

[macattack]

Draaw for group stages just been made if we had got through we would have got Lyon Atlanta & Everton :blue: that would have been some cracking away trips there :(

[GASC1980]

Doesn't work like that. If we had beaten the Cypriots we wouldn't have drawn the Danish lot.

[afc1903mad]

Doesn't work like that. If we had beaten the Cypriots we wouldn't have drawn the Danish lot.

True, but with the new European seeding calculations, consistent qualification for QR3 or PO rounds, will gradually move us in to the seeding rounds for QR3 and PO rounds, where we may get favourable draws to go through.

Maribor just qualified for the Champions League and I though we were the better team over the two legs last year.

Were not that far away, keep plugging away with the consistency and hoping for favourable draws.
If we maintain or better our recent European results over the next 5 years, we will be in a decent position to be seeded to qualify.
We just need to keep the patience

[kigoretrout]

True, but with the new European seeding calculations, consistent qualification for QR3 or PO rounds, will gradually move us in to the seeding rounds for QR3 and PO rounds, where we may get favourable draws to go through.

Maribor just qualified for the Champions League and I though we were the better team over the two legs last year.

Were not that far away, keep plugging away with the consistency and hoping for favourable draws.
If we maintain or better our recent European results over the next 5 years, we will be in a decent position to be seeded to qualify.
We just need to keep the patience

Agreed. Still annoyed we didn't have Stevie May for last round. Bloody Alex Neil !

[Pacman1903]

Austria Vienna v AEK is when I'm in Vienna during my Euro invasion in December. Yaaaas min. Ernst Happel here I come

[Mr_Grieves]

Agreed. Still annoyed we didn't have Stevie May for last round. Bloody Alex Neil !

Its nae Alex Neil's fault that we didn't play enough pre-season friendlies before the European games.

[Pacman1903]

Since Champions League failures have been allowed in

18 of 36 finalists have been drop outs and 7 of them have won it. Getting rewarded for failure is bizarre in my eyes.That's 18 places in a final for teams that

a-deserve it more and

b-could cause an upset, we will never see the likes of Aberdeen, Magdeburg, Dinamo Tblisi, IFK Gothenborg etc winning a Euro trophy again because of the way European fitba is set up. Its not designed for us lesser teams.

The Champions League gets berated and quite rightly so but the Europa league is as equally as b@llocks. The only thing it has that makes it more favourable than the CL is the knockouts are not made up of the same teams over and over again

[RedStarTorphins]

True, but with the new European seeding calculations, consistent qualification for QR3 or PO rounds, will gradually move us in to the seeding rounds for QR3 and PO rounds, where we may get favourable draws to go through.

Maribor just qualified for the Champions League and I though we were the better team over the two legs last year.

Were not that far away, keep plugging away with the consistency and hoping for favourable draws.
If we maintain or better our recent European results over the next 5 years, we will be in a decent position to be seeded to qualify.
We just need to keep the patience

It's a bit optimistic if you think we would get near the group stages if we're starting the likes of O'Connor, Reynolds, Considine etc in the starting X1.
I'm not necessarily criticising the club, it's maybe where we are in terms of budget.
But it's highly unlikely.