Ireland, Scotland & Wales - EURO 2020 bid

[Guest MattP]

Thankfully those idiots are long gone.

If we ever get Ireland away again you know the same sort would be all out again, it would be the away trip of the decade just like last time.

[Finnegan]

and it's especially rich seeing English fans bemoaning shit teams in major tournaments having feebly limped to draws against Algeria and the USA and clambering through with a weak win against Slovenia before being made to look like minnows by a rampant Germany.

Japan, Korea and Ghana were all infinitely better spectacles for the neutral than the "big" English side and all, to be frank, played better football.

I hate how arrogant a selection of your fans get about "smaller" countries. I understand the protest against the likes of San Marino and Lichtenstein being in the qualis, even if I don't agree, but the snobbery over letting a few more teams into the Euros? Give it a rest and get off your high horses. You're better than us but, internationally, you're **** all special.

[Guest MattP]

Couldn't care less though, yes we are inept but we usually get to a major tournament and we usually get out the groups.

If you think England fans are annoying you want to have to listen to whiney fans of minnow nations that can't even get out of these shitty European qualifying groups that contain teams worse than Algeria and the USA so have to try and turn the football world into a raffle just so they can spend a summer not doing absolutely fcuk all for once.

[Manwell Pablo]

Couldn't care less though, yes we are inept but we usually get to a major tournament and we usually get out the groups.

If you think England fans are annoying you want to have to listen to whiney fans of minnow nations that can't even get out of these shitty European qualifying groups that contain teams worse than Algeria and the USA so have to try and turn the football world into a raffle just so they can spend a summer not doing absolutely fcuk all for once.

Don't knock the Welsh, they have hardly any foriegners in their Premier League, as this is the secret to sucess I predict they'll be tearing Europe up come 2016 anyway.

[Daggers]

Exactly, the Euros is 16 of the finest National sides in the world, they are no passengers.

Nurse - give me whatever he's on.

Finest? England? :w00t:

Remind me again when they last looked anything like half-decent in a tournament?

[Guest MattP]

Don't knock the Welsh, they have hardly any foriegners in their Premier League, as this is the secret to sucess I predict they'll be tearing Europe up come 2016 anyway.

Nurse - give me whatever he's on.

Finest? England? :w00t:

Remind me again when they last looked anything like half-decent in a tournament?

Problem is apart from about 8 teams the rest of the world is shit. You can be a top 16 side like England and not be very good.

I still enjoy the Copa America more than the Euros, far higher skill level on show with the exception of Spain and Germany.

[Finnegan]

Don't knock the Welsh, they have hardly any foriegners in their Premier League, as this is the secret to sucess I predict they'll be tearing Europe up come 2016 anyway.

We still won't qualify if its 24. Which is the point, you're only looking at a few more sides like Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Poland qualifying more regularly. Slovakia, Bosnia, etc, too. Teams with ever growing reputations who are competitive and will add to the vibrancy of the competition.

[Daggers]

Problem is apart from about 8 teams the rest of the world is shit. You can be a top 16 side like England and not be very good.

Yep. I'm laughing at the ignorant use of "finest" as if that somehow implies a dollop of Tesco quality.

I still enjoy the Copa America more than the Euros, far higher skill level on show with the exception of Spain and Germany.

Yep. Love Latin footy to bits.

[leicesterlad1989]

and it's especially rich seeing English fans bemoaning shit teams in major tournaments having feebly limped to draws against Algeria and the USA and clambering through with a weak win against Slovenia before being made to look like minnows by a rampant Germany.

Japan, Korea and Ghana were all infinitely better spectacles for the neutral than the "big" English side and all, to be frank, played better football.

I hate how arrogant a selection of your fans get about "smaller" countries. I understand the protest against the likes of San Marino and Lichtenstein being in the qualis, even if I don't agree, but the snobbery over letting a few more teams into the Euros? Give it a rest and get off your high horses. You're better than us but, internationally, you're **** all special.

I think the difference is that we may stagger and choke in the tournament itself, but we are consitant qualifiers to major tournaments. And the likelyhood of us seeing Japan, Korea and Ghana

in the euro's is highly unlikely. I agree in the world cup the ''smaller'' nations are great to watch, but in the europe, other than the teams that have qualified this year I just can't see any teams worth adding to

the competition.

[Manwell Pablo]

We still won't qualify if its 24. Which is the point, you're only looking at a few more sides like Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Poland qualifying more regularly. Slovakia, Bosnia, etc, too. Teams with ever growing reputations who are competitive and will add to the vibrancy of the competition.

Completley dependant on the draw.

[Guest MattP]

We still won't qualify if its 24. Which is the point, you're only looking at a few more sides like Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Poland qualifying more regularly. Slovakia, Bosnia, etc, too. Teams with ever growing reputations who are competitive and will add to the vibrancy of the competition.

Team

• v
  
• t
  
• e
  

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Greece 10 7 3 0 14 5 +9 24 Croatia 10 7 1 2 18 7 +11 22 Israel 10 5 1 4 13 11 +2 16 Latvia 10 3 2 5 9 12 −3 11 Georgia 10 2 4 4 7 9 −2 10 Malta 10 0 1 9 4 21 −17 1

Get dumped in a group like that and you would have every chance with 3 sides going through.

edit (fcuk knows what happened there but you get the point)

[Finnegan]

If we had a good, mid table prem quality striker I actually think we could get to the next world cup if Coleman pulls his finger out. Quite a soft group.

But we don't and Coleman will most likely be shit. Besides, I was optimistic we'd finish second to England last time out and we were dreadful so who knows?

Just a shame our midfield can't play five a side, we might win something then.

[davieG]

I was just picking up on the fact you said it already has most teams making up the numbers when in reality it is an incredibly competitive tournament.

But yeah increasing it to the size of the World Cup will be a pretty shit move I reckon. The weaker teams get their chance during qualification.

I was just trying to wiggle out of it.

[RonnieTodger]

There'd be some great stadia involved, Ibrox, Celtic Park, Hampden, Murrayfield, Croke Park, Landsdowne, Millennium Stadium.

But surely three host nations automatically qualifying is taking the piss? Especially if, post Team GB we're supposed to be paranoid about UEFA and FIFA questioning our individual unions. Love it to happen but a lot of questions.

As far as I'm aware, EURO 2012 is the last European Championships with 16 teams. From France 2016 onwards there'll be 24 teams so there'll still be 21 qualifying places up for grabs even if there are 3 host-nations. So if Wales, Scotland and Ireland host it or not, they should make the next European Championships regularly.

EDIT: Someone's already mentioned...Nevermind.

[The Doctor]

If San Marino, the Faroe Islands and the Icelandic womens' under-17 team qualify Scotland might even get past the group stage. As runners-up of course.

Getting something from games against San Marino & the Faroes? Never gonna happen. Unless the Icelandic team is thrown out for one of the players being a dwarf in a wig then we'd finish bottom of that group.

[Kitchandro]

Think the expansion is bollocks personally, look at Group A of this years tournament, absolute cack and that's with 16 teams.

God knows what the 24 team tournament will look like. If they do change it they had better keep it to group winners and 2 runners up, having a 24 team tournament going into a knockout of 16 teams would render it a complete joke.

I agree, the expansion is just about money spinning, completely uneccessary from a football point of view.

There will always be minnows at a 16-team European CHampionship, there's plenty of chances for upsets. In fact it gives them a better chance of doing well, look at Denmark in 1992 and Greece in 2004. That kind of thing has never happened at the world cup.

I love the Euros but I've always seen the world cup as over twice as big. They shouldn't try and make the Euros the sort of extravaganza that the world cup is, the world cup should remain as unique as possible.

[Finnegan]

But if you don't find any appeal in something like Austria vs. Scotland then don't watch it but plenty of people will enjoy it and, you never know, one of those teams could cause a few surprises.

It's not like they're making it a 365025083 team tournament that'd go on for years. It's just a few extra teams and a few extra games in the summer. What's not to like for the genuine football fan!?

I love summer tournaments. Weaker teams will be filtered out in the earlier rounds if they don't deserve to progress and thanks to the seedings it's not going to ruin the spectacle for the "bigger" sides. There's literally nothing to lose by expanding.

[Bert]

Hope they get it.