Nations League & Friendlies

[Old Man Andrews]

Harry Wilson looks like he's going to be a major player, shame Wales got to him before England did really.

[Hoop Blah]

Harry Wilson looks like he's going to be a major player, shame Wales got to him before England did really.

Not really a shame at all, he's Welsh and should play for Wales. For the record, I believe England did get in touch with him and see if there was a chance he'd play for England but he, rightly, said he was Welsh and would want to play for Wales.

Wow. Harry Wilson take ANOTHER bow son. What a player. I think Wales are about to enter a golden era soon

Pretty sure most Welsh fans would say they've already been living their golden era for the last 5 years or so.

[Old Man Andrews]

Harry Wilson looks like he's going to be a major player, shame Wales got to him before England did really.

Not really a shame at all, he's Welsh and should play for Wales. For the record, I believe England did get in touch with him and see if there was a chance he'd play for England but he, rightly, said he was Welsh and would want to play for Wales.

Wow. Harry Wilson take ANOTHER bow son. What a player. I think Wales are about to enter a golden era soon

Pretty sure most Welsh fans would say they've already been living their golden era for the last 5 years or so.

Just on a side note if Gareth Bale had chosen to play for England instead of Wales and had the career he has had would you be saying it is a shame he chose us or would you just enjoy the fact he did?

[Hoop Blah]

Just on a side note if Gareth Bale had chosen to play for England instead of Wales and had the career he has had would you be saying it is a shame he chose us or would you just enjoy the fact he did?

I'd love for him to have been English and played for England yes. But he's Welsh, so he should be playing for Wales as he has done.

I know we've had a few over the years who have been nationalised England stars as such, and I've been very happy for them to have played for England because they felt they were English (Barnes, Hargreaves, Le Saux, Sterling etc) but I wouldn't really want a player playing for England when he see's himself as Welsh no.

[Old Man Andrews]

How long is it before Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have to go?

[Winston Biscuit]

How long is it before Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane have to go?

I know someone who is very close friends with an Irish player in the current squad. It's obv only one persons opinion (passed anecdotally through someone else) but they said the players are not that fond of O' Neill but do really like Roy Keane

[Kulshaw72RFC]

No place for the AFCON, but Madagascar have qualified for the first time ever.

[Winston Biscuit]

lolz @ the Andorra own goal yesterday. Proper schoolboy football.

https://streamable.com/2dslo

[Kulshaw72RFC]

Wow.

[Zip]

Harry Wilson looks like he's going to be a major player, shame Wales got to him before England did really.

Not really a shame at all, he's Welsh and should play for Wales. For the record, I believe England did get in touch with him and see if there was a chance he'd play for England but he, rightly, said he was Welsh and would want to play for Wales.

Wow. Harry Wilson take ANOTHER bow son. What a player. I think Wales are about to enter a golden era soon

Pretty sure most Welsh fans would say they've already been living their golden era for the last 5 years or so.

Spot on about Harry Wilson. If I came on here and posted that it was a shame England got to Harry Kane before Wales did I suspect OMA and others would be giving me a bit of a kicking.

OMA would be more justified if he questioned why England hadn’t managed to pick up Ampadu and Brooks especially the latter who starred for England at youth level.

Not sure about this golden generation stuff. The Euros 2016 were superb but the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals was a blow. Only taking one point off Ireland in the two qualifiers was simply not good enough.

[Ascotexgunner]

Just on a side note if Gareth Bale had chosen to play for England instead of Wales and had the career he has had would you be saying it is a shame he chose us or would you just enjoy the fact he did?

I'd love for him to have been English and played for England yes. But he's Welsh, so he should be playing for Wales as he has done.

I know we've had a few over the years who have been nationalised England stars as such, and I've been very happy for them to have played for England because they felt they were English (Barnes, Hargreaves, Le Saux, Sterling etc) but I wouldn't really want a player playing for England when he see's himself as Welsh no.

If he had played for England, you could guarantee the overpaid dross they had as managers would have played him at left back and he and his teammates would still have stunk the tournament's out with their turgid football for 2 decades pre Southgate.

[Ascotexgunner]

Harry Wilson looks like he's going to be a major player, shame Wales got to him before England did really.

Not really a shame at all, he's Welsh and should play for Wales. For the record, I believe England did get in touch with him and see if there was a chance he'd play for England but he, rightly, said he was Welsh and would want to play for Wales.

Wow. Harry Wilson take ANOTHER bow son. What a player. I think Wales are about to enter a golden era soon

Pretty sure most Welsh fans would say they've already been living their golden era for the last 5 years or so.

Spot on about Harry Wilson. If I came on here and posted that it was a shame England got to Harry Kane before Wales did I suspect OMA and others would be giving me a bit of a kicking.

OMA would be more justified if he questioned why England hadn’t managed to pick up Ampadu and Brooks especially the latter who starred for England at youth level.

Not sure about this golden generation stuff. The Euros 2016 were superb but the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals was a blow. Only taking one point off Ireland in the two qualifiers was simply not good enough.

We should have topped the group in all honesty. All those draws and failures to hold leads conceeding late goals, we dropped so many points without losing. The Irish were thugs on the pitch, just like last night and when Joe Allen went off we never recovered. As well as the last generation did (and let's face it we will never get to another semi in a major tournament in my lifetime), we were a bit thin on the ground quality wise. Was gutted when Ramsay missed the Portugal game, you just felt we didn't have enough.
This Welsh team look to have far more quality and depth if they keep progressing. I think we have a great chance of qualifying more consistently as well. Only downside could be if Giggs becomes too successful. I understand his salary is pretty pathetic. ONeil earns 3 times more in the Ireland job apparently. There maybe a few clubs pushing for his signature.

[Zip]

Not really a shame at all, he's Welsh and should play for Wales. For the record, I believe England did get in touch with him and see if there was a chance he'd play for England but he, rightly, said he was Welsh and would want to play for Wales.



Pretty sure most Welsh fans would say they've already been living their golden era for the last 5 years or so.

Spot on about Harry Wilson. If I came on here and posted that it was a shame England got to Harry Kane before Wales did I suspect OMA and others would be giving me a bit of a kicking.

OMA would be more justified if he questioned why England hadn’t managed to pick up Ampadu and Brooks especially the latter who starred for England at youth level.

Not sure about this golden generation stuff. The Euros 2016 were superb but the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals was a blow. Only taking one point off Ireland in the two qualifiers was simply not good enough.

We should have topped the group in all honesty. All those draws and failures to hold leads conceeding late goals, we dropped so many points without losing. The Irish were thugs on the pitch, just like last night and when Joe Allen went off we never recovered. As well as the last generation did (and let's face it we will never get to another semi in a major tournament in my lifetime), we were a bit thin on the ground quality wise. Was gutted when Ramsay missed the Portugal game, you just felt we didn't have enough.
This Welsh team look to have far more quality and depth if they keep progressing. I think we have a great chance of qualifying more consistently as well. Only downside could be if Giggs becomes too successful. I understand his salary is pretty pathetic. ONeil earns 3 times more in the Ireland job apparently. There maybe a few clubs pushing for his signature.

We also missed Ben Davies against Portugal. I’m cautiously optimistic about the future. I just want to see Wales quality for the World Cup Finals. Just the once please. I’ve seen Reading in the top flight which I never thought would happen. Now I would like to see Wales in the World Cup Finals.

Not worried if Giggs leaves. He did well last night though. Selected the 11 I had hoped he would.

[Zip]

In December we will have the draw for the Euros. There will be ten groups with 5 or 6 teams in each group. The top 2 in each group will qualify for the finals.
Seeding for the draw will be based on Nations League performance.
The ten top seeds for the draw will come from the ten best performing teams amongst the sides in the A groups of the Nations League. Second seeds will be the two worst performing teams from group A and the eight best performing teams from group B and so on.

The team that finishes top of their group will move up a group so if Wales beat Denmark they win their group and will be a group A team when the Nations League starts again in 2020. If a team, ie Northern Ireland finish bottom of their group they go down a group.

The Euro qualifiers are from March to November 2019. Four further teams will qualify for the finals. These will come from the Nations League play offs which take place as late as March 2020 although I think the play offs fir group A take place next summer. A play off winner will come from groups A, B, C and D. So a minnow from group D will reach the Euro finals. So the four winners of A, B, C and D groups play off for a place in the Euro finals. However it gets messier because they may already have qualified for the finals through Euro qualifiers. I think the team that finishes below them in the Nations group then replaces them in the play offs.

It’s certainly convoluted and I don’t know many football fans who fully understand all of this but it is, in my view, an improvement on the play offs.

[Hoop Blah]

Not sure about this golden generation stuff. The Euros 2016 were superb but the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals was a blow. Only taking one point off Ireland in the two qualifiers was simply not good enough.

We should have topped the group in all honesty. All those draws and failures to hold leads conceeding late goals, we dropped so many points without losing. The Irish were thugs on the pitch, just like last night and when Joe Allen went off we never recovered. As well as the last generation did (and let's face it we will never get to another semi in a major tournament in my lifetime), we were a bit thin on the ground quality wise. Was gutted when Ramsay missed the Portugal game, you just felt we didn't have enough.

This Welsh team look to have far more quality and depth if they keep progressing. I think we have a great chance of qualifying more consistently as well. Only downside could be if Giggs becomes too successful. I understand his salary is pretty pathetic. ONeil earns 3 times more in the Ireland job apparently. There maybe a few clubs pushing for his signature.

Obviously it's not all plain sailing and 100% success, but a Wales team getting to a finals, let alone making the Semi's once there and having the realistic potential to qualify for other tournaments has to be seen as a golden generation compare to the usual dross.

[Sutekh]

Not sure about this golden generation stuff. The Euros 2016 were superb but the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals was a blow. Only taking one point off Ireland in the two qualifiers was simply not good enough.

We should have topped the group in all honesty. All those draws and failures to hold leads conceeding late goals, we dropped so many points without losing. The Irish were thugs on the pitch, just like last night and when Joe Allen went off we never recovered. As well as the last generation did (and let's face it we will never get to another semi in a major tournament in my lifetime), we were a bit thin on the ground quality wise. Was gutted when Ramsay missed the Portugal game, you just felt we didn't have enough.

This Welsh team look to have far more quality and depth if they keep progressing. I think we have a great chance of qualifying more consistently as well. Only downside could be if Giggs becomes too successful. I understand his salary is pretty pathetic. ONeil earns 3 times more in the Ireland job apparently. There maybe a few clubs pushing for his signature.

I would expect Giggs' salary is somehwat related to his experience as a manager. O'Neill has a proven track record in management and is possibly currently worth 3 x Giggs in that respect. Up to Giggs to now prove his worth and earn an improved deal - and a good run in the Euros should do that.

[Zip]

Not sure about this golden generation stuff. The Euros 2016 were superb but the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Finals was a blow. Only taking one point off Ireland in the two qualifiers was simply not good enough.

We should have topped the group in all honesty. All those draws and failures to hold leads conceeding late goals, we dropped so many points without losing. The Irish were thugs on the pitch, just like last night and when Joe Allen went off we never recovered. As well as the last generation did (and let's face it we will never get to another semi in a major tournament in my lifetime), we were a bit thin on the ground quality wise. Was gutted when Ramsay missed the Portugal game, you just felt we didn't have enough.

This Welsh team look to have far more quality and depth if they keep progressing. I think we have a great chance of qualifying more consistently as well. Only downside could be if Giggs becomes too successful. I understand his salary is pretty pathetic. ONeil earns 3 times more in the Ireland job apparently. There maybe a few clubs pushing for his signature.

Obviously it's not all plain sailing and 100% success, but a Wales team getting to a finals, let alone making the Semi's once there and having the realistic potential to qualify for other tournaments has to be seen as a golden generation compare to the usual dross.

Possibly but we have had plenty of near misses in qualifying campaigns where the groups were tougher than the last World Cup campaign. We were up against Austria, Serbia, Ireland, Georgia and Moldova. A very poor Irish side took four points off us. We drew at home to Georgia. Our other results were fine but dropping seven points against Ireland and Georgia was woeful.
We need to qualify for a World Cup Finals. Then they can be considered a golden generation.

[stealthpapes]

In December we will have the draw for the Euros. There will be ten groups with 5 or 6 teams in each group. The top 2 in each group will qualify for the finals.
Seeding for the draw will be based on Nations League performance.
The ten top seeds for the draw will come from the ten best performing teams amongst the sides in the A groups of the Nations League. Second seeds will be the two worst performing teams from group A and the eight best performing teams from group B and so on.

The team that finishes top of their group will move up a group so if Wales beat Denmark they win their group and will be a group A team when the Nations League starts again in 2020. If a team, ie Northern Ireland finish bottom of their group they go down a group.

The Euro qualifiers are from March to November 2019. Four further teams will qualify for the finals. These will come from the Nations League play offs which take place as late as March 2020 although I think the play offs fir group A take place next summer. A play off winner will come from groups A, B, C and D. So a minnow from group D will reach the Euro finals. So the four winners of A, B, C and D groups play off for a place in the Euro finals. However it gets messier because they may already have qualified for the finals through Euro qualifiers. I think the team that finishes below them in the Nations group then replaces them in the play offs.

It’s certainly convoluted and I don’t know many football fans who fully understand all of this but it is, in my view, an improvement on the play offs.

except one dump team will qualify.

kinda hoping its Luxembourg, actually. Two games, home to Belarus and away to Moldova to be one of the 4 group D playoff teams.

[Zip]

In December we will have the draw for the Euros. There will be ten groups with 5 or 6 teams in each group. The top 2 in each group will qualify for the finals.
Seeding for the draw will be based on Nations League performance.
The ten top seeds for the draw will come from the ten best performing teams amongst the sides in the A groups of the Nations League. Second seeds will be the two worst performing teams from group A and the eight best performing teams from group B and so on.

The team that finishes top of their group will move up a group so if Wales beat Denmark they win their group and will be a group A team when the Nations League starts again in 2020. If a team, ie Northern Ireland finish bottom of their group they go down a group.

The Euro qualifiers are from March to November 2019. Four further teams will qualify for the finals. These will come from the Nations League play offs which take place as late as March 2020 although I think the play offs fir group A take place next summer. A play off winner will come from groups A, B, C and D. So a minnow from group D will reach the Euro finals. So the four winners of A, B, C and D groups play off for a place in the Euro finals. However it gets messier because they may already have qualified for the finals through Euro qualifiers. I think the team that finishes below them in the Nations group then replaces them in the play offs.

It’s certainly convoluted and I don’t know many football fans who fully understand all of this but it is, in my view, an improvement on the play offs.

except one dump team will qualify.

kinda hoping its Luxembourg, actually. Two games, home to Belarus and away to Moldova to be one of the 4 group D playoff teams.

+1 to Luxembourg as a long standing and long suffering minnow.

[Snowflake Royal]

Some pretty ropey sides already get to the WC Finals, so I don't see a problem with adding a European one. Goals are always good at a Finals, so same for Euros.

Plus could you imagine a manor Finals with Luxemburg but not one of England / France / Netherlands / Italy / Belgium. The Lolz.