Will be one group of 5 teams but that will not involve top seeds Spain, Italy, England, Germany as they will be excluded as they have a big TV market and will be in a 6 team group....

 

Scotland have been confirmed in pot four for the draw for the qualifying rounds of the 2016 European Championships.

Gordon Strachan's men will discover their fate in Nice on Sunday, Feburary 23.

Nine groups will be drawn for the qualifying phase, with France being part of the competition despite being hosts.

Eight groups will contain six teams each, while the ninth group will contain five nations.

Once the draw is made, France will be added to the group of five and will take part in friendly matches against their group rivals. Results against Les Bleus will not count towards qualifying.

The top two nations in each group will automatically qualify for Euro 2016, as well as the best third-placed nation.

The remaining eight countries who occupy third spot in their group will go into the play-off round for the 24-team tournament.

Fixtures commence on September 7-9, 2014, with the final group games being played between October 11 and 13, 2015.

As part of new rules, teams will be able to play qualifiers on any day from Thursday through to Tuesday when there is a scheduled double-header of matches.

Games in 2014 between October 9 and 14, as well as matches in 2015 between September 3 and 8, and October 8 and 13, all fall under the new criteria.

In another twist, being placed in the smaller group of five will also mean nations will avoid games against Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and England.

UEFA competition regulations state those countries must be in a group of six as they contribute the greatest TV revenue.

Pots for the qualifying phase of the 2016 European Championships.

Pot one: Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, Greece, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Pot two: Ukraine, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Ireland

Pot three: Serbia, Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, Poland

Pot four: Montenegro, Armenia, SCOTLAND, Finland, Latvia, Wales, Bulgaria, Estonia, Belarus

Pot five: Iceland, Northern Ireland, Albania, Lithuania, Moldova, FYR Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyprus

Pot six: Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar

Interesting that the Frenchies will get to play friendlies against the group of 5.

 

 

Wonder how many fans will turn up to watch those games and how many managers will risk playing their first team squads?

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html#

 

 

Would take the following:

 

Russia

ROI

Norway

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Gibraltar

Why does everyone always say they'd like the paddy teams? Personally I hate to draw them as they'll be better against us than non "british" teams.

 

 

I use the term "british" very loosely here obviously

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html#

 

 

Would take the following:

 

Russia

ROI

Norway

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Gibraltar

 

 

I would drop russia for either bosnia or england tbh, Russia is a really hard place to go play.  Also the english might be a top seed but they're a bit mince really and I reckon we could totally have them.  Also i would much rather Hungary from pot two as they are currently below us in the fifa rankings.  Hard to argue with the rest

 

 

Why does everyone always say they'd like the paddy teams? Personally I hate to draw them as they'll be better against us than non "british" teams.

 

 

I use the term "british" very loosely here obviously

they have the advantage of not being that good and being close which makes away games less gruelling for squads.

http://www.fifa.com/worldranking/rankingtable/index.html#

 

 

Would take the following:

 

Russia

ROI

Norway

Scotland

Northern Ireland

Gibraltar

 

Would probably swap Greece for Russia there but pretty much agree with rest.

 

Purely for the trips not qualification would take

 

Bosnia

Hungary

Turkey

Albania

Kazakhstan.

Draw today for 2016 European Championship qualifiers. Pots are as follows:

 

Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Italy, England, Holland, Portugal, Greece, Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pot 2: Ukraine, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Ireland.

Pot 3: Serbia, Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Norway, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, Poland.

Pot 4: Montenegro, Armenia, Scotland , Finland, Latvia, Wales, Bulgaria, Estonia, Belarus.

Pot 5: Iceland, Northern Ireland, Albania, Lithuania, Moldova, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyprus.

Pot 6: Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Faroe Islands, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Gibraltar.

 

Best chance of qualifying would go for Greece, Ireland, Poland, Cyprus and San Marino.  As wife is about to have first child I am not going to make any away qualifiers nightmare draw for me would be Russia or Bosnia from pot 1, Hungary from pot 2, Turkey or Israel from pot 3, Albania from pot 5 and Kazakhstan from pot 6 as all places not seen Scotland play before.

Group D

Germany

Ireland

Poland

Scotland

Georgia

Gibraltar

 

Happy enough with that.

Group D

Germany

Ireland

Poland

Scotland

Georgia

Gibraltar

 

Happy enough with that.

 

Decent draw. Not one of the teams we are not capable of getting points off. Although admittedly all the teams apart from Gib will be looking at us and thinking the same.

Happy enough with that.

 

Matchday 1 7–9 September 2014

Matchday 2 9–11 October 2014

Matchday 3 12–14 October 2014

Matchday 4 14–16 November 2014

Matchday 5 27–29 March 2015

Matchday 6 12–14 June 2015

Matchday 7 3–5 September 2015

Matchday 8 6–8 September 2015

Matchday 9 8–10 October 2015

Matchday 10 11–13 October 2015

Sunday 7th September - Germany (A)

Saturday 11th October - Georgia (H)

Tuesday 14th October - Poland (A)

Friday 14th November - Ireland (H)

Sunday 29th March - Gibraltar (H)

Saturday 13th June - Ireland (A)

Friday 4th September - Georgia (A)

Monday 7th September - Germany (H)

Thursday 8th October - Poland (H)

Sunday 11th October - Gibraltar (A)

We're fucked

Gibraltar's 'home' stadium

 

ach well, there's always Euro 2020 to look forward to............

We're fucked

 

You are an idiot.

 

We're easily capable of getting out of that group.

 

I've booked up for Poland as i'll be missing next weeks friendly. Going to book up Germany tonight too.

 

Looking forward to this campaign, it's not every time you can travel to European games via both Asia and Africa.

Sunday 7th September - Germany (A)

Saturday 11th October - Georgia (H)

Tuesday 14th October - Poland (A)

Friday 14th November - Ireland (H)

Sunday 29th March - Gibraltar (H)

Saturday 13th June - Ireland (A)

Friday 4th September - Georgia (A)

Monday 7th September - Germany (H)

Thursday 8th October - Poland (H)

Sunday 11th October - Gibraltar (A)

 

For the home games, it's clear that UEFA don't give a fuck about the fans anymore.

For the home games, it's clear that UEFA don't give a fuck about the fans anymore.

 

You do realise that every game is a home game for one of the teams, yeah?

For the home games, it's clear that UEFA don't give a fuck about the fans anymore.

 

The week of football advert  at the start for the draw showed that the only fans UEFA care about are the armchair ones. They do not care about people actually attending the games only how much they can rake in from tv companies.

You do realise that every game is a home game for one of the teams, yeah?

 

See Jute's response for the point I was trying to convey.

New scotland away top for the campaign

 

New scotland away top for the campaign

 

 

That is even worse than the home one and that's shite.

What a pile of shite! Contender for the worst ever football top

Maybe I missed it, is that a joke?

That is even worse than the home one and that's shite.

 

I like the home one...

 

The away top is growing on me too.