Will EIRE qualify via the playoffs?

I merely stated that I believed Denmark and Switzerland at this present are a lot closer to Germany and Holland than many would imagine (or even try to imagine) and our group was still a very difficult one which I said as much when we were drawn in it, at best we were only ever going to finish 3rd.

From a footballing perspective I would rather be drawn with Switzerland and Denmark but a fairly sizeable portion of our fan base half underestimated the threat posed by both and thought it was well within our reach to finish above either side (which was laughable)

The benefit of being thrown in with Holland and Germany, was that the games would of been half seen as free hits and expectations far lower.

I used to detest seeing Northern Ireland do well "but" since Michael O'Neill took over I'll admittedly say that he's one of my idols (from a managerial/coaching point of view and study him closely) he has done a fantastic job and actually wouldn't begrudge your lot doing well but not at our expense of course 

The Irish fans themselves bring good cheer to tournaments, and if it were only about that, the team qualifying wouldn't be a bad thing at all. One bit of caution even here is that in the age of viral videos and social media, I feel like it could get to a stage where it becomes a bit try-hard, and certain fans concoct a stunt that ends up going totally wrong. So, even there I'd say to have your fun, but let any events come from being genuinely fun-loving, and not from feeling like you have to be the life and soul of the party or that you need to make some Youtube hit. 

But back to the football - there's a problem with Ireland qualifying in that even if they play pretty badly throughout qualifying but squeak through, all concerns over the football are met with a chorus of "OLÉÉÉÉÉ, OLÉ, OLÉ, OLÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ!". It's like qualifying completely papers over the cracks temporarily, but it really is only a temporary thing, for when reality sets in, we become even more pessimistic than before. So we go from a period of saying nothing should be done about the football, right into nothing can be done about the football. We seem to be happier with short term gains than harder long-term building. It may eventually take a longer period of real wilderness, i.e. not even getting a sniff of qualification for Irish football to completely rebuild itself and usher in a new generation of players who can really compete. Until that happens, I worry we might just settle into a pattern of hoping for the odd qualification and a knees-up. 

They won their NL group. Now, I think the connection between the two competitions is ridiculous, but that’s more of a reason than we have. They even won more games in their group, even if they got hockeyed by the good teams.

We deserved nothing in the miracle victories against the Dutch in 01 and the Germans a few years back but I'll take that.

I prefer the old system. It takes the edge out of it when we knew that we could still qualify via the NL and last Monday night should've been the decider. Still looking forward to Slovakia next March. 

We got two points in the nations league, they got zero.

But you’ll still get some on here saying they’re a great side and deserve to be there on merit. 

if anything its being improved

less pointless friendlies, more competitive matches and against teams in and around your own standard too.