Reflections on World Cup 2018 Qualifiers

Positives
Ireland were the lowest seeded team from the group stages to reach the play offs, and the only fourth seed to do so
We went through the qualifying campaign unbeaten away from home
The average age of the squad has dropped from 30.2 at the Euros last year to 28.5 for the play off squad - a minor change, and the retirement of Robbie Keane accounts for a lot of it, but still a positive
The squad is currently ranked 26th in the world
Beating Austria away from home was the first away win against higher ranked opposition in a qualifier since 1997 against Lithuania
Since the ranking system was introduced by FIFA in 1993, no manager had won two away qualifiers against higher ranked opposition until Martin O'Neill's teams beat both Austria and Wales.
O'Neill has almost doubled the number of victories against higher ranked opposition from six to eleven with the wins over Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, Austria and Wales.
In three away games against our main group rivals Wales, Austria and Serbia, we took seven points from a possible nine

Negatives
Only two players scored more than once in the qualifiers. Counting Duffy's goal in the play offs brings the list to three.
We were the lowest scoring team to qualify for the play offs with 12 goals in 10 games. Croatia were the second last scorers with 15 goals. A counter point to this is that Slovakia missed out despite finishing second in their group, and scoring 17 times
The effects of Coleman's injury, on the player himself, on the result of the Wales game, and on the rest of the qualifiers cannot be underestimated
In three consecutive home games against our main group rivals Wales, Austria and Serbia, we took two points from a possible nine
Taking off two central midfielders, to bring on two attacking/creative players, when facing one of the best attacking central midfielders in the Premier League, is a criminal change. Whatever about training or tactics, I really want to hear Martin O'Neill's explanation behind that change
While there has been no formal announcements yet, the end of a qualifying campaign brings with it player retirements. At the moment there's no obvious replacements for the expected retirees

And some general observances
Whatever preparation the management team does, or doesn't do, it seems to work better away from home than before a qualifier in Dublin.
I saw several tweets from journalists complaining about players not speaking to them after the game in the mixed zone. Players have Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts to issue statements after games now.
Qualifying Group D itself was poor. None of the top four sides overly impressed. Serbia topped the group with the lowest points total of the UEFA group winners
Despite the "tinkerman" style accusations against the manager, the starting XI is pretty settled IMO - Nine players started seven or more of the ten qualifiers