Livewire

Excellent news. After a month of utter horror, this shows that we are looking upwards. Thanks for everything Bazunu and good luck in the remainder of your career, but you were not of the required level. Peretz for me had an iffy start but then improved and became very good all around.

The information could have been found out. When you are in an arbitration, the first thing you do is some research on the arbitrators. Who are they? What is their background? You can then object if they are biased or appear to be. And Winnie's background is on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Winnie Did no one read this? Winnie should have been nowhere near that panel, and we should have applied to remove him pronto. The outcome may have been the same, but we would at least have demonstrated some mental agility about ourselves.

As others have said, the initial statement was a catastrophe and basically meant that the panel said we were initially uncooperative and lied. The facts in it were wrong. How could this have happened? It meant we were on the back foot from the start and that the fact-gathering at the club went badly awry. Shocker. Another thing: I hope we all accept that the spying was wrong and should not have been done (we can argue about the sanction, but the spying itself is wrong). So: who was at the top of the tree authorising it? Tonda? The more I think about it, it makes less and less sense. This was a 33-year old novice manager with no pedigree. He comes in for another wunderkind in the middle of a ho-hum season and instantly starts terrorising poor junior analysts to do things that everyone must know are wrong. And he is allowed to do this? No one raises an objection? This is not a Guardiola or Ancelotti who did this, someone whose word is the law. It's someone no one has heard of before November. How can he have so much sway so quickly? The club's initial disastrous response plus this makes me think that the answer is that the policy was approved from higher up than Tonda - not to mention for example approving Salt's expenses in going up to Middlesbrough. Who did this? I know everyone wants to forget this, but we have to reckon with it properly before we can move on.

So once you find out you do a basic search on who the members of the Panel are. It would have taken one look at Winnie's Wikipedia page to see that he played for Middlesbrough. That should have ruled him out instantly. All of this could be done very fast. Why raise this now and not then?

For all those who want Tonda to stay, look up Bev Priestman as a probable precedent.

Agree 💯. SPB are a good law firm. Kate Gallafent knows her stuff. They came on the scene likely when it was too late. Which is why I am zeroing in on the initial response. They had to instruct SPB straight away. That would have increased the likelihood of getting ahead of things and reacting appropriately. As it was, the initial reaction was... inadequate. It sealed our punishment.

I am an in-house solicitor in a relatively large commercial company and am commenting from that perspective. Saints' initial response was brutally and stunningly inept. The tribunal as good as concluded that we lied to them at the outset by saying it was isolated and by making light of it. Who marshalled that initial response? Who gathered the facts? An in-house lawyer stops everything, speaks to everyone relevant and gets to the bottom of it. Was that done? If so, were any lies told to whoever asked the questions? Like someone said above, we had to get on top of the truth internally ASAP, which would have enabled us to formulate an appropriate response. I imagine no one legal was involved until it was too late - which is stunning. Parsons having that informal chat to Gibson at their place - was he advised to do so? By whom? The club were found to run the operation from the top - does that mean Tonda or the management? If a regulator comes after you, collaborate (unless you are Man City) and look like you mean it. We looked like we had something to hide. Not to mention the PR angle, where we were immediately treated like war criminals. There was no response to that. I don't blame the people running the appeal - by then it was too late.

That last is the bit that galls me too. He used the younger and more vulnerable members of staff for this, ones who are desperate for a career in football and will not find it easy to refuse.

Or wait until the FA suspend him and then be forced to look for a replacement? Not a matter of morals, just practicality.

He worked at Barnsley for 18 months. He would at least have had an idea from that time whether it was allowed or not.

I see that Hellberg sympathises with us Saints fans. Well, this Southampton supporter hopes they lose on Saturday. It is an utter travesty and farce that Middlesbrough are in the final and can get to the Premier having lost to us. I hope he loses every game he ever manages. Same for the club. What we did is what we did, and it was wrong. What Middlesbrough did is to milk it to their advantage after they did not deserve to do so on the pitch.

I cannot believe anyone thinks Tonda can stay. For one, he and whoever else was involved will be charged by the FA and likely suspended from football for a period. For another, he is in breach of contract with the club and likely masterminded this spying disaster. If you don't believe me, look up Bev Priestman as a precedent. Not to mention that there are reports about the players maybe suing the club - certainly there may be an argument that the club has been in repudiatory breach of its contract with them, so they are no longer bound by it either. There are lots of dominoes that are yet to fall, and I fear that we will have a squad that will be very thin once the PL-level talent leaves.

Kate Gallafent KC is excellent. She is top of the tree. But not even she can make diamonds out of the garbage that we have handed her. Once it became clear that we did this systematically (and no one seriously believes we never did it between December and April), our goose was cooked. Of course, Middlesbrough getting a Wembley berth as a result is a farce - I hope Hull stuff them.

It is! Text me on 07976 364 814 and we can work out how I can get it to you.

I have one (just posted about it). Yours for face value if you are interested.

Hi all, I have one ticket for the Coventry away game on 14 March, and I cannot go. Yours for face value. I will be at the Fulham game or can post it over. If you are interested, please get in touch.

I left at 75 minutes, as I was driving from London. Doing so meant I beat the traffic and saved me probably 1 hour. I feel for those poor souls who are still on the coach on the way back. We should all get a refund.

I went to that travesty of a game today. We had five very good chances until the 55th minute, but don't let that fool you. We were still playing Russball out of the back with CBs and Manning who are singularly ill-suited to play that style, we were slow and ponderous and trying long balls up to Arma, who is barely taller than the grass. But that was nothing compared to the second half utter capitulation. At least I was able to leave on 75 minutes and beat the traffic. Cold comfort. Bazunu is poor, 5 at the back is a joke, we are too slow and too small. Leo's performance has also tailed off. All in all, avoiding relegation surely now has to be the aim - but I am not confident we can achieve it.