OzzySaint

Some good points made earlier re punishing club for spying with an 'exclusion' from playoffs plus points deduction and then punishing Tonda separately for bullying in workplace - i think / predict that this will likely happen and news will be buried when England play game in World Cup. I just hope that punishment is to attend an anti-bullying FA course as this is a first offence for an inexperienced manager and not a ban - hopefully common sense prevails!! However, the question is whether FA have any common sense or are they just malicious puppets who want to grandstand. Mmmmmm i wonder which?

Listened to Adam and Jo BBC podcast (we can get it even in Australia!!) - don't agree with much other than whoever responded initially made it easier for EFL to throw Saints out. Re sacking Tonda and protecting what Saints stand for, well they are definitely out of touch. Most fans are looking at next season and saying what's our best chance of promotions and siding with players and management in choosing keep Tonda (Dragan's BBC /Echo interview). As Dragan said how can you be tried twice for same crime - why punish Saints twice with expulsion then managerial ban? You can say all you like about what does the club stands for and why we should apologise and how we should act with dignity but as they point out this is big business. No global brand apologises for trying to meet their shareholders expectations - look at Google, Meta BP and many others - they just carry on doing what their doing and see out the bad publicity. The issue is not with Tonda and a bad decision, the issue is about 2 things - lack of governance / oversight in enabling spy gate to happen without identifying to Tonda the regulations prohibiting it and secondly about getting caught if you knew you were doing wrong. If you did know it was against the regulations then why not use a drone? I enjoy the live commentary from Jo and Adam but get off your moral high horse and smell the roses - we are Saints compared to many other unpunished sinners.

If for some reason the FA decide that the equivalent of '200 million fine' and 4 point deduction is enough punishment on the club and no further action is required. And if the club are left alone to punish any miscreants themselves, then i think the players should decide whether Tonda gets sacked or not. As fans we will have our own opinions (i say keep him) however the real financial hit will be with both the club and the players - they should have a say. At the end of the day, had the FA originally put a punishment in place when they made changed the rules after the Leeds game i'm sure none of this would have happened but that's hindsight. This 'crime' is hardly unknown in football and there are plenty of worse crimes out there - especially in FIFA ($$$) and other ruling bodies including the FA. Leave Saints alone to sort this, we've already had the worst punishment possible!

If we had got a fine and not the ott punishment we got then would fans call for his sacking??

True and that will probably be the case - you can't do the "i was only following orders defense" but who was there to oversee the decision and was it actually his decision?

Like many fanatic Saints fans around the world I’m in shock – not so much about the punishment – I was expecting it which is why I cashed out my bet last week for Saints promotion – but about the stupidity of the action. I am angry and deeply deeply disappointed that this was allowed to occur – where is the governance in this club. The board has a duty to ensure that the team does not break the law or breach the rules. You can shoot the manager, shoot the director of strategy and shoot any other individual but it matters not, it is the board that is culpable. They set the culture and moral behavior of the club. The board would have completed a risk assessment at the start of the season on best / worst case scenarios, when we got into the playoffs they should have revisited this and performed a risk analysis against all possibilities including breaching regulations. Its not about being wise after the event but any company that has a deal on the table for $millions is going to analyse what could go wrong and mitigate it. Instruction/ reminders should have been given about what was allowable and what wasn’t including “No attending training sessions prior to 72 hours before game”. ! I feel for Tonda and the team – if he made a judgement error I am sure that he would not have foreseen the likely repercussions. Forget the punishment – it was always going to be expulsion – what else could they do? Give a mickey mouse fine that we would have paid the first week in the EPL or give future points deductions that mean nothing?? - we got a punishment that was designed to stop this happening in the future and we deserve it. I love the Saints and have been waking up early in the morning most weeks to watch them from Melbourne for years – my house is even called The Dell. I feel for all other fans (and sponsors) who like me were looking forward to being in the premiership next year and regaining respect for our performances given last seasons debacle. I feel for all the players who will quite rightly feel angry and aggrieved for being let down off the pitch. Unlike many of the posts I am not calling for Tonda’s head – I believe he did what he was tasked to do, get Saints into a promotion position. The fact that no one was overseeing the compliance with the leagues regulations is not his issue – it is the boards and they have to answer for this. I hope im wrong but I see us losing many players, being a pariah club new players wont want to come to and as importantly tarnishing our academy development. Be careful not to throw Tonda out with the bathwater as we will need him next season – he’s a very good manager and we should all remember how hard these are to come by.

Sometimes figures speak louder! Southampton Table position 10/11/2022 18th and 2 points behind 14th position 05/02/2023 Bottom and 2 points behind 19th position Luton Town Table position 10/11/2022 - 9th position 05/02/2023 - Joint 3rd I don't blame Jones for taking the role, ofcourse you want a more prestigious job. I blame whoever appointed him - so who next?? Maybe Rob Edwards from Luton!!

Been reading loads of rumours that Saints are on the verge of signing Villarreals Nicolas Jackson - don't get it. Most of last season he was either in the B side or on the bench. He's made 33 Appearances for Villarreal and only got 3 goals and 4 Assists?? He's not been in the squad for the last couple of games and averaged 26 minutes in the previous 5 - can someone explain why hes so highly rated or are we about to buy another lemon? Hope the other rumours may be true re Danny Ings coming back - 52 Appearances with Villa and 14 Goals / 14 Assists - could do with another 46 goals for Saints!