James G

Boro might become the first team to lose in the semi final and final of the playoffs in the same year

You can't spy on all the grounds, but there are some in the league I do think he spied more the 3 times, but not every week. But he looks like a serial spy, I think he's done it everywhere he's been I don't think for us the spying made a difference. I think just going to 4 at the back and having a big guy up front made more difference. And we got better because we got more confident

He's a Temu James Bond, as quoted somewhere The FA will come for him so there's no choice really

I just don't understand why Tonda didn't send someone who didn't work for Saints, like a bloke from the pub

According to X, it was this guy

I think that's the irony I'm not sure how much the spying helped. I still maintain that it wasn't done at every ground because you just can't do it at every ground. I think, in the main, for what the spying has cost us, it was just a crazy thing to do

Tonda Eckert, who is battling to hold on to his job amid an FA investigation into the conduct of individuals at the club, argued he did not realise what he did was against the EFL’s statues. That explains all the ai images earlier on

I think so We have been thrown out based on the rules, which is fine. But if we're going down that route, if Hull lose, they should definitely try and lodge an appeal.

Yeah, that was the other angle about Hull winning it outright The Guardian article also states that the independent panel watched our entire training sessions leading up to the Middlesbrough game showing we didn't use or gain anything from the spying. So we did beat them Unfortunately it's the act of spying regardless of it's impact that counted against us

From the Guardian "The EFL’s rulebook contains no reference to the process for replacing an expelled team, although its guidance notes state that the playoff final should be contested between two semi-final winners, which will not be the case on Saturday." which means if we are expelled then the team in 7th should come into play I wonder if Wrexham will go for a high court injunction to stop the final

The Middlesbrough manager says there is more to come out about this when the report comes out which will add context to the decision that was made

I think all teams have cheated in some way at some point. Even Boro themselves, over 100 years ago they had another Gibbo and they were involved in all sorts of nonsense, match fixing, stealing money, tax dodging. Far worse stuff than this There are no saints in football

The odd thing is, if staff were sharing funny pictures of Will Salt, it's hard to believe that at least some of the players weren't even slightly aware

I don't think that, so much I think they guided the narrative, public opinion and also the punishment with their press release. We were stuck between a rock and a hard place because we had broken the rules. We could have played hardball from the get go but it was handled terribly from our perspective. We got walked over

I wonder if we got 6 points deducted for spying on Ipswich, then two points added on for spying on Oxford because they found that funny

I think he'll go on to have a great career, but abroad. He'll need to ride the wave just now and see out any ban I also don't think we spied on every team, because you can't. And I don't think the spying helped But, rules are rules

Just because the FA will come for him over this, I'm guessing this is the start of his exit

I believe it was Tonda I looked back at his press conference. He was scratching his nose and under his eye. There's a phenomenon known as the pinocchio effect which causes itching in those areas brought on by lying and anxiety

Time is a great healer The club need to tidy up, refund fans and sack folk Then let the players have their holidays and have a break, or go to the world cup The cheat tag will fade over time. Every club has their skeletons. Hull could easily have beaten us anyway, and if we win the first game next season we are almost back on parity

Leeds was worse, more frequent plus they trespassed, but Bielsa siezed the narrative straight away. We had a similar reaction at the beginning, but Middlesbrough seized the narrative this time and we played it totally wrong.

I think the majority of teams in the Premier League are closed off Alot of Championship teams are as well, which is why I think we didn't spy every week. There's only a few grounds where it's possible to spy

I completely agree. I was shocked when I read about it. He needs to go But then I thought, it was more playing four at the back that had the biggest positive affect and having a decent tall person up front. Once the confidence returned that was us Tonda and spying probably had less impact than what we think because we had a decent team all along

Given the magnitude of the ban, the FA will ban Tonda for at least a year and whoever else was involved

Spies like us could go for Bielsa. He'll be available after the world cup

I think that's the angle they'll go down High end lawyer to hold their feet to the fire and say if you don't overturn tonight, this is what will happen. It's bad, but it'll tie them in knots and force their hand