James G

Your Sincerely, Desperate Dan

I'm just waiting to see what the Pope has to say about it all I wonder if they'll release smoke to indicate when the panel have made their decision

I wonder if William Salt will leave a bad review on TripAdvisor for Rockcliffe Hall, despite it's excellent spa facilities and on site golf course.

Any theories are good It's interesting that Salt wasn't in the two recent photos for manager of the month. It's interesting that two profiles were removed from LinkedIn. It's also interesting that Tonda seemed really keen to talk about it but couldn't There's more to it for sure

I wonder if Banksy will install an unmoveable statue of Will Salt with binoculars in the grounds of Rockcliffe Hall

Also, Will Salt was spying on the supplementary training pitch. If the main team were training on that pitch and not on the main training pitch round the back, how did Will Salt know where to film

I think the Middlesbrough forum knew the EFL statement was coming out too I think people do know stuff, but they are mixing in spin and fake news with fact to create this whirlwind of drama I've seen posts on X that were definitely fake, then an article in one of their local papers based on the X post I've never seen anything like it If it wasn't for Keir Starmer, we'd probably be the top news story

I bet Steve Gibson is telling the papers to write, I can't believe Southampton spied on our training pitches from the car park of Rockcliffe Hall, which not only has excellent spa facilities but also has an site golf course

The thing is, Middlesbrough are poor from set pieces, why would we want to watch them There is literally no reason to spy on them, which makes me think there is more to the story

I can't see other clubs getting involved Even when Leeds did it, and they spied on everyone and trespassed on private property. I'm sure it was against Derby they were caught, and Lampard, their manager at the time, said that he wouldn't call it cheating, but it does cross a line. Two days later, he laughed about it and said, it is what it is, we move on Just a totally different reaction back then to something worse. It's Boro's reaction to this which has shaped opinions and I don't think they're going to be happy with the outcome I just can't see us getting thrown out because, if nothing else, the world cup starts very soon afterwards.

I know. But it's a very strange coincidence. Shutting down social media profiles would make sense for an investigation, so it surely must involve those two parties The clues we have are, Saints haven't denied it, they claim it to be a lone wolf thing, and these two had their profiles shut down at the same time, one of them is ex Middlesbrough so he would know where to stand

If both LinkedIn profiles were taken down at the same time, maybe the whole incident was the two of them. Salt was wanting to further his credentials, so he consulted the other guy who had worked at Boro who said come and watch from here, that's where everyone stands. Then further down the road, because Salt was caught and Boro have made a fuss, Salt has implicated the other guy who is now possibly defending himself by helping Boro

I think any punishments should be given to the individuals involved and not the club as a whole The Middlesbrough manager himself said it wasn't about us, or the players etc.. so on that basis that is where the focus should be

I wonder if like every great movie there will be a twist at the end. Like someone invited him to watch, or he was watching their U21s, or something else random

So the EFL will carry copies of the Daily Star and Mail into the panel and present Boro's case. He was behind a tree, in a bush on a hill. He had professional recording equipment, a mobile phone, and he left the scene donning a fake tache and a hat. We think Southampton should be thrown out because Troy Deeney says so and please stop looking at page 3

It'll be regarded as hearsay anyway I'm guessing

I wonder if Gibbo's office has a Wizard of Oz vibe with his large angry head projected onto a screen

If Boro fans are wanting a day out at Wembley, they can go and watch Harry Styles in June

Yeah, I noticed that as well There's probably more to it that we don't know. The hill, bush, professional recording equipment, altercation etc.. has made me wonder what the truth is. And his exit might have been popping to the loo then leaving turned into something else more dramatic sounding. Who knows

It's not mandated spying. He was spying the wrong training pitch, using a phone and very visible I think it's just going to be a case of, based on what was posted earlier, this is what analyst interns do as part of our education, it's generally accepted by clubs. Salt could get other interns in to corroborate this. The panel will probably decide this activity needs to stop. New guidance will be issued to clubs. It'll be deemed unsporting, but we gained very little from it. We'll get a slap on the wrist in some way We then move on, but Gibson will continue his press barrage and try and sue us I do think action should be taken against Boro just for all this nonsense, but just based on what people have posted here, it's probably not worth the bother. He seems a bit unhinged and it'll be the equivalent of poking a tiger

If the EFL thought there was any chance of us getting thrown out, the match wouldn't go ahead. Everything is risk assessed these days However, by going ahead with the match, they have cast judgment if you think about it so the press release has to be seen as being non judgemental, hence the wording. It's all a bit smoke and mirrors really. If the match was to be cancelled or rearranged, apart from the logistical nightmare on many levels, people will question why the EFL let the match go ahead and why they let people buy tickets, travel, hotels etc.. That's my thinking anyway

We could send Bill Pepper round too, but I wouldn't want to Push It

It's like those experiments they do in psychology, if you line up 12 people, and get 10 of them to do something, the other two copy of the actions of the other 10. Group psychology By putting stories everywhere and getting their cult fans to post cheat cheat cheat, other people are swayed into that narrative. Alot of the early conversation was mild, people were either non opinionated, or posting jokes. We're now seeing alot of those people getting sucked in by their campaign probably without realising

Well, I think they are not confident which is why they are pushing down hard on this press campaign to cause us damage that way

I think it's about causing as much reputational damage to us as possible in the moment, plus I'm guessing they are trying to affect us so we don't win They've infiltrated mainstream media and they are trying to control the narrative, pushing the story that we are sin personified on the general public I've never seen anything like it. It's almost biblical