Football Special

Some of them seriously need this to be over to go back to their normal lives. General thought process seems to be A) Boro win. Pressure off EFL. Punishment given without much attention B) Saints win, Boro continue to train for the final and apply as much public pressure as possible to have us kicked out

Im sure Chinese whispers but belief seems to be coming from someone at Middlesbrough being told by EFL that expulsion is very much an option on the table , hence the need to stay prepared Soviet levels of propaganda If any of that is true then efl must be desperate for us to lose tonight

Middlesbrough and their various PR outlets have been relentless, even this morning they're reminding everyone they'll keep squad together even if they lose so they're fully prepared for the final should we subsequently be expelled

To be honest, for me the last few days Middlesbrough have very much become the aggressors in all this and have well over-stepped the line , im sure our fans know the assignment, recreate the Arsenal/ WBA atmosphere , no matter where you are in the ground

Eastleigh away ole ole Great thing about the National League is their training grounds will be more accessible

Its not about punishing us at all really is it, rather giving them sometime for nothing, classic where there's blame there's a claim mentality

Im actually not sure it will, we've already been to wembley a couple of weeks ago so novelty for that has gone plus as Middlesbrough keep reminding us even a win we can't really celebrate until we've had the verdict on the punishment, they seem very keen to let everyone know they'll keep squad preparation even if we knock them out (inference being we'll be kicked out and they'll take our place)

I know club have to be careful what they say but reading between the lines they're encouraging a good turnout pre match, basically recreate the WBA game https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/downes-lets-recreate-west-brom-atmosphere

Just seen that, this whole saga has had a profound impact on them, looks like some even kept kids off school to head down the airport and wave the players off

If we lose they will be utterly unbearable gloating about it, and if we win i think the club will have gained social media stalkers for life who will continue to cry and moan about how unfair it all is

Very much a 50/50 game in my opinion, hard to call how it will go , we can't afford to be as bad as we were first half again

Boro stewards were helping fans with flares outside the ground , not trying to stop them, inside the ground fair enough but outside wont be an issue, I remember at Goodison last year it was encouraged by the club pre match for their grand farewell

Finn Azaz would be very familiar with the layout

Remember if we have done it before as long as it was more than 72 hours before the game thats ok. Also, not many training pitches can be viewed quite so easily unless having a drone

Yeah i stayed in the pub two years ago, will make an effort to go down for this one, might go to Chapel Arms pre match

Let's just win the game , ignore all this

It is, but the overreaction has been very carefully orchestrated using people on various media platforms to whip it up. I've seen comments like the whole of football will be willing for a Boro win to show cheats dont prosper , definitely pressure being applied to get us harshest possible punishment

Good point, seems to really affect him playing them

This. Its not like he bribed someone to get into the premises or used fake ID , you can literally just walk up the grounds from a publicly accessible hotel / golf course

Yep temporarily joined us from the Wanderers of Wolverhampton. But for real check out the background, could be his grandad is a skate and he got a job at Saints for sole intention of sabotage from within., he then tips off Middlesbrough of his intentions to ensure they fulfil their role of reporting him and causing maximum controversy, we could be witnessing a coordinated attempt by Middlesbrough and Portsmouth to damage our football club.

That's West Ham relegated isn't it

I agree, it all feels very contrived to give them the maximum advantage, clearly we've not benefited from any info, I think the lone-wolf intern will turn out to have Boro links and this whole scenario has cleverly been manufactured to disrupt Saints

Middlesbrough are also expected to remind the commission – which has been assembled and will be chaired by a lawyer – that in 2024, the Canada Women coach, Bev Priestman, and two of her staff were banned from football for 12 months after spying on New Zealand at the Paris Olympics. Canada were also docked six Olympic points.