Toussaint

After another restless fever dream sleep, cheers SFC, I was thinking what could the fallout be from our expulsion. Personally I think the punishment excessive, (I know others think we deserve it), but nevertheless we are where we are. Without trying to catastrophise too much here, we go for starters: Reputational damage P&O Cruises / sponsorships The young supporters, the ones we are trying to get interested in the local side. Player Exodus Saints foundation Season ticket sales / memberships local business and hospitality Corporate packages Ongoing legal actions / class actions Good will (evaporation thereof) it’s going to be a long road back!

Looks like a composite picture of every arsehole boss I’ve ever had the misfortune to work for.

I NEVER trusted Sammy Saint

I’ll never forget when he pushed the ref over whilst at West Ham

I’m pasta caring

Be hard to get the atmosphere going if the players aren’t invested.

Darren Bent is so dumb, how did he get that gig?

5pm TalkSPORT discussion on our sanctions.

Its just a hypothetical question to gauge the strength of feeling.

If we are reinstated would you still want to go to Wembley. Forget about ticket costs and refunds, in your heart would you still want to go?

Who was buying everyone a beer?

yay! but I don't want to go now, so boo!

One thing I don't need the panel to rule on, because I openly admit it, I have barley done any meaningful work in the last two days. So, for this reason only, please make the decision because it isn't far on the boss or people who depend on my output.

Lets just imagine for a moment we are reinstated against this background- from the Daily Echo Southampton players reportedly exploring legal options 24 mins ago Southampton FC Football Sport Southampton SAINTS players are reportedly exploring legal options after the club was expelled from the Championship play-offs, denying a chance at promotion. The St Mary's outfit were due to face Hull City on Saturday, with the winner gaining promotion to the Premier League, before being expelled on Tuesday. An appeal has been launched against the verdict, which also saw Saints slapped with a four-point deduction for next season's Championship campaign. The punishment arrived after Saints admitted to spying on three Championship opponents, including Middlesbrough, who they beat in the semi-final. Reports elsewhere indicate that Saints players could take legal action, due to a potential loss of earnings, if their expulsion from the competition is upheld. Contracts typically include clauses to increase wages upon promotion, especially for those who took a cut of 40 per cent following last season's relegation. The decision to kick Saints out of the play-offs, with Middlesbrough now replacing them in the final, has, for now, removed the chance to earn promotion. The Daily Mail have reported players will now also miss out on bonuses due to them in the event of gaining promotion back to England's first division. Their report states that a £150,000 promotion bonus would have been paid to any player who featured in 50 per cent of games this season. Additionally, a one-off pool payment, worth at least £2million, was said to be shared throughout the squad if they beat the Tigers at Wembley. The Sun say players are "furious" about the situation, while The Athletic suggest the squad could take on a class action lawsuit against Saints.

That has had enormous influence, even with "Saints fans" being emotionally swept up and self flagellating.

You’re conflating “rule breach” with “proven decisive sporting advantage.” If the EFL believe Southampton breached regulations then punish Southampton appropriately. I’ve never argued otherwise. But the idea that Middlesbrough were somehow robbed of a Wembley place by this is revisionist. They were the better side for large parts of the first half at the Riverside and could easily have been ahead. Across the ties they had every opportunity to progress and didn’t take them. That’s the key point for me: the alleged spying demonstrably failed to produce any obvious competitive advantage. We didn’t suddenly tactically dismantle them using classified military intelligence. Football happened over 210 minutes and we won. So sanction the wrongdoing if wrongdoing occurred, but retrospectively awarding another club a place in the final despite losing the semi-final is a completely different argument and, in my opinion, disproportionate.

Agreed, they were under enormous pressure both from the media storm and the impending final, and seemed to have rushed into a decision they may have thought would be the line of least resistance without fully considering the consequences. I see Boro get to but their tickets at 1pm! Such a mess.

I agree, but it doesn't accord with the hyper ethical stance the EFL have taken.

Give Hull automatic promotion, its tainted for us, its equally tainted for Middlesborough who have not in any way earned the right to a another crack at promotion.

Its out..

A very raw and emotional podcast. Thanks for putting it together. I’ll be interested to hear the follow up when we will know our ultimate fate and the panelists will have had a bit of time to sit with it all.

There could be legal actions in every direction - Southampton supporters v SFC coach companies hotels Wembley v sfc Hull v EFL SFC v Middlesbrough SFC v EFL Players V SFC data breaches/ gdpr / slander / libel the list could be endless. I lot of people/ entities / parties have suffered economic loss or damage to reputation. What a mess.

Yes, they have been totally undermined and made fools of. We won’t see any of the better ones in a Saints shirt again.

Where did you get the players are fuming bit from, which sure they are.

The Telegraph reports that Eckert accepted responsibility for the surveillance operation involving opposition team selection and tactical analysis. Tonda Eckert is a three-time Championship Manager of the Month (Image: Southampton FC) READ: What happens next at Saints after being thrown out of play-offs? The German is said to have argued he was unaware the EFL had introduced regulations in recent years prohibiting the spying on opposition teams.