trousers

Assume they've published the selection process and criteria, in the interests of transparency, so that you know why you weren't selected...?

Indeed. If a Premier League manager had been caught spying last season, some people seem to be saying that the FA couldn't sanction him under their 'bringing the game into disrepute' rule because the EPL didn't have a spying rule.... Surely, a league having a rule isn't a prerequisite for how the FA sanctions a manager for anything they deem to be disreputable?

Indeed... It's not very complicated, is it?

Exactly... It's very straightforward.... The EFL rules have got nothing to do with the FA rules.... Ergo, it doesn't matter what EFL rules were in place when Bielsa carried out the same activity as Tonda.... They should both be treated the same by the FA (if they choose to be consistent)

The FA are charging him under their own rules, not the EFL rules....

Agreed... But is it "fair" that someone gets away with it and someone else doesn't...? (Yes, I know "fairness" never comes into these decisions, where inconsistency usually rules the roost, but it's still a valid observation)

So are you suggesting it's only possible to "bring the game into disrepute" (from the FA's perspective) if a league rule has been broken? For example, if there's no league rule that says: "managers must not have a shit on the pitch at half time" and the manager has a shit on the pitch at half time, that can't be considered 'disreputable'...?

At last, someone else who 'gets it' and agrees with me! (I think) 🙂

I would anticipate such a ban would encompass all footballing activities at the club, not just match days?

It's probably in our interests to respond as soon as possible in order to get things done and dusted asap?Would be surprised if Tonda (via Saints legal team) didn't already have a pre-prepared response tee'd up ready to go...

I'm with Hypo on this... Pretty much no-one thought the EFL would go as far as chucking us out of the play-offs... It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the FA came out with a similar disproportionately sized bombshell... So, yep, I don't think a 3 month ban is as unlikely as some might like to think...

He didn't break a league rule, but wasn't he in breach of the FA's "bringing the game into disrepute" rule regardless? (To which the FA chose not to bring charges for) Surely you can still 'bring the game into disrepute' even if there was no specific league rule that was broken...? In other words, I'm not sure why people seem to think the FA disrepute rule is conditional on breaking a league rule first...?

Bielsa admitted to doing it many more times than Tonda... It sounded pretty well "planned, organised and repetitive" to me...

Won't the FA be judging him against their own rules, rather than the rules of another authority?

Bielsa did that but wasn't charged for that aspect....