trousers

Source?

How about this: The lad who did his industrial placement year with us, and who is now working part time for Aston Villa whilst completing the final year of his degree, had to do some "professional training observation" course work as part of his degree... He then thought: "I know... I could kill two birds with one stone here and go up to observe Middlesbrough and let my ex work colleague(s) at Southampton know if I see anything of interest... That's bound to earn me some brownie points..."... and, whilst he was there, he called said ex-colleague(s) to let them know Hayden Hackney isn't training with the squad (or such like).... So, it's not something that the Saints hierarchy sanctioned, but they may have been happy to receive the intel.... By jove Trousers, you may well have struck gold with this particular conspiracy theory old chap.... Bravo!

My latest hairbrained theory.... We've been sending an analyst intern / trainee on reconnaissance missions such as this all season, but with the intention of not falling foul of the "72 hour" rule, but on this occasion the kid got his dates mixed up and ended up 'spying' a day later than he should have been.... Oopsie daisy.... Yeah....I know....as likely as encountering an intellectual northerner.... However....

Are there any mods on here today...?

Read the University of Derby article... Linkedin profiles are often out of date... I know mine is....

Why have we accepted the charge if this analyst fella was acting alone and/or without club knowledge? Doesn't add up...

If Will Salt is the alleged 'spy' in question, then correct, he finished his assignment with Saints a while ago, according to that University of Derby write up...

It's not alluded, it's a fact... https://www.derby.ac.uk/undergraduate/sport-exercise-science-courses/wills-placement-year-is-key-to-success/

Doesn't this "72 hour" rule supplement the previous "fair play" rule, not replace it...? So, even if a club doesn't breach the 72 hours, they still fall foul of the fair play rule, the same rule that got Leeds fined £200k? In other words, as I read it, I don't think the 72 hours rule is designed to give clubs carte blanche to 'spy' on training sessions outside of that window...?

So Middlesbrough fans are wrong in thinking that we've gained an advantage from 'spying' then...?

@saintant.... So, if it's not the analyst fella in the group photo (Albert Jones) and the other 'intern analyst' that's been cited (Will Salt) is now at Aston Villa, having finished his stint at Saints a while ago, who was the aledged 'spy' then...? Something not adding up here...

I reckon the best outcome now, results wise, is for Middlesbrough to have a narrow win today, and us to win on aggregate on Tuesday.... That way, Middlesbrough don't get to play the "you won on Saturday because you gained an advantage" card and would make life easier for the disciplinary panel too, given we wouldn't have prospered from our misdemeanor, per se.

What if we were anticipating them tagging on a bit of penalty practice ahead of Tuesday's match at the end of the session... Would we technically be allowed to watch that bit...? #legalloophole #tongueincheek

I know this is tongue-in-cheek but maybe, just maybe, there's a legal loophole to be exploited here...

Trevor Birch? Hmm, knew I remembered that name from somewhere... It's all starting to make sense now...

If 'spying' doesn't achieve anything, it begs the question: 'why do it in the first place?' when the risks of being caught quite obviously outweigh any gains...

Fair play on having him to stay with you. Just don't mention the war....

The analyst chap in the 'manager of the month' group photo is this fella on the OS I believe....? https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/teams/profile/albert-jones

Hmm... Bit of a twist maybe... Says here that he's already finished his industrial placement at Saints and is now working for Aston Villa.... Probably nothing to do with him afterall....? https://www.derby.ac.uk/undergraduate/sport-exercise-science-courses/wills-placement-year-is-key-to-success/

It might well be a blessing in disguise if it was his 'bright idea'... It could mean that he bypassed Tonda and the first team set up altogether, and if any information was gleaned from such a covert operation there are always ways of slipping "rumours" of opposition team selections into conversation with the first team manager without them suspecting anything suspicious.... All of which would make Rasmus's position untenable rather than Tonda's. Again, other conspiracy theories are available!

Source or just a quip? (As it happens, the thought did cross my mind earlier that he might have had something to do with it....)

Here's a theory... Maybe we sent this intern fella up there the day before, with the intent of not breaching the 72 hour rule, but the daft kid then decided off his own back to pop over again the next day...? #clutchingatstraws

If the activity was sanctioned by the club then surely Tonda would have to be 'in the know', even if it wasn't him who instigated it..? I know I'm in danger of over-reacting here but I've got a bad feeling about this and a hunch that Tonda won't be here much longer if he was aware and/or instrumental in what happened...