trousers

I was comparing two possibilities, both of whihc would be "bad" reputationally... I was simply suggesting that "willfully cheating" damages our reputation more than "inadvertantly cheating". Maybe, maybe not... just floating it as a notion...

Yeah, that's what I'm now thinking.... hmm... interesting (perhaps).... Do we know what hotel the club stayed at? (Not sure why knowing that might be informative, but felt inclined to ask!)

Yep, totally agree.... but from a reputational perspective, doing something wrong out of ignorance won't be viewed as heiniously as willfully doing something wrong.... it's the difference between the press being able to lable Tonda a "cheat" versus "a bit of a naive nicompoop"... reputation matters....

The pre-match press conference was on the Wednesday, so I guess our entire entourage could have been up there by the time of the incident on the Thursday morning?

It did occur to me the other day to float this idea.... I don't think it's a particularly wacky hypothsis that, IF it does transpire that it was indeed Tonda who instigated this/these 'spying' missions, that he was doing so out of a position of ignorance to the rules, given (we're led to believe) that no other major league in the world has such a rule as the "72 hour" EFL rule. Before I get jumped upon by the forum thought police, yes, I think it's probably unlikley that Tonda was acting ignorantly, and of course, even if he was, we all know that ignorance isn't a defence (well, in a court of law, anyhow)... but can we 100% rule it out as a possibility...?

Cheers SG... Yeah, looks like they're holding the other half back... Bit annoying, as one would prefer to get a seat at the very front of the upper tier but I'll probably end up panicking and buy one towards the back, just before they release the other blocks! We're gonna sell out so just put all the seats on sale at the same time FFS!

Anyone got a recent seat map showing what seats are still available? Cheers 👍🏻

Hoping this is one of those "I do have some inside information but can't overtly disclose that I do, so I'll word it as a hunch instead" type posts...

Because cheats usually prosper....? Oh, hang on a minute.... 🙂

Hmm... I wonder how we achieved that....? 🕵🏼 😉

I guess they were hoping that Middlesbrough won and that the issue would then disappear (in terms of the arrangements for the final)....?

Yes, it's irrelevant from the 'due process' point of view, but it's not unreasonable for a football fan to have a view / opinion on how "fair" a punishment is for one offence in comparison to another punishment for a different offence.

Given it's that black and white, and the disciplinary panel aren't able to take into account how much we benefited from it when they make their decision, doesn't it make it even more baffling that the EFL didn't stipulate a default punishment when they first established this new rule...?

Love you too... mwah 😘

Yep, inclined to agree... Anything £5m or below and/or 6 points or below is a "take it on the chin / could've been worse" punishment I reckon (assuming it's a clear cut case of the club knowingly spying within the 72 hour window of course )

Ha! Very good sir 😂

General curiosity question.... If we get fined, say £5m, where does that money end up? EFL donates it to various charities? It trickles down to grass roots football? EFL Board Christmas party? Something else? Genuinely interested.

Cheers 👍🏻 Definitely an insider I would say in that case! Interesting....

Can't you ask them whether they're definitely or possibly an insider...? 😉

Don't think you even need those these days, do you...? 😉

Maybe the subliminal message is: "we beat Boro due to our better fitness levels rather than due to 'Spygate' and we've received word that that's the conclusion the panel will come to..." Or maybe not 😁

Most likely... As I say, just me doing my usual 2 + 2 = 5 hypothesis...

I know I'm prone to reading too much between the lines sometimes, but would the club really be posting a tweet like this today if they thought there was any chance of us getting kicked out...?

Which jouno?

Did we break the rules? Yes, almost certainly What level of sporting advantage did we gain from breaking the rules? Debatable Is the level of punishment determined on what level of advantage we gained? Probably?