trousers

Once again, note the more adult / rational approach being taken by Hull City and their fans. They're right, the root cause of the chaos here is the EFL's inadequate rule book, not the (no doubt many) clubs that bend or break the rules...

I'd be asking Man City's advice on how they managed to get some of their charges dropped so quickly...

Yep, anything below 6 points deduction and a £1m fine and we'll let it slide I reckon

You agree we should be penalised as heavily as Leicester were?

That's the thing... In this case, the 'conspiracy theories' actually make more sense, and stack up more logically, compared to the reported 'reality'....

How about this statement from Salt: "I'm sorry m'lud. It was technically my fault. You see, the club asked me to check their training sessions but not stray into the 72 hour embargo period. However, I got my days mixed up due to the Monday being a bank holiday, hence thinking the Thursday was Wednesday. Yeah, stupid I know but it was a genuine oversight on my part" (Yeah, I know, I know.... I wasn't 'Clutching at Straws World Champion 2017' for no reason... )

Some well articulated thoughts, but what he's basically saying there is that this misdemeanor is as bad as Leicester cheating in plain sight for an entire season (or more)...

Yep, this 👍🏻

Whilst it can't be used as a defence in a given case per se, surely the fact that "everyone else does it" is a huge mitigating factor in terms of the severity of punishment? I wonder if we might threaten to unleash a flood of counter-accusations against other clubs were we to receive a disproportionate punishment, given it must be relatively easy to gather evidence on such actively if it's always been rife across the board?

It also doesn't add up that Salt wasn't apprehended... Just allowed to leave the complex through, one assumes, a security manned entrance / exit... If his movements were being monitored on CCTV, as we're led to believe, surely they had opportunity to apprehend him rather than let him "retreat to the changing rooms before just disappearing". Surely they'd have approached him and questioned him etc, rather than just letting him "flee the scene"? It's almost as if they only wanted to get a photo of him 'in the act' in order to set the dominos falling....

Yep... I appreciate it's conspiracy territory but, it does actually make all the dots join up, theoretically... As you say, we know that there are always plenty of Middlesbrough fans milling around the golf course / hotel area watching sessions from that very same vantage point... What aroused their suspicions this time compared to all other times... As you say, them having prior knowledge it that Salt was going to be there is perhaps the only way all the pieces of the jigsaw make sense... If it was a trap then, yes, we were stupid to fall for it and should still be penalised, but there is definitely something that doesn't add up with all of this IMO...

Cheers for the insight... Does your line of work just give you an insight into what Saints might have done in the past in this regard, or would it cover other clubs as well? P.s. key bit in bold there...

Indeed. My football supporter chums and I are always winding eachother up about our respective teams, yet, I've not had one message about this incident... Probably because they're mainly fans of premier league clubs, Chelsea in particular, and as such they're no doubt thinking its wiser to keep schtum given the barrage of 'cheating' examples that I'd be able to fire back at them about their clubs!

Which might also help explain why his LinkedIn profile was also taken down around the same time as Salt's (supposedly)...?

Yep, he's saying what a lot of us have already been highlighting: this 'spying' malarkey is almost certainly rife across the board. Most teams must do it. It's just one of those things that everybody knows happens and is largely tolerated because everyone does it. The only difference here is that, potentially, Middlesbrough saw it as an opportunity to gain an advantage in the playoff games by unsettling our players and preparation as much as possible. And, to be fair, they've played a blinder. (I still think there might be something in the honey trap theory in this regard) I just hope that the 'independent panel' take the likelihood of this being more widespread into account when dishing out the recommended punishment.

I guess "the top" is open to interpretation here... Obviously the very top of the organisation is Dragan, but Tonda, for example, could be considered 'the top' in the context of just the coaching staff. There's a big difference if this means "there was no order from Dragan / Parsons, the order came from Spors / Tonda" and "there was no order from Spors / Tonda" I guess you can't say exactly what you mean by "from the top" yet @LeG?

That idea was floated in jest by some at the outset, but, as it's since been suggested that one thing we might have been trying to get an insight into is their penalty taking, then that would of course have been reconnaissance for the second leg, and outside the 72 hour embargo... You never know I guess... (That said, I think it's fairly obvious the primary reason for someone being there was to establish the situation with regards Hackney's fitness)

Plot twist: could he have also been involved in instigating the whole thing....? #honeytrap

It's only the outcome of the first leg that's in the frame here. The second leg was outside the 72 hour embargo period...

I'll send someone up to have a look...

How about this as a movie plot....? It turns out the the whistleblower fella, aggrieved due to being recently sacked by Saints, set about framing our spy chap by telling him that Middlesbrough didn't mind analyst's from other clubs watching their training sessions, even within the 72 hour embargo window.... Being familiar with the Middlesbrough training complex, he told our guy exactly when and where to stand, where best to get changed, where to get a coffee... And the whistleblower then positioned himself ready to take the perfect photo of the 'spy' himself... Revenge mission complete... maybe call the movie "You've Been Framed"....?

Is it Dusty Bin?

Correct