Cabrone

Fingers crossed on this one, a keystone signing who may sway other players to stick with it for another go at promotion. It's going to be a much tougher league next year, Peretz would be a huge asset.

Fingers crossed the FA leave it to the club. That should see Tonda as our manager next season. SFC broke a rule, got punished, took it on the chin and now lets move on. As long as Tonda stays I'm looking forward to 26/27, should be a cracking season. Damn there is some serious competition this time round, need to get out of the traps flying because we know once Spam, Burnley and Wolves get going they will take some stopping. Then there is also Sheff Utd, Norwich, Boro, Millwall and Wrexham. It's going to be one hell of a scrap.

If he actually manages to stay I reckon next season would be an absolute belter. Lots of spicy fixtures + banter and a run at top 2. Proper football.

Absolutely, there will be a lot of European clubs tracking this saga with an eye to approaching him. If Tonda goes he will be fine, we on the other hand will get another 3rd rate dodgy experiment courtesy of the brains in SR.

Firstly I think there is a decent chance the FA will accept that the league gave us an appropriate punishment and stop at that, leaving any other internal disciplinary actions up to the club. As fans we can afford to debate this from an ethical standpoint but we aren't paying the bills. However the owner is and he wants to get back to the Prem ASAP. He'll be pondering the best strategy to get back and I think he'll conclude that sticking with Tonda is more optimal than taking a gamble on yet another unknown. My feeling is Tonda's future depends on the FA, the club will back him. Maybe they are sounding out the FA right now?

Firstly even if you think 20 odd games unbeaten in the champ is par for the course he also beat a solid Prem Fulham at their place, beat the prem champs and took the prem runners up to the wire. Any other champ manager would be hailed on high for that. He is streets ahead of anyone else we've had since Ralph and arguably Koeman. Secondly he's only just started, how good could he be next year or the years to come with all the extra experience he's garnered? He'll never make this mistake again but he will become a better manager. I actually like his ruthlessness TBH, all the best managers have it, he was just naive. Thirdly if the club drop him who actually thinks we'll get anyone as good? We'll most likely end up with another Nathan Jones\Ruben Selles and next season will be gone. We'll be in the champ\league 1 for a long time wondering what might have been. Fourthly the players liked Tonda so I'm not convinced of a massive exodus. They know a good mgr when they see one. Some will go but hopefully there will still be enough talent around to mount a top 2 push. Fifth it will feel like unfinished business if he leaves like this. I want him to earn redemption with the club and fans and I hope he's burning to right wrongs. Finally I don't care much what other fans think, just tough it out and we'll get grudging respect eventually. Most of them really don't care much anyway. We are the fans he needs to please, he owes us.

If he didn't know about the 72 hour rule then I'd give him a chance of redemption. He's a baby in management terms, was parachuted into a difficult situation and did a fantastic job. The board get paid to be the wise heads that make sure everyone understands the rules. If their 1st team coach didn't know something as fundamental as this I'd be asking why? They could have booked a day out somewhere, taken all the staff and spent the day going through the rules. They failed. Also let's be real, if SR reappoint it will be another dodgy experiment. No thanks I'd rather have a contrite Tonda. If we let him go he'll be snapped up somewhere else. I hope he stays and takes the stick, I'd respect him for that. However it may be out of our hands.

Looking at SR's appointments so far..... Nathan Jones: (November 2022 – February 2023) Rubén Sellés: (February 2023 – June 2023; plus an interim spell in November 2022) Russell Martin: (July 2023 – December 2024) Simon Rusk: (Interim spells in December 2024 and April 2025) Ivan Jurić: (December 2024 – April 2025) Will Still: (July 2025 – November 2025) Tonda Eckert: (Appointed November 2025) Doesn't fill you with optimism does it. I'd still stick with Tonda if possible, take the hits, circle the wagons and galvanise. Emotions are raw at the moment, maybe out of our hands, who knows. If it comes to it you just know SR will go for another knock down experimental appointment. Anyone for another season of Jones\Selles\Juric\Rusk\Still? Me neither.

A lot of ppl are gunning for Tonda but I'm going to take his words on face value that he genuinely didn't know about the 72 hour rule. Controversial I know but I do think he was very badly managed himself. For me the real idiots are the board. They get paid the big bucks to make sure everyone complies with the rules and that everyone knows what the rules are. Gross incompetency from them and I'd be happy to see all of them fired today. Quit your endless word salad and self congratulations and actually run the club properly. So personally I'd stick with Tonda (assuming he's not going to get banned by the FA over this). He'll be burning for some kind of redemption. We should tell him to swallow the shit that is going to come his way and that the minimum next season is top 2. I think he's good enough to get it. After all this business would have barely given us any advantage anyway and he did take us from relegation candidates to almost top 2. He owes us. We can either come together or fall apart.

If Boro beat Hull I can see Hull reaching for the lawyers and they'll have a case. The EFL must be desperately hoping for a Hull win. This is going to run.

How about a 3 way tie where Hull play us at 12.30pm and then Hull play Boro at 4.30pm. Hulls final score is the total no of goals scored against both of us. The team that scores the most goes through. Makes as much sense as anything else that is going on right now.

SR need to go, it's been generally downhill ever since they arrived and this is the point of no return. Generally poor manager appointments, plenty of self aggrandizing word salad and now this, a total failure to understand the basic rules of the league they make their living in. I think this has really knocked the stuffing out of the fan base. The smell is too bad now.

Utterly sickening. Firstly Gibson didn't give a monkey's about the rules, he sensed an opportunity, kicked up a mighty media storm and IMO cheated his way to a Wembley place. They lost - Hull should go through. I'm going to feel sick if they go up on the back of this. Secondly and this will be contentious but I'd keep Tonda and tell him auto promotion is the expectation next season. He'll be burning to retrieve this and he owes us. He's been our best manager since Ralph and possibly could go on to be even more successful. Getting rid of him for another Russel Martin\Will Still\Ruben Selles will be shooting ourselves in the foot even more. I expect him to suck up the abuse and achieve catharsis via autos (this assumes the FL isn't going to punish him personally). SR can foxtrot oscar, I'm sick of the sight of them. After a series of useless appointments they finally looked like they were getting it right only to screw it up again. Seriously - FO. Sick.

I think it'll be a fine and 3 points but that's just my opinion. It's taking time because obviously it's a big decision, Saints need to be allowed to put their case together and the authorities want as much time as possible to think about it. Perfectly understandable. I also think the club should stick with Tonda, he's the best manager we've had since Ralf and arguably could go on to much greater things. If the club were to be thrown out for something as lame as this he'd be supercharged to right wrongs. If he were to get the boot he'd be snapped up elsewhere, the guy will be rated across Europe now. Finally if Boro were to replace us I'd definitely feel aggrieved. Yes Saints broke rules and need to take their punishment but at the end of the day Boro lost fair and square. It wasn't William Salt that cost them, it was their finishing ability, their fitness and their lack of squad depth. Fingers crossed Saturday is still on.

What's the longest ever thread on this board? We are at 91 pages and the real fallout hasn't even happened yet.

I'm thinking the young analyst screwed his days up, he was supposed to get there on Wednesday but something caused him to lose a day and he thought he'd chance it to not get in trouble. Young, naive and maybe a bit too eager to please. OK, fair enough the club takes a fine and possible 3 points but it's hardly international espionage, more keystone cops. Boro then sense an opportunity to get back into the playoffs, have a massive overreaction, pump up a media shit storm and generally trash SFC in a hail Mary attempt to keep their season alive even though they lost fair and square. Now they are trying to influence the EFL with overbearing bully boy tactics. Had they discreetly gone to the EFL with their concerns they would have credibility. However their constant shouting and stirring is losing them any sympathy they initially had. I doubt the EFL will appreciate their conduct. On top of that they may face consequences w.r.t how they went about their business as this may have serious commercial implications for SFC. They and their media lap dogs have tried to defame the club before the club have ever had a chance to properly reply.

I'm wondering if the club do look at other clubs training sessions BUT they scrupulously stay within the 72 hour rule therefore no offence is committed. This would tally up with the ex analyst (Jason Taylor) allegations. It's also something I'm fairly sure a lot of other clubs do. However on that one day for whatever reason Will Salt turned up late and got spotted. Why? Who knows. Maybe he had a row with his g\f, had an urgent meeting, job interview - whatever. The media are painting SFC as the worst villains ever to walk on a football pitch but ultimately this could come down to a 20 y.o young guy with a roving brief and an active social life screwing up his timings on one day and getting clumsily caught. If this is what happened and the club make their case then it's a fine and maybe points. The media are as per usual jumping to massive conclusions. We don't know but neither do they.

Yes that's around what I think it will be. Yes the club screwed up and deserves some punishment but Leicester committed a far more serious offence and got 6 points. The precedence has already been set. This all presumes it's a one off. If Boro manage to convince the EFL that it's systemic then we will be kicked very, very hard and someone at the club needs to take responsibility. Can't see it though, CCTV footage tends to be overwritten quickly and how many other clubs have sailed close to the wind on this? That all said Boro have really pissed me off during all this, acting like a bunch of whiney victim schoolgirls. They should have made their case to the EFL and shut their mouths, they have stirred a media shit storm and us fans have had to deal with it. Whatever happens, Boro should not prosper from this, they lost, deal with it.

Looking at precedents and possible punishments (assuming Saints are found guilty) here are some yardsticks: 1) The EFL fined Leeds £200k for spying 7 years ago 2) The EFL recently docked Leicester 6 points for FFP breaches IMO taking some photos is a much lesser offence than breaching FFP rules and I think the EFL would take that line (TBH no-one thinks it had the slightest impact on the game but there is a rule and I will accept that it's not the done thing). So if the EFL are going to be consistent (if we are found guilty) we should get somewhere between a £200k fine and IMO something proportionally less than a 6 point deduction. Possibly 3 points docked at most. Talk of throwing us out is a media storm caused by Boro fans throwing a tantrum and used to drive up ratings. If we go up and stay up for some time this will be forgotten over time and If we don't....away days are going to have a lot more spice next season and Boro away will be particularly fun.

Dress code for Wembley?

Looks like we are the new Millwall. Nobody loves us and we don't care.

Boro were brilliant in the first 15 and took a deserved lead. Then we gradually pulled ourselves back in and by the end we had passed them to death, they had nothing left in the tank. Difference in squad depth was also a big factor, our subs made an impact whereas theirs didn't really. When all is said and done Boro going out has nothing to do with spying, they just don't have the firepower to overcome a side like Saints. Leeds got a fine so the precedent has been set, if we are found guilty I'd expect something along those lines.

I think they blew themselves out on Saturday. Also all this spygate nonsense will wear off as soon as the game starts. It's going to be tough but we are more clinical. 2-1 or 3-1 to us in normal time.

Ross Stewart has to be in for Larin, can't afford any player to have a drop off in form right now. Feeling confident, Boro may have blown themselves\their confidence out and if we play at our best at home we should have enough to get this over the line. Saturday was the same old problem for them, they can't get the ball over the line. Spying stuff? Whatever. All a bit of an overblown distraction.

0-0, I'll take that. Can see why Boro slid down the table in the last month, their finishing isn't the best. We must put in a performance on Tuesday - this is ours for the taking.