Cabrone

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.

It's a tough one this season and that makes a nice difference from last. Right now I'd jointly give it to Peretz and Larin, one has been transformational at the back and the other has been transformational at the front. Could change though post playoffs....

I'd try and get an early goal, see if we can exploit their brittle confidence and induce a wobble. The 4-0 was a different era, this team is confident and has been recently battle tested in knock out conditions against top quality opposition. Also we still have players that remember winning the playoffs 2 years ago, that's worth a lot. We need to show them respect, they are dangerous, but if we play at our best we should have the edge over 2 legs.

Funny one this, if we could win there is a decent chance Boro will lose and we'd get the home advantage in the playoffs but then again we really could do with resting some players after such a tough schedule. Also Boro will probably be going for it because they have a tiny shot at top 2 + they want to get 3\4th at least. Overall I'd side with resting players vs getting the 3/4 position, we need them for the playoffs and I think we can beat Boro whatever the order of games anyway.

Fair enough, decent game against arguably the best 2 teams in the champ. If we weren't so tired I think we could have won that one. Difficult to know how I feel about that result, on one hand top 2 is out but it basically was anyway. Also we may not get playoff home advantage now, that's a pain. On the other Ipswich should now be out of the playoffs and depending on what Tonda thinks our chances of overhauling Boro are we may finally be able to rest some key players before the playoffs

IMO he looks like he's going to manage a very big club one day, maybe someone like Bayern. He gives off a really professional aura and has a real eye for detail. Hopefully we can go up with him and keep him here for a while yet. I'm sure he's already on a few radars.

Whilst top 2 is now Ipswich's to lose we still want 3/4th home advantage in the playoffs to take it to the last game to keep the momentum going Plenty still for us in this game.

Pushed arguably the best team in the country all the way and scored a fantastic goal in the process. We were brilliant today and gave Citeh a better game than probably most prem teams have done all season. Let's beat Ipswich now and take it to the last game.

I'm confident Millwall and Ipswich will slip up somewhere. The pressure, the fact that anyone can beat anyone in this league and their form suggests we will get a chance. We always make the opposition out to be giants but Millwall and Ipswich are very catchable, a slip up in the 90th minute may be all it takes. IMO I can see a 3 way shootout on the last day, whoever has the biggest balls takes the prize. Also let's be honest, top 2 is a bonus hit. We never ever expected to be here in the first place and if we don't quite make it I'd still fancy us to do the business in the playoffs. Right now I think we are the best team in there.

Boro know that tomorrow is their last chance for top 2 so they are going to give it their all. My hunch is a score draw which neither will want. I also think Millwall will slip up somewhere and we'll beat Ipswich. It really feels like it's going to the last game. Fantastic.

I reckon if we win the next 4 we'll have a better than 50:50 chance of top 2. Ipswich are average away and also play Boro. One more loss would see us level, let's see how they deal with the pressure. Can't see Boro pulling out of their nose dive enough for top 2. Millwall could win all 4 but one slip up would be all we need. Their form is pretty average right now. Buckle up, this could get very tight.