Now I’ve had a few hours to fully let the dust settle on this mess, I wanted to post a few observations.
Purely my opinion and some speculation on my part.
Firstly, I’ve cycled through some pretty dramatic emotions these past 48 hours. From being stunned at the IDC decision to embarrassment and anger in our own conduct.
Finally, came defiance; fuck everything, let’s own this mess, create a siege mentality and focus on next season.
The shock came first; from the rumoured rumblings of a record fine and points deduction to complete expulsion was a shock. I thought it was a parody account at first on X, only realising it was the actual EFL communications account once I clicked on it.
Over a period of time, you start to see the nuances of the case. The evidence gathered (the snooping appears both systemic and calculated) and in this instance it was an extraordinary situation. We were no longer in the league stage; we were effectively in a cup knockout competition when we were caught.
My guess for how the punishment was metered out is as follows;
Spying vs Middlesbrough (knockout round) = expulsion
Spying vs Oxford (league) = -3 points
Spying vs Ipswich (league = -3 points
Admittance of the league spying = reversal of 1 point deduction for each game.
Total: expulsion = -4 points next year.
It’s just a guess but I’m assuming that’s how it’s worked. Admitting it somewhat mitigated the points deduction applied but that is where the goodwill ended.
Then came the embarrassment and anger. How fucking stupid could we be on the eve of a playoff game and in the analytical age of football? As a lot of former pros have said, the merits of spying and learning anything of any real significance is almost negligible - so why the risk?
It’s almost as if we got emboldened the more we done it, perhaps. And is it just us? The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if the size of our punishment is a signal to the rest of the EFL that they KNOW it goes on and making an example of someone would act as a huge deterrent for any clubs participating in the practice going forward.
For me I can only surmise that it wasn’t just about us; this was a message to everyone. We just happened to be the silly fuckers who took a gamble too far.
Cosplaying as Eastleigh ground staff? Sending WhatsApp and emails between each other seemingly joking about the clandestine activities? If Tonda was a part of these communications, I have one piece of advice for him going forward.
“People are your friends… until they decide not to be.”
Then came the anger, mostly about our leaderships handling of the affair, though that is snugly intertwined with whole stupidity of doing it in the first place.
Parsons at Boro, for example. If reports are true and he cosied up to Steve Gibson, admitted everything and performatively cucked to him, thinking they’d be accepting of a fine and points deduction is naive at best and at worst premature and amateur.
Whilst Boro were hiring a top sports KC in Nick de Marco, Parsons was effectively blabbing before his own solicitor had arrived. Dumb, and dumb some more. Better still, he did so right in front of some of EFL top brass.
Then it came to hiring our own defence: instead of going for the big dog with experience in sports litigation right off the bat - Lord Pannick, typically we did the Saintsy thing of hiring someone with an expertise in gender discrimination.
I’m sure she’s very talented but after the initial ruling was given and thanks to Parsons blabbing his mouth, Pannick really didn’t have any cards left to play.
Which nicely brings me on to the pathetic, mealy mouthed statements from Parsons and the club.
Honestly, I’m still aghast at that an adult or adults supposedly composed them. There was the expected but seemingly empty apology from the club but the other content was staggering.
Offering to assist in the future in stamping out cheating on the future? Was that some sort of joke?
The worst part of it all for me was the absolute drivel about proportionality. Fine, make your case for proportionality but do it with dignity and humility. Nope, not us. Instead, we start pointing our sullied fingers at other clubs like a child would: ‘Look,they did it!’ ‘They did it too’ ‘And then! They did it too and it was worse than what we’ve done!’
It was a golden opportunity to communicate to the fans and show some accountability. Perhaps, just perhaps even own the mistakes.
Somehow, the club fumbled it again.
Instead, they just doubled down on the ‘oh well, they did it too so you shouldn’t punish us as much’ rhetoric.
As a grown adult, this was a feeble excuse when a more serious and dignified one was required. Using other clubs for their misdemeanours of the past as the defence to excuse our own behaviour is top level amateurism, not to mention pathetic.
Genuinely, woefully pathetic.
From the off, our handling of it was catastrophic. I can’t help but think our approach is what ultimately cost us. For example, if we’d been a little more brash, open and dismissive about it from the off then perhaps the kickback wouldn’t have been as bad. Bielsa famously pointed out it was a common practice and cited cultural negligence. Sure, he had the aura and charisma to pull it off but in those early stages our outwardly appearance was one of stern looks, guilt and performative professionalism (in other words, let’s pretend to everyone we weren’t aware of this and that we’re conducting an internal review, that’ll show them how serious we are).
It looked shifty from the offset and with Boro and the local rags fanning the flames, we then had Parsons enter the fray and capitulate completely, arrogantly presuming he could predict the outcome.
I can’t help but think there is alot more to come from this. Once the findings are released, I think we’ll all cycle through those emotions again. The embarrassment of more ridiculous evidential findings. The anger that we could be so aloof to think no one would rat on us or talk our way out of it with a few quiet words and an apology at the Riverside.
And I can’t help but think there’s something very fishy about the whole episode as well. Something conspiratorial. Something pre meditated. Irrespective, it’ll all come out in the wash.
This has served so many purposes, most notably an opportunity for the EFL to go nuclear on someone (us) and put an end to sporting advantage of spying on the opposition once and for all.
We just happened to be the suckers who went a step too far - and now we’re all paying for it.
But more importantly this could be a divine opportunity to reset the culture at the club once and for all. No more performative gestures and flaky promises from empty vessels like Parsons.
We have an opportunity to bring real leaders in who set standards and demand that they are met. A real leader sets the tone and culture, holding themselves or others accountable when those standards are not met.
We’ve all drawn a short straw through the actions of others, Saints fans. That hurts, a lot. Like the players, we’ve been wronged in a farcical situation that we did not create.
We’ve gone on to achieve generational notoriety in what should have been an exceptional and memorable season. Instead, for years to come we will be thought of as cheaters. That is not us but actions of a few individuals.
We deserved better.
That said, we do have a choice: we can blubber, cry, procrastinate and moan about it or take the punishment and come back stronger. Use this situation as the fuel thar fires us into being better, doing better and getting back to where we belong - in the Premier League, selling our duds to Leicester.
Have a good summer everyone.
