There when Franny scored

What's your view Christophe - is this a good thing?

I agree with you, this is an implicit criticism of the EFL decisions, I.e. that the deterrence did not take account of the FA v Klopp precedent that if you’re going to issue a deterrent element it can’t result in a disproportionate overall sanction. In para. 115 they go on to say “in this context…”, which I took to mean that the consideration of sanctions that followed was framed by that principle.

Having read the written reasons they are a real vindication for Tonda: - did not pressure anyone - did not know that spying was against specific rules - no systemic spying I also agree with the poster above that para. 114 is a back-hander to the EFL, I.e. that they went against the precedent in FA v Klopp that deterrence cannot result in disproportionality. Another one is at para. 34 where they appear to take issue with the lack of cross examination of a witness “seemingly because of the pressure of time.” These written reasons seriously undermine the EFL decisions in my view and demonstrate that the ridiculously short timescale of those not one but two arbitrations resulted in procedural unfairness and did not provide us with sufficient opportunity to present our case. i haven’t seen anything that suggests we’re pursuing a section 68 challenge under the Arbitration Act, it would be interesting to know why not. In particular, it appears that this panel considered a lot more evidence, over 1000 pages (and 187 pages of transcript). These written reasons are also much more cautious in stating the weight given to the evidence, noting specific instances of cross examination and where the FA chose not to adduce evidence, something that was notably lacking in the EFL decisions. Something that a high court judge considered made the decisions unsafe - https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2026/05/26/op-ed-sir-nicholas-mostyn-kc-soutampton-fc-admiral-byng-is-shot-again/ Ultimately, the FA relied heavily on the evidence in the EFL decisions, this panel chose to reject a lot of that.

I thought he had said Tonda had a ban and we had appealed it but maybe I’m confusing him with a different poster.

I don’t agree. People have genuine anxiety about it, myself included. As you said, probability dictates that someone knows something. So someone pretending to know something can be anxiety inducing up until the point it’s obvious that they’re pretending. That uncertainty, and the vested interest is what they’re relying on. I don’t think that makes it harmless or tragic. If someone cares about something deeply it makes it very difficult to be objective, or accurately assess the credibility of a source.

Huge respect for him. Takes guts to stand up for your beliefs to your professional detriment.

Worrying Dan thinks that that commentary is in Italian. What are they teaching the youngsters in schools these days!

Fair point, and we did take Stephens from Plymouth academy I think so not like we’re not also guilty of it. Just seems to be getting worse and they are going at such a young age we never even get to see them play for Saints which is a real shame. Same for the lad that went to Lyon.

Take your point, but if he isn’t in an academy already and we spot him, and are prepared to buy his family a house I think that’s fair enough. If City did that I wouldn’t complain because they aren’t taking someone else’s investment at a huge undervaluation (although I say that without knowing what competition we got, if any).

A few will have already seen this: My friend who lives in North Devon knew him well and told me when he moved to Saints he would be phenomenal. I think Saints relocated his whole family even when he was age 11. Apparently he has extraordinary confidence, something like what we see with Bellingham. By all accounts this is a generational talent who in times gone by would have presumably gone through to the first team and been sold for millions. I don’t know how much compensation we will get, but if we can’t bring players through and sell them for huge sums you have to wonder whether the academy model can continue to be successful? This obviously applies to most of the teams in the pyramid as well. Does anyone know if anything is being done about this? I guess not given, as we have seen with Spygate, the elite run football but I’m surprised it doesn’t create more noise!

With the continued mention that the punishment was disproportionate, do we think Saints are gearing up for a Section 68 challenge to the Decision? May he why they have hired Clifford chance if that’s true. Worth a read - https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2026/05/26/op-ed-sir-nicholas-mostyn-kc-soutampton-fc-admiral-byng-is-shot-again/

While I don’t agree with it, this is not great reading, and is written by sensible people for once: https://www.stewartslaw.com/news/spy-games-what-are-the-possible-repercussions-of-the-southampton-v-middlesbrough-play-off-spying-allegations/

Very helpful, thank you. In particular, 91.6

I’m confused. The BBC article said there was no right of appeal to CAS. The EFL press release did mention “consideration of any appeal process if required”. So if we have a contract with the EFL that has an arbitration clause what is the nature of that dispute resolution provision? Presumably this is akin to a multi-tiered dispute resolution process and the tribunal currently appointed are equivalent to the expert determination phase? Arbitrations require a process, most importantly a process to appoint the tribunal, which we haven’t had? So we could apply for interim measure in support of the arbitral process such as an injunction to prevent the play off final taking place as long as no arbitral award had been issued. I agree that once an award has been issued, an English court is not going to give interim measures preventing the enforcement of a valid arbitration award in these circumstances. Does anyone have a copy of the agreement signed with the EFL? Also, normally there is an appeal available or there isn’t. One of the parties to the dispute, I.e. the EFL can’t decide if there’s going to be one, that doesn’t make sense. Can anyone explain this?

Thanks for this, very informative. Other requirements for an emergency injunction that would worry me slightly are the likelihood of success, the full and frank disclosure obligation, and the requirement to provide a cross-undertaking in damages. For an emergency injunction, the “rouge intern” theory would need to be absolutely watertight for both the purposes of the likelihood of success requirement and full and frank disclosure. I’ve been involved in several high court injunction applications, including ex-parte, you can’t risk falling foul of full and frank disclosure in particular.

Apparently no right to appeal to CAS - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c052eznrvvdo?xtor=AL-71-[partner]-[BBC+England]-[headline]-[news]-[bizdev]-[isapi]&at_link_type=web_link&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_origin=BBC_Hampshire&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_format=link&at_link_id=D7C1D82C-4ED4-11F1-B95F-FA3C12A9A6B4&at_medium=social

Thanks mate

Any news on Hayden Hackney?

Very interesting. Nice to have an informed poster

What a fantastic reply, thank you

With the very heavy rain due tomorrow and the weather warning is there any chance the game could be off? Or am I just being paranoid because this is one of the very rare games I can actually attend!

Agree. Bad move for all parties. 15m is nothing compared to what is gained from promotion and he’s an ideal championship striker. Robust, but with some ability, can bring others into play and not slow. Finishing not great but you can get away with that in this league. Also if he was the complete package he wouldn’t still be here anyway . I don’t think we can easily replace him for 15m. Would be a gamble at least. Bad move for Adams. Not going to be much fun up front for Everton this season. Can only be about money. He must know they are a mess and may well go down. I certainly would be insisting on a relegation release clause if I was him.

Thanks for posting, and probably a lot of that is true. Of course, there are two obvious problems in our situation: 1. It appears that although Jones may have had some of the characteristics of a hidden talent, his talent (in the words of the video) "is not the right talent". In other words, possibly it's right at a club like Luton but not at Southampton (or indeed Stoke). 2. We don't have the time to wait for his hidden talent (if any) to develop. We will be relegated by then for sure. So unfortunately, Ankersen also has to be able to recognise when the process hasn't worked. Get Bielsa in on a 5 month contract, and in the meantime start looking for someone else long-term, learning the lessons from the Jones appointment.

I wouldn’t support Saints with Dyche. Nearly given up on it as it is. That would be the final straw

Thanks for posting. That is one of the funniest things I have ever seen!