hypochondriac

Obviously not this season.

Social media has done weird things to people's brains. Why they feel entitled to a running commentary I have no idea.

No we fucking shouldn't! The inky time we should make any noise is if they try to kick us out. Before that we are doing things by the book.

Clearly not but he's going to say and do whatever he can in order to get as much as he can. Big lawsuits I'm sure.

I'm waiting to go back and read it once it's confirmed. I'll have a nice glass of wine and drink it all in.

He feels he has been wronged and in his kind he will take whatever steps he needs to in order to get a semblance of justice. I expect he knows there's a low chance we will actually get kicked out and boro reinstated but it's all theatre to some extent to maximise his eventual returns. Worth going back to that statement from Simon Jordan. 20 million for Middlesbrough to drop things. He didn't pull that number out of thin air.

Simon Jordan said effectively that is Gibson feels sighted he's like a dog with a bone and will not let it go until he receives compensation. I expect it is the principle of the thing that annoys him more than the result.

Yes I gathered that and he was always going to sue us but I wondered if it meant he was going after them too if he feels they are too lenient.

Having another read of that statement, it seems to me that he's trying to put pressure on the efl to push for expulsion. Of they don't do that (and presumably there's some sort of transcript of the hearing) will he be looking to sue them as well as us?

They have wildly overestimated his abilities.

If/when we don't get booted out, the level of salt pouring from Boro fans is going to be glorious. Almost worth signing up to their forums for.

Some suggestion was a random Tuesday this month.

If we get kicked out they won't be playing the final on the 23rd.

It smacks of "We can't be directly involved in the case? Fine then we will release a public statement and attempt to influence things from the outside." Southampton have done wrong no doubt but since this happened, Middlesbrough have conducted themselves terribly.

Oh dear. It isn't going their way.

Even Cundy's mum doesn't think highly of him.

Yes but not sure how relevant that is here. It's not like it really mitigate any charge

Maybe submit that to the panel as evidence. There's no way we can be found guilty if these absolute fuckwits are saying we are.

If the efl get away without the game being cancelled they will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief and accept quickly.

Anyone know the answer? The case is about breaking the rules which we will admit to clearly. They will then look at mitigating and aggravating factors. Is the aggravating factor done on the balance of probabilities? Therefore if we deny it was systemic and that we routinely spy within the 72 hours and that the coaching staff knew but this ex analyst contradicts that will that be enough for them to say we are bang to rights?

Well if the oracles Ashley Williams and Cundy have spoken I think we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

They will be able to prove that the offence occurred. Will the balance of probabilities test apply to the aggravating factor or if being systemic without a smoking gun? Assuming we sack the analysts involved and deny that other members of the coaching staff had prior knowledge and Middleborough do not have proof of that beyond the statement of an ex analyst, I wonder if they would still go for it and look to boot us out. Unlikely in my view.

They are aggravating factors. Proper evidence that suggests this is systemic and a campaign of cheating to gain an advantage is obviously more serious and deserves a harsher penalty.

Someone reported a couple of days ago that he'd been given a few days off due to this but is now back at the club.

So if we look at some of the ITK posters on here I think we can make a reasonable assumption about where we are. 1) someone has clearly spied on Middlesbrough from Southampton and broken the rule. I think we can also assume that this isn't the first time this has happened based o na few posts from here and presumably a statement from an ex employee. Not good. 2) It is likely that some of the coaching team will have been aware of this and very unlikely Imo that nobody other than the analyst knew about it. Also not good. The key then becomes in this hearing can Middlesbrough's evidence prove with 100% certainty that not only has this happened before but that what has happened is systemic. Do they have evidence in the form of instructions from higher ups or tonda or spors perhaps instructing someone. Do they have footage from other clubs of this occurring. Imo this is unlikely. Will the club statement say that this was a problem with the analysts and that the other coaching staff were not aware? Or that we did send people previously but that it wasn't in the 72 hour window? Personally I think Middlesbrough are going to have a tough time to convince a panel that we did this repeatedly with the approval of the coaching staff and that we instructed the analyst to break the rules by spying in the period when it isn't allowed. In summary I think on the balance of probabilities we did spy on other clubs - or at least some within the analyst part of the club did, I think it's possible that some more senior people within the coaching setup knew it was going on but I think both of these things are going to be rather difficult for Middlesbrough to prove definitively. A statement from an ex employee isn't going to cut it unless they have some sort of smoking gun communication.