S-Clarke

Club should have refunded us/given us immediate credit from their accounts immediately. Why should we have to wait for 'process'? And they should have also issued credit for Boro games, given that they were now very expensive 'friendlies'. That would be the honourable thing to do if they were really trying to repair the damage. As well as sacking Tonda, doing that on 'day 1' could have been someway to start to re-build trust - but all it shows us is that the statement on the OS was wishy washy corporate bullshit. They will not regain our trust.

Do you know what I think is going to happen here, SR are waiting for someone else to make the decision for them. Once the FA Ban him, you'll end up with a wishy washy statement on the OS stating that given the FA Ban, Eckerts employment at Southampton has been ceased. Does that start the process of us owning up? Does it fuck. I hope it doesn't play out that way, but honestly would anyone be surprised? It just feels like the form horse approach now.

I didn't look at the date and saw the mention of Fry and Pinnacle and my mind almost blew up. Thanks MB.

It sort of drifts between acceptance and anger. Today it's more a case of anger again as I woke up and realised that my plans were totally different. Anger this morning that I realised the extacy of Charles winner in 117mins meant absolutley nothing. Anger at the clubs complete and lack of front up to any of this. Anger at the excessive Boro pile on and manipulated campaign to get them the result THEY wanted. But who am I most angry with? Sports Fucking Republic. They have dragged my club into the pits, time and time again. This low was again on their watch and again entirely unavoidable if they had an ounce of accountability and competence. Over the last few months I felt I was getting my club back, building a rapport with the team and the coaching staff again. But it all feels fake. Ripped apart in seconds. They talk about needing to win trust back, but they'll never, ever, ever win mine.

Yep, I agree - the nature of how we handled this to me is even more troubling because it shows more of a systemic lack of entire control organisational wide. This may have been 4 or 5 idiots between the analytic and management teams doing stupid things, but the response from the club (well, lack of front) demonstrates that our issues go far, far, far deeper at an organisational core. We shouldn't be surprised though. We often correlate silence with professionalism, but in the case of us the silence is quite clearly the biggest evidence we've ever had that Sports Republic are indeed entirely incompetent at running large organisations. For the fans of the club, who are the biggest victim in all of this, we deserve better leadership and better governance. I'm embarrassed to the core for what SR have allowed us to become.

First confirmation I think I've seen that Pannick was in fact representing us on our appeal hearing. English Football League v Southampton FC

All this patting themselves on the back stuff stinks tbh. Southampton Case Commission Issues Strong Warning - Gilson Gray

Nope. I'd feel pretty flat if the club pursued it to be honest, as it continues to drag our name through the mud. They need to take their medicine here and let Hull get on with it. By all means, take some action in the summer if there is a case - but leave football alone now. We had our chance and we let them tickle our bellies.

Hall not going is crazy. Palmer is somewhat questionable too, but Chelsea fans have some interesting views about him this season. In terms of Foden, I do remember him really struggling to fit with England in the last tournament, we tried with Foden and Bellingham and it just wouldn't work. We tried for years with Lampard and Gerrard and it didn't work, sometimes you pick the team rather than the names. The outcry over Trent is laughable though. The guy can't defend for shit. 'He's got a great cross' - yeah, but ultimately we need him to defend against the best attackers in the world and he can't do that. So that's that.

Does make you wonder....

Yeah I know, and that's what worries the crap out of me! He's the last thing we need.

It's a PR disaster to keep him on, let's be honest. Sponsors, commercials, agents, player deals. etc etc. It can't happen. The silence from the club is deafening, but I imagine they're waiting for him to be charged with the FA so they sack him for gross misconduct rather than having to pay out. Or alternatively they just get on with it and showed some front, SR suck up the compo. But that's not how SR work.

One of those kids safety knives that you get in the playdough sets.

Didn't Martin O'Neil say he's staying on? God knows.

Big news. Injunction started. Lord Pannick has just arrived.

Do you know what a manager is? Liam does. It's man-age. He's aging men. Absolute genius that bloke. But no, please. I didn't want him when he was at Strasburg either. a Hipster nothing. He'd make a good Sports phycologist though, and we may need that after this summer.

Twatter.

I cannot see any way an injection is any sort of possibility. It's too late. Fans have already travelled, players are already there. $$$$$$ talks and that will mean it will not be stopped by any injuction. At this point the club should stop trying that angle and own it and start rebuilding what they've trashed.

How can you say that? Sadly I think this is the view the people at the club are taking too, and it's wrong. The club are bound by all EFL rules at the start of every season, it's part of the clubs 'share' when they come into the league. They should be aware of all the rules as part of the agreement with the league, so not knowing the rules is the weakest defence they could have actually presented. And the fact this is what they presented is one of the most embarrassing elements.

I'm starting to wonder if the FAB were actually our defence.

I've just reported these points to our lawyers, but it seems as if who was presenting us has had a change of career overnight.,

They are also dirty scheming bastards, who played their own non-football game here. Justice is for Hull to win and I will be rooting for them. The outcome of our offence shouldn't have been to give Boro the opportunity to win the biggest footballing prize in the world, given that it wasn't just them wronged. It should have been to ensure sporting integrity. By expelling us proclaiming sporting integrity, they've created their own sporting integrity mess should Boro win.

We all know football is crooked, it's corrupt to shit. You just have to be shrewd to know how to play it, and then respond to it if you're ever 'caught red handed'. What we did wasn't the crime of the century, but ultimately how we handled it was probably the worst I've ever seen. Corruption is rife, but it's how you own it, execute it and deal with it that matters. We failed on all 3 because we are owned by baffoons.

I think the biggest gripe here is that this game has been decided off the pitch, Hull fans believe the same. What we did was stupid, we are totally guilty, bang to rights, utter morons. But equally, the orchestrated media campaign by Boro to expose this has been just as murky, dirty and certainly not 'in good faith'. Boro felt wronged, I get that, totally. But they had 2 games to put that right on the football pitch, and this is football at the end of the day. They couldn't put it right on the football pitch, so they went nuclear off the pitch and beat us off of it instead. In essence, they had 4 legs to beat us - not 2. The issue with the result is that it seems to have purely favoured Middlesborough, not sporting integrity or fans. Just what Middlesborough wanted. It wasn't just Boro we had done this to, but they've used it in a way so they get the maximum reward for the fallout and in the same throw penalise Hull, Wrexham and Derby to a degree. The EFL have handled this terribly from the start, but my feeling is that they decided on expulsion the moment Boro cried to them, and it was up to us to convince them otherwise - but once the Boro media machine got going, we were KO and couldn't even get back up to mount a defence.

We've managed everything about this wrong, and we seem to now also be managing the aftermath wrong. Why have the only true, personal, candid words been from the players? (A couple of players). Why haven't the club immediately contacted local media to front up what's happened here and immediately try to swing the narrative? I get we are guilty, bang to rights, but at least try to protect yourself and come out of it with some dignity. Immediately showing strength by coming out and speaking, removing people, or at least 'suspensions', would have been the least to expect up to this point. To have so far said nothing, other than them still saying it was disproportionate (it was, but that's not the point) is another sorry affair with SR and their 'machine'. Fucking own it SR, talk to the people candidly about what has gone on here. We don't want corporate bullshit or woe be me platitudes, we need to see and hear action - and so far, it's about as silent as our defence.