Saint Fan CaM

Some of these names! Who of any note is going to step into this club now? It’s going to to be the 2026 version of Wigley - step forward Lallana.

Exactly. Didn’t stop Boro (and other club) fans giving it large when the story first broke without all the facts…one rule etc. Some points to add to the mix… 1. Boro have effectively used ‘EntrapGate’ to extract our shit from the general huge pile of stinking shit that is endemic cheating in football, including the use of a community of junior interns to go on ‘scouting expeditions’ to other clubs. It feels like Saints have attempted to protect most of the other clubs in the league by not ratting. 2. I don’t entirely buy the narrative that Eckhert bullied Salt. An equally sound theory is the lad got taken in by the Boro friendly ex-Saints coach, went to Eckhert/Spors for approval for a field trip and it was given. To save his own rep the lad then claimed under duress that he was bullied into the job. Eckhert said he knew of the ‘spying’…not that he bullied him into doing it. Did Salt complain when he went to Oxford? Lastly, my position on this whole sorry saga is that I’m more angry with the ineptitude of the club’s senior management team for allowing Boro to use a clearly manufactured story, allowing the EFL to be steered by Boro and willingly gifting them success on a plate by Parsons idiocy and a weak legal team, than I am with the club ‘spying’ when it’s reportedly an overlooked, commonly used practice across modern pro football worldwide. A scapegoat or two will be sacrificed on the alter of Boro’s media outrage undoubtedly. I kind of hope Boro win and that triggers a Hull/Wrexham/Millwall/Saints lawsuit that rinses the EFL and Boro, with their cronies being dragged through the dirt. Now that would be true justice.

@Crab Lungs Surely a forensic examination of Boro’s entrapment starts with an interview with Salt where he’s asked if he’s been in contact with Taylor and further did he receive a tip-off to visit Boro’s ground from Taylor? Or is that too straightforward? If that’s true, perhaps he then went to Eckhert for approval to go citing the tip-off and Eckhert sanctioned it?

Not sure - ‘spyjng’ is not against the rules in the Premiership or so we’re told, so not seen as gaining an unfair advantage, however the FA govern the entire English game so will want to be seen to acting to protect their reputation too I guess.

I see there’s a report (BBC?) that the FA are now looking at the evidence. Does that mean they have the power to impose further sanctions on the club such as a fine or even more points deduction? It really wouldn’t surprise me - there seems to be an endemic, corporate desire to bring the club to its knees.

I thought it had been said that it’s only the Championship where this rule applies, but I guess it’s across the whole EFL then? Nevertheless, I still find it strange that these are the only two clubs that Boro had ‘evidence’ from in terms of gathering a case in readiness for their defeat in the semi’s - no coincidence really.

Yes that’s likely true, but don’t you think it’s strange that the two clubs presented to the panel were the two clubs definitely not in the Championship next season? I suspect there’s other clubs who are somewhat nervous revealing their hand and exposing their own weaknesses in terms of gaining competitor advantage (I’d bet on there being other ‘interesting’ practices in the profession we’re not aware of).

This is an excellent reflection of the realities of the situation - very well said SOG. The more I reflect on what’s happened the more I thoroughly believe the club needs to act quickly and decisively to dress the wound. To not do so risks the entire club structure collapsing in on itself in a spiral of self-harm. That will likely mean the sacking of one or more scapegoats, but that should be it…the club (Dragan) protects and nurtures all other assets including playing staff (who should get their % salary cut re-instated). Despite Boro’s antics. Despite the EFL, its sham board and the obvious cheating that exists at all levels of the game. All this talk about sacking everyone is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Circle the wagons…take a deep breath and let’s fucking show ‘em we’re worthy of promotion the hard way. The alternative is further capitulation to an unjust punishment and the potential demise of our wonderful club.

Also…and it’s been said before on here…it’s strange is it not that the two other instances are Ipswich and Oxford who are both out of the Championship now and therefore not concerned about any reveal of the extent many other teams ‘spy’ on opponents. No other teams want to get involved because they too could be implicated. That’s why Parsons clever wording around helping to ensure the rules are widely applied and understood in the future could have significant meaning today.

The why is obviously because precedence in law is an important factor - the first panel has for some reason not recognised this (and everything points to Boro influencing the panel both publicly and possibly privately too, given the EFL/Boro connections). Not only that but I would hope that Parsons has learnt not to reveal his entire hand in one stroke - what is in the statement is not necessarily all the mitigating evidence that will be presented to the judge today.

Lallana it is then…😳😉

If it’s clear that Tonda made no direct instruction to sanction the spying then he should stay - I.e. I could imagine that the analyst team operate independently as a service to the coaching staff and report to Spors. Otherwise, yes, he should go.

Interesting reading through the thread. Many are saying sack Tonda etc., with others suggesting they’ll walk away from the club because of the ‘cheating’. The punishment is undoubtedly harsh and assuming the appeal is not successful, surely we the innocent supporters should feel a high level of indignation with the outcome? Surely now is the time to form a close huddle with the club and its staff in continued support and stick two proverbial fingers up at the EFL? “We will prevail” sort of position. When I look back over the stewardship of SR, I cannot help but reflect on one disaster after another. Lack of cohesive player and coaching appointments. Embarrassing season and relegation from the Prem. And now this, with potential further decline a result of sullied reputation, lowered morale, player departures and a further reduction of squad quality. If you wanted to fuck a football club over in a slow death process, SR have seemingly developed and executed the blueprint perfectly. Parsons head should role - he’s overseen much of the decline and his performance versus Gibson confirms his incompetence in a senior managerial capacity.

They would do, however most are in the business of fence erecting and there’s not much call for that around Boro. Oh…

Some of the conclusions reached on here are likely wide of the mark. The old adage of “you don’t know what you don’t know” springs to mind. We’ll just need to let everything take due course, with fingers crossed that common sense and proportionality are used in determining the outcome. 🤞