SfcPhil

I must admit, I'm expecting the worst outcome. But if you think about it this way, we've had a better start under Tonda than we would've under a brand new coach IMO. I think we've actually started pretty well, with this saga still lurking over our heads. Part of me says that if Tonda is given a hefty ban, then at least we can start to move on, but the other part says that he's such promising manager and our best chance of promotion is under him. Either way, it'll be good to have some clarity later this week.

I have it on good authority that Prowsey wanted to come back as soon as the season after he left (the summer we were back in the Prem). Apparently his family weren't settling well with living in London at the time. I think he'd be a good addition to a Championship squad. We need to remember the level that we're at.

Yeah it's cost us more than people realise. We lost Charles and soon to be THB because of it in theory (I think we'd have beaten Hull, then no need to sell). We're now weaker squad in a stronger Championship, in the final year of our parachute payments. Spors has a monumental task in the next week to try and build a side fit for promotion. He pulled off some great deals last summer, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until the window closes.

We need two CB's once THB leaves. No ifs or buts about it.

Won't be doing the Pompey game this year after working out it'll be £140 for my dad and I, just for memberships and tickets, before even thinking to start about travel, food and drink. We only get to a handful of games each season as we've both moved away from the area, so we'd be getting the memberships just for this game. Can't justify it. After being to a few derbies in the early 2000's, the atmosphere from those games compared to last season was night and day. Didn't feel any different to playing any other team in the league due to the "bubble". I think the Boro game might be spicier.

We needed that, badly. Doesn't matter how we won today, we just needed to make sure we did. The CB pairing and Matsuki in CM did concern me, but the squad will chop and change in the next couple of weeks. We just need points on the board and to get that feel good factor back around the club.

Game completely passed him by in Germany. Nowhere near the required level unfortunately.

If there's one thing that Sport Republic do well it's that we usually get good fees for players leaving. Alfie House alluded that we would be looking for at least the same fee that Charles left for, but I'd harbour a guess that it would be £30m guaranteed + add ons. He's not going anywhere for £17m.

So we're still looking to sign a striker then? Interesting considering Tonda's comments. We have a lot of business (mostly out) to do in the next couple of weeks, that's for sure!

BBD is genuinely awful. The "performance" I witnessed in Germany was like a competition winner playing. Clumsy is the best word to describe him and he often takes the ball away from players in a better position. He'll be loaned out again by the end of the window. I'd assume Downs will be as well. It'll be Larin, new striker and Oyekunle as the striker options IMO.

I received mine in an email yesterday, as did a few others going. Although it's slightly concerning that it's showing as row 13 & 15 on our seated tickets 😅

Yep I'm heading out for it. Think there's at least 50 going with Nicks Saints Away Travel. Should be a good laugh.

Cheers for this. I'm £35 lighter now. Swap the colours round and I would've taken that as our home shirt.

The colour is noted as "Pristine" on the Saints website 🫣

ChatGPT thinks a ban is coming his way. "If I were estimating the outcome based on the available information, I would put the probabilities roughly as: 6–12 month suspension: ~50% 12-month suspension or longer: ~30% Less than 6 months: ~20% I think a punishment limited to a fine, warning, or a one- or two-match touchline ban is very unlikely given: the FA has brought three separate E3.1 charges; the conduct was allegedly planned and authorised; it involved attempts to obtain a competitive advantage; and it followed findings by the EFL that were highly critical of the conduct."

I think it'll be wrapped up in the next couple of days. He'll be on the plane out to Germany IMO. If it means we can spend money in other areas of the squad, it's a no brainer. Always going to be a question mark over his fitness, but I really liked him and Larin alternating at the backend of last season.

Drink it in. At least we won our final game of the tournament 😂

Will they even attempt a shot before the end of the game? I mean to be in a World Cup final and not registering a shot after 109 minutes is embarrassing.

If this goes to penalties then the Argies win.. Got to hope for a last second goal for Spain. Please.

He keeps putting his trust in absolute basketcases. Can't fault him as an investor, he putsoney into the club, but my god he must have the worst judgement going. I expect to see Tonda and Spors gone in the next day or two.

I could've taken being beaten by Boro over two legs, or losing in the final. I can't take this. Dragan needs to clean the decks tonight and start again. It's obviously that the culture inside the club is shambolic and not in keeping with most supporters values.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. This will have a lasting effect over the club for years to come and us fans will bare the brunt of it as usual. How can we be so incompetent? I guess this is Sport Republic that we're talking about. As for the people saying we should keep Tonda.. once our appeal fails today, he's gone, along with anyone else who was complicit in this whole saga, and rightly so. All of our results from the last seven months are open to scrutiny now, even if we didn't spy before them.

I think some context would go a long way as well. If everything that's been in the press is true, that an employee of our club has recorded/streamed footage of a Boro training session back to the club (reported that he was made to delete all files when the sorry first broke) then I'd like to know how long he was there and what did he witness. If it was the team taking penalties for example, then it bares no relevance to the tie, as no penalties were taken. If it was Boro playing a different shape to normal or build up play etc, obviously that changes how we set up, which gives us an advantage. What advantage if any did we gain over the two legs from what he witnessed? You could argue being caught and charged actually had a massive negative effect on our performance in the first half at the Riverside and first 30-35 mins at St Mary's. Obviously this has still broken the 72 hour rule and I gather we'll be charged accordingly for this. The main thing for me in this whole scenario is that the EFL have no time. They won't cancel the final, or play it at a different venue. It's worth too much to them, it's their showcase final. If we're kicked out next week, we'll appeal it to high heaven and the final won't take place next weekend. All in all though, it's an absolute mess that the club have created and I hope all persons involved in it are no longer at the club after the dust settles. We should be looking forward to another playoff final, instead it's clouded in controversy.

Isn't the whole point that this is the EFL vs Saints. It's completely irrelevant what club these breaches have been committed against isn't it? Old Gibbo doesn't like not being in control, does he.