sadoldgit

I’m not sure about the negative effect on sponsors. Zeiss Binoculars will be knocking the door down at St Mary’s.

How the mighty are fallen. A couple of weeks we were worried that a bigger club would come in for him. I’m on the fence with this one but I think the players’ opinions should be taken into account If they also think that this has been blown out of all proportion him staying could help build a siege mentality where everyone pulls together and we actually become stronger next season. Alternatively they might be pissed off with what has happened, blame him totally and have lost faith in him. In reality I expect opinions are split, as on this forum, so God knows where that leaves us! I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision.

If we think we are hated now could you imagine the vitriol if we tried to pull off this stunt?

He spied on opponents before their matches which seems to be the big issue here. Apparently it is a heinous sin.

Some thoughts now the dust has started to settle. 1. I can’t believe that something as innocuous as checking out the opposition before a match has been blown up to be the sporting crime of the century. 2. How such a minor infringement of such a stupid rule has led to not only expulsion from a major game but the utter turmoil within SFC. 3. The club could not have handled the situation any worse than they have done and have been played by Gibson like a cheap fiddle. 4. We now live in an age where the answer to everything is to sack everyone in sight as if that is the answer to all of our problems rather than rehabilitation and education to change behaviour.

Modern life has buggered up the operating model for superheroes. The iPhone has a lot to answer for after Spygate in more ways than one.

So you are ok with us getting the book thrown at us for breaking the rules but when I posted about running an average speed check in our village you had a right old whinge at me for spoiling the drivers “fun” No problem with people driving faster than the speed limit through a village with young children and no pavements. Some rules can be broken then depending on what suits?

The first time ever the words “Duck” and “the voice of reason” have been used in the same sentence.

Just reflecting on how ludicrous this particular rule is along with how it played out. Scout the opposition 72 hours five minutes before a match, fine. Do so five minutes later and the same activity is becomes spying. All clubs have access to videos of every game that their opposition play. If Middlesbrough go up this season, every team that they play in the league will able to go and spy on them any time they want with no repercussion It sounds like no other league in the world sees fit to have a similar rule, including the English Premier League. If it such a heinous crime, why didn’t the EFL make it perfectly clear that breaking this particular rule could result in the most serious sanctions ever given to a football club? There is absolutely no precedent for expulsion of a football club from the final of a competition for being in breach of such a rule. Waving a pretend red card in order to get another player sent off is seen as cheating. Sending out press releases putting pressure on an independent panel to not only find a club guilty, but to get them kicked out of a competition for being in breach of this particular law, knock yourselves out. You have a rule that gives the accused 14 days to respond to the charges but fold when the accuser puts pressure on to hold the case earlier. A precedent has been set in response to cheating. Seeking to gain an advantage by breaking rules now gives clubs the opportunity to progress in a competition if they get beaten by using any form of cheating as a reason to award the game to them. For example, diving to win a penalty ticks all of the boxes in Steve Gibson’s higher morality check list. I’m sure I could think of more, but the dog needs feeding. What a crock of shit.

So do you throw everyone who cheats out of football? I doubt if there would be many left. When you hear senior pros saying that it isn’t that big a deal it should give some perspective.

If Dragan has any nous he will take some time and some soundings from others as to the best way to deal with the fall out. I expect there are meetings going on all day and he will want to get the reaction from the players. Do they want him gone or do they back him?

And are we to believe that a junior analyst watching a team 72 hours before a match has a greater effect on match planning than watching as many of the opposition’s matches as you like on video?

Worst case scenario yes, but the players are under contract and can’t just walk. There may be some who want to stay and go for it again next season too?

Did you watch the games? If we gained any advantage through Will Salt’s fudged attempt at espionage I’d love to know what it was.

Yep. Assuming that the club doesn’t implode we must be one of the favourites to go up next year. As grim as everything looks right now, we still have the potential to be a big hitter in this division. There is no reason we will not be an attractive proposition once the dust has settled.