Vancouver Saint

Brilliant. It's discovered the Independent commission took a bung from Gibson/Middlesborough to screw Saints. Will Salt a double agent working for Boro. Eckert forced to confess or his kidnapped mother in Germany gets it in the neck. Boro win the playoff final but the EFL and FA disqualify them..quadruple relegation plus their ground is confiscated...made to play on their training pitch at Rocklife Park with all surrounding greenery cut down and observation posts for free access on every corner. Hull disqualified for...well, being Hull - Saints promoted to the Premier league with a 30 point headstart (to ensure we don't get relegated based on the 12 points we'll get if we're lucky).

I had a bit of stick on this forum when I posted on 9 May that I thought the EFL would make an example of us. Even then it was easy to read the court of public opinion would crucify us. As more evidence incriminated us the situation just got worse...the 'acting as a lone wolf' response was a lie that just made things worse. It's a shameful, embarrassing and above all unbelievably stupid act that has damaged our reputation and standing. All that said, the punishment far outweighs the crime IMHO - and it has opened up a Pandora's box of trouble for the EFL. They may be the people's favourites today, but wait until someone else makes a case that they were cheated against - if Hull lose it might be pretty fast in coming. Proving someone else's guilt doesn't prove your innocence - but what this ruling has done is set an incredibly dangerous precedent. That is, due process (14 days to appeal not followed) and the media coverage having an incredibly damning effect on the outcome, effectively not allowing a 'fair trial'. Now, can every game can be legally challenged and over-turned using the 'Southampton precedent'? Lots of 'Ifs and buts'...but if the spying had taken place a day earlier it wouldn't have been spying 72 hours ahead - does that 24 hours make that big a difference? We haven't seen the end of this. How long until the Southampton FC vs EFL lawsuit comes out?

Jeez - logging on from Spain where I'm on holiday - was looking forward to this two-leg semi-final...now, catching up with this spygate issue it's really taken the wind out of my sails. I think this forum is underestimating the 'setting an example' stance the EFL will make of this incident. A couple of questions remain for me - why has the culprit not been named? Seems like they've already confirmed he's a Southampton FC employee. I find it hard to believe he was acting as a lone wolf...even if top management genuinely didn't know the plausible deniability has to stop somewhere. The other question is timing - was it 72 hours ahead of the game or less? Apparently there's a timing constraint. I presume it's less otherwise why all the fuss. Either way it looks and smells bad - cheating is not the way to win. What a terrible situation to put the players in. We must have been favourites to win given our form and could/should have been able to do this without cheating. Now, I fear the worst - call me alarmist if you like - but I can see us being disqualified after the second leg. Really, really hope I'm wrong.

I so wanted to avoid the classic cliche 'did the club and city proud' - but it's actually the most appropriate sentiment for me. For a brief moment there we all thought the miracle might happen after a miracle strike by Azaz - but no-one can argue that Man City didn't have more chances or possession. You just knew when that deflected goal went in what was going to happen. Doku vs Fellows was just unkind and shouldn't really be allowed - like cruelty to children. With the rest of the results it looks like us v Middlesborough in the playoffs. Hopefully no Wembley hangover...

Another really good performance overall - and great result/s for us. Thought we deserved to be 2-0 up at half-time, second half we took our foot off the pedal and were fortunate not to concede with their shot that hit the bar...at 2-1 with 10 minutes to go that could have been nervy. Thought Archer played really well and deserved his MotM - hopefully that will give him the confidence-boost he needs to shoot a few more arrows into the crowd. A great bit of man-management and patience from Eckert if so, as i for one had lost patience I must confess...

Amazing game - love it that we were so up for it from the outset and never took our foot off the pedal. Thought their goal should have been disallowed for a blatant foul on Harwood-Bellis - the commentators didn't even mention it - am I the only one? Now for Derby, who are going to be a tough team to beat - let's keep it going Saints.

OMG that was brilliant - live texting my Arsenal-supporting friend watching from the other side of Vancouver - and meeting up for darts tonight after the Canucks game...beers on me and happy to oblige! Sounded like a fantastic atmosphere. Now to hammer Wrexham please.

A great result for sure - but a very nervy second half. Can't understand why we back off the man with the ball so much we allow their centre back to carry the ball right into our last third of the pitch. We almost threw that away at the end and won't get so lucky using that tactic again I feel. We lost a lot of bite when Downes went off. Surprised we didn't substitute Larin for the last 10 minutes or so - he was spent. We needed more energy in midfield. Great goal by Azaz and happy with the victory more than the performance. I love Peretz - that's 6 points from the last two games he's helped preserve...although his gamesmanship shenanigans almost back-fired in the extra time on top of extra time.

Need to watch out for Ali Ahmed - he joined Norwich from our Vancouver Whitecaps so I've seen him play many times. He's a very skillful wide player with a turn of pace, good control of the ball and knows where the goal is. better than Edozie and Fellows IMHO. Full Canadian International alongside Larin and well-deserving of it...shame we didn't get him.

Should be a really good game. They' are on an amazing run of form but so are we. We have the best home form atm - they are 4th in away form. Althought this has a draw written all over it, I think we'll reverse the score from the away fixture: 2-1 to the Saints.

What a result! Only caught the last four minutes of extra time but saw our goals in the after-match report - did we deserve it? Cameron Archer on the pitch? Looked like Peretz won us our points - what's it like having a goalkeeper eh!

Not sure about this one...not sure at all. Thought we were pretty crap against West Brom but think we might, might just play up to Coventry in this game... My problem is we can't do the basics like defend corners and take throw-ins to our own players...I can't see Coventry having less than 13 corners so unless we get 36 corners ourselves....

Oh man...just needed another 5 mins...West Brom were totally spent - but they were totally up for it today, didn't look like a team in the relegation zone. Can't say a draw wasn't a fair result tbh. Thought we looked a bit lightweight and still too ponderous passing around the back. They totally sussed out our playing out from the back, especially our right side and pressed us high every time. Larin looks better and better every time I see him - great strength, hold-up ability and target for headers - great goal to equalise. Think we might look back at this as a point well won and an unbeaten streak maintained.

Another bloody mid-day kick off - really not worth getting up at 4.00 am in the morning for - is there really no consideration for us Saints fans in the Pacific Time zone? - come on Football Association sort yourselves out! Oh and I'm pretty sure we'll go hybrid...semi rotation to give players a run-out with some first teamers on the bench to try to pull back a 2-0 deficit with half an hour to play. But knowing I'm not watching it, let's call it now - a 4-3 thriller with us coming back from 3-0 down in the first half to win in the sixth minute of extra time. Call me lightning.

Well, what will be put down as a routine win with us not getting out of second gear for most of the match - but I never felt we'd 'put the game to bed'. Even at the end we invite pressure and we're still bad at defending corners, so why risk conceding so many? Archer, I mean how many more chances is he given ahead of someone else? It was like bringing an extra defender for Wednesday - his main contribution was to block Scienza's almost certain goal!

Err um yes of course...felt like a loss given the possession we had. Too ponderous. Extra time showed the urgency we should have had from the outset.

We lost that because we can't defend. We always knew we'd need that second goal didn't we...

Well a good win in the end despite the 'we couldn't show more we don't care about this game' selection - Saints Young Boys beat Leicester's old boys. Leicester must really be sick of the sight of us - gotta love it! Positives - Edozie, Bragg, Larin, pretty much all the youngsters that cam on gave a good account of themselves. Jelert grew into the game before going off. Romeo got some decent minutes in without incident and one great goal-saving tackle. Negatives - Archer, seriously, what a waste of a shirt - what has happened to him? George Long less than convincing, Quarshie and Woods showing why they are second-stringers with lots of mistakes better sides would have punished.

OMG - did that just happen?!

Only saw the last 15 minutes...was nervy conceding corners but for once we held firm. I did say give Larin the benefit of the doubt - he's played really well for Canada in the past. He looked fitter and better than I expected with a good touch - but I guess he's only been on for a few minutes. It makes such a difference to have a goalkeeper!

Let's give him a chance for goodness sake. He had a good spell in the Canadian national team a while back...he has a physical presence and fits that 'big striker target' description which is clearly the new strategy (that being going forward and putting crosses into the box to someone tall enough to head it.

Yet another bloody midday kickoff I won't be watching at 4.30am Pacific time! Does anyone have stats for our performances at midday kick-off games? It seems to me we lose most of them, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Bloomin' heck - what's with it with all these 12.00 noon kick-offs? - that's 4.00 am in the morning for me. This team not worth the effort...although I'm hoping with Stewart and Charles back this could be the start of a revival...

OMG how bad are we? Masters of PPP - Ponderous Pointless Possession. Win all the stats except the one that matters. Eckert out of his depth. Such an obvious mistake to hire him. Not fair on him, the players or the fans. Whoever made that decision needs to be accountable - bowed to pressure way too early and unnecessarily. Meanwhile Danny Rohl burning it up at Rangers (for those that remember the Will Still vs Danny Rohl debate...I do think we tried to get him in fairness). No energy, urgency or belief in this team - even when we pull a goal back. Just awful. Fans leaving with 5 mins to go says it all - we all know we aren't going to create any last-minute chances. Watched listening to the Hull City commentators who were very fair - Southampton 'not exactly pushing on after scoring' the understatement of the day. Questions to answer please: 1. Was that first goal Ryan Manning's fault for an unnecessary and bad back-pass or Quarshie for not 'taking control' - obvious answer is a bit of both, but I thought it was more on Manning when it happened. Eckert obviously blamed Quarshie 2. Was the second goal the goalies fault - he started coming for the ball then changed his mind - or just poor defending at the back post (again)?

I just watched my Scottish team Hearts beat St Mirren playing with 10-men vs 11 from the 15th minute. They won 2-0. Played with spirit and courage. Played as a team. Had enormous energy. Fought for every ball. Ended up with 7 shots on target vs 2 from their opponents. The second time in four days they've won playing with 10 men. So the opposite of the spineless, gutless, structureless, leaderless, second-to-every-ball, where's my paycheck mentality of this current Saints team it's unbelievable. A joy to watch and a reminder of just how low I've sunk my expectations from Saints. So not interested anymore. Until the next game of course. Sad old addict 😳