Saints Expelled from Playoffs

[sfc4prem]

26 minutes ago, trousers said:

Blackmore going in with two feet (justifiably, I guess...)

Blackmore going in with the moral and sporting invulnerability of someone high on celebrations of winning a European Cup.

Edited 1 hour ago by sfc4prem

[BotleySaint]

1 minute ago, coalman said:

It reads like they were sent in there to come to a particular decision.

Yes, EFL said "We think you should do this. Do you agree, or not?" 

So not a completely independent decision.

[AlexLaw76]

So, when people talk about it offers no sporting advantage, even Tonda said it does (or could)

[bangkoksaint]

Tonda and Parsons need to be gone. It’s unequivocal and the sooner the better so we can try and get back to some sort of normality 

[benjii]

34 minutes ago, Crab Lungs said:

 

Now I’ve had a few hours to fully let the dust settle on this mess, I wanted to post a few observations. 

Purely my opinion and some speculation on my part. 

Firstly, I’ve cycled through some pretty dramatic emotions these past 48 hours. From being stunned at the IDC decision to embarrassment and anger in our own conduct.

Finally, came defiance; fuck everything, let’s own this mess, create a siege mentality and focus on next season.

The shock came first; from the rumoured rumblings of a record fine and points deduction to complete expulsion was a shock. I thought it was a parody account at first on X, only realising it was the actual EFL communications account once I clicked on it.

Over a period of time, you start to see the nuances of the case. The evidence gathered (the snooping appears both systemic and calculated) and in this instance it was an extraordinary situation. We were no longer in the league stage; we were effectively in a cup knockout competition when we were caught. 

My guess for how the punishment was metered out is as follows;

 

Spying vs Middlesbrough (knockout round) = expulsion 

Spying vs Oxford (league) = -3 points

Spying vs Ipswich (league = -3 points  

Admittance of the league spying = reversal of 1 point deduction for each game.

Total: expulsion = -4 points next year.

 

It’s just a guess but I’m assuming that’s how it’s worked. Admitting it somewhat mitigated the points deduction applied but that is where the goodwill ended.

Then came the embarrassment and anger. How fucking stupid could we be on the eve of a playoff game and in the analytical age of football? As a lot of former pros have said, the merits of spying and learning anything of any real significance is almost negligible - so why the risk?

It’s almost as if we got emboldened the more we done it, perhaps. And is it just us? The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if the size of our punishment is a signal to the rest of the EFL that they KNOW it goes on and making an example of someone would act as a huge deterrent for any clubs participating in the practice going forward.

For me I can only surmise that it wasn’t just about us; this was a message to everyone. We just happened to be the silly fuckers who took a gamble too far.

Cosplaying as Eastleigh ground staff? Sending WhatsApp and emails between each other seemingly joking about the clandestine activities? If Tonda was a part of these communications, I have one piece of advice for him going forward.

“People are your friends… until they decide not to be.”

Then came the anger, mostly about our leaderships handling of the affair, though that is snugly intertwined with whole stupidity of doing it in the first place. 

Parsons at Boro, for example. If reports are true and he cosied up to Steve Gibson, admitted everything and performatively cucked to him, thinking they’d  be accepting of a fine and points deduction is naive at best and at worst premature and amateur.

Whilst Boro were hiring a top sports KC in Nick de Marco, Parsons was effectively blabbing before his own solicitor had arrived. Dumb, and dumb some more. Better still, he did so right in front of some of EFL top brass. 

Then it came to hiring our own defence: instead of going for the big dog with experience in sports litigation right off the bat - Lord Pannick, typically we did the Saintsy thing of hiring someone with an expertise in gender discrimination.

I’m sure she’s very talented but after the initial ruling was given and thanks to Parsons blabbing his mouth, Pannick really didn’t have any cards left to play.

Which nicely brings me on to the pathetic, mealy mouthed statements from Parsons and the club.

Honestly, I’m still aghast at that an adult or adults supposedly composed them. There was the expected but seemingly empty apology from the club but the other content was staggering.

Offering to assist in the future in stamping out cheating on the future? Was that some sort of joke? 

The worst part of it all for me was the absolute drivel about proportionality. Fine, make your case for proportionality but do it with dignity and humility. Nope, not us. Instead, we start pointing our sullied fingers at other clubs like a child would:  ‘Look,they did it!’ ‘They did it too’ ‘And then! They did it too and it was worse than what we’ve done!’

It was a golden opportunity to communicate to the fans and show some accountability. Perhaps, just perhaps even own the mistakes.

Somehow, the club fumbled it again. 

Instead, they just doubled down on the ‘oh well, they did it too so you shouldn’t punish us as much’ rhetoric. 

As a grown adult, this was a feeble excuse when a more serious and dignified one was required. Using other clubs for their misdemeanours of the past as the defence to excuse our own behaviour is top level amateurism, not to mention pathetic.

Genuinely, woefully pathetic.

From the off, our handling of it was catastrophic. I can’t help but think our approach is what ultimately cost us. For example, if we’d been a little more brash, open and dismissive about it from the off then perhaps the kickback wouldn’t have been as bad. Bielsa famously pointed out it was a common practice and cited cultural negligence. Sure, he had the aura and charisma to pull it off but in those early stages our outwardly appearance was one of stern looks, guilt and performative professionalism (in other words, let’s pretend to everyone we weren’t aware of this and that we’re conducting an internal review, that’ll show them how serious we are).

It looked shifty from the offset and with Boro and the local rags fanning the flames, we then had Parsons enter the fray and capitulate completely, arrogantly presuming he could predict the outcome.

I can’t help but think there is alot more to come from this. Once the findings are released, I think we’ll all cycle through those emotions again. The embarrassment of more ridiculous evidential findings. The anger that we could be so aloof to think no one would rat on us or talk our way out of it with a few quiet words and an apology at the Riverside.

And I can’t help but think there’s something very fishy about the whole episode as well. Something conspiratorial. Something pre meditated. Irrespective, it’ll all come out in the wash.

This has served so many purposes, most notably an opportunity for the EFL to go nuclear on someone (us) and put an end to sporting advantage of spying on the opposition once and for all.

We just happened to be the suckers who went a step too far - and now we’re all paying for it.

But more importantly this could be a divine opportunity to reset the culture at the club once and for all. No more performative gestures and flaky promises from empty vessels like Parsons. 

We have an opportunity to bring real leaders in who set standards and demand that they are met. A real leader sets the tone and culture, holding themselves or others accountable when those standards are not met. 

We’ve all drawn a short straw through the actions of others, Saints fans. That hurts, a lot. Like the players, we’ve been wronged in a farcical situation that we did not create. 

We’ve gone on to achieve generational notoriety in what should have been an exceptional and memorable season. Instead, for years to come we will be thought of as cheaters. That is not us but actions of a few individuals. 

We deserved better. 

That said, we do have a choice: we can blubber, cry, procrastinate and moan about it or take the punishment and come back stronger. Use this situation as the fuel thar fires us into being better, doing better and getting back to where we belong - in the Premier League, selling our duds to Leicester.

Have a good summer everyone.

 

 

Might be the best Saintsforever post ever!

[LegalEagle]

What the fuck did Parsons do as a job before Saints? Who interviewed him?

[trousers]

3 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

So, when people talk about it offers no sporting advantage, even Tonda said it does (or could)

I don't think anyone has said it never offers any advantage, rather that any advantage is usually minimal / negligible...? 

[Crab Lungs]

Just now, LegalEagle said:

What the fuck did Parsons do as a job before Saints? Who interviewed him?

Worked for Dyson. Seems we got suckered in.

[Football Special]

24 minutes ago, trousers said:

Tondas hardly going to be sneaking around the bushes himself is he, of course if  anyone was doing it then junior members obvious choice, Tonda probably had done it when he was a 21 year old analyst. 

Intern sounds like a right grass, suck it up and tell them you were a lone wolf you numpty 

Edited 2 hours ago by Football Special

[Harry_SFC]

1 minute ago, LegalEagle said:

What the fuck did Parsons do as a job before Saints? Who interviewed him?

Wasn't he CEO of Dyson? 

[stfrancisofbenali]

On 20/05/2026 at 18:50, trousers said:

I think we'll need @stfrancisofbenali's to comment on Spors' supposed innocence first, given his post earlier today

 

Spors certainly implicated in the evidence presented to EFL 1530 on Tuesday. Maybe some back pedalling going on internally to work out who takes the wrap rather than a mass cull?

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, trousers said:

I don't think anyone has said it never offers any advantage, rather that any advantage is usually minimal / negligible...? 

But report states that gaining a sporting advantage is separate from gaining sporting success. In Tondas own words knowing what would be known from spying (like we did) is a sporting advantage.

Also his continued claim of not knowing is just bollox

[LGTL]

Tonda and Parsons have to leave. I still can’t get over those details. Where the FUCK was our actual defence?!

[Crab Lungs]

1 minute ago, stfrancisofbenali said:

Spors certainly implicated in the evidence presented to EFL 1530 on Tuesday. Maybe some back pedalling going on internally to work out who takes the wrap rather than a mass cull?

Thats what I mean in my post. Just fucking own it if you’re a leader, even if if you didn’t know - you let that culture thrive. It’s on you. Fucking own it.

[The Wyvern]

22 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

EFL publish full written reasons: https://www.efl.com/news/2026/may/21/efl-statement--written-reasons-relating-to-southampton-fc/

Nothing particularly new there, an absolute amateur shambles from us from start to finish. 

[Addict54]

41 minutes ago, Crab Lungs said:

 

Now I’ve had a few hours to fully let the dust settle on this mess, I wanted to post a few observations. 

Purely my opinion and some speculation on my part. 

Firstly, I’ve cycled through some pretty dramatic emotions these past 48 hours. From being stunned at the IDC decision to embarrassment and anger in our own conduct.

Finally, came defiance; fuck everything, let’s own this mess, create a siege mentality and focus on next season.

The shock came first; from the rumoured rumblings of a record fine and points deduction to complete expulsion was a shock. I thought it was a parody account at first on X, only realising it was the actual EFL communications account once I clicked on it.

Over a period of time, you start to see the nuances of the case. The evidence gathered (the snooping appears both systemic and calculated) and in this instance it was an extraordinary situation. We were no longer in the league stage; we were effectively in a cup knockout competition when we were caught. 

My guess for how the punishment was metered out is as follows;

 

Spying vs Middlesbrough (knockout round) = expulsion 

Spying vs Oxford (league) = -3 points

Spying vs Ipswich (league = -3 points  

Admittance of the league spying = reversal of 1 point deduction for each game.

Total: expulsion = -4 points next year.

 

It’s just a guess but I’m assuming that’s how it’s worked. Admitting it somewhat mitigated the points deduction applied but that is where the goodwill ended.

Then came the embarrassment and anger. How fucking stupid could we be on the eve of a playoff game and in the analytical age of football? As a lot of former pros have said, the merits of spying and learning anything of any real significance is almost negligible - so why the risk?

It’s almost as if we got emboldened the more we done it, perhaps. And is it just us? The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if the size of our punishment is a signal to the rest of the EFL that they KNOW it goes on and making an example of someone would act as a huge deterrent for any clubs participating in the practice going forward.

For me I can only surmise that it wasn’t just about us; this was a message to everyone. We just happened to be the silly fuckers who took a gamble too far.

Cosplaying as Eastleigh ground staff? Sending WhatsApp and emails between each other seemingly joking about the clandestine activities? If Tonda was a part of these communications, I have one piece of advice for him going forward.

“People are your friends… until they decide not to be.”

Then came the anger, mostly about our leaderships handling of the affair, though that is snugly intertwined with whole stupidity of doing it in the first place. 

Parsons at Boro, for example. If reports are true and he cosied up to Steve Gibson, admitted everything and performatively cucked to him, thinking they’d  be accepting of a fine and points deduction is naive at best and at worst premature and amateur.

Whilst Boro were hiring a top sports KC in Nick de Marco, Parsons was effectively blabbing before his own solicitor had arrived. Dumb, and dumb some more. Better still, he did so right in front of some of EFL top brass. 

Then it came to hiring our own defence: instead of going for the big dog with experience in sports litigation right off the bat - Lord Pannick, typically we did the Saintsy thing of hiring someone with an expertise in gender discrimination.

I’m sure she’s very talented but after the initial ruling was given and thanks to Parsons blabbing his mouth, Pannick really didn’t have any cards left to play.

Which nicely brings me on to the pathetic, mealy mouthed statements from Parsons and the club.

Honestly, I’m still aghast at that an adult or adults supposedly composed them. There was the expected but seemingly empty apology from the club but the other content was staggering.

Offering to assist in the future in stamping out cheating on the future? Was that some sort of joke? 

The worst part of it all for me was the absolute drivel about proportionality. Fine, make your case for proportionality but do it with dignity and humility. Nope, not us. Instead, we start pointing our sullied fingers at other clubs like a child would:  ‘Look,they did it!’ ‘They did it too’ ‘And then! They did it too and it was worse than what we’ve done!’

It was a golden opportunity to communicate to the fans and show some accountability. Perhaps, just perhaps even own the mistakes.

Somehow, the club fumbled it again. 

Instead, they just doubled down on the ‘oh well, they did it too so you shouldn’t punish us as much’ rhetoric. 

As a grown adult, this was a feeble excuse when a more serious and dignified one was required. Using other clubs for their misdemeanours of the past as the defence to excuse our own behaviour is top level amateurism, not to mention pathetic.

Genuinely, woefully pathetic.

From the off, our handling of it was catastrophic. I can’t help but think our approach is what ultimately cost us. For example, if we’d been a little more brash, open and dismissive about it from the off then perhaps the kickback wouldn’t have been as bad. Bielsa famously pointed out it was a common practice and cited cultural negligence. Sure, he had the aura and charisma to pull it off but in those early stages our outwardly appearance was one of stern looks, guilt and performative professionalism (in other words, let’s pretend to everyone we weren’t aware of this and that we’re conducting an internal review, that’ll show them how serious we are).

It looked shifty from the offset and with Boro and the local rags fanning the flames, we then had Parsons enter the fray and capitulate completely, arrogantly presuming he could predict the outcome.

I can’t help but think there is alot more to come from this. Once the findings are released, I think we’ll all cycle through those emotions again. The embarrassment of more ridiculous evidential findings. The anger that we could be so aloof to think no one would rat on us or talk our way out of it with a few quiet words and an apology at the Riverside.

And I can’t help but think there’s something very fishy about the whole episode as well. Something conspiratorial. Something pre meditated. Irrespective, it’ll all come out in the wash.

This has served so many purposes, most notably an opportunity for the EFL to go nuclear on someone (us) and put an end to sporting advantage of spying on the opposition once and for all.

We just happened to be the suckers who went a step too far - and now we’re all paying for it.

But more importantly this could be a divine opportunity to reset the culture at the club once and for all. No more performative gestures and flaky promises from empty vessels like Parsons. 

We have an opportunity to bring real leaders in who set standards and demand that they are met. A real leader sets the tone and culture, holding themselves or others accountable when those standards are not met. 

We’ve all drawn a short straw through the actions of others, Saints fans. That hurts, a lot. Like the players, we’ve been wronged in a farcical situation that we did not create. 

We’ve gone on to achieve generational notoriety in what should have been an exceptional and memorable season. Instead, for years to come we will be thought of as cheaters. That is not us but actions of a few individuals. 

We deserved better. 

That said, we do have a choice: we can blubber, cry, procrastinate and moan about it or take the punishment and come back stronger. Use this situation as the fuel thar fires us into being better, doing better and getting back to where we belong - in the Premier League, selling our duds to Leicester.

Have a good summer everyone.

 

 

Love this 

[trousers]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

But report states that gaining a sporting advantage is separate from gaining sporting success. In Tondas own words knowing what would be known from spying (like we did) is a sporting advantage.

 

Yep, I agree... It's the size of the advantage that's up for debate, not the advantage itself...

[Cuddles]

6 minutes ago, benjii said:

Might be the best Saintsforever post ever!

Monkey petting zoo says otherwise 😂

[CSA96]

9 minutes ago, Soton7 said:

Fucking hell did we have a defense counsel who were years 10s on work experience???

Absolutely had our bellies tickled. Lying, changing our statements, then confessing to everything what a bunch of mugs 🤡

Also, the EFL pushed for the sporting sanctions so effectively decided our fate, bunch of wankers.

 

 

 

 

Well the spy was an intern so the legal team being interns too would stack up 

[Badger]

12 minutes ago, MB said:

something I read earlier suggested our original KC had limited experience in contesting sports law. And there we are trying to fight Gibbocunt with his shit hot lawyer. 

God knows why we didn’t get the big dog in earlier. Beggars total belief 

Parsons need to fuck off 

Middlesbrough weren’t involved in the hearing so Gibbocunt having a shit hot lawyer or a team of them is irrelevant. 
 

But you’re right should have had our best representation asap, probably even before Parsons opened his trap 

[Harry_SFC]

Just seen that one of the 3 members of the "independent" panel was an ex Middlesbrough player. WTF!

Edited 2 hours ago by Harry_SFC

[AlexLaw76]

Started off by cheating, then lying, then tried to play along to get a less of a punishment.

[saintant]

13 minutes ago, MB said:

Haven’t yet heard from any legal expert who believes it was reasonable, all shocked with the sanction, makes you realise just how weak our legal defence must have been. 

something I read earlier suggested our original KC had limited experience in contesting sports law. And there we are trying to fight Gibbocunt with his shit hot lawyer. 

God knows why we didn’t get the big dog in earlier. Beggars total belief 

Parsons need to fuck off 

I'm not sure our lawyer directly came up against Di Marco. Having said that I'm sure it would have helped us immensely if we'd had Pannick on the case from the start. By the time he got in the room the horse had bolted. Poor from the club but what we are used to with the SR goofs running things. Dragan really does need to take a chain saw to this set up.

[The Wyvern]

18 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

'Particularly deplorable'?

Fucking hell, Tonda wasn't exactly forcing children to work in factories unpaid and using dangerous machinery, was he?

Strange choice of words right there, EFL. Nothing quite like the self-important morality of a bunch of suits sat behind a desk in a bureaucratic headquarters of an organisation.

Exactly. Unusually emotive language for such a report and our media whipping it up further. 

[Saint NL]

So Lord Pannick wasn't on the call? That was all BS?

 

From what I saw of the document, the spying mission to Boro was all about player availablity (Hackney). Wasn't that known in the press? So it was a wasted mission?

[Football Special]

1 minute ago, Badger said:

Middlesbrough weren’t involved in the hearing so Gibbocunt having a shit hot lawyer or a team of them is irrelevant. 
 

But you’re right should have had our best representation asap, probably even before Parsons opened his trap 

Their lawyer presented their case gift wrapped to the EFL with demands on what punishment they were to give "or else" 

[trousers]

10 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Tondas hardly going to be sneaking around the bushes himself is he, of course if it anyone was doing it then junior members obvious choice, Tonda probably had done it when he was a 21 year old analyst. 

 

Indeed. If you remember @SaintlyAnd's post, it would appear that there's a 'community' of junior staff from all clubs whose job it is to go out and 'observe' opposition training sessions....

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by trousers

[LegalEagle]

Can I just pick up on one thing. There is talk of our first KC (the lady barrister) having no experience of sports law etc. I haven’t checked this out so don’t know if this is true but don’t forget she would have been recommended and instructed by the club’s lawyers, not by the club itself unless Parsons or someone else in authority recommended her from previous experience. Whatever the case, when we knew early on that we were up against Di Marco we should have gone big time in the shape of Pannick KC at that point. Someone in the club decided not to. I suspect down to complacency and arrogance. This has been handled badly from start to finish and continues to be. What a bunch of amateurs. Boro shat all over us. Credit to them. They must have been pissing themselves laughing and still are. 

[Window Cleaner]

22 minutes ago, trousers said:

Why would the FA penalise us when they didn't penalise Bielsa / Leeds? As far as I'm aware, they don't have a new rule to play with, like the EFL did, ergo they should treat us the same? Also bearing in mind that Bielsa / Leeds had many more spying occasions to their name than we have (so far)...

Read the EFL spielge. At that time rule 127 did not exist.

I've read the report, they didn't believe our crap, surmised from évidence that we'd done this with full knowledge from the top down and used under duress a very junior member of staff to do the dirty work.

They came down on us like à ton of bricks because they thought we are a bunch of cheating shysters.

[stfrancisofbenali]

On 20/05/2026 at 19:03, supertadic21 said:

For what it's worth at this stage, what I've heard in the last 24 hours aligns with @stfrancisofbenali's comments here.

Spors, despite that Daily Fail report, is not innocent.

It's the bullying of Salt which is interesting from an internal perspective. Bullying was never part of the EFL's remit or charges so it's irrelevant for their ruling, even though it was discussed in the EFL board meeting on Tuesday. For SFC however it is crucial, both as an HR issue and as an indicator of who was complicit in the spying strategy. I wonder if it will come out?

[CSA96]

Just now, Saint NL said:

So Lord Pannick wasn't on the call? That was all BS?

 

From what I saw of the document, the spying mission to Boro was all about player availablity (Hackney). Wasn't that known in the press? So it was a wasted mission?

Pannick was on the appeal for us. He wasn’t in the original hearing and ruling (when we were busy pissing around with this other stupid approach) 

[saintant]

16 minutes ago, trousers said:

Blackmore going in with two feet (justifiably, I guess...?)

Yeah, he should never have sent kids up chimneys in this day and age. 

[Ralph Fastenbüttl]

So, as per the EFL's statement, Tonda explicitly pressured young staff (Salt) against their will spy against his will. He was uncomfortable about the moral ambiguity, but he went along with it because he feared for his job. Brilliant news all round.

I am a huge Tonda advocate but sorry, it's just completely untenable. SR better fucking pay through the nose to hire in an absolute superstar replacement, I tell you.

[Andy Hill]

Football is full of cheats as we all know.  We will struggle to recover from this ridiculous penalty. Should shut the club down and build houses on St.Marys in protest.

[The Wyvern]

1 minute ago, Saint NL said:

So Lord Pannick wasn't on the call? That was all BS?

 

From what I saw of the document, the spying mission to Boro was all about player availablity (Hackney). Wasn't that known in the press? So it was a wasted mission?

He was brought in for the appeal (too late, the damage had been done), this is from the first hearing I think. 

[Badger]

4 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Just seen that one of the 3 members of the "independent" panel was an ex Middlesbrough player. WTF!

I thought the panel were all from a legal background.

[Harry_SFC]

1 minute ago, Badger said:

I thought the panel were all from a legal background.

He is now. But used to be a footballer. David Winnie. Appears he only played 1 game for them. But still, doesn't seem right to me. 

[saintant]

11 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Wasn't he CEO of Dyson? 

Probably typical big business strategy - promote a duffer above his ability to keep him away from the real decision making.

[Football Special]

7 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

Just seen that one of the 3 members of the "independent" panel was an ex Middlesbrough player. WTF!

Who was it? Please tell me  it was Gazza

[Hopper]

Interesting that Spors was not named.

If the FA don't turn up anything regarding his involvement I'd be happy for him to stay given his relative success with signings. (Will Still asside)
 

[Dr. Kucho]

After reading this you would think Parson called John PFC Westwood for advice on what to do..

“Hi John, Phil here chairman of SFC, we are in some bother, can I ask you for some advice?”

[rallyboy]

It's been mentioned before and I know some will disagree but the intern has been hung out to dry and deserves support.

It's not the kid's fault, it seems he was pressured and put in a ridiculous situation that may even have been set up by the former Boro analyst, it's certainly interesting how quickly Boro and the Boro-led EFL board were all over it.

Will, you must feel terrible right now, we're not blaming you, there are a dozen others who fucked this up, and they are paid the big bucks to behave much better than they have and to do their jobs competently.

It's not your fault. 

[Football Special]

1 minute ago, Harry_SFC said:

He is now. But used to be a footballer. David Winnie. Appears he only played 1 game for them. But still, doesn't seem right to me. 

Middlesbrough's finger prints are all over this, from our ex analyst whistleblower to Director on EFL board and now a connection on the internal panel, corruption 

[Crab Lungs]

Would have had plenty more respect for Parsons just sticking the nut on Gibbo and telling him ‘we spy where we want’ than this charade of cuckery, bullshitting and nonsense.

The outcome would have been exactly the same other than parsons would have got to have lived every opposition fans dream.

Edited 1 hour ago by Crab Lungs

[Crab Lungs]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

Probably typical big business strategy - promote a duffer above his ability to keep him away from the real decision making.

I found that when I went into management. They promote idiots out of the way. 

[bpsaint]

30 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Fuck me, we spent 2 days spying on Oxford, including Xmas eve!!!

 

And still played fucking Bazunu in goal

[Saint NL]

Just now, Hopper said:

Interesting that Spors was not named.

If the FA don't turn up anything regarding his involvement I'd be happy for him to stay given his relative success with signings. (Will Still asside)
 

Spors finger prints are all over it, but he's savvy enough to dump it all on Tonda imo. 

We talk about Salt being young and eager to impress, but Tonda will be the same. Rather than rip up the whole org chart, find a fall guy and pin everything on them (Tonda).

[LegalEagle]

The club would have seen the full reasoning earlier today and knew anyway what Tonda’s role was in this a few days ago. Why the hell is he still in our club?

[sfc4prem]

1 minute ago, Football Special said:

Middlesbrough's finger prints are all over this, from our ex analyst whistleblower to Director on EFL board and now a connection on the internal panel, corruption 

The more I see of this, the more I think there is something to it, you know. Corruption is far worse than illegal scouting of opposition tactics.

[BotleySaint]

6 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

He is now. But used to be a footballer. David Winnie. Appears he only played 1 game for them. But still, doesn't seem right to me. 

Looking more and more like a stitch up. Can't be a coincidence. 

We did wrong but the punishment is still too severe. Do we have a legal case to say the panel wasn't independent? Even so I doubt our lot would mount much of an offensive..

Edited 1 hour ago by BotleySaint