Saints Expelled from Playoffs

[James]

19 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

They aren't a jury and they don't have connections. We haven't demanded they get replaced because this is very clearly just a bunch of whining nonsense. There's nothing to see here; a footballer who played one game for Boro in 1994 and a lawyer who was once paid to represent them in a completely irrelevant case eight years ago. Lawyers don't have tribal loyalty to people they've represented in court. They don't have half and half scarves at home with Ian Huntley on one side and Harrold Shipman on the other.

Our defence, "not picking up on it," is all in your head. We haven't complained because there's nothing to complain about.

Don’t agree with that at all. Lawyers might not have tribal loyalty but they do have conflicts of interest. In a commercial dispute, neither party would ever agree for one of the arbitrators (as an example) to be someone that had previously represented one of the parties. I don’t know all the facts here but, if one of the independent panelists had previously represented Middlesbrough, that would be a bit odd. There are thousands of qualified sports lawyers out there that would have zero connection to any interested party.

[Fabrice29]

1 minute ago, James said:

Don’t agree with that at all. Lawyers might not have tribal loyalty but they do have conflicts of interest. In a commercial dispute, neither party would ever agree for one of the arbitrators (as an example) to be someone that had previously represented one of the parties. I don’t know all the facts here but, if one of the independent panelists had previously represented Middlesbrough, that would be a bit odd. There are thousands of qualified sports lawyers out there that would have zero connection to any interested party.

They found one of our analysts behind a tree mate. That’s all the deep dive you need. 

[Mboto Gorge]

Just now, Fabrice29 said:

Go to bed mate. It’s time to give up on this weird conspiratorial tirade now. This is not on you to figure out/defend. 🤣

Sorry daddy, I was about to crack the case but you’ve just sent me to bed. See you in the morning 

[James]

1 minute ago, Fabrice29 said:

They found one of our analysts behind a tree mate. That’s all the deep dive you need. 

What relevance has that got to whether or not one of the individuals tasked with deciding the punishment has a conflict of interest?

I’m not saying that’s the case here, I’m just saying that in a commercial context it would be highly unusual for an arbitrator to have a prior client relationship with one of the interested parties.

[Ralph Fastenbüttl]

Think I'm going to check out of this thread (even though this whole saga is all I can think about). I understand that folks need to cope, but this whole conspiracy whirlwind that's somehow engulfed this thread is unhealthy and, frankly, beneath us.

Why aren't the club getting out and vocally 'calling out' Boro's actions? Because make believe stories about back rooms coverups would amazingly make us look even worse than we currently do.

Read the report. We cheated. Systemically. On Tonda's direction. We can argue about the severity of the punishment, sure, but the idea that any force other our own stupidity is the cause of this is farcical. All we can do now is concentrate of fixing our own mess and the long, painful road to recovering from it.

[Osvaldorama]

3 minutes ago, Ralph Fastenbüttl said:

Think I'm going to check out of this thread (even though this whole saga is all I can think about). I understand that folks need to cope, but this whole conspiracy whirlwind that's somehow engulfed this thread is unhealthy and, frankly, beneath us.

Why aren't the club getting out and vocally 'calling out' Boro's actions? Because make believe stories about back rooms coverups would amazingly make us look even worse than we currently do.

Read the report. We cheated. Systemically. On Tonda's direction. We can argue about the severity of the punishment, sure, but the idea that any force other our own stupidity is the cause of this is farcical. All we can do now is concentrate of fixing our own mess and the long, painful road to recovering from it.

It can both be true that we cheated, but that Boro set it up and played us like a fiddle.  
 

No one is excusing what the club has been doing. But Boro used it to their advantage. Which isn’t acting in good faith either. 

[Fabrice29]

19 minutes ago, James said:

What relevance has that got to whether or not one of the individuals tasked with deciding the punishment has a conflict of interest?

I’m not saying that’s the case here, I’m just saying that in a commercial context it would be highly unusual for an arbitrator to have a prior client relationship with one of the interested parties.

Being kicked out of a knock out competition because you were caught trying to cheat is not the massively out of ordinary event that deems this level of deep dive. It happens in lots of sports, including this one, at lots of different levels. I can see why some people think it’s a bit much but it’s not some deep rooted conspiracy that’s on members of this forum to uncover via the back catalog of lawyers previous work. 

[Legoman]

Maybe Tonda gets sacked, but in doing so he exposes the use of interns and confirms it is rife and isn’t just him? And as suggested in another post “it’s an unspoken rite of passage for them”  if it is true, it could open a whole can of worms?

 

*found it odd we’d put forward a suggestion to help with such things?

Edited 40 minutes ago by Legoman

[6ft8saint]

Why is david prutton representing us on panel shows. He was negative about us in the last play off final and isn't representing southampton on the sports agents surely we could have found someone better. What a knob

[Vancouver Saint]

18 hours ago, coalman said:

I'll say this. The redemption arc of this story is going to need to something else.

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).
 

[MB]

Heard he has gone