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The Spygate Saga

St Chalet

By St Chalet
in The Saints

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Holmes_and_Watson

Holmes_and_Watson

Posted
Posted
42 minutes ago, Verbal said:

I'm proud too but I'll be as far away from one of those cruise ships as possible. Never know what you might catch. Instead I'll be cottaging in the Cotswolds. 

Until you're a pariah, with an unknown virus, in international waters, you've just not lived!

Oh, bon voyage @Whitey Grandad!

Holmes_and_Watson

Holmes_and_Watson

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Thanks. It's for my daughter and her family really. I'm only going along to carry the wallet. 

Looking forward to seeing you on the news.

"Sure, no port will take us in, and no one wants us. But we're still more liked than Southampton after Spygate."

  • Haha 2
Polaroid Saint

Polaroid Saint

Posted
Posted

BBC just trolling now. Lol.

'inside the mind of Bielsa'

The 70-year-old is one of the most respected and influential coaches in the game, and that reputation has been earned from his borderline obsessive dedication to preparation for every single match he oversees.

No mention of Leeds' own, original, Spygate, but instead:

"It's all about setting high standards that will stay with the club long after he has gone."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5ye2m00y5ro

  • Haha 3
  • Sad 1
egg

egg

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Dman said:

Did we ever get any extra info / context from @LeG

Not sure where it'll take us. What's done is done, and putting any further details into the public domain isn't likely to help the club, and depending on the information, it may well hinder. 

tdmickey3

tdmickey3

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Verbal said:

I'm proud too but I'll be as far away from one of those cruise ships as possible. Never know what you might catch. Instead I'll be cottaging in the Cotswolds. 

😬

Really 🤮

  • Haha 2
badgerx16

badgerx16

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, Polaroid Saint said:

BBC just trolling now. Lol.

'inside the mind of Bielsa'

The 70-year-old is one of the most respected and influential coaches in the game, and that reputation has been earned from his borderline obsessive dedication to preparation for every single match he oversees.

No mention of Leeds' own, original, Spygate, but instead:

"It's all about setting high standards that will stay with the club long after he has gone."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c5ye2m00y5ro

From the comments : "Is the BBC that issues this ode to Bielsa the same BBC that invites all and sundry to kick the Southampton manager every other day?"

  • Like 15
BERMUDASAINT

BERMUDASAINT

Posted
Posted

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/alan-pardew-reacts-dragan-solaks-backing-southampton-boss-tonda-eckert/

Ex Saints manager with his "strange views", he is someone who has always liked a  bit of "strange".....ask Fonte.

Love the second response below....

vic
if all this people stop pulling southampton down and get on with there on life’s this young man done something wrong okay we all do things wrong in our life okay stop pulling him down

2026-06-03 07:57:15

 

Chris
Says the man who was kicked out of Southampton for having an affair with Jose Fonte’s wife.. not sure how he can pass any kind of moral judgment on others, especially the club he disgraced. What Pardew did was far worse than what Eckert did.. Funny how the football media go to the dregs of society for their comments.. wonder why? Maybe because they also lack any sort of morality.

2026-06-03 12:06:36

  • Like 1
Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, BERMUDASAINT said:

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/alan-pardew-reacts-dragan-solaks-backing-southampton-boss-tonda-eckert/

Ex Saints manager with his "strange views", he is someone who has always liked a  bit of "strange".....ask Fonte.

Love the second response below....

vic
if all this people stop pulling southampton down and get on with there on life’s this young man done something wrong okay we all do things wrong in our life okay stop pulling him down

2026-06-03 07:57:15

 

Chris
Says the man who was kicked out of Southampton for having an affair with Jose Fonte’s wife.. not sure how he can pass any kind of moral judgment on others, especially the club he disgraced. What Pardew did was far worse than what Eckert did.. Funny how the football media go to the dregs of society for their comments.. wonder why? Maybe because they also lack any sort of morality.

2026-06-03 12:06:36

They will be asking Collymore his opinion next.

saintant

saintant

Posted
Posted

I'm getting a sense that most fans are now going ahead full throttle in developing a thick skinned, hard nosed siege mentality. Feels like we've pulled up the draw bridge having had more then enough of the holier than thou platitudes and the rank hypocracy of many pundits and journos. We accepted and paid a huge price for what, let's face it, is a small discretion in the football world which is rife with a total lack of integrity and onfield cheating of every kind. Now we seem ready to say a huge fuck you to the many detractors, mischief makers and bullshitters who have blown up this whole saga in a completely over the top onslaught. We've been a nice family club for too long and now is the time to bare our teeth and fight like hell. 

  • Like 18
DT

DT

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, BERMUDASAINT said:

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/alan-pardew-reacts-dragan-solaks-backing-southampton-boss-tonda-eckert/

Ex Saints manager with his "strange views", he is someone who has always liked a  bit of "strange".....ask Fonte.

Love the second response below....

vic
if all this people stop pulling southampton down and get on with there on life’s this young man done something wrong okay we all do things wrong in our life okay stop pulling him down

2026-06-03 07:57:15

 

Chris
Says the man who was kicked out of Southampton for having an affair with Jose Fonte’s wife.. not sure how he can pass any kind of moral judgment on others, especially the club he disgraced. What Pardew did was far worse than what Eckert did.. Funny how the football media go to the dregs of society for their comments.. wonder why? Maybe because they also lack any sort of morality.

2026-06-03 12:06:36

The same Alan Pardew who once said on Match of the Day that Chelsea's Michael Essien 'raped' Ched Evans in a tackle. Such a nice man.

Have always thought he was an unutterable prick and an absolute charlatan in management. Emperor's new clothes. Very evident in his 'punditry'  

  • Like 1
Secret Site Agent

Secret Site Agent

Posted
Posted
On 03/06/2026 at 12:59, Chez said:

I find it hard to believe there wasn't any info we wanted for any of the other 40 odd games.

Did we admit to spying on Oxford and Ipswich because evidence had been presented about both, so we couldn't really deny it, or did we give that information voluntarily? 

I don't think it is because we didn't want info on the other 40, or that we didn't spy, but we just didn't spy within the 72 hour window. Remember that's the crime, not the spying.

The Kraken

The Kraken

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Secret Site Agent said:

I don't think it is because we didn't want info on the other 40, or that we didn't spy, but we just didn't spy within the 72 hour window. Remember that's the crime, not the spying.

Not correct. Law 3.4 is the cover all law, a sort of foundation for fair play. It’s what Leeds were done for under Bielsa, and it was the second charge we were done for. It’s likely to be less an extreme punishment than the 72 hour law, but it’s still there for spying outside the 72 hours.

  • Like 2
Secret Site Agent

Secret Site Agent

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Not correct. Law 3.4 is the cover all law, a sort of foundation for fair play. It’s what Leeds were done for under Bielsa, and it was the second charge we were done for. It’s likely to be less an extreme punishment than the 72 hour law, but it’s still there for spying outside the 72 hours.

Fair play but my point is that we probably spied on them legally.

CSA96

CSA96

Posted
Posted (edited)

Dragan Solak speaking to Adam Blackmore today:

We are not in the Premier League, where we hoped to be. But we still have done absolutely great work this season to show that we are ready to play top level football. I hope that we can pick up from there and continue this next season.

When I think about everything, I'll use a very simple parallel: I think about my family. I love Southampton and as long as I am at the helm, I consider Southampton to be my family.

If your family, your son or daughter, they do something wrong, I would never try to help them to get away with it. But if they are willing to accept that they did do something wrong, if they paid their price, then what else can you do? It's still your family and you're not going to disregard that you have a son or a daughter because they made a mistake and did something really wrong in their life.

We accept that we did wrong.

We will learn from this, we will make sure that we never, ever again repeat that. But after that, we accept it and we move on. Obviously now, I am going to do everything I possibly can to repair and make the damage less and to try to even build on this so that we emerge as a better, stronger and more respectful club.

Edited by CSA96
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)

Anyone else thinking that the lack of info out there about the FA enquiry is a tad odd?

With the EFL enquiry we pretty much had a daily running commentary on what was happening, the time table, the make up of the panel, what the EFL regulation breaches were and the associated charges...

And with the equivalent FA enquiry....? Nothing... Does the FA board conduct the investigation in-house, or do they commission an independent panel, like the EFL? What FA rules is Tonda (and whoever else is deemed to be involved ) being charged with breaking? What timelines are the FA working to? etc etc.

Why is the FA investigation more 'cloak and dagger' than the EFL investigation? And why is it taking them so much longer to conclude their investigations than the EFL did...?

I'm yet to see any kind of formal / official statement from the FA stating what they are doing, again, unlike the EFL, who issued a press release at the outset stating the charges and laying out the terms of reference for their investigation....

As I say, just seems a tad odd to me that we've heard zilch about it so far...

Edited by trousers
Willo of Whiteley

Willo of Whiteley

Posted
Posted (edited)

I think the FA need to be very careful, they’ll be weighing up all sorts.

No fine/punishment could effectively mean the EFL shit the bed and went into overkill too harshly. Fuss over nothing etc.

Then you have to think about how other bans have been in the past, the reasonings.

For example if Tonda was banned for six months for being aware of a teenager spying compared to someone who has been outright racist and banned for five matches - tells you what they deem worse.

But I do commend the FA for keeping everything behind closed doors and not leaking shit. Same with the club too.

Personally I think he’ll get a small touch line ban of maybe four games and that’ll be that.

Edited by Willo of Whiteley
  • Like 1
saintant

saintant

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

I think the FA need to be very careful, they’ll be weighing up all sorts.

No fine/punishment could effectively mean the EFL shit the bed and went into overkill too harshly. Fuss over nothing etc.

Then you have to think about how other bans have been in the past, the reasonings.

For example if Tonda was banned for six months for being aware of a teenager spying compared to someone who has been outright racist and banned for five matches - tells you what they deem worse.

But I do commend the FA for keeping everything behind closed doors and not leaking shit. Same with the club too.

Personally I think he’ll get a small touch line ban of maybe four games and that’ll be that.

Whatever the FA decide they need to do it soon because we want to be gearing up for the new season. The longer this drags on the more you start to think they might be playing silly buggers with us on purpose.

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, saintant said:

Whatever the FA decide they need to do it soon because we want to be gearing up for the new season. The longer this drags on the more you start to think they might be playing silly buggers with us on purpose.

This is one of my points of concern... The EFL had a clear procedure laid out (ok, they ended up rushing it for their own ends, but at least we knew what was going on most of the time)... But we know absolutely nothing about the FA process, including their target timelines. I obviously dislike the EFL, but at least they were relatively transparent about what they were doing. Why aren't our local reporters seeking some kind of initial / interim statement from the FA rather than just sitting back and shrugging shoulders whenever they're asked by fans if they know anything about the FA timetable? Bring back investigative journalism, I say!

Edited by trousers
  • Like 1
LiberalCommunist

LiberalCommunist

Posted
Posted

Anyone else thinking that the lack of info out there about the FA enquiry is a tad odd?

--------------------------------------------------

 

I imagine they are just waiting for Steve Gibsons report to drop. 

  • Haha 2
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, LiberalCommunist said:

Anyone else thinking that the lack of info out there about the FA enquiry is a tad odd?

--------------------------------------------------

 

I imagine they are just waiting for Steve Gibsons report to drop. 

We jest.... However.... ;)

VectisSaint

VectisSaint

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, trousers said:

Anyone else thinking that the lack of info out there about the FA enquiry is a tad odd?

With the EFL enquiry we pretty much had a daily running commentary on what was happening, the time table, the make up of the panel, what the EFL regulation breaches were and the associated charges...

And with the equivalent FA enquiry....? Nothing... Does the FA board conduct the investigation in-house, or do they commission an independent panel, like the EFL? What FA rules is Tonda (and whoever else is deemed to be involved ) being charged with breaking? What timelines are the FA working to? etc etc.

Why is the FA investigation more 'cloak and dagger' than the EFL investigation? And why is it taking them so much longer to conclude their investigations than the EFL did...?

I'm yet to see any kind of formal / official statement from the FA stating what they are doing, again, unlike the EFL, who issued a press release at the outset stating the charges and laying out the terms of reference for their investigation....

As I say, just seems a tad odd to me that we've heard zilch about it so far...

I have a hunch, based on the two announcements yesterday that we know to some extent the outcome. I really don't think we would have announced Peretz and Larin who were so influenced by Tonda if we had not had some indication that there wasn't going to be a lengthy ban. I would think they may implement a touchline ban, a reprimand and fine. It's been 2 weeks since the investigation was announced, the FA have got bigger things on their plate, they would have looked into getting this out of the way pronto.

EssEffCee

EssEffCee

Posted
Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, trousers said:

Anyone else thinking that the lack of info out there about the FA enquiry is a tad odd?

With the EFL enquiry we pretty much had a daily running commentary on what was happening, the time table, the make up of the panel, what the EFL regulation breaches were and the associated charges...

And with the equivalent FA enquiry....? Nothing... Does the FA board conduct the investigation in-house, or do they commission an independent panel, like the EFL? What FA rules is Tonda (and whoever else is deemed to be involved ) being charged with breaking? What timelines are the FA working to? etc etc.

Why is the FA investigation more 'cloak and dagger' than the EFL investigation? And why is it taking them so much longer to conclude their investigations than the EFL did...?

I'm yet to see any kind of formal / official statement from the FA stating what they are doing, again, unlike the EFL, who issued a press release at the outset stating the charges and laying out the terms of reference for their investigation....

As I say, just seems a tad odd to me that we've heard zilch about it so far...

It's worth remembering that he's not even been charged yet, they're still at the investigation stage. That means there isn't really any updates to give at this point.

If he is charged (which I presume will be under E3 for improper conduct) then we'll hear more about timelines etc I imagine.

I highly doubt they're in a huge rush either, the EFL one was obviously extremely time sensitive.

Edited by EssEffCee
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)
21 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

It's worth remembering that he's not even been charged yet, they're still at the investigation stage. That means there isn't really any updates to give at this point.

If he is charged (which I presume will be under E3 for improper conduct) then we'll hear more about timelines etc I imagine.

I highly doubt they're in a huge rush either, the EFL one was obviously extremely time sensitive.

What have they got to 'investigate' though...? Tonda's effectively already admitted to 'improper conduct' (albeit from a position of relative ignorance, in his words) so surely the decision on whether or not to charge him shouldn't need much deliberation? I can understand the subsequent part of the proceedings taking longer, i.e. for a defence to then be mounted and heard by the FA, but I can't understand why the "do we charge him with something?" part needs to take more than a few days, given it's already a given that he did something wrong....

Out of interest / comparison, was Bielsa actually charged by the FA, but they subsequently decided to give a warning rather than a punishment, or did they decide not to charge him with anything in the first place?

The whole process is a mystery to me... All I'm asking for, as a punter with a vested interest, is some clarity on the FA's process... Which doesn't seem too unreasonable a desire to me....

Edited by trousers
  • Like 2
EssEffCee

EssEffCee

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, trousers said:

What have they got to 'investigate' though...? He's effectively already admitted to 'improper conduct' (albeit from a position of relative ignorance) so surely the decision on whether or not to charge him shouldn't need much deliberation? I can understand the subsequent part of the proceedings taking longer, i.e. for a defence to then be mounted and heard by the FA, but I can't understand why the "do we charge him with something?" part needs to take more than a few days, given it's already a given that he did something wrong....

Out of interest / comparison, was Bielsa actually charged by the FA, but they subsequently decided to give a warning rather than a punishment, or did they decide not to charge him with anything in the first place? The whole process is a mystery to me...

Well I highly doubt it's the only thing on the FA's list of things to deal with and it's a very busy period for them in general.

Might be that they've not actively started the investigation yet or it might be that they're digging deeper into the context where they're not bound by time constraints.

Either way I don't think we'll hear anything until the point he is charged/not chatged, and if it's the former we'll then get more details on timelines I reckon.

Re Bielsa I'm pretty sure he wasn't charged at all and issued with a warning instead.

  • Like 1
Oldandtired

Oldandtired

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

Well I highly doubt it's the only thing on the FA's list of things to deal with and it's a very busy period for them in general.

Might be that they've not actively started the investigation yet or it might be that they're digging deeper into the context where they're not bound by time constraints.

Either way I don't think we'll hear anything until the point he is charged/not chatged, and if it's the former we'll then get more details on timelines I reckon.

Re Bielsa I'm pretty sure he wasn't charged at all and issued with a warning instead.

IF...we have hired as rumoured some badass lawyers who know what they are about could it be argued that a precedent has been set re punishment...so don't do it again Tonda or else?

Unless of course there is a caveat there,nless they said watch out next time someone gets caught, or you're Southampton, or Ratfink Gibson has dirt on someone at the FA.

Window Cleaner

Window Cleaner

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Saint In Cornwall said:

Any potential punishment has to get past our lawyers.

There could well be a bit of bargaining going on.....

No, the FA makes the rules and hand out the punishments to those breaking them. This is an open and shut case cos the bloke has admitted it, so have the club. Legal people may be able to lighten the punishment, just as they do for people and entities pleading guilty in criminal courts

Saint In Cornwall

Saint In Cornwall

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, Window Cleaner said:

No, the FA makes the rules and hand out the punishments to those breaking them. This is an open and shut case cos the bloke has admitted it, so have the club. Legal people may be able to lighten the punishment, just as they do for people and entities pleading guilty in criminal courts

So not no then ;)

  • Haha 1
Challenger

Challenger

Posted
Posted
On 05/06/2026 at 11:30, Patrick Bateman said:

image.thumb.png.09813d961fdcaa36af6e983aa4c39e3d.png

 

Majestic wines aligning with Gibson ... 🌚

Avoid this stuff big time. It's short on body, sour as fuck and tends to lead to a severe headache.

  • Haha 2
coalman

coalman

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Challenger said:

Avoid this stuff big time. It's short on body, sour as fuck and tends to lead to a severe headache.

It's been dyed red as well.

  • Haha 1
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, Window Cleaner said:

No, the FA makes the rules and hand out the punishments to those breaking them. This is an open and shut case cos the bloke has admitted it, so have the club. Legal people may be able to lighten the punishment, just as they do for people and entities pleading guilty in criminal courts

And so was the Bielsa / Leeds case... In fact, Bielsa admitted to much more widespread spying than Tonda....

Unless the FA have changed their charging and/or punishment criteria since 2019, then they surely have to give Tonda the same ticking off that they gave Bielsa? 

Edited by trousers
  • Like 2

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