Very Angry but Id keep Tonda

[OzzySaint]

Like many fanatic Saints fans around the world I’m in shock – not so much about the punishment – I was expecting it which is why I cashed out my bet last week for Saints promotion – but about the stupidity of the action.

I am angry and deeply deeply disappointed that this was allowed to occur – where is the governance in this club. The board has a duty to ensure that the team does not break the law or breach the rules. You can shoot the manager, shoot the director of strategy and shoot any other individual but it matters not, it is the board that is culpable. They set the culture and moral behavior of the club.

The board would have completed a risk assessment at the start of the season on best / worst case scenarios, when we got into the playoffs they should have revisited this and performed a risk analysis against all possibilities including breaching regulations. Its not about being wise after the event but any company that has a deal on the table for $millions is going to analyse what could go wrong and mitigate it. Instruction/ reminders  should have been given about what was allowable and what wasn’t including “No attending training sessions prior to 72 hours before game”. ! I feel for Tonda and the team – if he made a judgement error I am sure that he would not have foreseen the likely repercussions.

Forget the punishment – it was always going to be expulsion – what else could they do? Give a mickey mouse fine that we would have paid the first week in the EPL  or give future points deductions that mean nothing??  - we got a punishment that was designed to stop this happening in the future and we deserve it.

I love the Saints and have been waking up early in the morning most weeks to watch them from Melbourne for years – my house is even called The Dell. I feel for all other fans (and sponsors) who like me were looking forward to being in the premiership next year and regaining respect for our performances given last seasons debacle. I feel for all the players who will quite rightly feel angry and aggrieved for being let down off the pitch.

Unlike many of the posts I am not calling for Tonda’s head – I believe he did what he was tasked to do, get Saints into a promotion position. The fact that no one was overseeing the compliance with the leagues regulations is not his issue – it is the boards and they have to answer for this.

I hope im wrong but I see us losing many players, being a pariah club new players wont want to come to and as importantly tarnishing our academy development. Be careful not to throw Tonda out with the bathwater as we will need him next season – he’s a very good manager and we should all remember how hard these are to come by. 

[sockeye]

We might not have a choice if the FA suspend him.

[S-Clarke]

Tonda, if found to be implicated - which looks fairly damming - will almost certainly be sacked by the club in breach of contract and it will follow up with an FA ban for a long period of time.

We won't have a choice.

[OzzySaint]

True and that will probably be the case - you can't do the "i was only following orders defense" but who was there to oversee the decision and was it actually his decision?

 

Edited 3 hours ago by OzzySaint
mis type

[Saint86]

Sadly, I think those saying he will be banned are correct.

[Jack]

A ban for Tonda aside, are players going to trust and respect him? Or even want to play for him? Are new players going to want to sign for him? Is he going to be any good now that he can’t cheat? I think the club needs to move those involved on asap and start to rebuild our reputation 

[Saint Fan CaM]

If it’s clear that Tonda made no direct instruction to sanction the spying then he should stay - I.e. I could imagine that the analyst team operate independently as a service to the coaching staff and report to Spors. Otherwise, yes, he should go.

[Saint_clark]

5 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

If it’s clear that Tonda made no direct instruction to sanction the spying then he should stay - I.e. I could imagine that the analyst team operate independently as a service to the coaching staff and report to Spors. Otherwise, yes, he should go.

If the telegraph article is accurate, and we've got no reason to suspect it isn't at this point, then this is almost entirely on Tonda.