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Sports Republics response to “Spygate”

Toussaint

By Toussaint
in The Saints

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Toussaint

Toussaint

Posted
Posted (edited)

I know there is already a long running thread, but specifically to the naive and amateurish way we have handled this. I’ve been chatting with one of my few friends, let’s call him GPT. Sorry for the wordy summary, but this was the result of a few questions and challenges. 

 

I think there’s a strong argument that Southampton handled the politics and optics of this catastrophically, yes — possibly even worse than the underlying offence itself.

A few things stand out.

First, the alleged CEO contact with Steve Gibson.
If the reports are accurate, speaking too freely to a furious opposing chairman in the first 24–48 hours looks naïve at best. In high-stakes regulatory disputes, early admissions and informal explanations can end up shaping the entire narrative before your legal strategy is even formed.

And Gibson is not some mild-mannered bystander. He’s experienced, combative, wealthy, politically connected in football, and immediately lawyered up with Nick De Marco KC.

Second, the speed of the appeal probably hurt them.

An expedited appeal sounds attractive emotionally:

“Fight immediately, save Wembley.”

But legally, rushing can be dangerous because:

  • you have less time to analyse written reasons,
  • less time to challenge procedure,
  • less time to assemble proportionality precedents,
  • less time to prepare expert evidence,
  • and less time to build public legitimacy around your position.

It starts looking reactive rather than strategic.

And I think Southampton’s public messaging drifted into indignation too early:

“manifestly disproportionate”
“largest penalty in English football history”

That may play well with fans, but arbitration panels hate feeling publicly pressured.

Third — and this is the big one — I agree they seem to have underestimated how seriously the panel would view:

  • repeated breaches,
  • “top down” authorisation,
  • and the use of junior staff/interns.

Once the panel concluded this wasn’t a rogue analyst but an organised practice, the moral temperature changed completely.

At that point the case stopped being:

“someone peeked at training”

and became:

“a deliberate integrity breach embedded in club operations.”

That distinction matters enormously in sports law.

On the barrister point — we don’t actually know the full makeup of Southampton’s legal team publicly. There are hints they had strong representation, and one report suggests they even used counsel associated with major football regulatory cases.

But I do think there’s a fair criticism that they appeared strategically behind the curve compared with Middlesbrough.

Boro behaved like a club preparing for war:

  • immediate outrage,
  • immediate evidence preservation,
  • immediate public framing,
  • elite sports-law counsel,
  • relentless integrity argument,
  • zero compromise language.

Southampton behaved more like a club expecting:

“fine us and let’s move on.”

I suspect they genuinely did not believe expulsion was realistically on the table until very late in the process.

And there’s one more subtle but important thing:

By publicly comparing themselves to the Leeds United Bielsa case, Southampton may accidentally have handed the panel the perfect reason to hammer them.

Because Regulation 127 was specifically strengthened after that Leeds incident.

So the commission could effectively say:

“Exactly. The rules were changed because clubs were warned already.”

That’s not a great place to build an appeal from.

My impression is:

  • Southampton approached this initially as a PR crisis and disciplinary annoyance,
  • Middlesbrough approached it as an existential sporting fraud case.

And in tribunal settings, the side that frames the moral seriousness of the issue early often gains a huge advantage.

Edited by Toussaint
To please Trousers
  • Like 9
Saint_clark

Saint_clark

Posted
Posted

The point around the appeal is moot, we had no choice but to put it in immediately. The EFL sped up the whole process because they wanted the final played on the same day no matter what.

  • Like 2
Toussaint

Toussaint

Posted
  • Author
Posted
6 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

The point around the appeal is moot, we had no choice but to put it in immediately. The EFL sped up the whole process because they wanted the final played on the same day no matter what.

Perhaps the fact that the  14 day appeal period was truncated in light of the imminent final itself could be challenged. 

  • Like 1
Saint_clark

Saint_clark

Posted
Posted
Just now, Toussaint said:

Perhaps the fact that the  14 day appeal period was truncated in light of the imminent final itself could be challenged. 

Absolutely, I still think we have a chance of winning a civil suit for compensation given the way the EFL handled the process.

  • Like 2
die Mannyschaft

die Mannyschaft

Posted
Posted

An example that will be used in PR, Media, legal ans management traing for next 100 years. Club chose to just not admit or disclose anything while making the club look stupid and its fans. Could of just dine basic search on Internet to see who they are up against v getting away with it.

Each day we get more unbelievable facts and even still Saints chose to just leave information to be provided to the world of football from newspapers and social media.

0/10 rating. 

  • Like 2
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)

Please can we change the title of the thread to "Sport Republic's handling of the events"...?

'Southampton Football Club' is much more than the current custodians* of our club... 

(*Obviously the wrong choice of word given how much they've wreaked havoc, but you get my drift)

Edited by trousers
  • Like 4
  • Toussaint changed the title to Sports Republics response to “Spygate”
Soton7

Soton7

Posted
Posted

Boro went to war with missiles, drone attacks, army tankers, helicopters and an army of soldiers.

We went to war with a water pistol.

  • Like 4
Toussaint

Toussaint

Posted
  • Author
Posted
27 minutes ago, Soton7 said:

Boro went to war with missiles, drone attacks, army tankers, helicopters and an army of soldiers.

We went to war with a water pistol.

Took a knife to a gunfight 

  • Like 1
S-Clarke

S-Clarke

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, Toussaint said:

Took a knife to a gunfight 

One of those kids safety knives that you get in the playdough sets.

  • Like 1
Gloucester Saint

Gloucester Saint

Posted
Posted

What did people expect from SR after 4 years of pure ineptitude?

They don’t give a shit about SFC, never have and never will. The only preoccupation they’ll have discussed is any lawsuits, and in the main, the fact that the value of the players they intend to sale might have fallen. 

  • Like 3
  • Sad 1
Toussaint

Toussaint

Posted
  • Author
Posted
11 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

What did people expect from SR after 4 years of pure ineptitude?

They don’t give a shit about SFC, never have and never will. The only preoccupation they’ll have discussed is any lawsuits, and in the main, the fact that the value of the players they intend to sale might have fallen. 

Well, short memories and recency bias (mine), I had absolutely forgiven them everything with the second half of the season’s rapid turnaround. Now  I’m back to questioning their competence and intentions all over again. 

  • Like 1
sadoldgit

sadoldgit

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Soton7 said:

Boro went to war with missiles, drone attacks, army tankers, helicopters and an army of soldiers.

We went to war with a water pistol.

That wasn’t even filled with any water.

Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

What did people expect from SR after 4 years of pure ineptitude?

They don’t give a shit about SFC, never have and never will. The only preoccupation they’ll have discussed is any lawsuits, and in the main, the fact that the value of the players they intend to sale might have fallen. 

That whilst humiliating and fleecing the fans. Becoming clear that they think they can wait out the current crisis and not lose significant support. Going to be an interesting reaction when season ticket renewals are 20-30% down. 

  • Like 2
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Adam Blackmore has called them out on Twitter in the last ten minutes.

”Where is the leadership?” Etc

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted

This person, Winnie, is a former Middlesbrough player (1994-95), with links to Gibson. As a ‘solicitor’ he should have declared this conflict and stood down from the disciplinary panel immediately. Failing that, it is truly remarkable that SFCs legal advisors didn’t insist on this and flag possible corruption of process prior to the first hearing. Mind bogglingly inept. 

IMG_5325.jpeg

  • Like 3
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

This person, Winnie, is a former Middlesbrough player (1994-95), with links to Gibson. As a ‘solicitor’ he should have declared this conflict and stood down from the disciplinary panel immediately. Failing that, it is truly remarkable that SFCs legal advisors didn’t insist on this and flag possible corruption of process prior to the first hearing. Mind bogglingly inept. 

IMG_5325.jpeg

Were you under a rock all day yesterday @Miltonaggro? :) ;)

#oldnews

Edit: that said, what are the "links to Gibson"...? That's new... 

Edited by trousers
  • Haha 2
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, tdmickey3 said:

Bloke is a muppet 

He's certainly not holding back on criticising the ownership... Seems odd to be potentially burning bridges with Sport Republic at this time...? Maybe he thinks they're on borrowed time and will be selling up? Maybe he's been snubbed by Solak for an interview? Maybe I know f*** all...? 🤣

  • Like 1
James G

James G

Posted
Posted

I suppose there's a human side to it all. Eckerts world has come crashing in and it probably feels like a pile on at the moment with the anger from all quarters, plus the FA gunning for him

SR will have to sack him because he'll get banned. Maybe they are just giving it a bit of space and time 

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
Just now, James G said:

I suppose there's a human side to it all. Eckerts world has come crashing in and it probably feels like a pile on at the moment with the anger from all quarters, plus the FA gunning for him

SR will have to sack him because he'll get banned. Maybe they are just giving it a bit of space and time 

Which is all well and good... But what's stopping them providing interim updates to this effect? To go into 'radio silence' mode is either an insult to fans (and red rag to a bull for the media) or there's 'something' going on in the background that warrants it....

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
Just now, sfc4prem said:

The guy is a bit of a bellend, but he likes Rush so I'll let him off.

If only Sport Republic liked to rush, rather than dither... ;)

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Let's see if they have the guts to hold a fans forum 

Is the Pope a Muslim...? ;)

Edited by trousers
Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, trousers said:

Were you under a rock all day yesterday @Miltonaggro? :) ;)

#oldnews

Edit: that said, what are the "links to Gibson"...? That's new... 

Not under a rock, actually working 😊. I had heard about the links to a panel member but genuinely thought it had to be nonsense. Gibson will have signed off on Winnie as a player, and i think the suggested links are that this relationship has been maintained. Regardless SFC have missed another fucking sitter!

Edited by Miltonaggro
  • Like 1
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

Not under a rock, actually working 😊. I had heard about the links to a panel member but genuinely thought it had to be nonsense. Gibson will have signed off on Rennie as a player, and i think the suggested links are that this relationship has been maintained. Regardless SFC have missed another fucking sitter!

Would be interesting to see evidence of that... 

(Cue outrage from the "let it go" brigade... ;) )

Edited by trousers
Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, trousers said:

Would be interesting to see evidence of that... 

(Cue outrage from the "let it go" brigade... ;) )

No way this is being ‘let go’. My view is that if Karen FC win today, Hull will immediately lodge an appeal. Noticed last couple of days that legal LinkedIn / X and elite sporting community are very much of the opinion that the EFL decision is highly problematic.

  • Like 2
Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Pamplemousse said:

Let's see if they have the guts to hold a fans forum 

They will. The Wifi in the home leg of the semi-final was atrocious. 

  • Haha 1
Willo of Whiteley

Willo of Whiteley

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, trousers said:

I'm not seeing any mention of a link between Winnie and Gibson in that article...?

Doesn’t follow the media narrative unfortunately.

It is quite amusing how everyone was saying “kick Southampton out,, give them the harshest punishment” then it happened and pundits and fans are going “bit harsh that”.

AlexLaw76

AlexLaw76

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Four days, total silenced no accountability.

Sport Republic.

Looks like what ever internal investigations that are happening are deeper than we all anticipated 

Miltonaggro

Miltonaggro

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Looks like what ever internal investigations that are happening are deeper than we all anticipated 

Yes, it might even interrupt Solak’s lunch at this rate. 

Holmes_and_Watson

Holmes_and_Watson

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, trousers said:

Were you under a rock all day yesterday @Miltonaggro? :) ;)

#oldnews

Edit: that said, what are the "links to Gibson"...? That's new... 

Honestly trousers. I don't think anyone noticed the sharp U-turn in that post. A seamless edit. 🙂

Sadly, it does mean you'll not be picking up the @Matthew Le God editing to cover your tracks award this season. 🙂

  • Haha 1
Lord Duckhunter

Lord Duckhunter

Posted
Posted

The problem was they didn’t get ahead of this early enough, they were always playing catch up & because of that made a series of poor decisions. Life is full of fuck ups, and a rule of thumb is get it out there, because it’ll all come out in the end.
 

Different industry/importance but only last year I sailed close to the wind with our compliance team at work, my boss said “tell me everything, and I’ll try and protect you”, (fair enough, she did). That’s what should have happened here, the day it broke Parsons should have had it all laid out to him, everything. It seems to me that he didn’t realise the extent of it when he spoke to “Gibbo” & we first indicated to the press it was a “lone wolf”.
 

It seems to me that the facts had to be dragged out of us, bit by bit. It’s understandable that supporters didn’t comprehend the seriousness of it, but that’s Parsons job & he should  have known every single detail from day one. If we knew that, our legal response may of been different.
 

Could we have dragged it out, could we have agreed a speedy timetable which COULD have led to a 3-0 default defeat in the first leg. It’s very easy to criticise the legal team, but were we upfront with them from the off, or was their defence based on limited knowledge of the full facts. 
 

If it was my club, I’d want a full and through deep dive into this. Not the spying itself, that can be separate, but on the general response. Unbelievably, we’ve managed to look shady, unscrupulous and useless at the same time. And for what, the worse scenario. 

  • Like 5
benjii

benjii

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 minute ago, Lord Duckhunter said:


 

Different industry/importance but only last year I sailed close to the wind with our compliance team at work, my boss said “tell me everything, and I’ll try and protect you”, (fair enough, she did). 

Animals? Midgets?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not kids, Duck? Not the kids.

Edited by benjii
Holmes_and_Watson

Holmes_and_Watson

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, trousers said:

Which is all well and good... But what's stopping them providing interim updates to this effect? To go into 'radio silence' mode is either an insult to fans (and red rag to a bull for the media) or there's 'something' going on in the background that warrants it....

Maybe Dragon has sacked everyone, including the media team?

Maybe, they are not saying a thing that would impact either internal processes or any further external investigations?

Maybe, they though the Take That news would cheer us all up?

dd1a24831f61c95c51b3a31fe26405c3.jpg&f=1

  • Haha 1
trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Different industry/importance but only last year I sailed close to the wind with our compliance team at work, my boss said “tell me everything, and I’ll try and protect you”, (fair enough, she did).

Shouldn't have called your boss a "bird" in the first place... That'll teach you...  ;)

trousers

trousers

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Maybe Dragon has sacked everyone, including the media team?

Pssst... Quick... Correct that before anyone notices... ;)

Mt.B-Real

Mt.B-Real

Posted
Posted

The club are taking the piss out of us .

No statement on the OS until the following day after we had been kicked out - unacceptable.

One shitty statement talking about 'accountability'. 3 days later, zero fucking accountability.

Two fucking weeks to get your money back, that they took off you whilst being fully aware they had admitted to cheating and being thrown out was inevitable. Piss take.

Only update on the website is about a fucking take that concert!

They do not deserve our support.

Please just fuck off

 

 

  • Like 1
Gloucester Saint

Gloucester Saint

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Miltonaggro said:

No way this is being ‘let go’. My view is that if Karen FC win today, Hull will immediately lodge an appeal. Noticed last couple of days that legal LinkedIn / X and elite sporting community are very much of the opinion that the EFL decision is highly problematic.

If they do win, and I’ve a feeling they won’t, they’ll be looking over their shoulder like a VAR goal is it/isn’t it. Join the club folks…

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