Sports Republics response to “Spygate”

[Sarnia Cherie]

11 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Not really the statement I was hoping for.

Maybe looking at the backgrounds of those that made up the panel should have been done and then objected to at the time. The horse has escaped over the hill by now.

Exactly. Wouldn't you think with all that was at stake that they would have scrutinised those involved in the inquiry and appeal and insisted on a fair hearing with unbiased people. How come nobody at Southampton Football Club made an issue of this. It could have had a much different outcome. Yet another own goal scored by Dragan and Co and what a howler!

[saintant]

Given the time the club has had to come up with a response this is weak and wishy washy. Maybe they feel the best thing is not to rock any particular boats so they've opted for this bland statement. I'd have preferred something diplomatic but a little more hard nosed. I'm guessing the club has decided to draw a line under the whole saga and move on. My feeling from the statement is that they probably wanted to say more but this is what they've come up with through slightly gritted teeth. 

[LGTL]

I think it’s blindingly obvious the direction that the club is going in after that statement. Both legally and from a football perspective. 

[Sarnia Cherie]

4 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

It means no one is getting sacked. Not Parsons, not Tonda. 

Not the position I was expecting but it's a position.

We haven't heard from the FA yet. 

[beatlesaint]

Not really sure we are in a position to take the moral high ground, that’s what that statement smacks of to me.

[EssEffCee]

20 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Not really the statement I was hoping for.

Maybe looking at the backgrounds of those that made up the panel should have been done and then objected to at the time. The horse has escaped over the hill by now.

Laughable that they're essentially owning up to not bothering with their own due diligence at the time.

[EssEffCee]

14 minutes ago, James said:

The more I read from the Club the clearer it is that we completely and utterly ballsed up our response to this issue when it first arose. How can we be raising objections to Panel members etc in a statement almost 2 weeks after we got kicked out? Surely we could have taken a harder line at the time and kicked up more of a fuss about the way the proceedings were being brought if that’s genuinely what we thought at the time?! Seems to me as if this is covering the bases after the fact.

If you heard about another football club you'd barely believe that they could genuinely handle it that badly.

When its Sport Republic's Southampton though it's incredibly believable and not at all surprising.

[CB Fry]

4 minutes ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

We haven't heard from the FA yet. 

True but that's someone being banned, rather than being sacked. It reads like we aren't going to sack him on our own terms.

It also reads like the club will fight any banning order (probably using Bielsa as precedent, even though there are other cases where bans have happened).

[saintant]

I don't think this statement needed to apologise to the fans as it is a response to the written reasons given by the Arbitration Panel to knock back our appeal against the original decision. It would be interesting to read the full text of the Arbitration Panel statement so I'm assuming that will be made public shortly.

[hypochondriac]

I mentioned last week that I know someone who has talked to the likes of Parsons and the message was that they weren't expecting FA charges against Tonda (albeit this was shortly after the verdict). I wonder if this makes that more true?

[trousers]

24 minutes ago, saintant said:

Given the time the club has had to come up with a response this is weak and wishy washy. Maybe they feel the best thing is not to rock any particular boats so they've opted for this bland statement. I'd have preferred something diplomatic but a little more hard nosed. I'm guessing the club has decided to draw a line under the whole saga and move on. My feeling from the statement is that they probably wanted to say more but this is what they've come up with through slightly gritted teeth. 

I would imagine they're now doing what their solicitors are telling them to do, every step of the way. As such, theres probably no justification for criticising what 'the club' is saying at the moment given they're probably being advised not to come out with any 'from the heart' stuff until the legal manouvres (whatever they may be) are completely concluded. All of which I can understand, as frustrating as it is from our perspective. 

Edited 1 hour ago by trousers

[EssEffCee]

Not sure how anyone can read that statement and think we might take legal action. Seems pretty clear to me that we're wanting to draw a line under it and move on.

[Scummer]

19 minutes ago, Sarnia Cherie said:

Exactly. Wouldn't you think with all that was at stake that they would have scrutinised those involved in the inquiry and appeal and insisted on a fair hearing with unbiased people. How come nobody at Southampton Football Club made an issue of this. It could have had a much different outcome. Yet another own goal scored by Dragan and Co and what a howler!

How much notice did they have of who was on the panel? Remember it was all rushed through very quickly at the request of the EFL. All that was said in advance was that it was an independent panel from a company who specialise in these sorts of cases.

[Saint Pete]

22 minutes ago, saintant said:

Given the time the club has had to come up with a response this is weak and wishy washy. Maybe they feel the best thing is not to rock any particular boats so they've opted for this bland statement. I'd have preferred something diplomatic but a little more hard nosed. I'm guessing the club has decided to draw a line under the whole saga and move on. My feeling from the statement is that they probably wanted to say more but this is what they've come up with through slightly gritted teeth. 

It is pretty weak I agree, but didn't honestly expect any different after the way this has been handled by us up to now. There's a couple of complaints, but as others have said the one about the makeup of the panel feels hollow as it should have been argued more strongly before the case, potentially with a public statement on it. Boro were putting out statements so we could have done the same to apply pressure to get a fairer hearing. 

It's interesting there's not more reference to the severity of the punishment, you can only assume our lawyers don't think we have much of a leg to stand on in pursuing that angle unless we are keeping our powder dry (which I doubt). 

[trousers]

[trousers]

This pretty much echos my thinking...

 

[hypochondriac]

Just now, trousers said:

I don't really understand his desire for someone to own the story and lead from the front. If we are going to sacking people or are teeing up some legal response then we are hardly going to get someone front and centre as the fall guy. It is tough for fans though clearly because we haven't been addressed at all.

[EssEffCee]

4 minutes ago, trousers said:

This pretty much echos my thinking...

 

The points deduction isn't getting dropped now. Those proceedings are over.

[benjii]

I wonder if Winnie declared his prior employment to the panel.

I've asked his firm three times but they seem unwilling to reply.

[saintant]

30 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

It is pretty weak I agree, but didn't honestly expect any different after the way this has been handled by us up to now. There's a couple of complaints, but as others have said the one about the makeup of the panel feels hollow as it should have been argued more strongly before the case, potentially with a public statement on it. Boro were putting out statements so we could have done the same to apply pressure to get a fairer hearing. 

It's interesting there's not more reference to the severity of the punishment, you can only assume our lawyers don't think we have much of a leg to stand on in pursuing that angle unless we are keeping our powder dry (which I doubt). 

Haven't we appointed these hotshot lawyers that look after Man City? We must have something up our sleeve if we're paying their fees.

[davefizzy14]

Just now, saintant said:

Haven't we appointed these hotshot lawyers that look after Man City? We must have something up our sleeve if we're paying their fees.

Yeah that's what I think. We've definitely got something lined up for our legal case. 

[Wade Garrett]

All I want to hear now is that we are going full throttle for promotion next season and will be improving the squad to fucking smash the league.

Couldn’t really give a monkeys about an apology now.  Time to look forward.

[Livewire]

41 minutes ago, Scummer said:

How much notice did they have of who was on the panel? Remember it was all rushed through very quickly at the request of the EFL. All that was said in advance was that it was an independent panel from a company who specialise in these sorts of cases.

So once you find out you do a basic search on who the members of the Panel are. It would have taken one look at Winnie's Wikipedia page to see that he played for Middlesbrough. That should have ruled him out instantly. All of this could be done very fast. Why raise this now and not then? 

[Colinjb]

51 minutes ago, EssEffCee said:

Not sure how anyone can read that statement and think we might take legal action. Seems pretty clear to me that we're wanting to draw a line under it and move on.

This is it. Softly softly while they further consider what they can do. 

Mentioning the make up of the panel tells us where our focus lies 

[S-Clarke]

A truly weak and washy statement, I assume Parsons wrote that.

We start next season on -4 points, we don't know who our manager will be, how many players we will have, or who will want to join us. At some point in this entire sorry saga the club need to accept responsibility, own it, and make their own decisions to pave the way going forward - but it seems like they're waiting for others to do so.

I never thought we'd have such incompetent business people running my club.

[SaintsLoyal]

Everyone was highlighting the media response from Boro, photo leak etc, it was at that point the club could have clearly made a statement even sideways, that they will now not get a fair hearing.  That carries more weight than whinging about some mush who played one game on loan 35 years ago.

[Saints4Prem]

32 minutes ago, SaintsLoyal said:

Everyone was highlighting the media response from Boro, photo leak etc, it was at that point the club could have clearly made a statement even sideways, that they will now not get a fair hearing.  That carries more weight than whinging about some mush who played one game on loan 35 years ago.

I think we were extremely naive and must have thought that the expulsion was a non starter. The choice of the tribunal though, was extremely poor as there were thousands of qualified persons but the EFL chose two of the three who had connections with Middlesborough. In my opinion if those two had integrity they would not had stood on the board. Our legal team should have done a lot better at the start but it beggars belief the EFL allowed themselves to be put under this scrutinity (unless of course they wanted a specific outcome?)  

Edited 29 minutes ago by Saints4Prem

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

Just seen the statement, I kind of agree with 'Blakey' responding to Adam Blackmore. I think the lack of a fans apology in it could very well be (maybe wishful thinking...) that a separate gesture with regards reduced cost of upcoming season tickets alongside an apology to go with it.

I also believe it's a bit restrained due to the FA action that's still to come.

[Willo of Whiteley]

59 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

All I want to hear now is that we are going full throttle for promotion next season and will be improving the squad to fucking smash the league.

Couldn’t really give a monkeys about an apology now.  Time to look forward.

First part - yes.

Second part, no, an apology is necessary and it buries the whole saga.
I feel SR will drag this out and it’ll overshadow everything else.

 

It’ll be another thing to add to their “mistakes/incompetences” list.

[stevematthews635]

2 hours ago, LGTL said:

I think it’s blindingly obvious the direction that the club is going in after that statement. Both legally and from a football perspective. 

Amen. This is why Saints are being quiet....imo they are getting ready to litigate.  The statement today appears to be the clearest sign this is where it is heading

[Suhari]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

All I want to hear now is that we are going full throttle for promotion next season and will be improving the squad to fucking smash the league.

Couldn’t really give a monkeys about an apology now.  Time to look forward.

Yep.

Let's get a line drawn under it all, and go full throttle into prep for next season.

Tonda is taking us up.