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Southampton spying compendium thread

Ron Swanson said:
I can see what you mean but there is still a large percentage of fans on that forum saying they’ve been hard done by and playing a victim in the eyes of Gibson and the EFL. Granted it’s shit for them but they need to be looking at their own club, although they’re likely frustrated and lashing out as they’ll rightly miss out on the premier league money
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It's an interesting one. While I have sympathy for any fan for losing out financially as a result of this - non-refundable train tickets, hotel rooms etc. their first reaction should be to look at the club's hierarchy instead of pleading 'poor us' etc. Put simply;

  • Southampton broke rule 127 of the EFL handbook, and have admitted doing so, multiple times.
  • While the potential punishment(s) is/are not laid out within rule 127 itself, my understanding is that all punishments for breaching any rule in the handbook ARE laid out in there somewhere, be it financial, points deductions or expulsion (tbh, I cba to check where) for breaking said rules. So SFC should have been fully aware of all potential sanctions for breaking rule 127. 'Ignorance' is not bliss.
  • Middlesbrough are blameless in all of this and as a consequence of SFC being sanctioned fully deserver their place in the final. The results of the two games played between MFC and SFC are matterless, SFC broke rule 127 and that has to be considered in isolation.
  • Hull have not been disadvantaged as a consequence. Anyone thinking they have only been concentrating on Southampton in their final preparations is as deluded as the HFC management would be be, had they done so. They still have a full, clear 3 days to concentrate on MFC prior to the game regardless.
  • The final couldn't be delayed for a multitude of reasons;
    • It's the EFL's showpiece game in their calendar, Tuesday night at Old Trafford is nowhere near as attractive as Wembley on a sunny bank-holiday weekend.
    • Contracts with sponsors and television have been signed, leaving them open to litigation if they try to change them.
    • Wembley is booked out for the following couple of weeks so moving it is (practicably) a non-starter
  • In addition to the above, the knock-on effects of moving the game are impactful on the winning club. Bear in mind we (SAFC) were supposedly at a massive disadvantage in preparations for entering the PL, given we had less time to plan our summer spending, sign players etc. due to the very nature of the play-off calendar. Any further delays puts the winners at a greater disadvantage.
In fairness, I have massive sympathy for the EFL in all of this, they have been placed in a position whereby no decision will satisfy all, and where the outcome of one team cheating is likely to end in some sort of litigation to be dealt with down the line by third parties affected by all of this. Southampton have already appealed, rumours are Wrexham are considering legal action, the SFC players will no doubt drag the ELF into any contractual disputes they have with the club - if press reports are true. It's 'lose/lose' for the EFL in all honesty.

On final thing, Tonda Eckert, if he hasn't already resigned, should be sacked today by SFC if they want to try to regain any crumb of respectability, and even only to show a modicum of contrition. Anything else is window dressing.
 

riffraff said:
Sporting Lisbon players walked away from the club and contracts after being attacked at the training ground. Unsafe working environment being the reason. Clubs can sack staff and players for breaking contract terms so surely staff and players can “sack” clubs for similar reasons?
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The power of the player has never been higher than it is now. I think this is going to be disastrous for Southampton.
 
As soon as they were charged by the EFL, the owner of the club should have sacked all the management team involved. That way they could have avoided any further punishment. Brought in an interim coaching team for final.
 
Yeah, I did the same to see what they thought of it. Quite a few sensible comments but dear me, the conspiracy theories. Matt Le Tiss must be reading some of them and going ‘that’s a bit out there.’
 
HellsBells said:
This. Eckert is also saying he didn’t realise it was illegal to spy, so why would he only spy on those three if he thought there was nothing wrong with it? They’ve been doing it for every game haven’t they?
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His argument falls down by the fact that the guy ran away when he was caught, if his defence is right why didnt the guy just explain what he was doing and ask what the problem was, and maybe then ask for a selfie with the Boro team 😉
 
I might be in the minority here but I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy for all Southampton fans. Let’s not forget there were a sizeable number that found this absolutely hilarious up until the verdict yesterday.

The way they conducted themselves in the second leg. Thousands singing “we’ll spy where we want” etc… the fancy dress outfits, the celebrations for Harwood-Bellis mocking the Boro players.

Their forum and fans on Twitter seem to have suffered some kind of collective amnesia yesterday which was like flicking a switch. A couple of weeks of having no issues with their clubs behaviour then suddenly trying to claim they were the bastions of morals and ethics.

The thread on their forum literally went from pages of memes and jokes about it to saying they were the most embarrassed they had ever been of the club - In reality they knew 99% of the details, the photos were released and that the club effectively accepted wrongdoing before yesterday and a significant proportion found it funny until they were kicked out.

Admittedly not all of them were like that and for some I have sympathy but not for the large number who had no issue with it until the consequences were known.
 
MonkeyLove said:
I might be in the minority here but I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy for all Southampton fans. Let’s not forget there were a sizeable number that found this absolutely hilarious up until the verdict yesterday.

The way they conducted themselves in the second leg. Thousands singing “we’ll spy where we want” etc… the fancy dress outfits, the celebrations for Harwood-Bellis mocking the Boro players.

Their forum and fans on Twitter seem to have suffered some kind of collective amnesia yesterday which was like flicking a switch. A couple of weeks of having no issues with their clubs behaviour then suddenly trying to claim they were the bastions of morals and ethics.

The thread on their forum literally went from pages of memes and jokes about it to saying they were the most embarrassed they had ever been of the club - In reality they knew 99% of the details, the photos were released and that the club effectively accepted wrongdoing before yesterday and a significant proportion found it funny until they were kicked out.

Admittedly not all of them were like that and for some I have sympathy but not for the large number who had no issue with it until the consequences were known.
Click to expand...
Had one of my worst pints down in Southampton
Leadbitter game

Pint was called badgers
Bloody awful it was
 
ned_werby said:
It's an interesting one. While I have sympathy for any fan for losing out financially as a result of this - non-refundable train tickets, hotel rooms etc. their first reaction should be to look at the club's hierarchy instead of pleading 'poor us' etc. Put simply;

  • Southampton broke rule 127 of the EFL handbook, and have admitted doing so, multiple times.
  • While the potential punishment(s) is/are not laid out within rule 127 itself, my understanding is that all punishments for breaching any rule in the handbook ARE laid out in there somewhere, be it financial, points deductions or expulsion (tbh, I cba to check where) for breaking said rules. So SFC should have been fully aware of all potential sanctions for breaking rule 127. 'Ignorance' is not bliss.
  • Middlesbrough are blameless in all of this and as a consequence of SFC being sanctioned fully deserver their place in the final. The results of the two games played between MFC and SFC are matterless, SFC broke rule 127 and that has to be considered in isolation.
  • Hull have not been disadvantaged as a consequence. Anyone thinking they have only been concentrating on Southampton in their final preparations is as deluded as the HFC management would be be, had they done so. They still have a full, clear 3 days to concentrate on MFC prior to the game regardless.
  • The final couldn't be delayed for a multitude of reasons;
    • It's the EFL's showpiece game in their calendar, Tuesday night at Old Trafford is nowhere near as attractive as Wembley on a sunny bank-holiday weekend.
    • Contracts with sponsors and television have been signed, leaving them open to litigation if they try to change them.
    • Wembley is booked out for the following couple of weeks so moving it is (practicably) a non-starter
  • In addition to the above, the knock-on effects of moving the game are impactful on the winning club. Bear in mind we (SAFC) were supposedly at a massive disadvantage in preparations for entering the PL, given we had less time to plan our summer spending, sign players etc. due to the very nature of the play-off calendar. Any further delays puts the winners at a greater disadvantage.
In fairness, I have massive sympathy for the EFL in all of this, they have been placed in a position whereby no decision will satisfy all, and where the outcome of one team cheating is likely to end in some sort of litigation to be dealt with down the line by third parties affected by all of this. Southampton have already appealed, rumours are Wrexham are considering legal action, the SFC players will no doubt drag the ELF into any contractual disputes they have with the club - if press reports are true. It's 'lose/lose' for the EFL in all honesty.

On final thing, Tonda Eckert, if he hasn't already resigned, should be sacked today by SFC if they want to try to regain any crumb of respectability, and even only to show a modicum of contrition. Anything else is window dressing.
Click to expand...
Also, i reckon the Premier league will have had some influence on this. The fallout from them potentially having a side that broke the rules( put the man city thing to one side for now) playing in their league next season will not have been lost on them or Championship bosses.
 
This was one of my favourites before the news broke.


Willo of Whiteley
Posted May 12
To all the Boro fans reading this thread:

- If you’re that convinced you’ll be in the final regardless of if you win tonight, then please have your team throw the game, let’s see how confident you really are

- Take your eyes off your stolen mobile phone for two minutes, remember there is a whole world out there which isn’t delusional, book your summer holiday to Scarborough and relax

- We won’t be kicked out the play offs because of all the legal ramifications that would rumble on for years

- And finally, f***ing haha

😂
 
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