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Southampton spying compendium thread

The advantage may have been in "not scoring".

30 - 40% of goals in the championship come from set pieces.

Watching Boro practice set pieces would give them all they needed to know to help negate them.

Also Boro famously are crap at scoring from open play, so you stop the set pieces you probably stop them scoring.

(It could be after the fact bollocks - but there's been talk after this broke that a number of teams were surprised at how well Southampton negated their set pieces this season)

And again - the issue isn't "how did they benefit?"
The issue is they broke clear rules to try to gain a benefit - that's enough.
26.84%
 

Its like saying manslaughter is stupid and forgivable because Ian Huntley.

No headloss from what I can see, just people wanting the rules to mean something and seeing them applied meaningfully. That it's 'boro that might benefit is irrelevant.
Aye its exactly like saying that :lol:

I agree its irrelevant its Boro...I'd think its a big fuss about nowt whoever was the spied on team
The rule change was brought in specifically because of the Leeds incident.
Where are the sanctions outlined for those falling foul over it ?

The rule itself is about 5 lines
 
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Aye its exactly like saying that :lol:

I agree its irrelevant its Boro...I'd think its a big fuss about nowt whoever was the spied on team.
At last, agreement.

If it's a big fuss about nothing, do you think a club that were allowed to observe every other clubs training sessions throughout the season, prior to their matches would fare better than if they weren't, given they'll be better than some, very similar to other and not as good as the rest (they're the parameters).

If you don't think it would benefit them at all then I'll allow your position, but if you do then you can come around to the correct way of thinking :p
 
They can ask, but they've got no powers to do this. They're not the police, they're a kangaroo court of a private company. Unless he bought a pin badge at every club shop, they won't have any way of obtaining this information. Even then they probably can't trace a card number or partial card transaction down to an individual transaction.
They do have powers, this has been covered. Every club is obliged to produce docs at the request of the EFL. It’s in their regulations which all member clubs agree to be bound by.
 
At last, agreement.

If it's a big fuss about nothing, do you think a club that were allowed to observe every other clubs training sessions throughout the season, prior to their matches would fare better than if they weren't, given they'll be better than some, very similar to other and not as good as the rest (they're the parameters).

If you don't think it would benefit them at all then I'll allow your position, but if you do then you can come around to the correct way of thinking :p
I’m not convinced with the amount of analysis that goes on these days that a bloke watching from behind a tree would give that much more, if any benefit.

So no I don’t think it would benefit them, heard players and managers over the week saying any benefit would be minute, if it existed at all.
 
There's no downside for the EFL to postpone the final. Just the added global publicity and uptick in TV revenues would be worth it for the league.
There’s loads of downside.
1. Finding an alternative date/venue
2. Hull supporters who’ve booked travel /hotels
3. Commitments in broadcasting contracts (subject to the detail of them)
4. Delaying starting work on next season’s fixture list
 
Bit of a ridiculous process with the EFL prosecuting the case for a final in their showpiece competition. You could conceivably have an outcome that both they and Southampton think is overly punitive and want to appeal.

The only appropriate sanction is to kick them out. Cut through all the noise and what they tried to do, whether successful or not, was gain a sporting advantage. The punishment for that should only ever be a sporting one. A deferred points deduction, which it can ever only be assumed to be being the ruling is before knowing what league they could be in next season, 1) Doesn’t punish the offence in terms of trying to gain an advantage to get promotion this season 2) may never be implemented if Southampton remain in the prem for decades (Unlikely but possible).

You could also say that with a possible 200 million windfall neither a fine nor a 6 point deduction next time they are in the championship is equal to the value of gaining promotion via an unfair advantage as even if they come back down the fine would be pocket change and they will likely have a team that is far in advance of any competitive points deduction.

Shouldn’t be complicated in my opinion. Kick them out just like they would be if they tried to gain an advantage through naming an ineligible player, or not giving a penalty if a player tries to dive to win one.
Great post.
 
The rule change was brought in specifically because of the Leeds incident.
And? Do you honestly think that if they imposed a harsher penalty which potentially cost them £100mil+ that it wouldn’t end up in arbitration, with the Leeds incident and penalty cited?
 
I’m not convinced with the amount of analysis that goes on these days that a bloke watching from behind a tree would give that much more, if any benefit.

So no I don’t think it would benefit them, heard players and managers over the week saying any benefit would be minute, if it existed at all.
You've dug in, fair enough ... I'm not in the business of trying to change anyone's mind. I think you're wrong though, and have tried to minimise the offence by invoking the 'bloke watching from behind a tree' manoeuvre.
 
Bit of a ridiculous process with the EFL prosecuting the case for a final in their showpiece competition. You could conceivably have an outcome that both they and Southampton think is overly punitive and want to appeal.

The only appropriate sanction is to kick them out. Cut through all the noise and what they tried to do, whether successful or not, was gain a sporting advantage. The punishment for that should only ever be a sporting one. A deferred points deduction, which it can ever only be assumed to be being the ruling is before knowing what league they could be in next season, 1) Doesn’t punish the offence in terms of trying to gain an advantage to get promotion this season 2) may never be implemented if Southampton remain in the prem for decades (Unlikely but possible).

You could also say that with a possible 200 million windfall neither a fine nor a 6 point deduction next time they are in the championship is equal to the value of gaining promotion via an unfair advantage as even if they come back down the fine would be pocket change and they will likely have a team that is far in advance of any competitive points deduction.

Shouldn’t be complicated in my opinion. Kick them out just like they would be if they tried to gain an advantage through naming an ineligible player, or not giving a penalty if a player tries to dive to win one.
That isn’t the only appropriate sanction though, is it?

For anyone who has a basic comprehension of justice, it wouldn’t even be considered an appropriate sanction.
 
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