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Southampton spying compendium thread

Local Lad said:
Im all for this like its hilarious after their players were running round pretending to hold binoculars and their fans singing "we'll spy when we wan"

Love to see them punished further.

I do feel sorry for hull the whole build up has been about this and no doubt will he all they talk about on the day.

I couldn't care about the players or fans they were happy to take the piss when they beat boro.
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There'll be a whole range of opinions in their fanbase.

A lot will be deeply, deeply embarrassed by this, literally waking up every day for the last couple of weeks and cringing.

It's going to take them years to get over this.
 

si73 said:
The fact is that they tried to gain an advantage by circumventing/ignoring the rules of the competition.

They were caught and rightly removed from the competition.

It's completely irrelevant as to whether that translated to advantages on the pitch during the game. Burra could have won 3-0 and it wouldn't have changed that Southampton had cheated. And it's also irrelevant who the team was. It could've been ANY of the other play off contenders, it's still cheating.

The simple take away from it is if Southampton hadn't did what they did, they'd have been no complaint, no investigation, no charges and they'd be playing at Wembley on Sarrada.

As it stands if more complaints are made they could face further sanctions over the summer.
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How do you know they'd be playing at Wembley on Saturday? If they didn't cheat, they may not have won the tie. The only reason they cheated was to gain a competitive advantage to help them win the tie.

The argument of "Boro lost anyway" doesn't work when the other team cheated to win the game.

It's like if someone cheated in a 100m race by setting off early and then won the race, 2nd place would become the winner - you wouldn't say 'second place lost so they shouldn't complain'.
 
Get Into Em said:
How do you know they'd be playing at Wembley on Saturday? If they didn't cheat, they may not have won the tie. The only reason they cheated was to gain a competitive advantage to help them win the tie.

The argument of "Boro lost anyway" doesn't work when the other team cheated to win the game.

It's like if someone cheated in a 100m race by setting off early and then won the race, 2nd place would become the winner - you wouldn't say 'second place lost so they shouldn't complain'.
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I think it's pretty clear that he means had they not cheated and the result had been the same.
 
Flea Market Trader said:
As much as this is really bad for the fans I’m also thinking what the Southampton players must be thinking if they are innocent of any knowledge or involvement into this fiasco. I’m already hearing there are clauses into contracts for reaching the play off final for a start, then there is potential lost wages for players who were only 1 game away from the big time. I think Southampton might take some recovering from this. Also if/when the manager is sacked or not will tell you how involved the owner is as I’m of the belief by what has been said that he isn’t involved. Imagine this manager and those responsible might find more than a years football ban coming but more likely lawsuits from players and the owners.
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I'm not sure if the players have much ground for appealing potential lost earnings, when they were probably only in a position where promotion was a possibility because of the wider club's cheating escapades. I know they'll argue the league games which they've been charged had no effect on the table, but as other people have pointed out that's likely only the tip of the iceberg.

Plus, it quite arrogant of them to even hypothesis that they would've beaten Hull in the final and seen their wages bumped.
 
maghater said:
Whilst all this has being going on, and one of the harshest penalties in football handed down, we still await the outcome of 115 charges against one of the richest clubs the world, who so far have had over 3 years and counting to concoct a defence . Talk about one law for the rich and not the poor
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The charges against City are significantly more complex that those against Southampton.
 
mini-x2 said:
The players will have obviously been privy to the information gleaned from the spying antics re their training methods in the run up to the game. Can't imagine that they weren't told that Boro were practising certain methods for set pieces etc prior to the play off.
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Players know the usual amount of detail gleaned from scouting etc. The majority of the players, especially the experienced lads will 1000% of knew that they were privy to information they were not meant to have.

Whether they were aware of the exact detail of how it was obtained is unclear, but, football clubs are full of people with a lot of time on their hands where information is a valuable currency. I'd be amazed if they didn't know exactly what was going on.
 
Shady Lane said:
The charges against City are significantly more complex that those against Southampton.
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agree and Southampton did actually admit to the charge, but howay man 3 years and counting !

If Southampton are effectively relegated and docked points for what in the general rub of things is a relatively minor offence, what penalty can City realistically expect?
I still hold out hope of being awarded the 2014 league cup

😉
 
Cappuccino Kid said:
I'm not sure if the players have much ground for appealing potential lost earnings, when they were probably only in a position where promotion was a possibility because of the wider club's cheating escapades. I know they'll argue the league games which they've been charged had no effect on the table, but as other people have pointed out that's likely only the tip of the iceberg.

Plus, it quite arrogant of them to even hypothesis that they would've beaten Hull in the final and seen their wages bumped.
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They weren’t charged with offences in the league games. They weren’t reported at the time and from what I understand was used as supporting ( anecdotal?) evidence which Southampton agreed / owned up to.
There is a photo of a soldier in camouflage kit where the head has been photoshopped and replaced by Will The Spy I Am. It was from December 2025 and the Southampton players are having a right giggle.
No grounds for appealing and if they are looking for sympathy they’ll find it in the dictionary between shit and syphillis.
 
molthemackem said:
That being the case, I don't agree by the way, as the facts state it wasn't only that result. I would have fully expected that Southampton be kicked out of all League competitions they competed in this past season.. However it doesn't ,does it. Southampton have been sanctioned under the League rules brought in after the Leeds Utb/Bielsa fiasco of the same regarding spying on opponents DURING the Play Off part of the season and is therefore only applicable to the end of the season games.
They after been found guilty on their admission the League should have expelled them completely.
If on the other hand you subscribe to the SKY Sports propaganda agenda by this Kahve Solekol bloke, this was not a good enough reason to expel the Saints ( that word "Saints" seems a bit hollow to attach to them now) from the play offs.
No, They have got what was coming and its not over yet.
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Yeah- I mean there could be a case for them being dumped out of the league. But I think the league sanction is covered in the 4 poiints deduction (the playoff removal is more specific to how a knock out competition works).

But yes- I agree. I really don't see what else the EFL could have done regarding the playoffs.
 
seahamstar said:
Whether you'd be fuming or not is totally irrelevant.
Don't know if you were around when Sunderland were promoted after LOSING a play off final, but if that happened now would you be happy if there was a similar scenario now and the ruling went against your club?

Yes, Boro lost over two legs to Southampton, but they obviously didn't win fair and square.
We were cheated so the team that cheated were rightfully kicked out and the team that were cheated against (us) were rightly reinstated.
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As long as Manchester City get a correct punishment I'm fine with it.

It may annoy some of the sycophants who were hoping Man City would the league here if Arteta becomes one of the most successful managers ever by picking up his 4th Premier League title next week.

That would be worth it :D
 
Get Into Em said:
How do you know they'd be playing at Wembley on Saturday? If they didn't cheat, they may not have won the tie. The only reason they cheated was to gain a competitive advantage to help them win the tie.

The argument of "Boro lost anyway" doesn't work when the other team cheated to win the game.

It's like if someone cheated in a 100m race by setting off early and then won the race, 2nd place would become the winner - you wouldn't say 'second place lost so they shouldn't complain'.
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Yeah I agree and that's clearly how it works too.

The insinuation from Southampton, and some fitba commentators, is that they didn't gain an advantage at all on the pitch, I don't agree as it must've effected the Burra players and their training even if it was just mildly.

I should have been more precise. If Southampton hadn't did what they did, and the results had remained the same as occured, there'd have been no complaints, no investigation, no charges and they'd be still playing at Wembley on Sarrada. They can therefore have no complaints now and imho seem to have got off lightly.
 
vinegar hill said:
They deserve it.
They acted like a set of twats in that second leg,
Mocking Ayling for his stutter the same player giving the binoculars routine to Morris when they scored the winner.
Then that shifty looking manager a wrang un written all ower him.
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I hope Keano rinses the living shit out of Harwood-Bellis.

As a man who may potentually help perpetuate the legendary Keane genetics, Harwood-Bellis is a f***ing disappointing specimen of a man.
 
vinegar hill said:
They deserve it.
They acted like a set of twats in that second leg,
Mocking Ayling for his stutter the same player giving the binoculars routine to Morris when they scored the winner.
Then that shifty looking manager a wrang un written all ower him.
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The binoculars craik was lifting. Delighted they've rightfully been booted out. Zero class in Southampton FC at the minute it seems.
 
Cappuccino Kid said:
I'm not sure if the players have much ground for appealing potential lost earnings, when they were probably only in a position where promotion was a possibility because of the wider club's cheating escapades. I know they'll argue the league games which they've been charged had no effect on the table, but as other people have pointed out that's likely only the tip of the iceberg.

Plus, it quite arrogant of them to even hypothesis that they would've beaten Hull in the final and seen their wages bumped.
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There's tweets and assorted quotes doing the rounds, from at least one player, marvelling at the precision and level of preparation since Eckert took over. With the benefit of hindsight it would be pretty hard for the players to suggest they had no idea what was happening or that there weren't at least suspicions.

There's also allegedly a pic that was sent around the team WhatsApp group in late 2025 (Dec?) of an army sniper in full rig out, with Salty Bill's face photoshopped over it. Makes any claim that the players weren't aware, look laughable.
HellsBells said:
I can only image they are arguing/negotiating with lawyers over how they can get away without paying him severance. Gross Misconduct - but if it was sanctioned by the board, or others knew about it, then he will probably take them to court.
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Or they're waiting for the FA to ban him, which might save them the bother.

The other possibility imho is at present they aren't brave enough to bomb him out as he'll have a paper trail a mile long incriminating lots of the management at the club too. Damage limitation in overdrive until he signs a NDA.
 
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Cappuccino Kid said:
I'm not sure if the players have much ground for appealing potential lost earnings, when they were probably only in a position where promotion was a possibility because of the wider club's cheating escapades. I know they'll argue the league games which they've been charged had no effect on the table, but as other people have pointed out that's likely only the tip of the iceberg.

Plus, it quite arrogant of them to even hypothesis that they would've beaten Hull in the final and seen their wages bumped.
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No issue with that really. If a professional footballer doesn't go into any game, let alone a final, expecting to win there's something wrong.
 
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