Championship 2025/26 Season

[Kitchandro]

3 hours ago, Aleksz said:

A lot. This bloke allegedly had a high tech microphone to pick up coaches voices too as well as cameras. They could have taken line ups, set piece routines, pressing schemes and shapes. Think this is all being a bit under estimated by the average football fan. 

I’ve said it before but if a manager’s argument is ‘they know our line-up and set piece routines and style of play so we’ve lost’, then they’re not a very good manager. This is pure arrogance from managers where they think their genius surprise tactics that they’ve used for the last 46 games is the reason they finished in the heady heights of FIFTH. What happens when they work out your game plan 5 minutes in? It all goes out the window?
 

Football is a game where you either score more goals than the other team or you don’t. It’s not poker. I know players like Robben and Mahrez loved cutting in on his left foot every single time but stopping it is hard. Deciding that a team MUST have gained an advantage from knowing the opposition’s tactics is a slippery slope. It’s a fluid sport with so many variables. 

[Wsl]

17 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

Not really. Neither make any sense from the perspective of points deductions. Money is a bigger advantage than spying on training though, by a huge amount. Money buys you better players. Spying might give you information you could have got by watching matches, at best.

 

I’m baffled by the online reaction to this. There’s no way Boro lost because someone spied on their training session. It’s just one of those weird obsessive things managers do now because they believe the hype about ‘fine margins’ and all that nonsense.

 

The most serious part of this amounts to trespassing. There’s no real footballing advantage gained and considering players are diving for penalties and getting players sent off by faking injury left right and centre (which makes a tangible difference to a match), any points deduction or expulsion would be an absolute disgrace. Especially as absolutely no rules apply to the bigger clubs.

If there's truly no real advantage gained, I would expect the rule to be abolished. 

 

However, Leeds were only fined because there was no explicit rule banning it - so they were hit with a charge of being Mean and Sneaky with Intent.

 

But presumably all teams agreed that it did give a real and unfair advantage which led to the rule being written and put in force in the first place.

 

But it's also the reason why the ban only exists for 72 hours before the match - general watching/intel gathering otherwise is ok. It's because of the closeness of the match concerned that the team will be practising tactics designed for that particular team. Set pieces are a valuable goal scoring opportunity, and if you know how they're going to take their corners and free kicks close to goal against your team, you do have a big advantage. You may be able to adapt to the first call, but that's why they'll have rehearsed a number of moves - there's a big difference between having to react and adapt on the hoof, and knowing in advance the moves they will make. You'll be able to spoil the move much quicker.

[Kitchandro]

3 hours ago, 21st Century Fox said:

It can sometimes take an entire half of a match before you can readjust to a particular way a team is setup. Imagine being able to do that from the start, you’ve gained a huge advantage.

 

Not only that if Southampton played a particular way and Boro were setting up to counter that, Southampton would already know that and could then adjust accordingly. There’s so much more they could learn than just watching back matches.

And if they hadn’t spied they could also have changed their tactics at the last minute because they just assumed Boro were going to counter it anyway. Or just for the hell of it. That’s allowed. And we’d have no way of knowing that was their reasoning and we wouldn’t care.

 

So what? Teams can change tactics and it’s a disaster. The line-ups are announced 90 minutes before kick off now. What if Southampton changed their tactics as a reaction to seeing Boro’s line-up and it worked really well? How would we know if that made the difference? Does that extra half an hour (it used to be only an hour before) really affect matches these days?

 

To be clear I do think the spying is creepy and out of order but worthy of no more than a fine, you just cannot realistically suggest that it’s a disadvantage for another team to know your game plan. When teams are deducted points for last minute penalty dives I’ll consider taking spying seriously on the infringement front.

[st albans fox]

If there was no advantage to be gained then it wouldn’t happen 

 

 

[21st Century Fox]

It’s a ****ing long drive from Southampton to Middlesbrough for no material benefit.

[AKCJ]

Clearly poor form and not 'the done thing' by Southampton but the whole thing is a massive farce.

 

I would say that anyone that can work out how a team is planning to play a football match from presumably very far away is clearly an absolute genius and that anyone whose teams play in such an obvious manner will be found out immediately by a semi-competent manager anyway.

 

The Southampton manager is clearly a bit of a prat. Should have taken the Bielsa approach and fronted up to it. However, he was definitely outdone by the Middlesbrough manager's tears in the press conference. Absolutely embarrassing.

 

Southampton should get a heavy fine and a smack on the wrists for being so pathetic and we can all move on.

[AKCJ]

8 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

If there was no advantage to be gained then it wouldn’t happen 

 

 

Perceived benefits are different to material benefits.

 

Some people think that breaking a mirror gives you 7 years bad luck for instance.

[Samilktray]

Unfortunately if you dont have a serious training ground ala Seagrave, this can happen to you 

[Foxin_Mad]

48 minutes ago, Kitchandro said:

Not really. Neither make any sense from the perspective of points deductions. Money is a bigger advantage than spying on training though, by a huge amount. Money buys you better players. Spying might give you information you could have got by watching matches, at best.

 

I’m baffled by the online reaction to this. There’s no way Boro lost because someone spied on their training session. It’s just one of those weird obsessive things managers do now because they believe the hype about ‘fine margins’ and all that nonsense.

 

The most serious part of this amounts to trespassing. There’s no real footballing advantage gained and considering players are diving for penalties and getting players sent off by faking injury left right and centre (which makes a tangible difference to a match), any points deduction or expulsion would be an absolute disgrace. Especially as absolutely no rules apply to the bigger clubs.

There are very few examples where anyone who has broken PSR and/or gone into Administration who have actually benefitted from it. I only wish we had used our money to buy good players! Sadly we are punished as a club for having an idiot child owner who is letting is chum run the show. The bigger clubs pay for better lawyers, so it doesn't achieve anything, other than punish fans who have no say which idiot owns their club. 

[RowlattsFox]

I'd be interested to know what the 'spy' found out. I get it 30 years ago but there is so much information available now I'm not sure what they are expecting to find. 

Starting 11s at Championship clubs generally pick themselves, and they aren't going to suddenly change the tactics they've had all season.

[LCFCCHRIS]

They literally added this as a rule after the derby spygate before. For Southampton to break that rule is brain dead. 

Personally I hope they throw the book at them and kick them out of the playoffs. They certainly wouldn't do it again! 

[Super_horns]

20 minutes ago, AKCJ said:

Clearly poor form and not 'the done thing' by Southampton but the whole thing is a massive farce.

 

I would say that anyone that can work out how a team is planning to play a football match from presumably very far away is clearly an absolute genius and that anyone whose teams play in such an obvious manner will be found out immediately by a semi-competent manager anyway.

 

The Southampton manager is clearly a bit of a prat. Should have taken the Bielsa approach and fronted up to it. However, he was definitely outdone by the Middlesbrough manager's tears in the press conference. Absolutely embarrassing.

 

Southampton should get a heavy fine and a smack on the wrists for being so pathetic and we can all move on.

It’s basically a public footpath over looking the Boro training ground so anyone could look in really .

Might have got away with it had he not been filming and then ran off when approached.

[UniFox21]

50 minutes ago, LCFCCHRIS said:

They literally added this as a rule after the derby spygate before. For Southampton to break that rule is brain dead. 

Personally I hope they throw the book at them and kick them out of the playoffs. They certainly wouldn't do it again! 

For me this has big knock on effects. If they don't clamp down on rule breaches like this, we'll see it more and more and other pushing of rules here and there

[FrankieADZ]

 

[Nolucklcfc]

Hope saints get done, they’ve become really unlikeable. 

[Foxdiamond]

Ah I see now that all our opponents spied on us for the last two seasons. Had to be another reason why we got relegated twice. Actually quite relieved we are not involved in this scandal before a big final

[Corky]

SENSATIONAL IMAGE

[HP1]

43 minutes ago, FrankieADZ said:

 

If it was Rudkin in his earlier "coaching" days, he would have gotten all the way up to Middlesbrough and then forget to press record

[Tuna]

 I mean he's not hiding is he

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

49 minutes ago, FrankieADZ said:

 

 

**** me that's a bombshell image and a half

[lcfcfoz]

Deduction them all the points they have and we will be safe

[Leicesterpool]

I hope Soton get kicked out, they stink the premier league out. Prefer Middlesbrough v Hull play off final derby.

[HP1]

2 minutes ago, Leicesterpool said:

I hope Soton get kicked out, they stink the premier league out. Prefer Middlesbrough v Hull play off final derby.

They are a boring football club, of the Burnley and West Brom ilk

[David Guiza II]

We've had to put up with some s**t over the past few years, but at least Matt Le Tissier isn't our spokesperson and club legend. 

[RowlattsFox]

Relegate them