Championship 2025/26 Season

[Joe90]

14 minutes ago, VG Fox said:

For the 1st time ever we should be getting something useful out of Saints. Appoint the entire coaching staff/manager when they are sacked (can't see how they won't be). They will be damaged goods and probably not appointable in most boards eyes. However their work was outstanding and I would welcome them. 

Yea you have a point, didn’t do to badly with the last manager from Southampton when we got relegated to league 1 🤨

[JimJams]

Just to play devils advocate a bit, should "spying" actually be punished?  Shouldn't clubs make an effort to keep their training sessions private?  It's not like this guy was disguised as a shrub.

[Raj]

We should buy Southampton  players they havent let us down in the past....

[Raj]

1 minute ago, JimJams said:

Just to play devils advocate a bit, should "spying" actually be punished?  Shouldn't clubs make an effort to keep their training sessions private?  It's not like this guy was disguised as a shrub.

Its absolutely  crazy.

Said it before BUT apparently  the laws the law...but ffs it's hardly financial irregularities!!!

[VG Fox]

3 minutes ago, Joe90 said:

Yea you have a point, didn’t do to badly with the last manager from Southampton when we got relegated to league 1 🤨

my bad apologies to Sir Nigel.

[MPH]

1 hour ago, Kitchandro said:

I’m not justifying it. It was wrong. That doesn’t make the punishment fair or proportionate.

 

What gains more of an advantage - buying a quality player or knowing what tactics the opposition plays?

 

Every team cheats, every team tries to gain an advantage. But they aren’t kicked out of competitions or given points deductions if they are a big club. 
 

Furthermore, would Southampton have got kicked out for an Erland Jonsson 1997 style penalty, despite the fact there would be categorical provable evidence that it decided the result? This ruling makes no sense. There’s no precedent for it or evidence that it affected the result.

 

I keep saying it but any argument that Middlesbrough lost because the Southampton knew how they were going to play is just not genuine. They lost because they weren’t quite good enough. What could they have possibly done that they didn’t actually do in that match? What unstoppable surprises were they planning?

 

it can be argued that southamption’s team selection, style and formation were all influenced by the information they garnered. With all that is at stake and the financial prize of promotion, you just can’t ignore that. It’s more than just “ knowing how Boro play”

[JimJams]

Even Boro don't know how Boro play.

[fazzyfox]

Hull will be furious though. They’ve been spying on Southamptons training all week but know nothing about Middlesboroigh, it’s just not fair!

[fox_favourite]

To be fair, the Southampton fans have been massively let down by officials, whoever is accountable for it. 

 

I do feel for them, but not the club. They were stupid 

[Gamble92]

28 minutes ago, slymunn said:

There wasnt a rule when leeds did it. The put the rules in after that.

Yeah I know, just don't remember the same level of cheating accusations around it. Was seen as a bit of a laugh if anything.

[brookfox]

Explains why Aribo was so useless.

 

“Right, pass the file telling me exactly what the opposition will be doing and how I need to play…”

[coolhandfox]

Surprised at the amount of people sticking up for Southampton.

 

Feel for the fans not the club.

[Gamble92]

34 minutes ago, JimJams said:

Isn't that because they were the first case and so there was no ruling on it?  Like us with administration.

Yeah just mean I don't remember any outright cheating accusations like there are with this. 

 

With our administration I remember all the teams and WARNOCK saying we should get points deducted. 

 

I can't remember anyone saying Leeds were cheating or deserving of points deduction. I might be wrong. 

[Mark_w]

1 minute ago, brookfox said:

Explains why Aribo was so useless.

 

“Right, pass the file telling me exactly what the opposition will be doing and how I need to play…”

We literally just loaned him to get hold of his copies

[Broof]

5 minutes ago, JimJams said:

Just to play devils advocate a bit, should "spying" actually be punished?  Shouldn't clubs make an effort to keep their training sessions private?  It's not like this guy was disguised as a shrub.

Can apply this to literally any rule? Should rule be punished when victim can do something. 

 

Should hair pulling be punished when players can go bald?

[brookfox]

3 minutes ago, Mark_w said:

We literally just loaned him to get hold of his copies

Ayew: “Welcome to the club Joe. Have you got the report on us? Great… what am I meant to be doing?!”

[Fox92]

1 hour ago, winteriscoming said:

Didn’t even need to spy on us. 
But did against Oxford. 
Says it all really. 
We really are that shit. 

Spied on Oxford and lost to them

 

[OntarioFox]

It would be so us to hire the spy

[copunk]

There’s not a chance these were the only 3 games they spied on.

Coincidence it’s 3 games where they didn’t win, pushes the narrative for them that they didn’t receive a sporting advantage. 
 

[MPH]

The punishment is probably more of setting a standard and a precedent for future behavior as much as it is punishing Southampton… in such a crucial match with so much at stake, what signal would they send if they didn’t take this action? What would it mean for the future?  Any future ‘defendants’ could point to this case  in the future if Southampton are  not suitably punished..

[fazzyfox]

Oh when the Saints

Get f*****g banned

oh when the Saints get f*****g banned,

I’m going to laugh my b***dy head off,

When the Saints get f*****g banned 

[Sly]

I mean, it’s not like they haven’t had 46 previous games to watch how they play this season. 

[Arkie Bennett]

1 hour ago, Greg2607 said:

For the integrity of the competition, they should have just promoted Hull.   it doesn't feel right that Middlesbrough get a stab at the final.  They will have had a disproportionate amount of time to prepare against a known opposition. Something Hull won't have had the benefit of.   

Perhaps they can allow Hull to spy on Middlesbrough to even things out a bit.

[ronnup]

HahahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[when_you're_smiling]

1 hour ago, Gamble92 said:

Not excusing them but I don't remember Leeds getting anything like this kind of backlash about doing it? 

 

Is it because of how Bielsa is regarded in the football world?

When they were fined £200,000 for it, it wasn’t against any specific law. They were fined for not being in the spirit of ‘good faith’.

 

As a result of that case though the EFL brought in a specific law to ban spying. It’s the first time anyone has been charged with it as far as I know.

Edited 19 May by when_you're_smiling