D-Day for Spygate

[Badger11]

Rumours that Southampton players will sue the club unless they get their promotion bonuses. The club may pay just to keep the squad happy but if it goes to court I can't see the players winning.

Unless the bonus was to be paid for appearing in the final all they have lost is the chance for promotion.

 

[Caterham]

Thing is, what exactly did Southampton learn from watching Boro train? It's not like the enemy getting their hands on your secret surprise battle plan in a war or something. Every team can watch every other team play every week, so whatever plan you've got is hardly secret.

I mean, I could tell you what team and tactics Glasner will select for the final right now. No need for me to hide in a bush with binoculars.

I'm not saying I'm not hiding in a bush with binoculars. Might be.

Did u see villa first goal last night, that was str8 off the training ground, especially the way that the 3 villa front men marshalled the defenders back towards the goal to provide Tielemans the space to shoot, now if you could have known that was coming then perhaps you would be in a better place to defend against it -

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Did u see villa first goal last night, that was str8 off the training ground, especially the way that the 3 villa front men marshalled the defenders back towards the goal to provide Tielemans the space to shoot, now if you could have known that was coming then perhaps you would be in a better place to defend against it -

Good point, and of course it could be argued that there must be something to gain from spying, or why else would Southampton (or any team) do it?

Even so, as it happened, the play off semi was not obviously decided by that kind of insider knowledge. Or at least, I haven't heard anything to that effect.

 

[Caterham]

According to the BBC apparently the FA have now opened an investigation into Southampton, a kind of who was behind the decision, who took part, who knew what & when type of thing to determine if they as individuals should face any kind of punishment

 

[ASCPFC]

Rumours that Southampton players will sue the club unless they get their promotion bonuses. The club may pay just to keep the squad happy but if it goes to court I can't see the players winning.

Unless the bonus was to be paid for appearing in the final all they have lost is the chance for promotion.

I expect a few to request transfers.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

What a mess.
And what a feeding time for the vultures.

Hull want to be promoted automatically as its not fair for them to have to play the losing semi-finalist instead of the winning one. Apparently.

Middlesborough want a cuddle because they've had to half-train up to now in case they got what they wanted, and have now got what they wanted. Which isn't fair.

Wrexham want it all played again with them in it. Christ knows why.

Millwall like Wrexham's idea. Funny, that.

Southampton are exploring a compensation claim, if only to cover all the compensation claims that might come their way.

Now Southampton's players might sue for loss of earnings. If I was running the club I'd point out that either (a) the spying made a difference to the outcome of the semi final, meaning that the players might well not have reached the final without it, or (b) it made no difference to the result, in which case the EFL are wrong and the players should take it up with them.

Whether or not the expulsion is harsh, all of these chancers are just scrabbling around for what they can get. None of them care about what is right, or the mess it will make of football.

This is where, instead of lawyers and regulators and panels, we need a village elder, or local warlord, or high priest or something in charge, just so they can put the foot down and say 'All of you can feck off. End of'.

Where does it end, otherwise?

 

[Painter]

Good point, and of course it could be argued that there must be something to gain from spying, or why else would Southampton (or any team) do it?

Even so, as it happened, the play off semi was not obviously decided by that kind of insider knowledge. Or at least, I haven't heard anything to that effect.

Southampton have been spying for weeks on other clubs, they have admitted it. Therefore it could of assisted them getting into the play offs in the first place at Wrexhams expense.
They have let their fans down. Cheating in football is getting worse and ruining the game, the sight of grown men rolling around holding the faces, if any opposing players hand accidentally touches their head is pathetic and needs to be stamped out.

 

[TheBigToePunt]

Southampton have been spying for weeks on other clubs, they have admitted it. Therefore it could of assisted them getting into the play offs in the first place at Wrexhams expense.
They have let their fans down. Cheating in football is getting worse and ruining the game, the sight of grown men rolling around holding the faces, if any opposing players hand accidentally touches their head is pathetic and needs to be stamped out.

Saints are obviously out of order. I'm just not so sure the spying can be shown to have a direct effect on the results on every occasion. You'd probably have to know what the spy saw and what the manager did with that information to assess if it had any effect on the game. It's absolutely possible that it did, but not certain.

The authorities don't seem the least bit interested in on-pitch cheating. They only use VAR to give free kicks for nothing, and never, ever, to clamp down on gross exaggerations of minimal contacts, including rolling around, screaming, holding the face etc. All these things are against the laws of the game. Unsporting behaviour is a cautionable offence, and examples of in the FA rules include attempts to deceive the referee e.g. by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation) and showing a lack of respect for the game. Not that you'd guess.

Perhaps this punishment for Saints will start a ball rolling and on-field nonsense will finally be addressed. Doubt it, though.

 

[OneStevePerrin]

It does seem a tough decision but how do you decide what will stop clubs doing the same as Southampton without throwing the book at them. By going up they would see a fine as worth it in my opinion? On the spying of Middlesbrough and any other club you will also see who’s carrying injuries / taking it lightly before a big match. I don’t think we have heard the last of this as I think Southampton may have done this to far more clubs than what they owned up to. I feel for the genuine fans that Southampton have hurt. I know how I felt when we were demoted to the conference cup and that’s nowhere near as bad as missing out on promotion to the premiership and money lost as well as keeping hold of players for next season. Southampton screwed up and the fans have to pay for it :-(

 

[cryrst]

It does seem a tough decision but how do you decide what will stop clubs doing the same as Southampton without throwing the book at them. By going up they would see a fine as worth it in my opinion? On the spying of Middlesbrough and any other club you will also see who’s carrying injuries / taking it lightly before a big match. I don’t think we have heard the last of this as I think Southampton may have done this to far more clubs than what they owned up to. I feel for the genuine fans that Southampton have hurt. I know how I felt when we were demoted to the conference cup and that’s nowhere near as bad as missing out on promotion to the premiership and money lost as well as keeping hold of players for next season. Southampton screwed up and the fans have to pay for it :-(

They may have lost the final so it’s all assumptions for something that won’t or might not have happened. As for the info from spying how many games did they win by a single goal. If they were battering all comers clearly it didn’t matter but they were winning many by the odd goal.