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.

 

[ASCPFC]

Anybody wonder if all clubs are at it but Saints just got caught?

 

[Caterham]

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 :-(

Southampton have owned up to doing it on 3 occasions, the playoff & 2 other league games, which they lost, if there is a culture of spying on the opposition then it really doesn't seem plausible to me that these were isolated incidents, my feeling is that they chose those games to own up to because they lost & were trying to corroborate the sentiment that there was no harm done as it didnt do them any good, I read a report yesterday where Southampton player Flynn Downes had previously praised this manager because he was so thorough & he already knew so much about the opposition & the way that they would play -
presumably the Southampton analytics team provided a lot of info & I suppose the spying element was to see if they could find that extra 5% that could turn the game in their favour.

 

[chris123]

Southampton have owned up to doing it on 3 occasions, the playoff & 2 other league games, which they lost, if there is a culture of spying on the opposition then it really doesn't seem plausible to me that these were isolated incidents, my feeling is that they chose those games to own up to because they lost & were trying to corroborate the sentiment that there was no harm done as it didnt do them any good, I read a report yesterday where Southampton player Flynn Downes had previously praised this manager because he was so thorough & he already knew so much about the opposition & the way that they would play -
presumably the Southampton analytics team provided a lot of info & I suppose the spying element was to see if they could find that extra 5% that could turn the game in their favour.

I think the finding mentions sporting advantage is not the same as sporting success.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

I think the finding mentions sporting advantage is not the same as sporting success.

Man City might agree with this theory after last year's final.

 

[Palace Old Geezer]

Anybody wonder if all clubs are at it but Saints just got caught?

Heaven forbid! How could you possibly think such a thing?

 

[cROYdonrogers]

They were so stupid therefore the punishment is kind of irrelevant. This was done with the express agreement of the manager. I doubt he will be there at the start of the next season. I’m going to say his position is untenable.

 

[Caterham]

They were so stupid therefore the punishment is kind of irrelevant. This was done with the express agreement of the manager. I doubt he will be there at the start of the next season. I’m going to say his position is untenable.

I think that they know that firing him is really the only thing that they can do, its just that he took them from just outside the relegation zone in Dec to the playoffs in May - so in that respect he was quite a successful manager, if it hadnt all gone belly up in the last few days people would have been talking about him as a potential PL manager with a much more fancied club than Southampton.

 

[grumpymort]

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.

So what?

Training session at one stage was open to he media and public just look at Palace they even put out videos of the highlights from sessions.

It's only defined as cheating because of another stupid made up rule.

Any one who has ever completed knows its what you do on the day which maters and with football spying on training sessions really is not going to be gaining an advantage which will guarantee you beat teams (Evidence has already been shown with Southampton games they spied on they either lost or was outplayed in)

The whole thing is a mess and it's not in the rules that they should be kicked out (The real cheating is the corruption by higher ups who are the ones deciding game results by iffy official calls and actions like this)

If it wasn't about money a they want to stick with kicking Southampton out Hull should be promoted end of to put in a team against them which was fairly beat over 2 legs sums up what a disgrace the system is.

The so called independent panels as well no such thing those people I bet are hand picked.

I agree with your bottom bit we have var now why are they not stopping this simple it comes down to what I said before highest level corruption you see it every week how bad decisions are or selective mostly towards giving big teams them.

 

[Eagleman13]

I think that they know that firing him is really the only thing that they can do, its just that he took them from just outside the relegation zone in Dec to the playoffs in May - so in that respect he was quite a successful manager, if it hadnt all gone belly up in the last few days people would have been talking about him as a potential PL manager with a much more fancied club than Southampton.

He probably still could be, there doesn't seem to many scruples left in football nowadays, remember, we still haven't got a new manager, yet. Just saying . . . 😳

 

[mileend]

He probably still could be, there doesn't seem to many scruples left in football nowadays, remember, we still haven't got a new manager, yet. Just saying . . . 😳

I expect he'll get a years suspension from the FA (which was the FIFA punishment of the Canadian coach spying on NZ) and then Southampton might sack him for gross misconduct with a better chance of avoiding having to pay out his contract

Not much point having him on the books if he can't manage the team