Saints expelled from Play Offs by EFL

[Ian Thumwood]

Steve

I am surprised that there is so little in the media about this. As has been mooted, Boro have not published the details and the name of the individual is not in the public domain. What little facts are known are regurgitated. The spying case would appear to be genuine but no on knows if it was sanctioned and no one knows if the information used was sanctioned. There is no precedence in the EFL rule book and we are in a scenario where a remedy of points deduction if found guilty could not be implemented.

At the moment this is still largely speculation. I get the point that there are so many other ways across a season where a club can be undermined such as poaching players or diving during matches. The worst example i can recall was Roy Keane(?) jumping up and catching a ball at The Dell and , from recollection, escaping punishment. There has been plenty of vitriol directed towards the breach of financial regulations by Leicester but how many of you would feel comfortable if this transpires to be more that the over-enthusiastic actions of an intern ? I am shocked that a "family" club like Saints could contemplate doing something like this but I do wonder if any EFL investigation will find that more clubs are involved in playing the system.

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

But it was just an intern acting by himself?!?

But as you also said, “we’ll not find out conclusively either way”.

If that’s the case, neither will the authorities. You can suspect as much as you like, but you can’t punish a club for a suspicion.

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

“Rogue” analyst gets suspended from football activities for 12 months, club gets a £500k fine.

Everyone knows everyone else does similar, everyone knows it’s all rather unfair on the analyst and that it goes higher up than that. Everyone feels a bit guilty. Everyone moves on and gets on with it.

(Except Ian who thinks we should be relegated to the Isthmian League and that Pompey should be awarded a place in the World Cup).

 

[thereisonlyoneno7]

Steve

I am surprised that there is so little in the media about this. As has been mooted, Boro have not published the details and the name of the individual is not in the public domain. What little facts are known are regurgitated. The spying case would appear to be genuine but no on knows if it was sanctioned and no one knows if the information used was sanctioned. There is no precedence in the EFL rule book and we are in a scenario where a remedy of points deduction if found guilty could not be implemented.

At the moment this is still largely speculation. I get the point that there are so many other ways across a season where a club can be undermined such as poaching players or diving during matches. The worst example i can recall was Roy Keane(?) jumping up and catching a ball at The Dell and , from recollection, escaping punishment. There has been plenty of vitriol directed towards the breach of financial regulations by Leicester but how many of you would feel comfortable if this transpires to be more that the over-enthusiastic actions of an intern ? I am shocked that a "family" club like Saints could contemplate doing something like this but I do wonder if any EFL investigation will find that more clubs are involved in playing the system.

Let me go through these bold bits one by one

The spying case would appear to be genuine but no on knows if it was sanctioned and no one knows if the information used was sanctioned

No-one knows -that is why we have been charged PENDING A FULL INVESTIGATION. That is why we have to reply to the EFL

At the moment this is still largely speculation
Lol it is ALL speculation

a "family" club
Really? this is 2026. we are a multi million pound business Ian!


The BS about other clubs suspecting - they can suspect all they want. Why didn't they complain at the time? They cant say "**** me they are good and nulled us out so must have cheated" after the event. You said something about Wrexham before - we beat them 5-1 because we were unplayable that day, not because some intern climbed a Welsh hill dressed as a sheep incognito and took pictures of their training session.


FFS, this is why I hate social media. People are getting all their info here from Facebook and BBC comments section.

 

[SteveO 74]

I think my point is, yes we’ve done wrong, but in hindsight the crime in my opinion doesn’t deserve some of the drivel being written etc. I love it how other clubs say this and that as if they’re all whiter than white, as well as ex players like Austin and Deeney who I’m sure never cheated on a pitch in the whole career, as we all know they’ve not exactly been shining beacons of light of the pitch.
You have players cheating every week to gain an advantage over the opponent, clubs deliberately tapping up players to unsettle them, clubs selling women’s teams to gain a financial upper hand, clubs pulling out of matches because of injuries etc, (cough cough, BORO), the list is endless.

 

[SR get out of my club]

Let me go through these bold bits one by one

The spying case would appear to be genuine but no on knows if it was sanctioned and no one knows if the information used was sanctioned

No-one knows -that is why we have been charged PENDING A FULL INVESTIGATION. That is why we have to reply to the EFL

At the moment this is still largely speculation
Lol it is ALL speculation

a "family" club
Really? this is 2026. we are a multi million pound business Ian!


The BS about other clubs suspecting - they can suspect all they want. Why didn't they complain at the time? They cant say "**** me they are good and nulled us out so must have cheated" after the event. You said something about Wrexham before - we beat them 5-1 because we were unplayable that day, not because some intern climbed a Welsh hill dressed as a sheep incognito and took pictures of their training session.


FFS, this is why I hate social media. People are getting all their info here from Facebook and BBC comments section.

I get all my info from Ian and I’m very confused as to what I am, what I like and who is good or bad.

And I think I am a tree today.

 

[Lemons and Oranges]

On the plus side, talking about things we don't know about, off the pitch, is more entertaining that talking about things we don't know about, on the pitch.

 

[Le Tissier's Laces]

I think my point is, yes we’ve done wrong, but in hindsight the crime in my opinion doesn’t deserve some of the drivel being written etc. I love it how other clubs say this and that as if they’re all whiter than white, as well as ex players like Austin and Deeney who I’m sure never cheated on a pitch in the whole career, as we all know they’ve not exactly been shining beacons of light of the pitch.
You have players cheating every week to gain an advantage over the opponent, clubs deliberately tapping up players to unsettle them, clubs selling women’s teams to gain a financial upper hand, clubs pulling out of matches because of injuries etc, (cough cough, BORO), the list is endless.

You’d struggle to reach double figures if you added the IQs of Austin and Deeney together.

 

[SR get out of my club]

You’d struggle to reach double figures if you added the IQs of Austin and Deeney together.

I wonder if you’d easily get to double figures on how many grams they could hoover up in a session.

 

[EasyBreezer]

You’d struggle to reach double figures if you added the IQs of Austin and Deeney together.

You'd have some banging coke and scraps though.

 

[Brinkworth Saint]

Steve

I am surprised that there is so little in the media about this. As has been mooted, Boro have not published the details and the name of the individual is not in the public domain. What little facts are known are regurgitated. The spying case would appear to be genuine but no on knows if it was sanctioned and no one knows if the information used was sanctioned. There is no precedence in the EFL rule book and we are in a scenario where a remedy of points deduction if found guilty could not be implemented.

At the moment this is still largely speculation. I get the point that there are so many other ways across a season where a club can be undermined such as poaching players or diving during matches. The worst example i can recall was Roy Keane(?) jumping up and catching a ball at The Dell and , from recollection, escaping punishment. There has been plenty of vitriol directed towards the breach of financial regulations by Leicester but how many of you would feel comfortable if this transpires to be more that the over-enthusiastic actions of an intern ? I am shocked that a "family" club like Saints could contemplate doing something like this but I do wonder if any EFL investigation will find that more clubs are involved in playing the system.

If we get punished for an unproven suspicious activity then the world has completely lost the plot!! Innocent until proved guilty!!!!!!!!!

 

[SAINTOSPREY]

I get all my info from Ian and I’m very confused as to what I am, what I like and who is good or bad.

And I think I am a tree today.

Special Branch?

 

[LincolnSaint]

Over the weekend, Boro have single handedly undone all the stereotypes I had about the North. There was me thinking Middlesbrough was some kind of tough, Northern, working class region, when actually it appears it's chock full of absolute cry baby tarts.

-One man on a hill isn't responsible for you finishing 5th in a 2 horse race
-One man on a hill isn't responsible for you being camped in the Saints penalty area yet still failing to score
-One man on a hill wasn't carrying an array of listening devices found at ****ing GCHQ
-One man on a hill hasn't ****ed your season. Your team and manager did.

Oh Steve Gibson likes litigation? Go for it you ****ing whiny pussies. I'd imagine a Serbian billionaire has fairly decent lawyers of his own

 

[LincolnSaint]

Anyway, if we did do it- don't **** about, relegate us to league one. Way more fun.

**** SR

 

[SteveO 74]

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All that spying definitely worked then.

 

[Archers Road]

I wonder if we will get the book thrown at us with this and be forced to play both Bazunu and Downs in every minute of every game next season.

Or just in the Play Off final when we get there

 

[LincolnSaint]

@tomw24

As our resident FA plant/stooge is there a deadline on when they'd have to give the punishment if we were being kicked out of the play offs or can they pretty much do what they want, when they want?

 

[ChristchurchSaintz]

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I believe Graeme Bailey is also a Boro fan.

 

[tomw24]

@tomw24

As our resident FA plant/stooge is there a deadline on when they'd have to give the punishment if we were being kicked out of the play offs or can they pretty much do what they want, when they want?

No idea. Normally Saints would have 14 days to respond to the charges but I think the EFL want to shorten the timeframe. I think to get everything resolved before the 23rd.

 

[Libby]

@tomw24

As our resident FA plant/stooge is there a deadline on when they'd have to give the punishment if we were being kicked out of the play offs or can they pretty much do what they want, when they want?

We're not getting kicked out of the play offs.