That one is definitely a goodbye. Not even particularly subtle.
Saints expelled from Play Offs by EFL
- Thread starter tomw24
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That one is definitely a goodbye. Not even particularly subtle.
Think we would have had a much better chance of staying in the PL with this squad.
I feel we won't be seeing this club back in the PL for a very very long time, if ever.
I was once given a warning on this forum. Yes, moi! No idea now what it was for
Honestly think theres more chance of a league 1 tour in the next 5 years, to be honest.
Something to look forward to, anyway.
EFL publish full written reasons: https://www.efl.com/news/2026/may/21/efl-statement--written-reasons-relating-to-southampton-fc/
Just read through it quickly. Very damning. From my brief read, it seems we assumed that we would just get a fine and to be honest did not see the seriousness of it. We claim no sporting advantage was gained, but that was down to luck rather than judgement. Tried to use mitigation that Tonda was not happy with the findings so didn’t use it…irrelevant. Ignorance is not acceptable as the club is a member of the EFL and signs up to abide by rules.
There is more but I am now more angry so need to digest it.
Not an especially nice thing to read, but it confirms Tonda at the very least knew what was going down. He's got to go.
Paragraph 25 doesn't make for good reading. We initially lied.
Much lighter on detail than I was hoping.
The fact were responded on 8th May was so ****ing amateur. Far too soon for us to have done a proper investigation and as a result sent false info.
Shame it doesn't state who the pressure was coming from. Must admit I was hoping for much more information.
The fact were responded on 8th May was so ****ing amateur. Far too soon for us to have done a proper investigation and as a result sent false info.
Shame it doesn't state who the pressure was coming from. Must admit I was hoping for much more information.
I would go as far as it implies Tonda was the one pushing it.
Forgot to mention that they were not impressed that we used senior figures to pressurise a junior member of staff to do it.
Did we get that defence from ChatGPT? ****ing hell hahaha
The best sporting legal counsel should’ve been sorted the day it became apparent we had been caught doing something against the rules. Not the morning of the appeal after we’d been kicked out. It’s ****ing basics
The best sporting legal counsel should’ve been sorted the day it became apparent we had been caught doing something against the rules. Not the morning of the appeal after we’d been kicked out. It’s ****ing basics
We initially lied, then offered up evidence ourselves of the other two incidents once we discovered they were being investigated.
Tonda's defence was basically that he didn't know it was wrong and the footage wasn't very useful anyway which didn't go down well.
EFL don't consider sporting advantage to be the same as sporting success, so the fact we didn't win the first leg is irrelevant.
Heavily leant on the precedent of the Canada Olympic team incident.
Here's my dream scenario for Saturday
Middlesbrough win the game sending their fans wild and go into 5 days of celebrations. Meanwhile...
Hull take legal action against the EFL stating that it isn't right that the losing semi-finalists should go to the premier league. EFL rule in their favour and reverse the result, kicking out Midlesbrough and promoting Hull.
I know it's not going to happen but just thinking about it makes me happy.
Middlesbrough win the game sending their fans wild and go into 5 days of celebrations. Meanwhile...
Hull take legal action against the EFL stating that it isn't right that the losing semi-finalists should go to the premier league. EFL rule in their favour and reverse the result, kicking out Midlesbrough and promoting Hull.
I know it's not going to happen but just thinking about it makes me happy.
Tonda admitted responsibility for the spying operations
The intern told the panel he was put under pressure by the manager to spy on Oxford and Middlesbrough
The reason for spying on Middlesbrough was primarily to determine the availability of Hayden Hackney, the reason for spying on Oxford was to determine which formation their caretaker manager would use
The intern declined to participate in the Ipswich spying at Eastleigh because he was uncomfortable with the plan
Junior staff members were placed under significant pressure by senior staff members, led by Eckert
Junior staff members without job security and with limited ability to resist the instructions were deliberately used by Eckert and senior staff to spy
Saints asserted in their initial response on May 8 that no footage has been captured, live broadcast or received by Staplewood staff for analysis. This was later proven to be incorrect and Saints admitted they had lied about this
Then admitted it hadn’t been an isolated spying incident at Middlesbrough after we became aware that the EFL were exploring other accusations
Evidence of a culture of ‘deplorable’ manipulating of junior staff from the top down within Saints coaching team