Paul

Sick of seeing Southampton fans ripping into Boro like they are the bad guys in all of this, Your club is in the gutter, of your own doing. The least you can do as fans is show some humility to the clubs you cheated against (probably all). #SaintsFC #Boro #SWFC #Football #EFL

@saintsfcreport The way you lot are trying so hard to make Boro the bad guys in all of this is quite frankly, embarrassing. Your club is in the gutter, the least you could do as fans is show some humility to the fans you’ve cheated against (Which is more than likely all of them).

So #Boro got knocked out of the semis, went away, cried, got reinstated, spent another £200 each, went to Wembley, just to end up where they started. Football is poetic. #saintsfc

@Laceysaints @SouthamptonFC Stop trying to make boro out to be the bad guys, it’s embarrassing.

One thing I would like to happen is for @SouthamptonFC to ban everyone of the Boro board from coming to st Mary's... Also the media personnel that were rampant for us to be boiyed including Troy Deeney and the like!

Rico did incredibly well and was winning that fight but the stoppage was correct imo. If you watch the final exchanges in slow motion it’s clear he was done. I do hope we see more of Rico in the boxing ring. #USYK #RICO #BOXING

@0532LUFC @lifelongsaint83 We all know they’ve been scouting everybody. You don’t scout second from bottom Oxford if you aren’t scouting everybody else.

@AlredThe @lifelongsaint83 And additionally the three games they self reported they didn’t win. What about the 20 game unbeaten run. If they’ve been doing this for months there is a case that they could have had those points stripped and being relegated. As it is a four point penalty is fuck all.

If Boro win they should be embarrassed, lost the game that counted (That wasn't spied on) and have had many more days to prepare for Hull than Hull have had to prepare for them! Don't deserve to be in the final and have an unfair advantage (not that they care about that)

@romfordslim1477 @lifelongsaint83 A million pound fine for cheating when they would get £230m for promotion is not a deterrent. Neither would a points deduction as it can’t be enforced in the premier league.

@lifelongsaint83 I think 500k to a million fine plus a suspended 24 point penalty that activates if they do again in next 2 years but should of been allowed to play in the final

@Vfynn_ @neycentral First of all the EFL can’t impose points deductions for premier league teams. Secondly how big would the fine need to be? It would have to match the potential earnings of getting to the premier league so we’re talking £230m which is unrealistic. The EFL only had one option.

@neycentral Spying’s wrong, but scrapping their play-off spot after 46 games + semis is madness. Heavy fine & deduction next year is fair, not this.

🚨🎙️Thierry Henry on Southampton expelled for spying drama against Middlesbrough: “I have to be honest, this is a difficult one. Spying on another team’s training is wrong. Full stop. It crosses a line, it undermines the trust that should exist between clubs, and I understand why Middlesbrough are furious and why the EFL felt they had to act strongly. Integrity matters in this game. At the same time, I find myself questioning whether expulsion from the play-offs is the right punishment. It feels… heavy. Almost like using a sledgehammer when a precise scalpel was needed. Let’s be clear: this wasn’t match-fixing or doping. It was analysts pushing boundaries for tactical information, something that, sadly, has happened in different forms across the game for years. Marcelo Bielsa did it openly at Derby and Leeds, admitted it, and people called him a genius, not a criminal. Drones, analysts in trees, whatever, in the modern game with data and marginal gains everywhere, clubs push boundaries. Southampton admitted it, yes, and they deserve punishment. A heavy fine, points deduction, maybe even a ban for the staff involved. But kicking the entire club out after they earned their place on the pitch? That punishes players, coaches, and fans who had nothing to do with one or two analysts doing something stupid. What troubles me most is the collateral damage. The players who battled through a tough Championship season after relegation, who went to extra time and scored that late goal to beat Middlesbrough on the pitch, they earned their place in the final through merit. Now that achievement is being erased because of actions taken by a small number of staff members. That feels disproportionate to me. A significant fine, a points deduction for next season, and sanctions against the individuals responsible, those would be strong, meaningful punishments that address the breach without nullifying an entire season’s competitive work. Sport has to balance two things: protecting fairness and recognising that human error and ambition sometimes lead people astray. If every rules breach in high-stakes moments leads to rewriting results, we risk turning the disciplinary process into something more powerful than the football itself. I’ve sat in dressing rooms where we prepared meticulously for opponents. Everyone does. The difference is getting caught. I hope Southampton appeal and that the final decision finds a better equilibrium. Middlesbrough deserve respect, they were wronged but the players of Southampton also deserve not to have their legitimate efforts wiped away. Football is emotional, passionate, and imperfect. The response to this should reflect wisdom as much as outrage. We need clearer rules going forward so incidents like this become rare, but we must be careful not to let one mistake destroy what was built legitimately on the grass.

@KurtJohansson_ There HAS to be others. There’s no way you bother to spy on second from bottom Oxford and not everybody else. If every club checks their cctv for the week they played them I’m convinced this guy is going to show up, a lot.

With the FA now investigating the Southampton situation, what happens if they're found to have spied for the majority of their games? When Tonda Eckert took charge in November, Southampton were 21st in the league. If enough evidence of repeated cheating helped them go from a relegation fight to a promotion chase, could bigger sanctions be enforced?

@BoroboyIan @AllSaintsnews98 The fans embraced it turning up to the game with camouflage suits on and waving binoculars about the place. Now they want to be victims after being kicked out. Nah, they deserve everything they get.

@AllSaintsnews98 Genuinely feel for the fans and all those kids who were looking forward to going to Wembley on Saturday. Your club systematically cheated and ruined this dream for you all. Shameful.

🚨 BREAKING: Southampton have lost their appeal and the players have been informed. What a disaster. #SaintsFC

@johndonnellyjr @AllSaintsnews98 Their fans turned up to this game mocking the boro fans with camouflage suits and binoculars. They deserve everything they get.

@AllSaintsnews98 Feel for the fans, you have been shafted by your club. As for this prick Karma is a bitch.

@David_E_SFC What about your captain? What about all the fans wearing camouflage suits and holding binoculars during the semi final? Do they define your club?

A few rogue operators does NOT define our football club! #SaintsFC

@PUSB_Mike It would obviously have to be a Coventry fan that came up with this nonsense.

Coventry fan I come in peace: Dislike Southampton but my view is that #Boro are now the real cheats after grassing and sucking up to the EFL. No one likes a grass, lowest of the low ✊🏼 Hope Hull do them #SaintsFC

@stuhempshall @JeremyVineOn5 A team that cheats is not a legitimate team, it’s crazy to say such a thing. In any other sport if a competitor is found to have cheated the result is either reversed or nullified.

@JeremyVineOn5 I don't agree with giving the final place to Middlesbrough. They were beaten by a legitimate team..

Is it fair to kick Southampton out of the final? Southampton football club has been kicked out of the Championship play-off final after they were caught spying on the opposition. They say the punishment is far too harsh despite accepting wrongdoing. What do you think?

@JeremyVineOn5 They haven’t been kicked out of the final, they’ve been removed from the competition for cheating as you would expect as a minimum requirement in any knockout sport.

@IamBalhamMatt @JohnsonJack11 The EFL already has a strategy to mitigate that during a game, it’s called a referee who has powers to punish players with expulsion from the game.

@JohnsonJack11 1) Why? 2) What if it’s, as I mentioned, intentionally fouling high up the pitch as a strategy to impede opposing counterattacks?

#SaintsFC #boro #Spygate Taking the emotion out of it, if a club is exposed, for example, as instructing their players to foul high up the pitch to prevent opponents’ counterattacks, should that also be punished with expulsion and points deductions? Is that also not cheating?

@dkaustin87 @henrywinter Getting kicked out of a knockout competition you cheated in is not disproportionate, it’s the bare minimum expected.

Disappointing to see the glee @henrywinter has shown watching #saintsfc go through what they’ve gone through over the past few days, especially when most of the football community agreed that the punishment was disproportionate. Part of the old boys club I guess.

@LarryTh46596377 @Clip_Station_ @ko_fights__ Larry is definitely a retard.

@AlredThe @Clip_Station_ @ko_fights__ Paul is definitely a child.

These are the things that you can never heal from

@romanmfer @SouthamptonFC No, it’s not. It’s the bare minimum expected in any sporting event. In what world do you think a player, team, athlete or competitor should be allowed to continue a knockout competition after being found to and admit cheating?

@AlredThe @SouthamptonFC Just a bit over the top for sure

We have this evening been informed that the EFL’s League Arbitration Panel has upheld the sanctions imposed earlier this week.

@LarryTh46596377 @Clip_Station_ @ko_fights__ Is that what you’re looking for, Larry? Sorry to disappoint you.

@AlredThe @Clip_Station_ @ko_fights__ Are you a child Paul?