🚨🎙️ Alan Shearer on Southampton expulsion from the Championship play-offs and having to play Championship next year with a points handicap
“let’s be clear on this – what Southampton did with the spying and the cameras, that’s wrong. It’s not acceptable in the game, full stop. You can’t be going around filming opponents like that. But expelling them from the play-offs? For me, that’s really harsh and I don’t think the punishment fits the crime.
These players have given everything this season. They’ve been out there week in, week out, putting their bodies on the line, working their socks off to try and get the club promoted. They didn’t make those decisions upstairs, they weren’t involved in any of that – they’re just focused on playing football and doing their job on the pitch.
And now it feels like all their hard work is being taken away from them. I’ve been at Southampton, I know what it means to the dressing room when the players buy into what the manager’s asking and give their all. They shouldn’t be the ones suffering the most here. The club needs to sort out what went on at the top, but this feels very tough on the lads who had nothing to do with it. It’s a difficult one.“
@StatesideSaint@secondtierpod Difference is mate at least we bottled it fairly. You lot cheated and were still too shit to get promoted with a Premier league squad 😂
@secondtierpod Justice has been done Middlesborough we’re beaten fair and square by Southampton They did not deserve to play at Wembley Their vile owner Gibson got his just desserts
I see this as like the Karanka play-off season. He’s getting his bearings, he knows where he is short, who is not good enough mentally & physically to play his way. Next year he will tweak it and Gibbo will support him and there will be no fannying around. Automatics #Boro#UTB
@benjcar_ Fella, myself and millions of others watched on tv. Clear as day, throughout. Not making a point really other than the PR "we've sold out in 48 hrs" (which was pushed by Sky too) is/was bollocks.
@benjcar_ Zoom in to your own picture Ben, no it wasn't. Glad I could help.
Yep own arm chair (actually the Black Lion, Sedgefield), now skin in this game at all. My teams game is tomorrow.
‘Why do all the North East teams do this?’
Hull City are in the North East , we just go to the pub with our pals 😂 Do not associate us with making this kind of mess in the streets please
#hcafc
I think Boro have overtaken Pompey you know. Free hit at Wembley today? Fucking bottled promotion more than enough this season. There should be outrage if they don’t beat Hull today making out their the underdog story Trafalgar Square tramps
Man city 115 charges nothing
Leeds 200k fine
Chelsea ten mill fine
Leicester 6 point deduction
Vs Southampton fc kicked out the richest game in England and a points deduction #Saintsfc
#SaintsFC defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis on his binoculars celebration:
"I’d like to put on record that, had I known the severity of the situation, I would never have done what I did on the pitch. In the moment, it was meant as a bit of fun in a situation that we as players were not informed about."