Matt Cross

@louis_utb @Saintsfire Have City and their fans been subjected to the same amount of vitriol and abuse for what appears to be a much more impactful form of cheating than spying on a training session (something that is only against the rules in the EFL)

@Saintsfire I’m pretty sure the vast majority of fans in the country have been calling for city to be punished by the way

Obviously all the Boro fans will be right behind us in our quest for honesty and integrity in football. #Saintsfc

@RetroDude2026 @lilliebrownspt Indeed, which makes you wonder, why the outrage? Cheating is abhorrent in all forms, but there are levels. The way Saints are being chastised is as if the entire staff have been found guilty of match fixing and all of the players have been doping. It’s utterly bonkers.

@mattcross55 @lilliebrownspt A lot of football clubs are guilty of things far worse than having a young interm video training with a iPhone with a crap camera lense.

Southampton fans continue to miss the point of this whole situation. We know we lost, we believe we don’t deserve a place in the final HOWEVER cheating within sports needs to be dealt with properly and should never be excused regardless of outcome of games.

@lilliebrownspt @RetroDude2026 Apologies, I’m not making this about Boro and not accusing them of financial misconduct. But there are many clubs who have either been charged or found guilty of such, and they are not being accused of the things Saints are being accused of. I’m asking for some perspective.

@mattcross55 @RetroDude2026 What Gibson does in terms of funds is completely legal as there is no rule against what he has done (from what I understand), therefore not really.

@lilliebrownspt @RetroDude2026 Financial doping*

@lilliebrownspt @RetroDude2026 Indeed, or being caught cheating pre-match is new. However, what has a more direct impact on a result? And may I ask also, is financial filing not equally, or more reprehensible than spying on a training session?

@lilliebrownspt @RetroDude2026 But the player still cheated? So surely this should mean that the entire internet and media outlets should whip up a storm, accuse Boro and most of it’s fanbase of being disgusting cheats, and they should become the scorn of a nation? Right?

@mattcross55 @RetroDude2026 It would feel unjust but that is down to the referee and their decision rather than Middlesbrough.

@lilliebrownspt @RetroDude2026 So on that logic, if a Boro player had dived to win a penalty in the play of semi, and they scored that penalty and went through, then Boro should be excluded from the final and Hull promoted?

@RetroDude2026 I think cheating regardless of the effect is has should be punished the same, if a sprinter was caught doping and came last, they would still be banned. I can’t imagine an intern acting alone in this case, a 5 hour journey to capture boros training for yourself is excessive.

@Griffinjohn38 @Foggs101 Come on mate, using logical arguments is not fair. Just throw an insult about an entire fanbase and move on.

@Foggs101 What is the penalty for diving to gain a penalty that is awarded, scored and wins the game?

This is maybe the best sporting example to use, simple enough for a Southampton fan to understand. You cheat you get kicked out, it's irrelevant how effective your cheating was or whether you win or lose. The penalty is for cheating. Hard to understand whats so hard to understand

@cjelliott37 @TheFUTSBC So a player dives to win a penalty, the team should be expelled?

@TheFUTSBC It’s cheating. Simple. Cheats should be expelled from cup competitions. Easy.

None of us have disputed its cheating, we’re just sick and tired of Boro fans crying over every little thing because they bottled 2nd and the playoffs… its a Saints vs Hull final.. get over it - Spygate… we’re guilty, but its hardly the high tech surveillance that was reported - THB vs Ayling …. Both gave as good as they got, clearly nothing in it - Ballboy … Targett tried to waste time, rules state ballboys must not hand balls to players Its getting beyond pathetic now and clearly turned into reputation damage by Gibson #saintsfc #boro

@yowoooo11 @Martyk89 @jasperiscool4 Scienza pulled down, Stewart pulled back and Larin chopped down. All could easily have been given, as could the 2 Matsuki incidents.

@mattcross55 @Martyk89 @jasperiscool4 U could ahev had one.. maybe we had 2 clear pens not given lol not to mention all the diving ur players were doing

by the way expulsion from the playoffs would be BY FAR the largest sporting sanction ever imposed in the history of everything, ever—accounting opportunity cost. #SaintsFC #Boro, does the punishment fit the crime?

@Martyk89 @jasperiscool4 Cheating is cheating, but diving for a pen or feigning injury to get a player sent off arguably has a much larger impact on the result. Sure, it may not be premeditated, but let’s have some perspective here.

@mattcross55 @jasperiscool4 A dive in the box conning the referee would be cheating, the same as a referee missing a blatant penalty could be considered cheating. Both points are irrelevant. Saints shouldn’t have been playing on Tuesday night at all

@Martyk89 @jasperiscool4 You don’t like the question so it’s irrelevant? And the handball wasn’t cheating. Sure, could have been a pen, but Saints could have had 3 pens on Tuesday night. Good job avoiding the question 👊

@mattcross55 @jasperiscool4 Again completely irrelevant. How about a blatant handball not given in the box if we wanna go down that route?

@Martyk89 @jasperiscool4 What if spygate hadn’t happened, and a Boro player took the most blatant dive in the final minute to win a penalty, and as a result, Boro won the game. Should they be excluded from the playoff final?

@jasperiscool4 You cheated before though. The rule is there and it’s been broken. That is cheating. To then have the opportunity to compete for a 200m prize after doing that is preposterous unfortunately. As I said the fans do not deserve it but the club who did it can not be seenTo be rewarded

@thehoist6 Those who think that the reaction from Saints fans is unique to them are a little bit silly.

Since spygate began I never had any involvement with Saints fans, but recently I have never seen a bunch of fans so deluded and blaming everyone but themselves in this whole saga. Hellberg said he felt sorry for the fans and I agreed, not anymore

@dbazza1988 @LukeEllisPUP I wasn’t accusing Boro of diving, it was a general question about diving in football.

@mattcross55 @LukeEllisPUP Diving?? Did you peretz 🤔 it looked like a grenade blew up in his face

At the end of the day, they’re cheats, been caught, the evidence brings the game into disrepute if they’re allowed to continue, no one knows how many other games they cheated in just to get into playoffs. Only thing that can be done is to throw them out the playoffs,simple really

@LukeEllisPUP Fair point 😂 I wasn’t saying Boro do this over anyone else, just making the point that this kind of cheating is just as bad, if not worse as it has a more direct impact on the outcome of a game.

@mattcross55 We don’t score penalties, have you seen our forwards lol

@stanharrisAFC @nocontextfm1 Why aren’t there more comments like this appearing on my timeline rather than the utter vitriolic nonsense I am seeing?

@nocontextfm1 I think that would be terrible. Is it petulant, yes. But is it awful, no. Its the equivalent of a professional foul to stop a counter attack so yellow card (small fine)

The general consensus is that the right punishment is for Southampton to be kicked out, right?

@hcafcboothferry @EFL I wholeheartedly agree that Hill City fans should not be in a position to have to pay more as a result of this. One could argue that Saints fans shouldn’t either, but that will be for the club to mitigate.

If Southampton keep their spot and are fined, if the @EFL had the slightest bit of bottle about them, they’d ensure each ticket buyer from #hcafc is compensated from that fine because why should we be punished with increased travel costs due to their rule breaking?

@Outerpeace3 @ScotlandSky You didn’t answer my question.

@mattcross55 @ScotlandSky x.com/yossarian67/st…

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