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It's this bloke. We know it's him because his profile has now been deleted.

They can't kick us out. There isn't enough time for due process and for any appeal. They could retrospectively kick us out but these two games are happening regardless.

You implying the players won’t bother trying on the off-chance the club are kicked out the play-offs? Have a day off 😂

Shot

I don't know what bothers me the most. The fact that we did it or the fact that we made such a mess of it. Amateur.

My concern with this, as much as Tonda will protect the squad etc, is if the players start questioning punishments, and whether their efforts tomorrow are potentially for nothing if the EFL did try and do something like make our result null and void. Likely to be a points deduction and hefty fine I know, but if those thoughts do creep in we’re fucked on the pitch IMO.

These junior interns are usually university students who do their courses alongside doing some work for the club. These student then hope to go on and work for the club. It might be someone at a university in the north east who has tried to get some intel to look good to his peers. It's probably something daft like that.

Loads of old bollox all over the socials right now 😅

This is very frustrating. So stupid. And it does taint us even though everyone, including rivals, knows it has little impact on gaining an unfair advantage. Which is part of the stupidity. Not that I wanted us to cheat, but to go through all this for a rubbish few minutes of a training session. I do worry about punishment affecting the play offs but the only one I can see is being kicked out after getting to Wembley and Middlesbrough being reinstated. But that is fraught with complications including appeals and delaying the final. It is unlikely. The more likely is a fine, points deduction and a length of time being thought of us stupid. Which we are. Very.

It might well be a blessing in disguise if it was his 'bright idea'... It could mean that he bypassed Tonda and the first team set up altogether, and if any information was gleaned from such a covert operation there are always ways of slipping "rumours" of opposition team selections into conversation with the first team manager without them suspecting anything suspicious.... All of which would make Rasmus's position untenable rather than Tonda's. Again, other conspiracy theories are available!

This eill lose us the game tomorrow. Can you imagine the Boro atmosphere and their players doubling thier efforts. We struggle with corners let alone an attacking side. We struggle to concentrate during games as it is. The idiot who sanctioned this has lost us the play off final chance.

Imagine the meltdown on here if Rasmus was involved. Anyway, this was a stupid thing to do in this position, if the punishment were to be disqualification from the play offs. At best the optics look really silly and puts everyone for the opposition.

Source or just a quip? (As it happens, the thought did cross my mind earlier that he might have had something to do with it....)

Here's a theory... Maybe we sent this intern fella up there the day before, with the intent of not breaching the 72 hour rule, but the daft kid then decided off his own back to pop over again the next day...? #clutchingatstraws

Apparently it was Rasmus.

Well we will know now won't we.

If the activity was sanctioned by the club then surely Tonda would have to be 'in the know', even if it wasn't him who instigated it..? I know I'm in danger of over-reacting here but I've got a bad feeling about this and a hunch that Tonda won't be here much longer if he was aware and/or instrumental in what happened...

Not if it's been cooked up by a couple of lower level employees or something-it would require investigating. All speculation at this point though and more likely that we did know and thought it was worth the risk for some reason.

It’s a cretinously stupid thing for Saints to do, but - if proven - the EFL have to keep a sense of proportion and make sure that “the punishment fits the crime”, no matter how shrill the noise coming from Boro. Spying is NOT illegal, other than in the 72 hours before a game, so what we apparently did would have been fine if we’d done it the previous day; it can’t suddenly become a capital offence with the tick of the clock. Also, we did this once (no proof otherwise), and Bielsa’s Leeds did it all season; they received a fine – not a points deduction or a transfer embargo, never mind removal from a competition. If the EFL tries to remove us, it’s probably going to be challenged in court as excessive punishment. My hunch is that there’s a lot of teams out there thinking “There but for the grace of God go I”, and the authorities know it.

Pfff Spies Schmies. All the more reason to smash them tomorrow. Shame this is only the semi final, with all this drama it should be the final.

Every team in the land cheats in full view of millions with all the diving and play acting that goes on.

I wonder if it was to see purely if Hackney was fit for the game

I’d be wanting to know who sanctioned this