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That would have happened more than 72 hours before the game where penalties would be a factor. This lot are idiots.

I doubt the independent commission would care about that impacting their decision.

Im actually not sure it will, we've already been to wembley a couple of weeks ago so novelty for that has gone plus as Middlesbrough keep reminding us even a win we can't really celebrate until we've had the verdict on the punishment, they seem very keen to let everyone know they'll keep squad preparation even if we knock them out (inference being we'll be kicked out and they'll take our place)

Nice to actually think about the game… They’re a good side, with limited bollocks, as proven by their fifth place finish in a two horse race. We can’t afford to not show up again, but an early Saints goal really would set us on our way and calm everyone down. Need a big performance from Scienza. He could literally win the tie for us if he wants to. We also need to find a way to stop Boro getting between our lines so easily and feeding their two wide forwards. I’d be tempted to play Charles, Downes and Jander. Fully expecting it to be a bit more nervy than the WBA game a few years ago.

Just wait until the NCA find a £5 sub to SaintsWeb as they review the transaction history! I hope all our alibis stand up. Or if not stand up, at least don't lurk in bushes.

Starting to get the sense that Middlesbrough aren't confident in beating us... And if we do win tomorrow Kim Hellberg's going to be the sorest loser going. If we win tomorrow and fans start buying tickets for Wembley, it would be a logistical nightmare to refund us all who bought tickets. So, don't worry Middlesbrough, a bit of common sense, that isn't happening, nothing to worry about, let your players go on their holidays. At the end of the day, tomorrow's a fair game and the best team on the night will deservedly go through.

I genuinely thought we had peaked a few weeks back, and thought that at HT on Sat. But, I cannot help feeling that given the absolute insanity shown by the Boro journos and online contributors (along with their manager, but he has a point), will have added an additional spark for us. Had there been days leading into a night game up at Boro, it would have been chaos, but they have shot their bolt IMO. The welcome outside the ground will surely have added spice and edge, plus the atmosphere in the ground.

Deeney should remind himself what the rules are about kicking the shit of students before he starts taking the moral high ground about right and wrong Oh yes, I remember, the rules mean six months in prison, isn't that right Troy

They’re a good side but I’m confident. They couldn’t beat us when we were playing the worst we’ve played in months. So I think we’ll have too much for them at home, if we play anywhere near our best.

If Scienza turns up then we have every chance. He was well off it on Saturday.

Whoever would’ve thought the pundits on Talkshite are making the most sense. No coincidence all these articles are coming out the day before the home game. Theyre desperate

This is the sort of narrative which seems to be going a bit more mainstream now, some sense at last.

From any kind of procedural perspective for an actual panel, surely the accuser here has to provide some concrete evidence more than a couple of witness statements and a photo of some bloke whom it sounds like they've identified from LinkedIn as connected with Saints since there's no interns listed on our site. I can see that could be considered enough to start a charge, but the burden of proof when push comes to shove is always on the accuser and not the defendant. This bollocks about forensic phone and bank trails is simply not going to happen unless Boro have cast iron facts from, say, a private investigator of their own. Which all the news so far points to them not having. If they had it, they'd already have leaked it for sure.

I expect what might help is if the club can demonstrate an appropriate ‘Code of Conduct’ that their staff have received and agreed to. A well run club should have something like this in place that suitably captures some of the key rules that apply to them. if this was the case then it would almost certainly help to mitigate some of the repercussions as it would be viewed more about rogue employee behaviour rather than a condoned culture.

The worst we will get is a points deduction but even that would be super harsh. A large fine and a goodwill donation to Middlesbrough's community trust by way of apology would be more appropriate. Or we can make them a massive offer for Hayden Hackney in the summer

Yeah, but he is no Troy Deeney!

Darren Bent on Talkshite laughing it off and saying it's deserving of nothing more than a small fine and then everyone should move on. Goldstein agreeing. It's obviously not the barometer of quality discussion but at least some people haven't lost their fucking minds

It's a tough game. When we played well on Saturday, albeit briefly, we caused them difficulties. My hope of victory is based on us having lots more moments like we did and our quality winning it for us. But I fully expect them to play well and the typical football outcome will be they'll score with far fewer chances than the first leg. But we can score more.

I’ll feel a lot more confident if Cap’n Jack is back, and if Matsuki starts ahead of Fellows.

Also why are they grumbling about making plans for the final? You would do that anyway. Weird.

I thought Simon Jordan was spot on with how he summarised it earlier. What we have 'potentially' done is poor form, not great taste, but certainly not the crime of the century. He's spot on really, what sporting advantage are you seriously going to gain from taking a couple of pics and audio from a single training session? It clearly didn't work anyway, as they did us 4-0 earlier in the season and pummelled us in the first half at the weekend. EFL will just slap us with a fine, slap on the wrists. Watch yourself etc etc. Job done. Middlesbrough are embarrassing themselves here, if this had happened to us and people like Adam Blackmore and Alfie were acting like this in the media I'd be cringing like fuck. As Simon Jordan said, they've got an excuse if they fail to get to the final now. The fans will suddenly forget the failure of being in t he Top 2 for 217 days and failing to finish there, and all of a sudden the furore is deflected to a 'third party'. They'll probably keep the charade going for a good week or so if we get through too.

At the start of this I was pretty flippant in saying some of our precious fans would be equally pissed off and start chirping up. However, not to these insane levels of orchestrated nonsense. As some said further up, Pompey fans would not be this mental had we been caught 'spying' on them, and they fucking hate us. The last few days have been remarkable, from what I thought were a pretty hardy/tough set of fans. They have literally gone all deranged. I know they have been out of the top flight for a while, trust us, it aint that good up there.

Just a rehash of before. Although hilarious that they want a speedy resolution but also some sort of forensic deep dive! We can string that out for months.

He's talking about Hantavirus, but I can't help that feeling there's a little crossover here