Nordic Saint

If City had been in our position, they'd have been demanding punishment for Middlesbrough. I note that leaks to the media, damaging reporting and an impartial disciplinary panel are being mentioned in the Abu Dhabi state airline's threat of legal action against the Premier League. You can imagine what they'd have done to Middlesbrough and the EFL.

We could have pointed out that England had to change their flight plans to Mexico because if they didn't get there in time to make their final training session open to the public, they'd have been breaking the FIFA rule, which is the exact opposite of the EFL rule. So, is having a secret training session cheating? Having rules in the game which totally contradict each other shows how arbitrary and ridiculous this case is. In the World Cup and Champions League, teams making their final training sessions open to the public is the norm. Meanwhile, the EFL has gone off in completely the opposite direction from all other football authorities and leagues. Sport should be fair and open; nothing should be done secretively. The FA should rein them in. FIFA is a much higher authority than the EFL so perhaps their rule should be considered more important by the FA. FIFA gave Bielsa their Fair Play Award at the end of his 'spygate' season. City's owners would certainly have gone on the attack if a similar flimsy case had been brought against them. There's no way they'd have been apologising. But, it's also worth noting the united front that City's fans, ex-players, managers and the local media are presenting in stark contrast to how some of our fans and members of the local media, like Adam Blackmore, instantly turned against own own club and manager. If we'd been in City's position, they'd have already been delivering the trophies to Liverpool.

They are Abu Dhabi's state airline. Abu Dhabi owns Man City. They are going to threaten the Premier League in every way they possibly can. The Emiratis have enormous political and economic influence. If the Premier League upsets them, there will be consequences. If the other Arab nations back the Emiratis, those consequences will be even greater. If the Emiratis can get the Qataris, Saudis and other owners of big European clubs on board, which they probably can, they will take Man City into a new European Super League. The people who run the Premier League will be feeling very nervous right now. The Emiratis are complaining about leaks and damaging reporting in the media. Now, where have we seen that before? They're also saying the tribunal was not impartial and fair. It was a bit fairer than ours. There wasn't an ex-Man United player on it. Have you noticed that nobody from Man City is saying sorry? I doubt they ever will as they'll never admit they did anything wrong. They want the Premier League to apologise to them. Right now, they'll be thinking about what punishment they can dish out to the Premier League and anyone who supports the case against Man City.

Peretz doesn't do clean sheets. It's been nearly half a year since his last one in a league game. I'd feel far more confident if Ramsdale were in goal for the Pompey game.

BBC Sport are running a pro-City campaign in complete contrast to how they reported on Saints: Manchester City charges: Khaldoon Al Mubarak confident club will prove innocence - BBC Sport

They need MB to tell them what their verdict is.

We need someone who'd be happy to take a temporary contract until Tonda returns. Fonte would be my choice. He would relish the opportunity.

No specific FA rule was broken by watching a training session so all they've got is: "Bringing the game into disrepute" VAR and poor officiating, cheating on the pitch and deliberately injuring players, rich clubs poaching young players from other clubs' academies, the obscene amounts of money spent on transfer fees and players' wages, trophies bought with dodgy money from Russia and the Middle East...... the lltany of things that bring the game into disrepute far more than someone watching a training session goes on and on. A referee like Mike Dean brought the game into disrepute more than Tonda Eckert ever has.

He spends half the time whingeing about how uncomfortable his seat is.

Yes the real spy in all this was the young Boro analyst who came down for a brief spell here before returning to Boro and reporting back everything about how Saints analysts operated. Gibson's employee on the EFL Board and the ex-Boro player on the disciplinary panel saw to the rest.

They'll be provided by the same company that the EFL disciplinary panel was - Sport Resolutions - so they will concur with them. 0a0e87d0-5538-11f1-ab88-f930a57d19ce.pdf It's a shame Sport Resolutions have a monopoly in the business because with both the EFL and FA using them, it means we get the same severity of punishment twice. If there were a rival company, the second panel might take a different view. But the panel members will all want to keep their lucrative jobs with Sport Resolutions so they won't risk disagreeing. It's all about money in the end.

Yes, it was all about what advantage Middlesbrough could gain from it. Neither Ipswich nor Oxford seemed particularly bothered, as they couldn't see any benefit from it and analysts watching other teams' training sessions wasn't considered anything out of the ordinary. I still wonder whether it was a case of entrapment using information provided by the junior analyst who went back to Middlesbrough after a brief stint at Southampton.

José Fonte would have been an ideal temporary appointment and he probably would have been happy to do it, but Sunderland have got him now. I've never really seen Lallana as managerial material, but he looks the most likely candidate to cover for Tonda if he's banned. We certainly don't want a permanent replacement, whatever the length of the ban, as we won't get a better manager than Tonda.

It's not fair, but scapegoating is well and truly targeting Saints. Clubs like Man City and Chelsea are just too big and strong to be made scapegoats. That's how scapegoating works. A vulnerable target becomes a focus for hostility. Everyone's misdemeanors are then neatly wrapped up and paid for by the severe punishment of the scapegoat. It makes everyone feel better about themselves except, of course, the scapegoat.

In fact, Bielsa was given the FIFA Fair Play Award at the end of his 'spygate' season.