James

Could be right if he’s been given a touchline ban but I suspect if he is banned it’ll be from all activities.

I think it’ll be at least 10 games - it’ll be a harsh sanction - but we’ve been hit hard as a result of this as we are an easy target. I can’t see us being let off lightly and there isn’t much of a precedent. The FA have already broken the closest precedent when they charged Tonda having let Bielsa off. I’m more intrigued to see what happens next, do we get a new manager or limp on with Lallana until the ban is served? I hope the former to be honest. It’s concerning that the Club seemingly haven't received an indication of what the sanction will be and even when it’ll be communicated so fully expecting us to be blindsided by this and have no plan. I think a 10 game ban would take us past the Pompey home game.

As an aside, relatively little was made of this during the World Cup: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c872pv2r5y4o

100%. Yet a surprising number of our fans believe we’ve got it coming and that the combined punishment will be well deserved. Absolutely absurd.

Could be reading too much into it but a photo of Solak, Spoors and Stephens could be implying that the Club still has leadership if we get bad news in the next few days re Eckert.

Didn’t say that you said the Club hadn’t been punished. Two further thoughts: 1. Banning the manager 3 weeks before the start of a new season is another punishment levied on the club (and fans), it’s not just an individual sanction, it completely screws the entire organisation. 2. Tonda has been punished as a result of the sanctions imposed on the club already - he’s lost out on the chance to manage in the PL and the earnings associated with that. You cant separate out the punishments into “club” sanctions and “individual” sanctions. I know that’s not what the authorities will say and I know that it’s not necessarily how the rules technically operate given the independent processes of the FA and the EFL but it doesn’t feel in any way proportionate to the level of the offence if, as we all fear, we end up being kicked out of the playoffs, starting on -4 AND having our manager suspended for a long period on the eve of the season. It was a kid standing behind a tree with an iPhone, not match fixing.

I’m not making that mistake, everyone knows we accepted the EFL charges. I fully accept we’ve done wrong and that the Club have accepted the charge. It’s possible for us to argue that the scale of the punishment is disproportionate. Your response to anyone who suggests that the Club might already have been punished enough seems to be that they should just “get over it”.

Anyone who compares the severity of our sanction to similar situations is being told by some fans to “get over it”. There is a difference between defending the allegation (which everyone agrees is moot given we’ve admitted it) and defending/mitigating against the possibility of yet another ridiculous sanction being imposed on the club. It’s legitimate to point out that Saints appear to be being treated incredibly harshly versus other clubs who have engaged in similar conduct.

Thank god you aren’t a defence lawyer 😂 - you did wrong, get over it, no matter what the punishment is.

Exactly. The FA rules haven’t changed, the EFL rules have. The change to the EFL rules explains why we were treated differently to Leeds under the EFL disciplinary procedure (although the difference in treatment was totally disproportionate) but doesn’t explain why the FA didn’t charge Bielsa but are charging Tonda.

But if the FA had the same cover-all at the time when Bielsa engaged in the same conduct as Tonda, why was he not charged with bringing the game into disrepute? You’re right that the FA and EFL rules don’t have to align but why does the fact that the EFL brought in a rule make it “straightforward” that Tonda should be charged under an FA rule that has always existed? Either a specified course of conduct “brings the game into disrepute” or it doesn’t, surely?

The difference being that if you do 35mph you aren’t banned from driving…

Exactly. I can’t believe some of our fans are so accepting these ridiculous punishments as justified for us having done wrong. I don’t think fans of any other club would engage in such self flagellation. Everyone accepts the club did wrong, it doesn’t mean that this level of potential punishment is justified.

Tonda broke an EFL rule, Bielsa also breached an EFL regulation (otherwise it would not have been possible to fine Leeds United). The FA regulation that Tonda has today been charged under existed at the time Bielsa engaged in the same conduct. I also don’t understand why people don’t understand that.

How do you know Lankshear would be good enough to start for us if we get promoted? If anything, Stewart has shown himself potentially capable of stepping up if he can stay fit.

I would assume that if we aren’t in on Lankshear that Stewart is close to agreeing to come back. I find it hard to believe we couldn’t match an offer from Boro and that he’d pick to go there over come here.

Only one team tried to win that. Enjoy retirement Messi.

Looking forward to the Messi waterworks at full time.

That Ex WHU Employee bloke knows nothing, he just throws names at the wall until one sticks.

Also, if you are going to bring on Konsa, why on earth would you take off Gordon, the one player whose pace was causing them issues. The substitutions were effectively self sabotage.

It’s hard to attack when the entire team is made up of defenders. Tactics absolutely killed us, as soon as they scored we were totally done for.

Completely agree. The media would be hounding Southgate out tonight but that was worse. I’m struggling to remember an instance of such appalling in game management.

Tuchel has to go. That was Southgate on steroids. Moronic.

Quite like the sound of Azon. He’s young and seems to have decent pedigree. Good movement but sounds like finishing needs some work which is doable. I’d like us to sign Lankshear too assuming we ditch Archer and/or Downs. I can’t really understand folks suggesting this is “massive” money for us. 8/9m for a striker really isn’t much these days.

Him constantly talking makes this much worse than it needs to be.