James G

Close..

I'll revise my prediction to a 5-1 victory

Oh well, here we go...

It won't end here Gibbo will be after Eurovision honours next week

It protects the knee when jumping

Based on nothing, I'll go for 4-0 win to us

On a first game back after injury, no player plays at their best. And Middlesborough had already released information on whether he was playing. We play the same lineups, and play the same way mostly, and Middlesborough just did the same thing too, their possession, their overloads in areas and their pressing, and then missing the goal. Both teams played the same The whole thing is daft, bad that someone spied for whatever reason, but daft. We could watch their training, they could watch ours. It doesn't change anything Regardless of the whole hoo haa they should knock us out properly rather than depending on a bye. Hoping for that is going to affect them more than us, and I don't think all this sabre rattling is helping them either. Let the (hopefully) independent commission make their decisions based on the evidence rather than trying to make demands

I understand the whole spygate thing is not good, but they're getting a bit desperate with this whole public press pile on and trying to get other clubs to check their cctv. Why not let the independent panel investigate, see what the findings are, then take it from there I find all the noise and this whole trial by media probably worse than the spygate thing itself.

Both team supporters are defensive. Neutrals are just generally finding it funny, a guy hiding in a bush. They'll say cheating of the highest order, we'll say it's not in the spirit of the game Without it all happening, it'd just be the usual, where do you park and what pubs are good to drink at It's just a shame it happened and spoilt what should have been two good games But regardless of what anyone is saying, we don't what happened, we don't know the context. When we do, whatever will be will be, and both parties will just need to move on

It sounds like a cunning plan by Baldrick. Send a spy to check in and leave his name at the hotel on site, then hide in a bush

Why don't we just invite them to watch our training for a day

Well that's why we're doubting some of it. If you sanction spying, there has to be a reason for doing it and if you are going to spy, at least do it right I mean the guy supposedly stayed at the hotel on the grounds. We're not going to be that daft. He hid in a bush. I mean, that's crazy when you have drone technology and other technology available to you I know the Boro fans are coming at us hard, but surely they must question what we actually gain from doing this, and how amateur it all is. And did we see any gains today, did it really hurt their football today Punishment is all about damages, assigning a value to the damage done. And, no damage has really been done to them, we've damaged ourselves if anything

I think how today happened was the plan. Just let them play first half, then try and snatch it at the end. A 0-0 is fine. The club can say nothing was gained from spygate, and we have a clean start for Wednesday. Boro had their chances in the first half, so they will only have themselves to blame now if they don't go through

Given the circumstances, probably the best result for now

It's odd because we're giving them the game to a degree, but we're relaxed about it. It's like a controlled recklessness Just a theory, I wonder if we've just let them play in the first half, to negate the spygate thing. Tonda is about stats, so he's maybe played on the fact that Middlesbrough don't convert chances, their achilles heel stat We'll see in the second half. I was just wondering. It was just how bizarre how relaxed we looked

I wonder if any if the players will do a binoculars celebration if they score

But that's the thing, they can't. It's effectively a 200m fine because we are favourites to win. It would be an unprecedented move, and doesn't align with the punishment given to Leeds which sets half a precedent for one of the charges, and that was for them spying all season, so it's a more extreme version of the first charge. I think the most extreme punishment would be to retrospectively forfeit this match and award Middlesbrough a 3-0 victory before the second match. But even that is risky because we wouldn't have a window of appeal Someone mentioned another match from abroad where it was a fine and a points deduction and that's probably a marker. Again, it's not going to be enough for Middlesbrough but the EFL are between a rock and a hard place on this one

Exactly. It's what we thought. If folk, especially the Middlesbrough fans, take a step back for a second, they must question what we would really gain from spying on them in a sanctioned move at this stage of the season. There are no surprises now, All it has achieved is taint us as cheats and fired their team up to prove a point. It's put us on the back foot before the match even kicks off Other fans at other clubs just seem to find it funny. They are painting this picture of a random bloke leaving the scene with a fake tache on and a raincoat on

They're also not going to throw us out because the playoff final is worth 200m allegedly and the biggest fine ever in football is 31m for Chelsea. So, it wouldn't tally Like you said, a 3 or a 6 point deduction, we're still in the playoffs anyway I think whatever happens, Middlesbrough are going to be left hard done by. The worst thing for us is we'll carry the cheat label for a while and be the bad guys

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.

The Saints press release says alleged offences rather than offences The wording implies they're not pleading guilty straight away anyway. The lawyers are obviously earning their money

I don't think the club would have sanctioned this. It's Middlesbrough, there are no surprises and there's nothing to see. If you are going to spy, you do it at the start of the season when you don't know anything. Even then, any intel would be very limited If the roles were reversed, I'd say the same thing. Both clubs have seen enough of each other this season. The whole situation is just comical It's probably just a rogue employee trying to further his prospects in a daft way. Just sack them and move on

He refereed the Coventry match, I think. He's done a few, and some Premier League matches, and is generally ok. I think a commentator said he's an ex player, one of the few, so he's a bit more thoughtful about decisions. We'll see though

I think this will be 2-2 Then we'll win at home

Yeah, I just looked at it by adding the 4 missed points on. I forgot about Ipswich losing points. Oh well 😃 I got there in the end. Great minds here 😉