Lord Duckhunter

This will be the 2026 version of the “no money” note.

I imagine the 2 we copped to were provable. The alternative view is. Everybody is doing it, and Tonda didn’t know it was illegal. Being a man of detail, a man obsessed with small tactical opportunities & plans, I’m surprised if he thought it was totally legal he only did it against 3 teams, especially if everyone else is doing it. That’s why I think he’s spouting pony and not being 100% truthful . If he genuinely thought it was allowed, he’d have done it more than 3 friggin times.

You’d hope somebody at the club has sounded out The FA or we’ve received water tight legal advice that he’s not receiving a ban. Otherwise we’re going to look right cocks if a month down the line he’s banned for 6 months.

I think Blackmore is a bit of a helmet, an Alan Partridge tribute act. And don’t get me started on his fucking annoying sidekick. But, he’s on a hiding to nothing here. Had he defended the club some would accuse him of sucking up for access. I’ve no doubt he has an affection for the club, and he gave his honest opinion over this. He wasnt part of a “pile on”, it was just his opinion and it came across as genuine.

Been in meetings all morning, so just caught up on his statement. Although totally irrelevant, personally I don’t believe those were the only 3 times, and he thought it was legal. He may have thought it was like taping up, illegal but a blind eye turned, but he knew he shouldn’t have authorised it. No doubt he never thought for one minute that it would result in the punishment it did, but deep down, he knew it’s wrong. Therefore I wish he hadn’t gone into so much detail as it looks a bit too defensive to me. I’d rather he said “it was wrong, and I was wrong”. My opinion is he’s extremely lucky to remain in a job & should never forget the club backed him when the easy thing was to throw him to the wolves. Let’s hope he remembers that if a bigger club comes calling along the line. He’s shown he has coaching ability, building a side which plays football properly, not like all the Pep clones around at the moment. Provided the FA give him a break, let’s hope he’s learnt his lesson and can keep the momentum going into what will be a difficult season. If the players wanted him gone, he’d be gone, and now we know where we are and what we want, let’s get cracking on building a squad to win 5 points more than everyone else…

If his lie was based on Tonda, and/or staff lying to him, surely they have to go as well.

Imagine how many staff who have been sacked, or have grievances with clubs since the Leeds story. Yet not one has come forward and sold their story to the press, not one has contacted us or the EFL to drop the sides they have a grievance with in it. I’ve not read one report of EFL sides suspecting anyone other than us spying, and we’ve not read one report of Premier league clubs spying on other clubs. Since the Leeds story, there was nothing, not even an hint of it, until we got caught. Yet “everyone is at it”.

Nobody I spoke to mentioned him. The town we stayed in was younger visitors and population , not many over 50’s….

If the FA agree with the panel, he won’t. Says the Canadian incident is more relevant than the Leeds one, their manager revived a ban. But even more damning was this bit. "FIFA has speculated, not without basis, that it would have imposed a higher sanction in the Bielsa case",

Shit, we should have had you on the legal team, we’d have pissed it. All charges dropped…

Who told him this. If Tonda lied to him, his position is untenable as well.

Neither does Parsons. The bit about the initial response is pretty damning. Stating the CEO had made urgent enquires which included Tonda and it “remains a mystery” how these answers were given incorrectly. Remains a mystery is basically a polite way of saying “fucking lied”. It went in to add because of that there was no mitigation on the Boro offence. They say they were “unimpressed “ with some witness’ claiming they didn’t know it was illegal, specifically mentioning Tonda. Again “unimpressed “ is a polite, “they’re bullshitting”. Whilst we may want to keep Tonda, they stated that FIFA thought the Leeds punishment too lenient. That’s a big Indicator that the FA will ban him imo…

went last June. Fantastic place. Stayed in Ksamil which is 20 mins from Sarande. Stunning beaches, lovely people, food was great and fantastic value. I believe they’re building an airport nearby, so I’d go before it gets too touristy. It’s going to be the next Croatia when the big hotel chains move in. Everything is cheap, sun beds, beer (the local stuff is decent as well), food, incredible value. It has a bit of a Greek island with a bit of Puglia thrown in vibe. The only pain is the Lek is a controlled currency but everywhere you go the card machines are “broken”, signs up everywhere “visa/mastercard welcome”, but come to pay and machine is “broken”. We even paid for the hotel in cash, although they will take Sterling or Euros. Cash is definitely king, but you don’t want to be left with too much Lek as it’s worthless outside of Albania. We went last week in June and was perfect crowd wise, but locals were telling us July/Aug very crowded. Go via Corfu, then ferry. The ferry is a bit ropey, and the border force blokes look like gangsters, but other than that pretty simple, just get a taxi from Corfu airport the port isn’t far. We booked the ferry a couple of days before, from uk

I wouldn’t call slogging through 46 games, less protection from referees, trips to the likes of Stoke, Millwall & Lincoln, a more physical game “fun”. Give me Europe, Australia, USA or Saudi any day.

The IOC didn’t think it was a “stupid rule” when they docked the Canadians 6 points at the Paris olympics. The Canadian FA didn’t think it was a “stupid rule” when they banned the coach. I don’t recall too many people asking why the EFL imposed this “stupid rule” after Leeds got caught. Most supporters from other sides I’ve met, think we were treated harshly, but not one has called it a “stupid rule” and thinks teams should be able to spy on one another at will. It only seems to have become a “stupid rule” since we were caught breaking it. Had it been Portsmouth, I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be many calling it a “stupid rule” on here. The punishment is a debatable point, whether it’s a “stupid rule” isn’t. There has to be some sort of regulation, teams must be able to surprise opponents with formations, innovative set pieces and line ups.