Saint86

Boro came 7th that year. They had to firstly prove it had a material impact on them getting into the playoffs, then that they would have won the semi final and the final. In this case they qualified for the playoffs and had they won the semi final had a 50/50 chance at winning the final. So its more like a direct share of the £200M. Add to that that the prize money has significantly increased in that time period, and its likely we'd be facing something like a £10-20M lawsuit on top of loss of parachute payments, merchandising, poorer transfer incomings etc., I mean, if we aren't going up regardless, purely from an SFC perspective, there are benefits to boro being given a shot at the final.

To be blunt. Boro getting a chance at the final saves us a legal suit from Boro. Which is the one i would actually be worried about being on the end of. We aren't going up, we don't need boro suing us for a loss of chance at the final - which now we have admitted cheating would purely be a question of "how much" compensation we'd owe them.

Think the EFL could rue the day they let Gibson call the shots.

They vary from case to case, but broadly speaking this one will go as follows: We ask. The EFL says no. Gibson laughs in our face.

I don't accept that its just complete a fluke that Boro's CEO is the championship rep on the efl board, that the punishment we've been given is exactly the punishment Boro called for, that that punishment has been met with almost universal stunned amazement, and that boro have been given the nonsensical and grossly unfair reward of being reinstated and given a final date vs an unprepared hull on Saturday. Its all come from Boro via the EFL.

This is now about trying to pursue the legal case. Although sadly, Parson has likely cooked us there by admitting to everything off hat. "Southampton can credibly argue that expulsion from the playoff final is unprecedented and disproportionate compared to prior sanctions. However, given their CEO (Parson) has readily admitted to repeated and deliberate breaches of clear EFL rules and their impact on the integrity of the competition, an appeal body is likely to afford the regulator a wide margin of discretion. Therefore, the challenge is arguable but not strong."

It would be a loss of chance claim. Where we'd have been favourites to beat Hull and gain access to £200M+ in revenue (i.e.50%+). And will also cover reputational damages and financial hits associated with sponsorship damage, player contracts/sales (and also any associated legal claims). How deep are the EFL's pockets. There is a reason the EPL doesn't push its luck vs teams like city and chelsea...

Its a reasonable statement in fairness. And its a direct hand grenade and challenge thrown at the EFL that will need resolution re the level of the sanction. This will now be a major talking point at least. Still not contrite enough though.

I think we all know exactly what has happened here, although it will never be proven. We sacked this Taylor(?) chap that we hired from boro. When we got Boro in the playoffs, he ran straight to the club to do a deal with them knowing salt would likely turn up, they were then ready and waiting with a media team to snap him in "4k" or whatever it was (the irony that he had better equipment than our spying analyst...)... and then Gibbo's got the extra "whistle blower" details out of him, had it to hand, and essentially ambushed us with it via the EFL a couple of days before the formal hearing. Which has included Taylor being in possession of previous whatsapp calls and images from his employment at saints. Reckon we were going to get done for this from the minute we got boro in the playoffs. Fully stitched up, even if it is our own fault. What they didn't count on, and what was an additional bonus, was Parsons being so incredibly stupid. Regardless though, Gibbo has played this superbly - and with the added factor of having the boro ceo as the Championship representative on the EFL board, Middlesborough have milked it for all its worth, including jumping ahead of Millwall, and getting a very obvious sporting advantage over Hull. We meanwhile can join Derby on the list of clubs ruined by Gibson. Men against boys at boardroom level.

We played Boro on the 9th May. At which point Parson's handed the EFL and Boro the noose and put the club's neck through it.

This is what happens when you have someone like Parsons running the club. Was evident years ago that he was woefully out of his depth, the kind of guy that somehow floats to the top and can't believe how lucky he is and doesn't really know how he got there...

The EFL look appalling in this at this point. Its very evident that all they care about is physically hosting a showcase final and associated revenue. Damn everyone else.

Bachelor of Arts 😄

An emotive but well put piece GS. What they've done to the club is a gut punch. Heart-breaking in some ways. Chasing the dream of premier league football under SR has seen the club sell its morals and undermine its very identity. In some ways, this latest episode is merely a symptom of the underlying malaise/cancer that's been afflicting the club since SR took over and began dismantling everything existing about the club, department by department. We are simply not run by anyone who understands the club or the fans anymore, let alone its heritage, or the city/wider area. We're just a plaything for people getting paid (partly with the fans money), only to waste years of passion and support. This latest instant will be a generational impact. How many kids will be hiding their support this summer, will want to see us play next season etc? League 1 and -10points was better because it galvanised the supporters. I fear that won't happen this time around and the club will simply wither away to a shadow of its best days.

This is all fair and reasonable. Unfortunately the EFL have the Boro CEO on the board, and we sent Parson's into the arena like a lamb into a lions mouth. So we are cooked, and this is another -10points level sanction given to us by footballing bodies, similar to the Luton/Swindon/Bournemouth (etc) cases of years gone by. We have been punished more harshly than Leicester ffs, who got an irrelevant points deduction. There is a short window where the club needs to rally together now - to try and mitigate this. Unfortunately, we are again being led by Parsons and co and the club is seemingly about as informed and decisive as a bunch of headless chickens at best, and total fools at worse. It currently feels like a summer where we are rudderless at board level, looking for a new DoF, and new manager, and having to once again rebuild the squad whilst wrestling with impending PSR sanctions, and an impending change to the league spending regualtions. As always, players and staff will come and go, but the fans will need to bear the brunt of this for years. Someone needs to provide something to rally around and fast, before the summer and next season become total rights offs, and rather than building something with our last year of parachute payments we end up spiralling down the leagues the way of sides like Wednesday and Blackburn etc.