Saint86

There is no evidence at all of Eckert bullying...

Well yes - if we intentionally did it and if we ultimately used it, but not in the same way as an analyst being instructed to go over there, watch and record etc. Sounds more like our analyst team were a law unto themselves - and in that instance had some contacts with Eastleigh and got hold of the CCTV. In a similar vein to Middelsbrough getting hold of the golf club's security footage and transaction details. Or to put it another way, i doubt very much that Tonda was on named terms with the Eastleigh security team and told our analysts to go and collect their cctv footage. Similarly, i doubt the first team coach instructed a team of hackers to get it illegally - or do you disagree? 😅 Could have had some interesting ramifications for Eastliegh i guess - i.e., if we had beaten Ipswich and it had been discovered after they missed out on promotion. Although you'd then have the whole debate over whether or not we used it (we're saying we didn't), and whether it had an impact.

I don't want him to roll over for the club. But what he is doing right now is ignoring all the actual evidence to repeatedly push a negative narrative, hammer the club publicly, and specifically and directly attack the manage over bullying offences which are seemingly un-evidenced. If Blackmore wants to keep pushing this narrative he needs to back it up with actual evidence that shows it was Tonda, otherwise he needs to drop it.

Sounds like we've admitted that someone got hold of the CCTV footage. Eckert states in his recent video that the footage wasn't used - it would be beyond stupid for this to be a lie given its now a permanent video record that will need to align with the EFL evidence. There was no mention of the rumored spying by our analysts at Eastleigh's stadium dressed in Eastleigh kits - so sounds like that was just more media BS as part of the whipped up witch hunt.

I can't see them being able to do it though. He's admitted that he condoned analysts scouting the 3 sides - but its not black and white that it was a formal instruction to them breaking rules doing it. For the boro one, the official club line is that the intern was requested to go up on the Monday and went later that instructed, meaning he breached the window. For Ipswich/Eastleigh one, the official club line is that someone got hold of the CCTV footage and when it started being shown, Eckert immediately instructed that it was turned off and not used. For Oxford, the details are vague re formal instruction and timing, but its acknowledged that we did send someone to scout their training to figure out the likely formation. So 1 offence where potentially Eckert gave an instruction to the analyst team to scout inside the 72hour window (again - we don't know the timing of when, or whether he was formally instructed to do it inside the window). That's the actual hard evidence in this whole thing. 2 incidents of analysts being where they shouldn't have been inside 72hours, and 1 incident involving CCTV being given to saints that we are on record as refusing to use. There isn't a single shred of evidence of Eckert applying pressure or bullying the "junior" (intern). The messages we have seen are actually from more senior / comparable members of the analyst team to the "junior" intern, stuff like "manager loved it" etc. Even the verbal evidence after the fact makes absolutely no mention of Eckert as pressuring the junior staff. And Eckert's message doesn't reference this either. So in reality, the FA would be giving Eckert a banning order for instructing the oxford scouting incident... which may, or may not, have been an official request to break rules from Eckert, or may in fact have been the analysts collectively doing it inside the window themselves. Ditto the whole Boro affair... and doubly so for that one if they were originally instructed and planned to go up earlier in the week... The whole thing is an incredible storm in a teacup, it is mental how we've managed to handle it so badly and screw ourselves over the way we have. And re Adam Blackmore, he wants to be the club journalist for the BBC, and to run around attacking the club and Eckert from behind his microphone... well, if he thinks his stance is justified, he better get off his backside, do some journalism, and come up with evidence that categorically demonstrates the things he's claiming.

Agree with that. But there is a difference between balanced reporting and just repeatedly calling for the manager to be sacked for bullying junior staff as if its a fact, when in reality there is no evidence of that happening.

He is quality, but i doubt we'll have the money to pay what they'd ask for.

Wasn't THB the first player to comment?

This one is from Tuesday, and is in direct response to Solak and Tonda's interviews. So its very much in date and he's still pushing his narrative against Tonda.

Just listened to the latest Solent peice on BBC sounds. Blackmore on there again saying Saints should have sacked Tonda and that he is expecting the FA to sack him and take it out of our hands anyway. He thinks it's better for the club to get rid of him and have a clean sweep as it will clean up their image. This last point is clearly false as Saints have publicly stated we want to keep him and have forgiven him - if we are forced to sack him by the FA that doesn't do anything to improve our image, and in fact will reopen the whole thing and draw more negative attention on the club. Within all of this, he is again ignoring the fact that quite literally no evidence exists showing Tonda bullied junior staff. The man needs to stop digging himself a hole over this, he surely cannot continue to keep going with what is now essentially a perpetual slandering of Tonda with this false narrative 🤷. He even says that Tonda's behavior re the bullying (again, no evidence) is worse than the actual offence of spying FFS... The longer this goes on, the longer it feels like Blackmore has just developed a personal dislike of Tonda and has been doing his utmost to feed a narrative to get him sacked? Why is Blackmore not able to do the basics of his role as a sports journalist, and investigate whether there are any messages or even verbal witness statements saying Eckert bullied junior staff....acknowledge their isn't, apologise himself, and then move on.

If Saints have the money available within the PSR accounting period, there is merit to us getting deals done before June 30th. After that, the 3year rolling accounting windows no longer apply and we move to the new squad cost rules. Signing players before June 30th will mean that any transfer fee outlay this summer doesn't fall into next seasons, "squad cost" rules (i.e., 85% of revenue). Would be shrewd business to get a few deals in before the world cup... Doubly so for players like Larin or Peretz, as they're likely to be fairly key for us next season, and i suspect a lot of other clubs will be stuck waiting for the inevitable domino chain transfers to complete - which will push them after the world cup. Similarly, unless we "need" the money now (for PSR balance reasons), there is bugger all point making sales this side of June 30th - but make them under next season's rules and it increases our squad spend allowance. Could be interesting for teams like West Ham etc. as well. The guardian posted an article on them in May this year. They recorded a loss of £104M in their last set out accounts, albeit they are carrying a profit of £57M for the year before that. Apparently they're expecting a £70M-80M loss last season though... so basically they're right on the cusp of breaching PSR and its very likely they'll see at least a couple of big sales in June... Which is good news for their promotion rivals, as they lose that income from next season's income / squad cost allowance.

It will be THB and Charles for certain. And we'll take any offer north of £20-25M for Scienza. Those 3 sales should bring in circa £60M. Jander has a long time left on his contract, is young, and looks to have a very high ceiling. We should be digging our heels in with him and pushing for £30M+ for any sale imho. We need to make up a £15M drop in parachute payments. Larin and Peretz (if we sign them both) will be £10M. So we're looking at replacing THB and Charles with a pot of circa £20-30M, plus a bit of profit. If Jander goes then we'll be Spendy McSpendy.

The Echo article is an absolute non story - we have an agreed fee in place as part of the loan, and if we have the money to sign him then ofc we'll be interested.... but so will many other clubs, and is he going to pick saints over them? There is a long way to go in any Peretz transfer move imho. Hope i'm wrong on that and its announced this week, but think its an easy thing to get hyped up over (given the rubbish of the past few weeks).

Would it surprise anyone to know that on the Boro forums, there are multiple users trying to imply blame on Henry Nowak. Some saying he was following Digwa or that its not proven that he wasn't racially abusing him etc. Both of which are absolute nonsense. Some of them really are vile.

Circle the bloody wagons - blackmore and co take note.