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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 14:59 21 Sep 2026
Was your uncle the club doctor at Scunthorpe?
I know Mourinho gave Brian Laws a dossier after they beat Scunthorpe in the FA Cup in 2005.
Although he might have done it more than once.
I don't think anyone believes Bielsa was the only case of this. Just as I don't think anyone believes Southampton only spied four times and somehow never managed to win any of those games. But thinking it and proving it are two different things. And in the Southampton case the EFL were under a lot of pressure to reach a quick decision.
When Bielsa was caught the laws of the game weren't adequate to deal with the offence. And so he got off lightly.
That's why new laws were brought in. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 14:49 21 Sep 2026
You're right.
You didn't imagine it.
Southampton were charged with two offences:
https://www.efl.com/news/2026/
"The charges relate to the following Regulations:
EFL Regulation 3.4, which requires Clubs to act towards each other with the utmost good faith; and
EFL Regulation 127, which prohibits any Club from observing, or attempting to observe, another Club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two Clubs. " |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 14:06 21 Sep 2026
And Chelsea fans wonder why JT can't get a job in management 
It would be funny if Mourinho sued him for libel over it 
Even allowing for the fact that Bielsa did it and Mourinho allegedly might have done it, none of that gives Eckert a Get out of Jail Free card. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 13:54 21 Sep 2026
I thought the 4 points deduction was weak, but you have to weigh that alongside the expulsion from the playoffs. So when you take it all together the balance is about right for punishing the club.
The EFL was under pressure to reach a quick decision in that case. In part that's down to their procedures and the fact that Southampton weren't obliged to respond to the charge until after the first leg of the playoffs had been played. They should probably look to tighten that in future.
Because of the crazy way that football is administered in this country the investigation into Southampton was an EFL matter while the investigation into Eckert is a PL matter - go figure!!
Logically, Southampton's surprisingly good FA Cup run wasn't covered by the EFL investigation. It would be interesting to know if the FA looked into that. And if they haven't then why not!?
The FA is a FIFA member (surprisingly the EFL isn't - again, go figure!!) and for that reason I would be surprised if they didn't follow the decision of the Canada Ladies team and impose a lengthy ban on anyone found guilty - spoiler alert, Eckert has already admitted the charge.
I would be surprised if Eckert doesn't get a lengthy ban. But these things are never a foregone conclusion. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 12:43 21 Sep 2026
Apart from Bielsa the most high profile spying case in football was the Canada Ladies team at the 2024 Olympics, when they flew a drone over an opponent's training session.
In that case Canada were deducted six points in their group, and the team coach and two team officials were banned for one year.
The judgement was passed down by FIFA. Our FA are members of FIFA so it would be a bit odd if the FA didn't at least consider that case in their judgement.
One further point to note. When the Canadians were caught their coach voluntarily withdrew from coaching duties and the CSA quickly suspended the officials involved - not something Southampton has done at any time.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/ol
This really should have been dealt with before the season started. That way a one year ban could have been imposed without running into the following European seasons. But a ban until the end of the season should certainly be an option. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 12:20 21 Sep 2026
No court would uphold it on appeal. It would almost certainly be deemed excessive.
Besides, this is an FA enquiry. How could they ban him from one English division and not all the others!?
And what would happen in future if he got a League 1 team promoted to the Championship?
It wouldn't work in practice to ban him from one division for life. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 12:15 21 Sep 2026
Agree.
Gab's entitled to his opinion, but if he wants to say Southampton has been punished enough then he can say that in one line.
He doesn't need to come out with guff like:
"If he could take back what he did, he would."
"It's something some of the most celebrated managers in world football have done" - I'd like him to name names for that one, if he really believes it!
"At some point you have to draw a line under the saga and trust people: to learn from the experience, and to grow to become better in the future." - That doesn't absolve them from punishment. A lengthy ban would give Eckert plenty of time to reflect on his actions.
If Eckert wants forgiveness he can talk to his priest.
Gab risks damaging his credibility by putting his name to this nonsense. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 12:02 21 Sep 2026
It's his livelihood. You can't ban someone for life unless they've done something particularly heinous.
Leaning on junior staff to spy on opponents probably doesn't cross that threshold.
But this angle about pressuring junior colleagues has been overlooked. As far as I'm aware Southampton haven't investigated Eckert's conduct or levied any punishment on him for it.
Maybe they're waiting to see how the FA investigation pans out before they decide whether to back their man or throw him to the wolves. |
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Reply | Saints charged with spying
at 10:11 21 Sep 2026
I like Gab, but when did he join the Southampton payroll?
And who are these 'celebrated managers' who he is suggesting spied on other teams?
We all know Bielsa did it, but who are the others?
If the FA follows the FIFA precedent in the Canada case where the coaches got 1 year bans, then Eckert should get similar treatment.
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 12:43 18 Sep 2026
The squad did not "stay the same".
Beale brought players here to work with him, then buggered off at the first opportunity.
By the time Ainsworth got here those same players were completely checked out and disinterested. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 12:31 18 Sep 2026
Ainsworth wasn't a great appointment, but Critchley had to go and no one else wanted the job!
Ainsworth had Wycombe running on rails. I think he might have lost sight of how long it took to get them into that position and maybe came here thinking a few quick fixes would set everything on the right track.
In the end he had the wrong players for his methods, and ultimately his methods were not what the fans of this club wanted.
But I don't think he gets enough credit for keeping us up because I do believe Critchley would have taken us down. |
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Reply | Fans Forum Minutes and Post Forum Patreon Podcast
at 11:40 18 Sep 2026
It will be interesting to see how good Galves proves to be in this league.
The fact he's injured already suggests he might fit right in.
Looking at his career history, he only had 67 career league appearances before coming to England
https://fbref.com/en/players/6
I wonder what the algorithms picked out to make him such a hot property. |
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Reply | Fans Forum Minutes and Post Forum Patreon Podcast
at 11:19 18 Sep 2026
Excellent write-up. Thanks for all the effort that must go into it.
You reminded me of some interesting points that have been drowned out by all the debate around young Rayan.
I will pick out a couple that interest me:
1. AI driven recruitment coughs up identikit shopping lists for all clubs that use it.
AI systems are rooted in probability, so is it really a mystery everyone ends up getting the same answers?
However, the answers will depend upon the questions you ask.
If everyone gets the same answer either the system ain't all it's cracked up to be or player recruitment across the Championship is getting very samey. Either way I'm not sure that's a good thing, and maybe a bit more input from scouts and people who have played the game wouldn't go amiss.
I'm interested to know what are these algorithmic tweaks that CN said we're using, but you'd probably need pliers, electrodes, and ten litres of water to get that information out of him.
2. On injuries.
It's good that there was a comprehensive review over the summer. Taking your head out of the sand and admitting there is a problem goes a long way to solving the problem.
And I'm glad to hear that collaboration between coaching and performance was 'sensational'. But shouldn't they be working closely together all the time!?
Finally, please don't die Ruben  |
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Reply | The Dennis Cirkin song
at 20:40 17 Sep 2026
Ssssshhhhhh!
Posh was saving that revelation for her memoirs. |
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Reply | Fans forum tonight anyone going ?
at 21:10 16 Sep 2026
I agree.
I thought Nourry looked more relaxed than he has in previous forums and interviews. Maybe he's had some media training!! But he did seem to go with the flow rather than searching for a very precise answer or maybe trying to remember something he had previously rehearsed, which is often how he comes across.
I thought the answer to the injuries question was a very considered and thoughtful response. But then he said a few things about the demands on players and the intensity of games and frequency of fixtures that I already agree with, so I guess I would accept his answer there. It didn't really address why we still have chronic injury problems, but at least they didn't try to hide behind made-up numbers like "90% availability".
I thought the Kolli question was met head on and also dealt with fairly well, albeit with the proviso that we haven't heard Kolli's side of the argument. I thought it was telling that the post-season review went from Kolli wanting more minutes straight into "OK, you need to go out on loan". That probably made clear to everyone where Kolli sits in the pecking order, but with Kone and Burrell both hitting double figures could Kolli really expect to be picked ahead of them!?
I didn't agree with everything I heard but I thought there was less evasion and BS than in some of the recent forums. |
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