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Reply | "The Crab"
at 09:26 27 Aug 2026
Could work: He’s lost pace (never had much anyway). He should’ve been a No 10 early in his career but now needs to stop trying to be a box-to-box midfielder and sit deep. Those of us of a certain vintage will remember that Lawrie McMenemy did that with Jimmy Case in the 80’s and saved his career. He just sat in front of the CB’s and sprayed passes all over the pitch - it was quite something to see at times. With our wingers and DM upfront that could work well. |
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Reply | New striker - Ivan Azon
at 12:50 16 Jul 2026
As I write I'm sat next to an Ipswich supporter at work, who really rates this lad - not prolific in front of goal but says he really knows how to use his body weight to bustle and make space for other attackers. |
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Reply | Now the dust has settled and I’ve calmed down let’s re-visit Spygate
at 19:48 2 Jun 2026
A great post, PaleRider - I agree with every word. Two more things:
(1) Someone needs to write to Felicity Schneider, who is Littleton Chambers’ Governance Partner, to confirm that they have indeed only once acted for Middlesbrough in any capacity (I am not totally convinced by the ‘AI feedback loophole’ argument about Lydia Banerjee’s biography but I am no AI expert).
(2) Let’s have a great season following the Saints. I haven’t had a proper beer for many years now (long story) but when that Middlesborough FC bus pulls into SMS next season there’s a pint of Heineken Zero headed it’s way with my name on it!!😁
COYR!!!!! |
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Reply | Now the dust has settled and I’ve calmed down let’s re-visit Spygate
at 23:19 28 May 2026
Brilliant summary, Matt - thank you for all your digging. I’m still concerned that one of the panel members, Lydia Banerjee, may have historically acted as an advisor to MFC - bearing in mind that legal advice is not quite the same as representation. Nonetheless, this would still represent a significant conflict of interest. Were you able to find out if that individual had been advising MFC? It looked to me like some biographical information linking her to Middlesbrough might have been either posted maliciously (in which case apologies, Lydia), or had been posted by her chambers and subsequently deleted. Surely the SFC legal department could look into this with a simple letter to her chambers? |
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Reply | Another team cheating?
at 10:08 25 May 2026
Trust me, it’lll be buried and won’t reach a hearing stage. That’s because the EFL know they couldn’t come up with any similar penalty. Bent as a three quid note. |
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Reply | Are there any left who think Tonda SHOULDN'T be sacked?
at 09:29 24 May 2026
I agree 100% with this but would only add that this a moment when the players should have their say. If they’re as angry with him as Scienza’s post suggests then it’s a non-starter. If, on the other hand, the core of the team want to ‘go again’ then he needs a big, very public written warning from the club about bullying junior staff then a statement from Dragan that we should get behind him. I suspect it’ll be academic though ‘cos of an FA ban. Has Danny Rohl fallen out with the Rangers board yet? 😏 |
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Reply | HOW ABOUT THIS !!!!!!!
at 17:02 23 May 2026
I think it's clear that she did represent Boro' in the case against Gary Monk:
https://custommapposter.com/ar southampton-spygate-verdict/14622
BUT, if you go back to the original AI-generated search by Matt ( https://www.bing.com/search?q= here is what CoPilot generated at the time:
"Areas of Expertise
Lydia’s practice spans multiple areas:
Sports Law: She regularly advises sporting bodies and professional clubs, including Middlesbrough F.C., on regulatory, contractual, and disciplinary matters. Her work includes sport-related investigations, dismissals, and governance reviews, as well as issues related to financial fair play rules.
Employment Law: She handles discrimination claims, disability issues, breach of contract, restrictive covenants, and tribunal disputes, often in high-profile or sensitive cases.
Commercial Law: Her commercial practice covers contractual interpretation, professional negligence, and directors’ duties."
So it's possible that whilst she only represented Boro' in court on the one occasion, she is nonetheless regularly paid by Boro' (possibly on retainer) for player contractual and regulatory advice. I suspect that her Chambers changed her biography around the time Matt searched for this because this, to me, looks very much like a professionally-written biography (I write professional biographies myself as part of my job), and I'm inclined to believe that at some point the above clauses did exist - even by AI standards, it would be going some to generate this out of thin air. So yes, she represented them in the Gary Monk case, but also may have worked for them on other advisory assignments day-to-day.
Whilst it's true that Saints are completely in the wrong over Spygate as a whole, if it is indeed the case that there is a wider relationship with Boro' involving one or more of the panel, Saints could (and should) litigate. She would be forced to produce all invoices etc as part of Discovery.
However, there could be a very good reason why they might not want to take this further: What if WhatsApp messages reveal that Saints were spying every week, as I suspect they might? Dragan may decide to let sleeping dogs lie.
Finally, knowing the bad reputations of some of those involved eg the Ridsdale disqualification process, I can't help myself from wondering if horse-trading might have been involved when Boro' were told that they could not have a representative at the hearing? Perhaps in an effort to placate Steve Gibson, the EFL offered to have at least one friendly face on the panel?
When all is said and done, the EFL is a private club and - as has been reported in the past - they could say "if you don't wish to be part of our organisation feel free to apply for the Conference". |
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Reply | So, Next Manager Odds
at 22:56 22 May 2026
Oriel Romeu,anyone? Good character, loves the club, played for some great coaches? |
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Reply | HOW ABOUT THIS !!!!!!!
at 07:36 22 May 2026
Matt: Have you contacted the Echo or Adam Blackmore about this? |
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Thread | We are about to find out who the real Tonda Eckert is...
at 14:00 20 May 2026
It's human to make mistakes - that's what we were put on this earth to do - but we're now about to find out what sort of man our manager is. He has a potential job offer coming from BMB - will he cut and run, or will he stand up, attempt to put things right and try to bring people together? This is a real test of leadership and I am hoping that in future years we'll look back and say "this was a total fu*k-up, but some good came out of it". He's definitely let the fans and the players down, but I hate Blame Culture so let's support the guy and see what he's capable of now (assuming he stays). He's young and ambitious: I can forgive the mistake, but I'll be doubly annoyed if he ups sticks and heads somewhere else. I hope in future years we'll contrast his behaviour with someone who clearly DOESN'T accept responsibility for his own failures (Kim Hellberg of Middlesborough, who got 19 points from 15 games before trying to blame it all on So'ton). Cometh the hour and all that... |
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Reply | Man City tickets
at 13:40 9 Apr 2026
Thanks, All for your replies. It certainly is gonna' busy at the SFC ticket office. We may even get a second or even (dare to dream) third bite at the Wembley cherry ;) |
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Thread | Man City tickets
at 09:14 9 Apr 2026
Have I missed the boat on these? I couldn't see any club announcements about when they go on sale? |
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Reply | Predictions for tonight
at 17:53 21 Jan 2026
Quite apart from the massive gap in form, this is the sort of team which represents a definite loss for us: Strong, streetwise, aggressive, can counter-attack and like to get the ball forward quickly. One or two big men up front against our papier-maché central defence...what can possibly go wrong?
They'll be dancing in the streets of Broomhill tonight. |
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