That is one description I have read in the media regarding the penalty imposed by the Independent panel that imposed the penalty.

When Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa were caught spying in 2018/19 they were fined £200,000 for doing the offence for the whole season, no points deductions & no bans.

They were caught at a similar time that we admitted spying on Oxford United, so had we been caught that day, you have to presume that the penalty would have been something similar with extra built in for inflation so to speak.

But we weren't caught in December, we were caught in May and that means that the stakes were far higher, however Leeds were involved in the automatic promotion battle almost to the final day and finished 3rd.

At the time of the offences emerging they were in top spot, they lost in the play off semi finals on aggregate to Derby.

That meant that the punishment fitted the offence and in fact it was probably a bit soft on Leeds, however it set the precedent.

But Saints did this ahead of a play off semi final, so it seems that the punishment fits the importance of the game, not the actual offence itself.

To put the headline quote into perspective, it is the equivalent of getting caught stealing a packet of crisps in the Knightsbridge branch of Tesco Extra and you get a warning from the police if they indeed bother turning up.

Do it 50 yards away across the road in Harrods, they not only turn up, they arrest you, rough you up in the van and haul you up in court where you get life imprisonment ( Obviously they cant get the death sentence here, perhaps I should have used Texas as an example.)

I am not trying to justify the offences, Southampton FC seem to have admitted them, co-operated and put themselves at the mercy of the independent panel.

Unfortunately they got Judge Jeffries !

The offence is cheating, we cheated I have no problem with that, I watched Middlesbrough's defenders continually grasp Cyle Larin's shirt taking it around 12 inches from his back up at The Riverside two weeks ago, I know cheating when I see it.

All Southampton ask is that the punishment should fit the crime, if they had been caught in January there would have been a big fine, if they had been caught against Oxford at home in April they would still probably have got a big fine.

But it didn't happen then and the game was more important.

But penalty should be about the offence itself, not the game that it happens in.

I would say we will not win the appeal, that would make the EFL look completely incompetent.

The best that we will get here is that the 4 point deduction will be removed, however I do not think that this will be the end of the matter.

All Photos Via Reuters