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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barry Glendenning

Southampton, Middlesbrough and a spygate scandal that won’t go quietly

A Southampton supporter uses binoculars in the crowd
Is that disciplinary trouble he can see on the horizon? Photograph: Robbie Hoad/Every Second Media/Shutterstock

SPY CLUB

While the FA’s Independent Disciplinary Commission’s investigation into the Southampton spying scandal is likely to be scrupulously impartial, Football Daily couldn’t help but wonder if assorted EFL blazers might have been pogoing in celebration to the post-punk stylings of Middlesbrough anthem Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag when Riley McGree fired his club in front at St Mary’s on Tuesday night. Unwittingly embroiled in an administrative mess that could scarcely be more absurd or ridiculous, a Boro win would have gone a long way towards helping the EFL temporarily sweep spygate under the rug. As luck would have it, Southampton came back to win the tie, so the options of just hitting them with a whacking great fine and/or points deduction should they be found guilty of espionage are no longer the only ones on the table. As things stand, Tonda Eckert’s team are off to play Hull City in a Wembley playoff final worth a gazillion pounds, but if Football Daily was Robbie Mustoe, Phil Stamp or any other Middlesbrough player, we wouldn’t be jetting off on our summer holidays just yet.

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