20 May 2026 18:51:48
Southampton perspective:
'The punishment has to fit the crime'.
Published at 18:28
18:28
"Two weeks ago this was a case of people sat in a bush with binoculars, surveillance equipment and all sorts of hi-tech things, and it turns out to be a bloke with an iPhone with a pair of headphones in his ear," suggests Nick Illingsworth, from Southampton’s The Ugly Inside fanzine speaking on BBC Radio Solent.
"Do I think it affected the game at up at Middlesbrough in terms of cheating by standing on a road and watching it, as much as Middlesbrough’s centre half spent half the game pulling Cyle Larin's shirt off his back? No.
That was cheating and it affected the game a lot, lot more.
"But we’ve held our hands up, we’ve said yes, we cheated, and the punishment has to fit the crime, and as someone said to me earlier, it’s like being given the death sentence for stealing a packet of crisps in a supermarket.".
20 May 2026 22:07:16
Tbf, if you steal in a supermarket you should expect to be thrown out of the shop.
21 May 2026 07:15:07
Perfect response, Swan. I 100% agree.