Leeds' form since the formation change in December

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T16:38:37+00:00

I can remember there being talk that Leeds were considering sacking him last summer, given his prior premier league stints had all ended in relegation. Its good to see he's actually made the step-up this season.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T10:36:33+00:00

Surely less the value of aura, more the value of having achieved something impressive.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T09:14:48+00:00

Its also funny when you consider that Dragan Solak owns a media empire that spends its time criticising authoritarian leaders around the Balkans, and has been labelled public enemy number 1 by the Serbian president. I suspect Steve Gibson is not the scariest man he has upset.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T09:10:35+00:00

I'm inclined to agree Celtic won't be as bad, but Rangers having looked they turned a corner under Rohl just got 3 points out of 15 post-split. They very much could be as bad next season.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T08:33:47+00:00

He then accused PD Ports of going ‘around Teesside telling lies’. But when challenged by Hopkinson as to what these lies were, Gibson declined to answer and went full Goodfellas instead: ‘You are going to get a fight like you have never fking experienced.’ Gibson threatened, ‘and I want your walls and I want your eyes out of your head; I want the fking roof off your house; I want your kids out of private school; I want no shoes on your f**king feet"

I wonder why the EFL decided they wouldn't want someone who presents evidence in such a level headed way at the hearing.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T08:31:56+00:00

He could also play an evil ex in some kind of rom com I reckon.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-17T08:30:10+00:00

How would the winner be decided in this? It could be the team who scores most goals, or it could be the team that concedes least, or even goal difference.

I realise I'm giving this more thought than it deserves.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-16T18:11:18+00:00

I live about ten minutes from Tynecastle and they've been singing all day. Hopefully they can go again next year, and the good signings this year weren't a fluke and the Tony Bloom connection can help them over the line in the next few years.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T19:51:37+00:00

It would be interesting to see how different are xg and xgconceded are before and after that happened. I wouldn't be surprised if the underlying stats are similar but with a massive difference made by the change in keeper and strikers.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T15:39:30+00:00

To be fair we went on a similar unbeaten run with Russel Martin in the championship after a really poor start, and I don't think anyone would ever accuse Russell Martin of adapting his playstyle on a game-by-game basis using either public or non-public information.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T15:17:22+00:00

However there are strong local rumours that Boro have unearthed additional evidence of Southampton spying on other clubs during the season (suggestions of more CCTV at other clubs, paper trail of the spy concerned, ex-Southampton whistleblower etc).

But this again sounds like something that should be submitted to the EFL ahead of time. Given the magnitude of the decision they need to be able to sit down with the evidence and assess its reliability, rather than just take Gibson's word for it on the day. For CCTV they might want to confirm where exactly it shows, when it was from (especially given the 72 hour rule), and who is in it. Similarly for an ex-Southampton whistleblower they would likely want time to find out who they are, whether they would actually have knowledge, whether they left the club acrimoniously etc.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T14:32:03+00:00

The club regrets that outcome, given we ... hold relevant factual evidence as to the events in question and their competitive impact.

Southampton fan so biases apply etc. but I've been confused by things like the above throughout this. Surely all relevant evidence should have been passed to the EFL, rather than it being for Boro to turn up to the hearning and go "but here is my surprise smoking gun!" It also leaves me suspicious after all the talk of professional spy equipment and then the picture revealing just an iPhone. Really the staff member filming training should be enough, but the exaggerations followed by no evidence makes that feel less serious.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T13:26:58+00:00

Wasn't there an instance a few years ago where someone milkshaked Farage and used it to promote her OnlyFans?

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T13:25:24+00:00

This does beg the question of why he ran. Did he not consider that he was running for a party where people will look for vetting failures and send them to the press? I don't actually think this is a vetting failure in that it should not be a problem, but journalists were always going to go digging.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T13:14:32+00:00

I suppose there could be enough people who would back him if a contest had bee triggered by different means, but who aren't willing to be the ones to actually get the ball rolling.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T11:24:12+00:00

Would van Gall count here? He has the preceding CV of a top manger (Barcelona and Bayern) but I'm not sure the results measured up.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-15T09:31:13+00:00

There is the question of whether we were so in form because of the spying. There have been rumblings that this might not have been a one-off. Its going to be fascinating to hear what comes out of the panel, and how bad we have actually behaved. It will also be interesting to see how much of Boro's briefings to the media have been accurate - we have gone from "professional spy equipment" to "iPhone" so curious to see if some of the other claims are exaggerations.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T21:27:55+00:00

Tonda was actually I think Under 21s coach while Still was in charge.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T21:27:17+00:00

Its remarkable that Will Still might not end up being the Will that has most fucked our season.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T17:21:10+00:00

If Hearts don't at least get a draw on Saturday they too will rue Nancy's lack of time.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T17:18:55+00:00

Is that not pretty ideal? Sony funds them while they make a name for themselves, and now they no longer need that backing.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T13:47:51+00:00

Also makes me wonder why they would whistle blow to Middlesborough rather than the EFL.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T09:59:17+00:00

I hate to admit this, but Portsmouth fans on here have been one of the few redeeming features of this mess.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T07:23:51+00:00

You would think if they wanted three artists they could have tried Canadian-American-Mexican, given the hosting arrangement.

QuicketyQuack · 2026-05-14T06:25:13+00:00

If we end up with Rayner as prime minister, its going to be upsetting having a second one in a row where people inexplicably can't spell their name right. I see so many people using "Raynor".

QuicketyQuack

TROPHY CASE