Plastic Goat

They look out on their feet and not surprising. Need fresh legs. Problem is the depth of the squad. Needed improving on January. Can't complain about how the team have played but they needed quality reinforcement.

Of course there's always the possibility that this EFL Committee will chicken out and be lenient with Southampton. This would be a dangerous move in my opinion. I can't see Gibson taking that lying down. The EFL will be in for a protracted legal battle, to say the least. In addition, the other Championship clubs won't be happy and may get stuck in. Kicking Southampton out now could very well be the easy way out and the right warning to other would be transgressors.

If you are caught cheating in any competition you are expelled. Simple as that. Southampton do not deny the charge. Therefore natural justice demands that they exit the playoffs,no ifs no buts. Then the EFL sits down and decides how many points Southampton are deducted before next season starts.

The only right thing to do is to expell Southampton from the competition and give us the tie. If Boro had done it or any other club the same punishment must apply. This is all about the integrity of sport.God knows football is getting murkier but the EFL have to draw the line. I hope they do. If not a very bad road beckons. Incidentally I am utterly convinced that Steve Gibson would be horrified if Boro had done anything like this.

It's possible the second leg may never be played. Saints must be made an example of,so punishment must be to expell them from the competition. To quote Kevin Keegan " I would love it".

Southampton should be made an example of. A fine would be laughable. They were engaged in cheating and should not be allowed to progress if they were to win next Tuesday.

Difficult to see how you can win a closely matched game like this with the paucity we have on the bench. No one on that bench has the ability to come on and change the game.Recruitment has been very poor and it's costing us.

Paying the penalty for having bloody awful so called strikers.

If Boro are to win the playoffs they will have to do it without Hackney.

Akpom had one good season. We need to be looking for some one much better and younger.

The summer transfer window 2026 needs to be much better than 2025. Much better and a determination to strengthen in Jan 2027.

Being honest I never thought at the start of the season that we would make the playoffs. In that respect I suppose it's a bit of a bonus. However Boro fans have every right to be unhappy at the way these players actually threw automatic promotion away.We all know the reasons for this. Poor finishing and sloppy disasterous defensive errors against dross. Add to this a ludicrous January window where the club will now have to shell out £3 million for the step over kid who is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. Now season ticket holders are having to pay out even more for a playoff ticket. The least the club could have done is not charge season ticket holders as a gesture of goodwill and a recognition of the way the club messed up in January.

I agree but we must hope for much better recruitment.

This season yes. Will they survive next?. Maybe but bobbing along near the bottom.

I think it fair to say that Coventry and Ipswich will struggle massively and will no doubt come straight back down. If Boro go up there will have to be the mother of all rebuilds. I'm afraid the gulf between the Prem and the Championship is getting unbridgeable.