'It's outright cheating' - Portsmouth rivals Southampton slammed following spying allegations ahead of Middlesbrough game
Southampton have been strongly criticised following EFL charges for breaching regulations
Pompey rivals Southampton have been accused of ‘outright cheating’ after being charged by the EFL for allegedly spying on Middlesbrough ahead of their Championship play-off semi-final.
The stinging criticim of the St Mary’s outfit has come from Sky Sports pundit Jobi McAnuff, who believes the Blues’ south-coast adversaries have blown the integrity of the English game out of the water for their supposed behaviour.
Saints find themselves in serious trouble with the footballing authorities after the EFL this week received a complaint from Boro over the alleged unauthorised filming by someone connected to Southampton during a training session.
After being charged by the league, the matter has since been referred to the Independent Disciplinary Commission, with a hearing expected at the earliest opportunity.
In the meantime, though, former Reading and Cardiff winger McAnuff has accused Southampton of acting deceitfully in their attempts to gain an edge over Middlesbrough, who they will face over two legs in the Championship play-off semi-finals.
Speaking on Sky Sports ahead of today’s 12.30pm kick-off, the respected broadcaster said: ‘What we love about football in this country is the integrity, is that every time you go out onto that football pitch, win, lose or draw, there's an element of fairness.
‘This absolutely blows that all out of the water.
‘You know, however you want to dress it up, there's no other word to describe it as cheating.
‘To go onto another club's training facility, which should be private, you're building up to a big game, you should be able to work on your tactics, and we don't know the extent, how much of it's video or photographic evidence, whatever, but clearly there potentially has been an attempt to gain an unfair advantage.
‘I'm all for competitive advantages, but there's so much around now, you know, in terms of data and stuff that you can do from the games, there should be absolutely no need to have to go to these lengths to try and gain an edge.
‘It's not an edge, it's outright cheating.’
A statement from Southampton said they will fully cooperate with the EFL throughout its investigative process, without wanting to comment any further.
However, former Saints striker, Kevin Phillips has questioned whether the same alleged tactic has been used before by the club.
Also speaking on Sky Sports, he said: ‘Whatever comes with it, they'll have to hold their hands up.
‘I'm interested now to see how they do cooperate, whether they come out and just hold their hands up and say, “yep, guilty, we've done it”.
‘There's also a question that's going to have to be answered - have you done it before this season?’
With a return to the Premier League available to the eventual play-off winners, Southampton’s double-header against Middlesbrough will be their biggest games of the season to date.
However, their two games against Pompey this season were also massive matches.
The south-coast derby game at St Mary’s in September was the first time the two fierece rivals had met in the league since April 2012.
That game finished in a draw, as did the reverse fixture at Fratton Park in January.
Up until then, the last time PO4 played host to that lot up the road in the league was December 2011.
There is no suggestion, though, of any wrongdoing in the build up to those games.