City are sitting back quietly watching the chaos unfold around them
Tonda Eckert has hardly covered himself in glory over the past few days (Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
The Championship play-off final may be 10 days away, but Hull City do not yet know for certain that they will be facing Southampton at Wembley next Saturday.
Despite beating Middlesbrough 2-1 in a tense play-off semi-final that went to extra-time on Tuesday night at St Mary’s, allegations of cheating surround the Saints.
The South Coast club, which City have beaten twice this season in the Championship, have been charged by the EFL for allegedly spying on Boro’s training at their Rockcliffe complex on Teesside. Those allegations added serious bad feelings to the two semi-finals.
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Did Boro do enough in the second half to win the game? Absolutely not. Did they do enough over the two games to win? Based on the first leg, yes, but they didn’t take their chances, and Southampton punished them when it mattered. That’s what these games are all about. There can be no hard luck stories over a two-legged semi-final. That said, this gets to the heart of the spirit of the game, and it’s not in the spirit of the competition, and the rules have clearly been broken, willingly so. They have to be punished.
Kim Hellberg, the Boro boss, labelled Southampton cheats, with the Saints’ bizarre media behaviour hardly doing anything to refute the allegations. Southampton have created this problem themselves, nobody else, and they’re acting like children in their press interviews.
It’s almost as if they’re insulted at being asked about the behaviour they’ve been caught up in. Of course, there will probably be a legal issue, but the attitude of manager Tonda Eckert has lacked class, and the overall media management has been to try to close it down. Again, you created this mess, nobody else. Front it up and deal with it like adults. To suggest the manager would have no knowledge of what one of the club’s technical staff is doing is ridiculous, and he must carry the can.
The EFL are in a nightmare position, and with time running out with so much to sort out ahead of the final, a decision needs to be made quickly, for the sake of everyone. In reality, it feels extremely unlikely Saints would be booted out of the play-offs because of it, even if systemic cheating across the season is eventually proven.
And let’s not forget Hull City’s role in this. They also deserve to know who they’ll be facing in the biggest game in world football. The Tigers are relaxed about the situation and won’t want to get drawn into it, nor should they. Acun Ilicali was prodded on talkSPORT for his thoughts, but swerved the questions well and avoided getting drawn into it.
What we do know is that the Tigers have quietly gone about their business, and will continue to do so and let the process take the it’s course. They’ll prepare for Southampton next Saturday, and if that changes, they’ll pivot to Middlesbrough. As Sergej Jakirovic says, he knows everything he needs to know about every side in the Championship. He’s a manager not obsessed with data or styles, and will just crack on.
If it is to be Southampton, City will certainly have the backing of the neutrals, and such a carry on can’t be good preparation for whoever the Tigers face next Saturday.
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