Former Middlesbrough defender Tommy Smith has slammed Southampton’s actions.
He said on the +72 Dootball Daily podcast: “To be honest, when I first heard the news, I almost couldn’t believe it. I thought, ‘That can’t be happening.’
“With everything that happened with Marcelo Bielsa in 2019, and the rules that were put in place in the wake of that, and obviously to stop teams from committing this kind of behavior, for something like this to happen on the eve of one of the biggest games in English football, I think it’s absolutely disgraceful, I really do.”
“I feel strongly about that. For all the hard work that went into the 46-game season, all the coaches, all the analysts, all the staff, all the hard work that went into giving our players the best platform to produce and get the best results. In my opinion, there’s no other word to say than this is disgraceful.”
“I don’t know what kind of punishment will be given. But in my opinion, the punishment needs to be strong. There is no room for that in the game.”
