Middlesbrough 'deserve' play-offs reprieve over Southampton as huge Spygate twist develops | OneFootball

Boro have replaced Southampton in the play-off final this coming weekend - it's sent shockwaves through the footballing world

The upcoming EFL Championship play-off final received a shock twist on Tuesday, with an independent commission ruling that Middlesbrough will replace Southampton in the contest against Hull City.

Despite the Saints defeating Boro over two legs in their semi-final, Tonda Eckert's side have been punished for the 'Spygate' saga, which saw an analyst from the south coast club travel to Rockliffe Hall to observe a Kim Hellberg training session - only to be caught by Boro staff and chased off the premises.

Southampton were charged by the EFL for their spying offence on the eve of their first leg, but there was always a potential worry for them that they'd be punished heavily - especially when it was alluded to the possibility of other clubs being spied on throughout the season.

And as it happened, the independent commission's enquiry found that both Oxford United and Ipswich Town were also spied on during the season - both games in which Southampton failed to win - and as a result of their rule breaches, not only was a four-point deduction slapped on them for next season, but they were also kicked out of the play-off final.

The drama may not be over just yet though, with an appeal by Southampton over the severity of the punishment going into a completely separate three-person panel, which is expected to be heard later on Wednesday, and theoretically the decision could be overturned once more to give the Saints a path back to Wembley.

Middlesbrough reaction given to huge Spygate decision

News of Middlesbrough's place being handed to them in the play-off final has obviously gone down well on Teesside, and Football League World's Boro fan pundit Liam Daly believes that his club are fully deserving of it despite their loss over two legs, given the rules that Southampton broke.

"I've never seen anything like this to be honest with you, and the fact they've kept it on a Saturday, I hugely respect," Liam told FLW.

"It's good for the fans, it's good for everything, and I think Southampton have been fairly punished.

"They've admitted to spying on two other teams as well as us - it's ridiculous. I have no idea why they'd do that with the squad quality they've got, so I think it's all fair, the punishment is fair. They'll probably appeal it but I don't think they'll get re-instated, the best-case scenario for them is they get their points back.

"It's a big advantage against Hull - they've got to switch focus and prepare for a different team now, we've been preparing for them, so it does seem a bit unfair for them, but it would be very Boro to go and lose this final.

"It's an opportunity I think we deserve after everything that's gone on, and I'm very glad we've been given it after all the Southampton fans and how the team acted - we represented ourselves quite well and I'm glad we finally got what we deserved."

Spygate saga hasn't ended just yet - Southampton surely have no leg to stand on anymore though

The complications and time-frame surrounding Spygate and Saturday's play-off final meant that many could not see Southampton actually being kicked out of the play-offs - but now it's happened, it's opened a whole new set of questions.

For Southampton, they get the right to a quick appeal, but that is going to have to get wrapped up pretty quickly, as as it currently stands, Middlesbrough only have a few days to sell 35,000-plus tickets for Wembley as it currently stands, but there's a slim chance the new panel overturns the original decision.

Middlesbrough didn't do enough to beat Southampton over two legs, but they have every right to feel aggreived, and now that the decision has been made by the first panel, it would feel very harsh for a separate group of people to take that unexpected opportunity away.

Hull City cannot be forgotten about though - after dispatching Millwall over two legs, they've been preparing to play Southampton for the last week, only for that to get changed to Middlesbrough at late notice, which feels unfair on the preparations that Sergej Jakirovic will have been doing with his squad.

This tale may have one last twist to provide with the appeals panel, but given the admission of guilt on multiple counts, Southampton's hard-line punishment surely has to stand.