Hellberg and his squad flew to the south coast earlier this afternoon ahead of tomorrow night’s semi-final second leg, which will see Boro attempt to make it to Wembley after Saturday’s first leg on Teesside ended in a goalless draw.
The build-up to the semi-final tie was completely overshadowed by last Thursday’s spying incident at Rockliffe, which Boro allege involved a member of Southampton’s analysis team photographing and recording a first-team training session.
EFL rules clearly state that clubs are forbidden from observing opposition training sessions within 72 hours of a game, and Southampton have subsequently been charged with a breach of regulations. An Independent Disciplinary Committee will rule on the situation, with a number of different punishments available to them, ranging from a fine at one end of the scale to expulsion from the competition at the other.
Hellberg conducted his usual pre-match press conference earlier today, but did not want to spend too much time discussing the spying scandal. The Boro head coach passionately spelled out his anger at the situation when he addressed the press at the Riverside in the wake of Saturday’s first-leg draw, accusing Southampton of “cheating”, but claimed his focus had subsequently switched to preparing his side for the return game at St Mary’s.
However, while Hellberg has tried to move on from last week’s events, senior Boro officials have remained in regular contact with the EFL. There is also understood to have been dialogue between at least one high-ranking member of the Boro hierarchy and a senior figure within the executive-level leadership group at Southampton.
Boro have made the EFL aware of two key demands – first, that the Independent Disciplinary Committee hearing takes place as quickly as possible, and second, that if Southampton are found guilty of breaking the rules, they want ‘sporting sanctions’ rather than a fine, even if any financial penalty is significantly higher than the £200,000 figure Leeds United had to pay when they were found guilty of spying on Derby County at a time when there was no rule explicitly forbidding the practice.
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On the first of those fronts, there is not currently a date or time in place for a hearing, although Boro are understood to have informed the league that they want the opportunity to present their evidence and findings to the commission. In some cases, only written evidence is considered, but Boro officials want the opportunity to spell out what they believe happened and why they consider it to have been so damaging.
In terms of possible sanctions, Boro feel the possibility of Southampton being thrown out of the play-offs, even if they were to win tomorrow, compels the EFL to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
If Boro were to lose tomorrow, ordinarily that would be the end of their season and the squad would break up. As things stand, however, there is every chance that Hellberg would be told to keep his players in training until a commission ruling is delivered, even if they were to suffer semi-final defeat.
Similarly, Boro would have to start planning for a possible final appearance, even if they were to lose at the semi-final stage, if the case remained unresolved. That would create major logistical problems over the sale of tickets, booking travel and hotels for players, staff and supporters and drawing up a media and events schedule for a potential appearance at Wembley.
None of that is Hellberg’s concern, with the Boro boss adamant his sole focus in the next 24 hours has to be on events on the pitch at St Mary’s.
“I answered so many questions on Saturday, as honestly as I could to everyone,” said Hellberg. “But now, I think I need to, and we need to, talk about the game, that is the most important thing now.
“I said what I think about it very honestly on Saturday, to everyone, and took my time to do it, but now I want to prepare my team for this game.
“I said what I think about it, I think that’s crystal clear, but it’s up to the people who make the rules. It’s not for me to decide those things. I haven’t thought a second more about it [the hearing]. I am just preparing the team, that’s what’s going to happen and we’re going to prepare the team to try to win the game.”