Middlesbrough manager, Kim Hellberg believes that Southampton’s comeback win is “no longer fair” after 2-1 aggregate defeat in their Play-Off Semi-Final tie.
Comeback goals from Ross Stewart and Shea Charles saw Southampton beat Middlesbrough last night (12 May) 2-1 at St Mary’s Stadium to prevail on aggregate, after the first leg finished goalless at the Riverside Stadium last Saturday (9 May).
The result meant that Southampton are scheduled to meet Hull in the Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium, London, on Saturday 23 May, subject to the outcome of an investigation into alleged spying from the Saints on Boro’s training at Rockcliffe last Thursday (7 May).
Southampton are currently awaiting an Independent Disciplinary Commission hearing into charges concerning unsporting behaviour and spying, which EFL elected to charge them with just over 14 hours before the first leg and has an unclear variety of potential sanctions.
Nevertheless Hellberg is bullish on whether Boro could be put through to the final if Southampton are thrown out, as he praised Southampton players and fans for their role in the semi-final tie as he spoke to media in his post-match press conference.
“We will see what happens. First thing is that I want to congratulate the Southampton players. They’ve done brilliantly.
“To their supporters, they haven’t been a part of this. They need to be congratulated and happy for their team. I want to say that to them. I think they deserve it. They fought very well.
Hellberg proceeded to speak about his ambition to manage in the Premier League and desire to achieve it via “the tactical element” against much richer teams or resourceful clubs, and in emotional scenes he addressed the pain of how the spygate saga took away that aspect.
“Then, of course, for me in a role as a coach, because that’s the thing I can talk about from my perspective. I worked 15 years as a coach to try to get to the Premier League. That’s my dream. That’s been my dream for 15 years.
“When I take the Middlesbrough job, I know that there are clubs with bigger resources or parachute payments, that means more money to spend. There are teams, to be fair, that had bigger squads than us. Teams that have more money to spend.
“What you have as a coach and what you have as a group is the tactical element of the game – where we can beat the opponent. And that’s what I think everyone loves about the game.
“I think that’s why I look at England and think ‘this is the home of football’. This is where I want to be. This is what I dream about. That’s why I wanted to be here.
“When you battle with teams who have more money and a bigger squad, you try to find a way of doing the tactical element to get the advantage. That’s what you always try to do because we can be better in that element.
“When that is taken away from you, I think it’s no longer fair. It has nothing to do with what they see or what they saw, how they affected the game, or if it was free kicks they saw, or goal kicks they saw, whatever they saw.”
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