Solak backs Eckert to stay at Southampton despite Spygate leadership role

Southampton owner Dragan Solak has confirmed that manager Tonda Eckert will keep his job, despite an independent disciplinary commission finding that Eckert led a systematic spying operation that resulted in the club being expelled from the Championship play-offs last month.

The Saints were removed from the post-season after admitting to covertly observing the training sessions of three rival clubs during the course of the season, including semi-final opponents Middlesbrough. The commission described the scheme as a “contrived and determined plan from the top down” and found that junior staff involved in opposition analysis felt “pressurised to do the observations that Mr Eckert and the senior coaches wished them to do”, even though those staff members considered the practice morally wrong.

“My full support would be behind him actually, because I think he’s a super-talented manager,” Solak told BBC Sport. “I believe Tonda that he didn’t know that it was the rule that he was breaking. My personal opinion, and the opinion of the board, is that he is a manager who deserves to be backed by us and to be supported by us.”

Solak also offered a cultural explanation for Eckert’s conduct, noting that the German coach had previously worked in Italy and Germany, where the owner claimed such scouting practices are “basically common practice that nobody cares about.” The 39-page written reasons published by the League Arbitration Panel on Monday stated that Eckert himself was “surprised” to learn that EFL regulations prohibited the activity.

Despite his public backing, Solak issued a pointed warning to the 33-year-old. “I told him, ‘You almost broke my heart. You do it again, you’ll kill me. The next time I see you in July, if you don’t know the EFL book of rules by heart, you can’t work for me. Because we can’t have another mistake.’”

Southampton launched an appeal against their punishment — which also includes a four-point deduction for next season — but it was rejected by the League Arbitration Panel. Eckert, who was appointed in December and guided the Saints to the FA Cup semi-finals before a narrow defeat to Manchester City, could still face a personal ban from the FA over his role in the affair.