Although Southampton missed out on advancing to the play-off final with a spot in the Premier League on the line due to the spying scandal, he backed up Tonda Eckert.
Published June 2, 2026
Southampton manager Tonda Eckert has apologized for orchestrating the Spygate scandal that led to the club’s expulsion from the Championship play-offs, but owner Dragan Solak has insisted he will not sack the player.
“I want to sincerely apologize for everything that happened and as the head coach, I want to put my hands up because I take responsibility for everything that happened at this football club,” Eckert said in a video statement Tuesday.
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Saints were expelled from last month’s play-off final after admitting they had observed training conducted by semi-final opponents Middlesbrough and that there had been two similar incidents during the season.
The Football Association has also launched its own investigation, which could see Eckert prosecuted, while also receiving a four-point deduction that will be applied to the 2026-27 Championship table.
The English Football League’s (EFL) independent disciplinary committee ruled there was a “detailed and determined plan from the top down to gain a competitive advantage” through espionage.
The paper said Eckert had authorized this tactic and highlighted the “particularly deplorable” use of junior staff to carry out covert operations.
Southampton defeated Middlesbrough 2-1 in the play-off semi-final, but Boro came back and lost to Hull City in the final, gaining promotion to the Premier League.
The prize money for the winner of the final is considered the richest in world football, with the winner joining the world’s richest domestic league. Mr Hull will receive an estimated 200 million pounds ($268 million) in additional income.
Eckert, who took over as head coach in December, released an eight-minute video statement about the scandal on Southampton’s social media channels.
The 33-year-old said: “After six months of building relationships (with fans), I’m devastated that the season has come to an end and we couldn’t have been in a worse situation than we are now.”
He claimed that in other countries it was routine to watch other teams, but admitted that was no excuse for his actions in England’s second division.
“When I worked in Italy for more than four years, the entire starting lineup we selected for a match always appeared in the media before the match,” he said.
“And the reason is that our training sessions, especially our pre-match training sessions, have always been observed by the media and always been observed by the opposing teams we played against.”
“Pep Guardiola talked about this when he was at Bayern Munich, saying that it was common in Germany for players to observe training sessions knowing that other teams would do the same.
Many expected Eckert to lose his job after Southampton were kicked out of the play-offs, but Solak strongly supported Eckert in his own post on the club channel on Tuesday.
“Tonda’s time as head coach has been successful so far. Our form in 2026 is impressive and I believe he is the person to take us forward,” Solak said.
“As a board, we have our full support for him and our only goal together is to win promotion to the Premier League.”
Separately, Solak told the BBC that Tonda were the subject of a witch-hunt in the media and believed the club had been given an “excessive sentence”.
“I don’t think Tonda knew that it was a rule that he was breaking,” said the Serbian player, whose media company acquired a majority stake in the South Coast club in 2022.
“My personal opinion, and the board’s opinion, is that he is a manager who deserves our support and should be supported.”
