Should Saints sack Tonda?

[SNSUN]

Ok, we'd have never beaten Hull so I reverse my decision until such a point as the EFL or further incriminating evidence is presented.

Tonda is our king! 😏

But seriously...

Still yes. Culture bad. Reputation bad. Fresh start.

[St. Ciervo]

17 minutes ago, Saint Fen said:

I’m surprised it is so close a vote. 
I’ve always said depends on the players. Fans are always here so win lots of games get us promoted everyone forgets.

Exactly right. Everyone has given valid points here. If the players can handle it, and if TE doesn't get hit with a massive ban, then I could be convinced to use it as fuel. Also... he should coach for room-and-board levels of compensation...

My great fear is that we piss about for so long with no resolution that we have to panic-hire right at the start of the season. That would be the only unacceptable outcome for me. SR will surely go down this path. 

[wild-saint]

Keep him.

[CamberwellSaint]

hi Saints fans, long time reader, occasional poster here.

[last match I was at was the 0-2 vs PNE in Still's last game, so maybe I'm a sign of brighter days to come..  ]

We broke the rules, and under pressure from Gibson and football's frothing moralisers, we got penalised very harshly. Our hapless board failed abjectly to either play hardball [deny, deflect, delay] or game the disciplinary process smartly [get a reptilian reputational management consultancy and KC Pannick on board early doors].

The EFL are quietly ignoring their own rules in punishing us ['the play off final will be contested by the winners of the semi finals']. All those clutching their pearls about the sanctity of the competition and the sacred rules of the game can get f*cked, unless their clubs routinely offer to forfeit points every time a dive wins their club a game changing penalty. 

As others have said: If the players [or any that are likely to be here next season] are with him, Eckert should stay. Spying on oppo training is a stupid thing to do- not primarily because its against the rules, but because you don't find out anything that you can't from video analysis of the oppo results and the first 5 minutes of the game. As long as TE doesn't do it again, he's likely better than anyone else we're going to get, and perhaps this club need to embrace being disliked for a while.

The screw-you to the rest of the division and the EFL might actually bring the club and fans together. Anyone trust this board to appoint a new manager who's likely to mastermind 21-game unbeaten runs?

Answers on a postcard..

[Eire Saint]

9 hours ago, Cabrone said:

If he didn't know about the 72 hour rule then I'd give him a chance of redemption. He's a baby in management terms, was parachuted into a difficult situation and did a fantastic job.

The board get paid to be the wise heads that make sure everyone understands the rules. If their 1st  team coach didn't know something as fundamental as this I'd be asking why? They could have booked a day out somewhere, taken all the staff and spent the day going through the rules. They failed.

Also let's be real, if SR reappoint it will be another dodgy experiment. No thanks I'd rather have a contrite Tonda. If we let him go he'll be snapped up somewhere else.

I hope he stays and takes the stick, I'd respect him for that.

However it may be out of our hands.

Agree. Can't afford the risk of another rubbish appointment. His entire career is on the line here. He knows how to get results. 

Next seasons championship is going to be spicy. Probably the strongest lineup in quite a while. We need to be out of the blocks quick, normally takes the relegated sides a bit of time to adjust, we'll already be 4 points down so no room for messing about with a new manager tinkering. Get the squad settled early in pre season and get at them. 

[Starksj1995]

Tonda should be sacked why hasn’t he Been sacked yet 

[Harry_SFC]

I am another who initially thought he has to be sacked. The more I think about it the more I'm changing my mind. Can't see a way in which he isn't banned though. 

He won't have any issues getting a job elsewhere though. Probably the Bundesliga. 

[whelk]

Less angry now esp as Boro got done. Everyone fucks up so I’d forgive and keep

[ChristopheVAFC]

Hello everyone, here's my opinion on whether we should keep Tonda or not:

Keep Tonda:

- He has restored hope and implemented a more attractive style of play, and is currently on an impressive 19-game unbeaten run.

- He's a young coach with several convincing past experiences.

- He's been with the club for several years and knows how it operates well. If he stays, he'll understand what's needed to rebuild a team for next season.

- He could have a second chance provided he signs a code of ethics with the club and is supervised by management.

Don't keep Tonda:

- He has, seemingly, been the ringleader and has forced some people attached to the video analysis department to do things they didn't want him to do.

- He claims not to know the rule, but I'm still surprised no one has told him.

- Tonda will be booed on the bench all season, whether at home or away.

- For several months, he will be associated with the "Spygate" scandal, and this will further damage the club's reputation.

What do you think, dear friends?

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Harry_SFC said:

I am another who initially thought he has to be sacked. The more I think about it the more I'm changing my mind. Can't see a way in which he isn't banned though. 

He won't have any issues getting a job elsewhere though. Probably the Bundesliga. 

Bielsa did the exact same thing as Eckert. Nothing has materially changed in 7years from the fa's perspective.

There really isn't a leg to stand on for moaning about tonda costing us promotion, we were looking at a relegation scrap before he came in.

It's gonna come down to whether he gets banned as to whether we keep him imo.

Edited 12 hours ago by Saint86

[ooh it's a corner]

There are two stand out reasons why we  must keep Tonda. 1) The EFL want us to sack him. 2) Middlesbrough want us to sack him.

Those two reasons alone is why we should do the opposite.

[Harry_SFC]

3 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Bielsa did the exact same thing as Eckert. Nothing has materially changed in 7years from the fa's perspective.

There really isn't a leg to stand on for moaning about tonda costing us promotion, we were looking at a relegation scrap before he came in.

It's gonna come down to whether he gets banned as to whether we keep him imo.

I thought we would've beaten Hull in the final but it's impossible to say for sure. But you're right, he did an amazing job getting us to that position in the first place. 

I also laugh at some people (not Saints fans) saying "is he only a good manager because of the spying". Well we beat Fulham, Arsenal and nearly Man City without any of that. Plus the other teams who have secured training grounds. Does make it even more silly that it needed to be done in the first place.

He's obviously been a part of this spying throughout his career, but it's only been a problem this season because of the rule. 

[saintant]

24 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Bielsa did the exact same thing as Eckert. Nothing has materially changed in 7years from the fa's perspective.

There really isn't a leg to stand on for moaning about tonda costing us promotion, we were looking at a relegation scrap before he came in.

It's gonna come down to whether he gets banned as to whether we keep him imo.

I think you also have to factor in whether his relationship with the players is damaged. He's let them down as well as everyone else.

[LaptopSaint]

Biggest question for me is will the players play for him? Do they think he’s let them down or are they pissed off with the EFL/Gibson/Parsons whoever.
 

if the players are on board for an ‘us against the world’ season then it could work. If the club had any sense - news flash, it doesn’t - it would also be battering down the door at Amazon or Netflix for a fly-on-the-wall doc series on ‘Tonda’s second season: no one likes us, we don’t care’

Great redemptive arc as we walk the league including a spicy 5-0 win on Smogside, and two 3-0 demolitions of Pompey.  

[Matthew Le God]

56 minutes ago, ChristopheVAFC said:

Keep Tonda:

- He's been with the club for several years 

Not true, he has not even been here for 1 year yet! He joined on 11th July 2025.

[Starksj1995]

1 minute ago, LaptopSaint said:

Biggest question for me is will the players play for him? Do they think he’s let them down or are they pissed off with the EFL/Gibson/Parsons whoever.
 

if the players are on board for an ‘us against the world’ season then it could work. If the club had any sense - news flash, it doesn’t - it would also be battering down the door at Amazon or Netflix for a fly-on-the-wall doc series on ‘Tonda’s second season: no one likes us, we don’t care’

Great redemptive arc as we walk the league including a spicy 5-0 win on Smogside, and two 3-0 demolitions of Pompey.  

He’s gone soon not a chance he stays here 

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, LaptopSaint said:

Biggest question for me is will the players play for him? Do they think he’s let them down or are they pissed off with the EFL/Gibson/Parsons whoever.
 

None of that matters if he is banned by the FA. So 'will he be banned by the FA?' is the biggest question. I think the answer will be... yes.

Edited 11 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[ChristopheVAFC]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Not true, he has not even been here for 1 year yet! He joined on 11th July 2025.

Thank for the precision 🙏

[S-Clarke]

12 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Not true, he has not even been here for 1 year yet! He joined on 11th July 2025.

That's one of the biggest killers, someone who had not been known to this club or fans this time last year, has orchestrated something which has harmed our club for it's supports for a generation. We can all go on about the proportionate of the sanctions, but what he has instructed is still absolutley dumb as fuck.

He'll end up in Europe in a year, doing some backend analyst role, the whistle-blower will probably end up still employed at Boro, and Salt will still be studying and training. None of those people have any connection with Southampton like the fans.

But we will be here in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, still suffering from short-term decisions by a cohort of people who will be given the chance to have a clean break. We don't get a chance to have a clean break, as we are the fans and the lifeblood of this club. We now have to take the beatings for their actions.

Edited 11 hours ago by S-Clarke

[cambsaint]

He may have to take a break  from Saints dependent on FA ban, but Sports Republic have other teams in other leagues and in my opinion thy'd be mad to let him go.Possible destination Turkey if FA ban him from English football.

AS I have said earlier he could return a wiser and even better manager.Somebody in the club must have been aware of the  72 hour rule and should have advised him .

I still cannot see what all the fuss is about, when you consider what Man City have done and the praise heaped upon Pep and his achievements.

I will always consider him a near genius manager whatever the crap certain parts of the media continue to throw on him.

 

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

None of that matters if he is banned by the FA. So 'will he be banned by the FA?' is the biggest question. I think the answer will be... yes.

What makes you think the FA will treat him differently to Bielsa who, based on what we know so far, carried out / sanctioned many more spying missions than Eckert has?

(Please don't refer to the EFL rules being different... The moral seriousness of the act of spying is the same, regardless of the underlying rules, which aren't FA rules anyway... Surely the FA is guided by it's own rulebook in such matters...?)

Edited 10 hours ago by trousers

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

None of that matters if he is banned by the FA. So 'will he be banned by the FA?' is the biggest question. I think the answer will be... yes.

No doubt, but the question remains, who else was involved? I find it hard to believe that no one "above" Tonda knew what was happening, or at least did not proactively discourage him to break the rules. Unlikely as it may seem, its possible this was going on before Tonda was appointed, I mean Will Still's results would suggest otherwise, but if like me you don't believe that spying actually gains more than a miniscule benefit, who knows. Then there is the rest of the coaching staff, including the u21s, probably some of the players. To my mind better to have Eckert still employed by the Club until the FA complete their investigation, rather than him being an unemployed loose cannon. 

[trousers]

3 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

Unlikely as it may seem, its possible this was going on before Tonda was appointed, I mean Will Still's results would suggest otherwise

Given we didn't win any of the 3 games that we've admitted to spying on beforehand, we probably can't use the results to conclude whether it happened under Still or not

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, trousers said:

What makes you think the FA will treat him differently to Bielsa who, based on what we know so far, carried out / sanctioned many more spying missions than Eckert has?

(Please don't refer to the EFL rules being different... The moral seriousness of the act of spying is the same, regardless of the underlying rules, which aren't FA rules anyway...)

I don't recall there being a suggestion of Bielsa pressuring people below him, which is what we appear to have for Eckert.

[trousers]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I don't recall there being a suggestion of Bielsa pressuring people below him, which is what we appear to have for Eckert.

Yeah, fair point... I guess 'coercion' is indeed a potential differential here... Damn...! 

Edited 10 hours ago by trousers

[beatlesaint]

Sacked or not, I don't know, lets face it he isnt trying this again whatever happens and if the players want to play for him....

I think he'll be banned by the FA yes, but I dont think it'll be a long ban. If SFC did NOT make him aware of this 72 hour rule they are as much cupable. 

If this rule was in place worldwide then its a different story, and who knows, as a result of this it may well be going forward.

I do kind of like the siege mentality angle, its something Fergie spent years on at United after all.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Had he even said anything, maybe an apology is in order. I thought he wanted to discuss this, but was unable to. Well now’s the fucking time. Even if he’s being advised by lawyers, surely some kind of statement to the supporters is in order. 

[DellBlockH]

6 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I don't recall there being a suggestion of Bielsa pressuring people below him, which is what we appear to have for Eckert.

It depends on how you define pressure. Asking someone to do a job, and then insisting they do what you have asked, is not necessarily undue pressure. He is, after all, the one in charge and would expect his instructions to be carried out. I assume Bielsa did the same.

I hope we keep Tonda. The club has been punished comprehensively for something which gained, in the end, little or no advantage. We need to stop punishing ourselves further by getting rid of the most successful manager we've had in ages. The FA should draw the same conclusion. We wronged. We've been punished. Move on.

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, DellBlockH said:

It depends on how you define pressure. Asking someone to do a job, and then insisting they do what you have asked, is not necessarily undue pressure. He is, after all, the one in charge and would expect his instructions to be carried out. I assume Bielsa did the same.

I hope we keep Tonda. The club has been punished comprehensively for something which gained, in the end, little or no advantage. We need to stop punishing ourselves further by getting rid of the most successful manager we've had in ages. The FA should draw the same conclusion. We wronged. We've been punished. Move on.

The lad is quoted in not wanting to break the rules. Tonda told him to get shit done.

No one is denying this. There is more to come, you watch

[LoyalSaintSO50]

If he’s not banned, and assuming the players are still with him, keep him. He’s got a fantastic record. We’re going to get a load of faux outrage from everyone we play anyway. It will be a lot easier facing that winning games than with another disastrous appointment at the helm, which is fairly likely. 
 

He’s fucked up but we’ve gained no advantage, quite the opposite and it’s not exactly going to happen again.

[Hoggins]

Do the players want him?

[sadoldgit]

Interesting that it was originally about 2/3rds wanting him gone but now the anger has died down a bit it has moved closer to 50-50.

As others have said, I think it is down to the players. If they want him to stay, SR need to back him to the hilt. 

As a message of goodwill (and penance) I also think that SR should give the players their promotion bonuses.
 

Edited 10 hours ago by sadoldgit

[LegalEagle]

I see that the numbers are moving. 65/35 yesterday to get rid. Now 54/46. I’ve moved into the keep him camp.

[ecuk268]

1 hour ago, Hoggins said:

Do the players want him?

I'd say that this is the most important point.

If they do and if he eats a huge amount of humble pie then I accept him staying.

Football fans are very fickle and if he wins his first few games, it'll all die down.

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, LoyalSaintSO50 said:

If he’s not banned, and assuming the players are still with him, keep him. He’s got a fantastic record. We’re going to get a load of faux outrage from everyone we play anyway. It will be a lot easier facing that winning games than with another disastrous appointment at the helm, which is fairly likely. 
 

He’s fucked up but we’ve gained no advantage, quite the opposite and it’s not exactly going to happen again.

Knowing Hackney wouldn’t be playing was an advantage for a start.

 

[Mk1J]

1 hour ago, DellBlockH said:

It depends on how you define pressure. Asking someone to do a job, and then insisting they do what you have asked, is not necessarily undue pressure. He is, after all, the one in charge and would expect his instructions to be carried out. I assume Bielsa did the same.

I can imagine he’s a very blunt manager who tells people in no uncertain terms if they aren’t doing what he expects. I can also imagine some people who aren’t performing getting pissed off by this and throwing a hissy fit. 

[LoyalSaintSO50]

28 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Knowing Hackney wouldn’t be playing was an advantage for a start.

 

We were told that in the press conference 

[Whitey Grandad]

29 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Knowing Hackney wouldn’t be playing was an advantage for a start.

 

The whole of Middlesbrough knew that.

[Cabrone]

21 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

How good would he be without knowing team lineups or tactics in advance?

Like I said before, we should have pissed promotion with that squad.   Don’t think Eckert  is some genius.  A capable manager could have done what he did without cheating.

Should have gone for experience last Summer instead of Will Still.  Should go for experience now.

Firstly even if you think 20 odd games unbeaten in the champ is par for the course he also beat a solid Prem Fulham at their place, beat the prem champs and took the prem runners up to the wire. Any other champ manager would be hailed on high for that. He is streets ahead of anyone else we've had since Ralph and arguably Koeman.

Secondly he's only just started, how good could he be next year or the years to come with all the extra experience he's garnered? He'll never make this mistake again but he will become a better manager. I actually like his ruthlessness TBH, all the best managers have it, he was just naive.

Thirdly if the club drop him who actually thinks we'll get anyone as good? We'll most likely end up with another Nathan Jones\Ruben Selles and next season will be gone. We'll be in the champ\league 1 for a long time wondering what might have been.

Fourthly the players liked Tonda so I'm not convinced of a massive exodus. They know a good mgr when they see one. Some will go but hopefully there will still be enough talent around to mount a top 2 push.

Fifth it will feel like unfinished business if he leaves like this. I want him to earn redemption with the club and fans and I hope he's burning to right wrongs.

Finally I don't care much what other fans think, just tough it out and we'll get grudging respect eventually. Most of them really don't care much anyway. We are the fans he needs to please, he owes us.

 

[sfc4prem]

1 minute ago, Cabrone said:

Firstly even if you think 20 odd games unbeaten in the champ is par for the course he also beat a solid Prem Fulham at their place, beat the prem champs and took the prem runners up to the wire. Any other champ manager would be hailed on high for that. He is streets ahead of anyone else we've had since Ralph and arguably Koeman.

Secondly he's only just started, how good could he be next year or the years to come with all the extra experience he's garnered? He'll never make this mistake again but he will become a better manager. I actually like his ruthlessness TBH, all the best managers have it, he was just naive.

Thirdly if the club drop him who actually thinks we'll get anyone as good? We'll most likely end up with another Nathan Jones\Ruben Selles and next season will be gone. We'll be in the champ\league 1 for a long time wondering what might have been.

Fourthly the players liked Tonda so I'm not convinced of a massive exodus. They know a good mgr when they see one. Some will go but hopefully there will still be enough talent around to mount a top 2 push.

Fifth it will feel like unfinished business if he leaves like this. I want him to earn redemption with the club and fans and I hope he's burning to right wrongs.

Finally I don't care much what other fans think, just tough it out and we'll get grudging respect eventually. Most of them really don't care much anyway. We are the fans he needs to please, he owes us.

 

If he gets banned by the FA? Send him to Valenciennes for a bit?

[Crab Lungs]

I hope we don’t hang Tonda out to dry before he’s had a chance to talk and give his perspective. 

At the moment, all we’ve had to go on is a ridiculous media pile on led by the MSM and Boro. I don’t think we should be led by that narrative.

 If you want to be objective, you have to hear both sides.

We’ve only got the testimonies of a narrative driven investigation and line of questioning. I’m not saying he’s not done wrong, I accept that he likely has. I just think it’s far more nuanced and in some respects, might be blown out of proportion.

Until then then, I’m going to personally refrain on my judgement.

And if Tonda staying means a good chunk of players also do indeed stay, then i’m all for battening down the hatches and creating a siege mentality next season. I don’t mind us being the pantomime villain.

Spying aside, for the first time in a long time, we’ve got an edge. A bit of something about us. I’ve enjoyed our shithousery and I’m pretty sure until all this broke, everyone else did too.

 

 

 

[sadoldgit]

35 minutes ago, Mk1J said:

I can imagine he’s a very blunt manager who tells people in no uncertain terms if they aren’t doing what he expects. I can also imagine some people who aren’t performing getting pissed off by this and throwing a hissy fit. 

I have only seen an exchange of texts but they can come across as a bit terse sometime, that is why we have emojis. Perhaps Tonda was in a hurry and forgot to add a 😘 to his text?

[Oldandtired]

So...he gets the sack, we appoint A.N. Other as manager. It's almost guaranteed that in 6 months or less Saints 'fans'  will be calling for his head, moaning about his style of football and reminiscing about the good old days when we had Tonda Eckert as manager and were actually winning a few games.

That's how much faith I have in SR getting any new appointment right. This will go away eventually, other bandwagons will become available for hack reporters, hot air creating, bleeding' obvious statement producing over the hill 'pundits', and uncle Tom Cobley and all to concentrate on, we have to make sure we have a manager in place who can actually win a few games.

I admit I have wavered from one position to another but, on balance, am coming down on the side of keeping him. The thought of going back to the sterile football of a while back fills me with dread, at least there has been a bit of spectacle in recent times which I'd like to hang on to.

Edited 7 hours ago by Oldandtired

[Crab Lungs]

It’s also nice to see some more level headed stuff on here; it’s all reactionary crybabies on X ‘waaaah gotta go, morals, dignity etc’

Honestly, the people who go on about ‘being moral’ etc on there give me the creeps, big time. It’s almost as if they’re saying it because they’re inwardly morally repugnant themselves or they like to be ‘seen’ as nice people.

Weird.

 

 

[Harry_SFC]

2 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

No doubt, but the question remains, who else was involved? I find it hard to believe that no one "above" Tonda knew what was happening, or at least did not proactively discourage him to break the rules. Unlikely as it may seem, its possible this was going on before Tonda was appointed, I mean Will Still's results would suggest otherwise, but if like me you don't believe that spying actually gains more than a miniscule benefit, who knows. Then there is the rest of the coaching staff, including the u21s, probably some of the players. To my mind better to have Eckert still employed by the Club until the FA complete their investigation, rather than him being an unemployed loose cannon. 

There's absolutely no way Spors didn't know about this and no one will convince me otherwise. 

[StrangelyBrown]

2 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Had he even said anything, maybe an apology is in order. I thought he wanted to discuss this, but was unable to. Well now’s the fucking time. Even if he’s being advised by lawyers, surely some kind of statement to the supporters is in order. 

I'm starting to change my mind and think we should keep him, but there should be a serious from the heart grovelling apology, some serious commitment to doing something in the community, etc to try and reset the optics.

The longer the silence goes on the less authentic this will come across and the harder it will be to move on.

Also, the club need to come out and say no matter what they will throw the kitchen sink at us getting promoted next year.

[Whitey Grandad]

10 minutes ago, Crab Lungs said:

It’s also nice to see some more level headed stuff on here; it’s all reactionary crybabies on X ‘waaaah gotta go, morals, dignity etc’

Honestly, the people who go on about ‘being moral’ etc on there give me the creeps, big time. It’s almost as if they’re saying it because they’re inwardly morally repugnant themselves or they like to be ‘seen’ as nice people.

Weird.

 

 

'Tis the modern way.

[benjii]

I just don't see how we can have any stability whilst the FA Charge hangs over him (assuming it will come).

Continue for now, spend pre-season with him in charge, then find out he gets banned just before the season starts. Then we're scrabbling around for out of work folk.

A really Sport Republic approach would be to suspend him for a year, send him off to France / Turkey, and have Lallana cover for that year.

But, hopefully we just go and recruit the best person we can find.

Edited 7 hours ago by benjii

[sadoldgit]

4 minutes ago, StrangelyBrown said:

I'm starting to change my mind and think we should keep him, but there should be a serious from the heart grovelling apology, some serious commitment to doing something in the community, etc to try and reset the optics.

The longer the silence goes on the less authentic this will come across and the harder it will be to move on.

Also, the club need to come out and say no matter what they will throw the kitchen sink at us getting promoted next year.

Given that he seemed keen to talk about it before it all went nuclear I imagine that he is wanting to have his say. I also imagine that the club are telling him to keep quiet until they have got all their ducks in a row and comms agreed. The FA involvement doesn’t help but they can still do club/Tonda stuff before any further action comes forward.

[saint michael]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

Knowing Hackney wouldn’t be playing was an advantage for a start.

 

Hackney not play was an advantage but planning for him playing or not playing should have been standard stuff and available from previous games they played with and without. Didn’t need spying to confirm this