Tonda Eckert

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Who's telling the truth though? I don't trust the Beeb for one minute, they seem to be revelling in Saints' misery and this 'new' artcle is not at all balanced. Are they trying to influence the FA? Just asking…………..

The club statement is hardly anything to really bother about either. 

[Zorba]

1 minute ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Nah, not buying that. If Millwall had been looking at Charlton's training sessions you think mad Nate would let that go?

Ey Boyo.. Is tharra Bushwacker in that bush?

[trousers]

Please could someone ping me a link to the FA statement which announced they are investigating the club and/or it's staff? (and, in particular, if they mention the manager specifically)

All I can find is reports from the likes of Sky and BBC stating that "an FA spokesman" says they've commenced an investigation which "could" lead to charges but, as I say, I can't actually find the original statement from the horse's mouth...

I'm obviously not insinuating that the MSM were/are making stuff up, but surely any reports of a FA investigation would have to be backed up by an official statement from them?

Maybe it's just a sign that my Googling prowess is on the wain...!

Anyone got a link to the actual FA statement (rather an article reporting about it)?

Cheers 👍🏻

Edited 4 hours ago by trousers

[HarvSFC]

I do wonder why the bullying narrative didn't come up out before he got caught, or was he also happy to try and get a taste of the Premier League money?

[OneMrsWallace]

35 minutes ago, LegalEagle said:

One thing is certain in my mind. If the club were going to sack him they would have done so by now. They are in possession of all of the facts. The only way he will not be our manager next season is if the FA ban him. Bring it on.

Technically I think it can be argued he is guilty of gross misconduct. That's an immediate dismissal. The fact this hasn't happened already suggests they want to keep him. Not sure whether to laugh or cry TBH. Part of me says let him stay because I think he could get us promoted, but the stench will follow him/the club like Pig Pen from Peanuts. And if he stays, how many players will want to leave? It's more fucked up than an episode from Breaking Bad. 

 

[trousers]

53 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

If everyone is at it, am sure more teams would have got caught out way before we did. 

Or maybe, it's easy not to get caught, especially for those clubs whose training grounds are accessible to the general public, most of whom are probably standing there gawping at the training session and/or recording it on their phone? If you allow the general public to view your training sessions then it must be easy to mingle with them and thus stay incognito? 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by trousers

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

Or maybe, it's easy not to get caught, especially for those clubs whose training grounds are accessible to the general public, most of whom are probably standing there gawping at the training session and/or recording it on their phone? If you allow the general public to view your training sessions then it must be easy to mingle with them and thus stay incognito? 

 

I fully understand what you are saying, but someone somewhere would have raised a flag regarding this at some point. I just don't believe this is systematic across the leagues in the UK.

[OneMrsWallace]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

Or maybe, it's easy not to get caught, especially for those clubs whose training grounds are accessible to the general public, most of whom are probably standing there gawping at the training session and/or recording it on their phone? If you allow the general public to view your training sessions then it must be easy to mingle with them and this stay incognito? 

 

I miss the days you could just wander along to the Common to see the Saints players in pre-season training 😅 

[aintforever]

3 minutes ago, trousers said:

Or maybe, it's easy not to get caught, especially for those clubs whose training grounds are accessible to the general public, most of whom are probably standing there gawping at the training session and/or recording it on their phone? If you allow the general public to view your training sessions then it must be easy to mingle with them and thus stay incognito? 

 

This, it must be so easy to get away with. If we hadn’t been so stupid as to stick his picture up on the website we would probably be in the Prem now.

[Teamsaint1]

3 minutes ago, OneMrsWallace said:

I miss the days you could just wander along to the Common to see the Saints players in pre-season training 😅 

They trained at the BTC ground back in the 70s. Used to go down and watch them.  

Edited 4 hours ago by Teamsaint1

[Willo of Whiteley]

47 minutes ago, wild-saint said:

why would the fa want to drag it out until the middle of july?

They probably couldn’t care less.

I’m pretty confident we’re keeping this pointless feud going now.

The club just needs to take the loss and move on. It’s done ffs.

We need to start preparing for next season.

[Matthew Le God]

17 minutes ago, OneMrsWallace said:

 It's more fucked up than an episode from Breaking Bad. 

I think it is more like an episode of Malcolm in the middle due to its farcical nature!

Edited 4 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[trousers]

13 minutes ago, aintforever said:

This, it must be so easy to get away with. If we hadn’t been so stupid as to stick his picture up on the website we would probably be in the Prem now.

Indeed, and I don't think the "if others had done it they would have been caught by now" line is quite the 'gotcha' that some seem to believe it is. I've always said that one of the most surprising revelations that could come out of this whole saga is that it turns out we're the only club in the EFL that have ever carried out surveillance 'missions' such as these....

[hypochondriac]

16 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

They probably couldn’t care less.

I’m pretty confident we’re keeping this pointless feud going now.

The club just needs to take the loss and move on. It’s done ffs.

We need to start preparing for next season.

Not sure what you're suggesting. We have clearly accepted the outcome. We may separately take legal action in some form (I reckon unlikely but you never know.) None of that is going to prevent the FA from coming to a decision if that is what they are doing nor will it delay any decision which will allow us to prepare for next year.

Edited 4 hours ago by hypochondriac

[hypochondriac]

21 minutes ago, aintforever said:

This, it must be so easy to get away with. If we hadn’t been so stupid as to stick his picture up on the website we would probably be in the Prem now.

Nah. I reckon the Boro analyst knew we were doing it and he would have been identified as William salt whether he was on our website or not.

[trousers]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

Nah. I reckon the Boro analyst knew we were doing it and he would have been identified as William salt whether he was on our website or not.

Yep, this, actually 👍🏻

[saintant]

4 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

If the FA agree with the panel, he won’t. 
 

Says the Canadian incident is more relevant than the Leeds one, their manager revived a ban. But even more damning was this bit.

 

"FIFA has speculated, not without basis, that it would have imposed a higher sanction in the Bielsa case",

 

FIFA that bastion of integrity and moral values. Corrupt as a bent copper.

[saintant]

4 hours ago, SaintsLoyal said:

I can only imagine the club have employed these so called top lawyers, to stop Eckert being banned

Not sure Solak would consider that reason enough to shell out the monumental legal fees they will be charging.

[Willo of Whiteley]

I think the whole statement reeks of bullshit, waffle and no apology, and with no apology there is no real acknowledgment that the club has done anything wrong.

The club has.

Until there is an apology it just writes as a stroppy teenager that has had his computer taken away and that “I’m so hard done by!”

The club needs to out this shit to bed now and start focusing on getting people back onside.

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

I think the whole statement reeks of bullshit, waffle and no apology, and with no apology there is no real acknowledgment that the club has done anything wrong.

The club has.

Until there is an apology it just writes as a stroppy teenager that has had his computer taken away and that “I’m so hard done by!”

The club needs to out this shit to bed now and start focusing on getting people back onside.

No idea if they are but if they are looking to start legal action an apology at this point would probably be quite unhelpful. Besides, I had they had a full staff meeting soon and weren't planning a statement beyond this generic response one until after that.

[saintant]

54 minutes ago, trousers said:

Or maybe, it's easy not to get caught, especially for those clubs whose training grounds are accessible to the general public, most of whom are probably standing there gawping at the training session and/or recording it on their phone? If you allow the general public to view your training sessions then it must be easy to mingle with them and thus stay incognito? 

 

It also begs the question of why the Boro photographer was prowling around with a powerful zoom lens and decided that some guy with a phone camera 400 yards away could only have been a spy.  

[saintant]

28 minutes ago, trousers said:

Yep, this, actually 👍🏻

Wouldn't shock me to hear Boro paid for his train fare home 🙂

[The Wyvern]

Why is the Canadian Women's team judgement/punishment seen as the marker against which Tonda will be judged?  How does one sporting authority's judgement influence the decision of another, are there certain authorities that hold greater weight internationally than others? 

[The Wyvern]

12 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

I think the whole statement reeks of bullshit, waffle and no apology, and with no apology there is no real acknowledgment that the club has done anything wrong.

The club has.

Until there is an apology it just writes as a stroppy teenager that has had his computer taken away and that “I’m so hard done by!”

The club needs to out this shit to bed now and start focusing on getting people back onside.

I agree today's statement is generally weak for a number of reasons and it really wouldn't have taken much effort to stick a  paragraph in recognising and acknowledging the supporters, but there was an apology in the original statement from a week ago.  Club statement: League Arbitration Panel appeal | Southampton FC Official Site   "We know how painful this moment will be for our supporters, players, staff, commercial partners and the wider community who have given so much backing to the team throughout the season and we apologise once again to everyone impacted by this." and "We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to our supporters for the support, patience and loyalty they have shown throughout an incredibly difficult period."

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

5 minutes ago, The Wyvern said:

Why is the Canadian Women's team judgement/punishment seen as the marker against which Tonda will be judged?  How does one sporting authority's judgement influence the decision of another, are there certain authorities that hold greater weight internationally than others? 

This.

 

[josebaiw]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cq6pn58pmn4o

 

Big Dragan has spoken! 

[sfc4prem]

3 minutes ago, josebaiw said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cq6pn58pmn4o

 

Big Dragan has spoken! 

Big Drag getting stuck in. Love it.

[Patrick Bateman]

10 minutes ago, josebaiw said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cq6pn58pmn4o

 

Big Dragan has spoken! 

Love this - well done big man!

[Cuddles]

Dan Roan is 100% waking up with a horse's head.

[Saint86]

Solak doing his part to say the right words to try and galvanise the fanbase and club there... There is a way forward where everyone pulls together... Who knows, get promoted next season and it may even carry in into the prem and repair the bond between SR and the fans.

As a club and fans, we have been guilty of trying to be media darlings and everyone's favourite underdogs for years - that isn't an option for us anymore. May do us some good.