Tonda Eckert

[egg]

8 hours ago, SW11_Saint said:

With respect, you’re missing the point - they were asked to do something that they felt uncomfortable with because it felt wrong (and was wrong, per EFL rules). That is entirely different from being pressured to deliver a legitimate piece of work by your boss. 

There was documented evidence of WhatsApp messages exerting pressure to do this, despite their reticence, which is why the judge described it as ‘deplorable’. 

Indeed. Context and nuance is important. There's a massive power imbalance with top down requests to the most junior people, and that can make the pressure feel more coercive. If the pressure is to do something urgent but legitimate, no real issue, but if it's to do something inappropriate or improper (as this was), the boss could be considered to be exploiting someone vulnerable (i.e. interns and juniors) then the pressure may be nudging into bullying territory.

Anyways, the decision has been made, findings have been made, and post mortems don't bring things back to life so it's time to move on. 

[egg]

2 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I assume the intern has a pair of balls and a mouth?

Yes, but he was an intern. That's a big part of the point.

There's a world of difference between peer pressure where it's easy to tell someone to do one, and being the kid who hasn't even got a job yet but wants/needs to impress and do as he's told. 

[Hopper]

The lad took a full time position. If he felt the relationship with Tonda was untenable he wouldn't have accepted it and might have rightly had grounds for unfair/constructive dismissal.

If it were truly bullying I don't think he would have signed especially knowing the board are sticking with Tonda. Ultimately if Tonda has held his hands up admitted guilt and apologised and the intern has accepted this and they've decided to move on I don't see what the outcry is about. Things happen in workplaces, most often they are resolved either through mediation or some other means and people get on.

[saintwbu]

29 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

99% of the story is about spying and part of that was pressuring interns to support that even though it was against the rules.

Frothing at the mouth about something that is at the fringes of the story I don't actually think adds to anything when the main facts are undisputed and admitted to.

There’s no frothing at the mouth that I can see, and it doesn’t feel like it’s the fringes of the story when it seems to be the main aspect of why others want to see Tonda sacked - because he’s a ‘bully and the club shouldn’t employ someone who is such. 

[CB Fry]

14 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I assume the intern has a pair of balls and a mouth?

I assume that a guy who spent two years working as an assistant at a EFL football club would know the rules of the league he was playing in rather than pretending he didn't.

Maybe he doesn't have a pair of eyes or ears.

To try and pin a load of blame on an intern for not speaking out more is a disgrace from Solak and here, you.

[Sheaf Saint]

11 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Well yes - if we intentionally did it and if we ultimately used it, but not in the same way as an analyst being instructed to go over there, watch and record etc. 

But that is exactly what happened, according to the statements given to the EFL...

https://images.gc.eflservices.co.uk/4863abd0-5dc8-11f1-9347-83110955f550.pdf

The Ipswich Incident

22. The Club was scheduled to play Ipswich in a home fixture on the evening of 28 April 2026. In preparation, Ipswich trained at Eastleigh Football Club (“Eastleigh”) prior to the match. The evidence before the Commission was that Southampton and Eastleigh had a close working relationship.

23. Mr Eckert’s evidence before the Commission was that he had understood that someone from Eastleigh had sent CCTV footage of the Ipswich training session to someone at Southampton, the existence of which he (Mr Eckert) knew only a couple of hours before kick-off. After a short while, he asked for it to be switched off, so he could concentrate on the pre-match meeting. He said the footage showed nothing of influence, and he made no alterations to the match preparations which were in any event complete by that time.

24. However, it was Analyst 1’s evidence that the Assistant Coach (one of Southampton’s First Team Coaches) told him that Mr Eckert had said at an earlier match preparation meeting that “someone should go to Eastleigh to look at Ipswich”; and the Junior Analyst Intern said he was approached by the Assistant Coach to go to Eastleigh to watch Ipswich “as the boss is adamant that someone needs to go”. The Junior Analyst Intern felt uncomfortable doing this and said, “No”, and no further pressure was applied for him to go. Analyst 1 also felt uncomfortable: he said in his evidence that he grouped himself with the younger members of the analysis team who were being pressurised into carrying out observations, and he felt pressurised himself. Furthermore, at the time of the Ipswich match, he was attending a UEFA Coaching Course. So, he did not go to observe the Ipswich training session either. But Analyst 2 called him when he was at that course, saying the coaches were insistent that someone should go to Eastleigh, and Analyst 1 called an Academy Analyst Intern who had worked with Eastleigh before, and he said he would go. Analyst 1 asked that he be provided with Eastleigh kit and a legend, i.e. what his supposed “role” was at Eastleigh.

25. The Junior Analyst duly went to Eastleigh and observed the training sessions. Someone at Eastleigh video recorded the whole session on the morning of the match, this was sent to Southampton. From that footage, the Club was able to predict the exact Ipswich team for the fixture.

 

So there was much more to it than us just obtaining CCTV footage and not watching it. 

[CB Fry]

2 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

There’s no frothing at the mouth that I can see, and it doesn’t feel like it’s the fringes of the story when it seems to be the main aspect of why others want to see Tonda sacked - because he’s a ‘bully and the club shouldn’t employ someone who is such. 

Well he hasn't been sacked and isn't going to be sacked.

How long do you want to prolong playing the victim being you have got what you want?

Edited 5 hours ago by CB Fry

[obelisk]

5 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

How long do you want to prolong playing the victim being you have got what you want?

Some see the original transgression as a minor offence that has brought about a disproportionate punishment, that the allegations of bullying are over-egged and want to move on with preparations for next season.

Others, such as Mr Blackmore, want to continue beating themselves with sticks while the club goes about some sort of self-immolation in order to satisfy an angry mob of accusers who still think the punishment handed down wasn't enough.

It would seem that the former are now the majority. What is it that the latter minority want?

[Farmer Saint]

Tonda isn't innocent, but the crying and pearl clutching from some of our fans is embarrassing. Stop being such pussies.

[benjii]

Loan him to Goztepe?

[saintwbu]

19 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Well he hasn't been sacked and isn't going to be sacked.

How long do you want to prolong playing the victim being you have got what you want?

Ah, I see, you were one who wanted him sacked. That explains it. 

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, obelisk said:

Others, such as Mr Blackmore, want to continue beating themselves with sticks while the club goes about some sort of self-immolation in order to satisfy an angry mob of accusers who still think the punishment handed down wasn't enough.

I think this existing in your own mind.

[Maggie May]

42 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

I assume the intern has a pair of balls and a mouth?

Excuse me, sir. This is a family website. 

[Farmer Saint]

25 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Well he hasn't been sacked and isn't going to be sacked.

How long do you want to prolong playing the victim being you have got what you want?

I'm confused by your attitude on this, as you have consistently shown yourself to be a bully on this forum - you present yourself as the hard man, the enforcer, and this is where you draw the line. 

Very odd.

[egg]

16 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Tonda isn't innocent, but the crying and pearl clutching from some of our fans is embarrassing. Stop being such pussies.

There's no pearl clutching, rather some posters who aren't seeking to push back against conclusions and what's happened. I think he's a lucky lad to still be here. 

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Tonda isn't innocent, but the crying and pearl clutching from some of our fans is embarrassing. Stop being such pussies.

Quite right. Boo hoo the media are being horrible and why aren't our club media contacts unflinchingly loyal and obedient to whatever the club says. Agree it is pathetic.

[CB Fry]

18 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

I'm confused by your attitude on this, as you have consistently shown yourself to be a bully on this forum - you present yourself as the hard man, the enforcer, and this is where you draw the line. 

Very odd.

I thought people needed to "stop being such pussies"?

[obelisk]

31 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Tonda isn't innocent, but the crying and pearl clutching from some of our fans is embarrassing. Stop being such pussies.

There's a few that don't seem to understand the concept of a team game. Certainly wouldn't want to see some of the surrender attitude on the pitch in the coming season.

[Farmer Saint]

13 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

I thought people needed to "stop being such pussies"?

They do - what's your point?

[Farmer Saint]

29 minutes ago, egg said:

There's no pearl clutching, rather some posters who aren't seeking to push back against conclusions and what's happened. I think he's a lucky lad to still be here. 

He is a bit lucky, I agree, and a worse manager would have been sacked. However, this virtue signalling faux outrage at spying and sending an adult to video a training session is overblown in my opinion.

[Scully]

When the rest of the league and the media is pushing for maximum punishment then thats you need to push back, not to cave in. Nobody is going to help the club or show any pity when they seek to benefit from the outcome

[Fitzhugh Fella]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

I assume that a guy who spent two years working as an assistant at a EFL football club would know the rules of the league he was playing in rather than pretending he didn't.

Maybe he doesn't have a pair of eyes or ears.

To try and pin a load of blame on an intern for not speaking out more is a disgrace from Solak and here, you.

Yea completely blaming an intern is unacceptable but my remark - although slightly tongue in cheek - has some validity. I would have a bit more admiration if he had challenged (or at least questioned) what he was being asked to do. The whole intern thing is morally wrong anyway. Slave labour. My  neighbour's son is an intern at Ipswich and apparently he too is treated like shit.

[coalman]

8 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

Yea completely blaming an intern is unacceptable but my remark - although slightly tongue in cheek - has some validity. I would have a bit more admiration if he had challenged (or at least questioned) what he was being asked to do. The whole intern thing is morally wrong anyway. Slave labour. My  neighbour's son is an intern at Ipswich and apparently he too is treated like shit.

That cannot be true. Saints are the only team to indenture and then abuse their junior staff. Everyone knows that. Henry Winter told us.

[CB Fry]

34 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

They do - what's your point?

Stop crying about someone on a web forum being a “bully” and a “hard man” maybe?

[egg]

31 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

He is a bit lucky, I agree, and a worse manager would have been sacked. However, this virtue signalling faux outrage at spying and sending an adult to video a training session is overblown in my opinion.

There's no "faux outrage" or "virtue signalling" on here. Some people are acknowledging what's happened, and aren't willing to join the cool kids trying to dismiss what's happened, nothing more. 

[egg]

15 minutes ago, Fitzhugh Fella said:

Yea completely blaming an intern is unacceptable but my remark - although slightly tongue in cheek - has some validity. I would have a bit more admiration if he had challenged (or at least questioned) what he was being asked to do. The whole intern thing is morally wrong anyway. Slave labour. My  neighbour's son is an intern at Ipswich and apparently he too is treated like shit.

Put yourself in his shoes. You're a kid, wanting a career, wanting to impress, and hopefully get a job or at least a cracking reference. You know it ain't right, but what do you do? In his shoes, many people would have done what he did - saying you wouldn't is easy to say from behind a keyboard, but that kid was there in reality. 

Any reasonable tribunal was right to conclude that Tonda's behaviour was deplorable. 

[Toadhall Saint]

Personally I think this round and round in circles thread needs to be locked to be opened when the FA come back with their judgement or the season starts ( not sure what will come first).

[saintant]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

There's no "faux outrage" or "virtue signalling" on here. Some people are acknowledging what's happened, and aren't willing to join the cool kids trying to dismiss what's happened, nothing more. 

If we're honest nobody knows exactly what happened or how it transpired regarding the allegations of bullying other than those within the club who were actually involved. There may have been significant bullying or it may have been relatively minor. It goes on at every workplace so let's not make out we are the only organisation doing it and that's not me condoning it, I'm just trying to put it into perspective. Doesn't make me a 'cool kid' or mean that I'm not acknowledging what's happened. 

[Scully]

Could be that Tonda has agreed to take the blame to protect his staff. 

[Toadhall Saint]

2 minutes ago, saintant said:

If we're honest nobody knows exactly what happened or how it transpired regarding the allegations of bullying other than those within the club who were actually involved. There may have been significant bullying or it may have been relatively minor. It goes on at every workplace so let's not make out we are the only organisation doing it and that's not me condoning it, I'm just trying to put it into perspective. Doesn't make me a 'cool kid' or mean that I'm not acknowledging what's happened. 

Only a bully would categorise bullying to major or minor.

It’s not about the bully it’s about the person being bullied.

[egg]

10 minutes ago, saintant said:

If we're honest nobody knows exactly what happened or how it transpired regarding the allegations of bullying other than those within the club who were actually involved. There may have been significant bullying or it may have been relatively minor. It goes on at every workplace so let's not make out we are the only organisation doing it and that's not me condoning it, I'm just trying to put it into perspective. Doesn't make me a 'cool kid' or mean that I'm not acknowledging what's happened. 

I'm not sure where to start with this. 

We know what was concluded, and that's that Tonda sent people against their wishes to do something wrong. His behaviour was said to be "deplorable". We know that was in a work setting, with an intern, and where there was a significant power imbalance. It's easy to understand why the word bullying could be attached to what happened, but whether that's too strong a word doesn't matter, the facts are clear as day. 

What takes place in other work places is completely irrelevant. 

[Farmer Saint]

39 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Stop crying about someone on a web forum being a “bully” and a “hard man” maybe?

Ah, I thought it was in reference to you being a hypocrite.

[Scully]

If he was such a bully would he really be retained and would the players want to play for him? Theres a lot more to this than what has been volunteered outwards

[LiberalCommunist]

The self flagellation is nauseating. If you feel that disgusted by this situation, then take the summer off, and by the time the new season starts if you feel the same, find a new sport.

But we've served our punishment now. Move on. 

[Lighthouse]

21 minutes ago, Scully said:

If he was such a bully would he really be retained and would the players want to play for him? Theres a lot more to this than what has been volunteered outwards

There are plenty of bullies out there who only pick on one or a couple of people in any given social group. Most of them will only display such behaviour to people they feel are beneath them and are in some way weak and powerless.

I don't believe Tonda to be an inherently nasty person. I'd like to think he doesn't needlessly belittle people out of spite or ego. Nevertheless the reports about his behaviour certainly suggest unpleasant behaviour in coercing junior staff members into tasks they weren't comfortable with, which fall outside their job description and indeed the laws of the game.

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Farmer Saint said:

Ah, I thought it was in reference to you being a hypocrite.

The only hypocrite is you - you are crying about me being a bully but accusing anyone questioning potential bullying by others as being "pussies".

Make it make sense.

[Saint Fan CaM]

3 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I assume that a guy who spent two years working as an assistant at a EFL football club would know the rules of the league he was playing in rather than pretending he didn't.

Maybe he doesn't have a pair of eyes or ears.

To try and pin a load of blame on an intern for not speaking out more is a disgrace from Solak and here, you.

People read and hear what they want to read and hear when they don’t have an open mind. Some want to believe the worst of situations most of time and then keep ramming down people’s throats for some strange reason. But here we are.

[tdmickey3]

19 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

The only hypocrite is you - you are crying about me being a bully but accusing anyone questioning potential bullying by others as being "pussies".

Make it make sense.

Dont be bully or a pussy

[Swaythling Saint]

1 hour ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Personally I think this round and round in circles thread needs to be locked to be opened when the FA come back with their judgement or the season starts ( not sure what will come first).

Yep - all hinges on the outcome of the FA investigation 

[CB Fry]

Just now, tdmickey3 said:

Dont be bully or a pussy

Fine, I'm neither so works for me.

Pick up with @Farmer Saint who is at least one of them

[Farmer Saint]

15 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Fine, I'm neither so works for me.

Pick up with @Farmer Saint who is at least one of them

Stop bullying me, or I might start crying about the fact that a nasty man hasn't been sacked.

Edited 1 hour ago by Farmer Saint

[Farmer Saint]

37 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

The only hypocrite is you - you are crying about me being a bully but accusing anyone questioning potential bullying by others as being "pussies".

Make it make sense.

Yeah, you've clearly lost this one 😂

This is the problem when you're a contrarian and those contrary views conflict with previous views and traits. Just something for you to keep in mind in the future 👍

Edited 1 hour ago by Farmer Saint

[saintwire]

This does my head in. But… but… ToNDa eAtS bABieS!

 

Think about it. He’s such a bully that he managed to get 11 overpaid, spoilt, unmotivated 20-something boys, who were in the bowels of the league, suddenly playing like superstars and leaving their innards out on the pitch every week for him.  They love him and still want to back him as the manager. Doesn’t that say something about how much of a bully he isn’t?

 

Wasn’t that long ago that we were all saying how we’ve found a deep connection with the club again, largely because of him. And now we seem to be turning into an internal lynch mob because some northern journos said so? You know, the ones that will say anything contentious for clicks? Does the report even detail any actual bullying? Tonda said “someone needs to go” and the intern could have said no (as he apparently had before, and was excused) but for some reason didn’t this time. Hardly coercive is it. 

 

Seems to me like the only one crying about bullying is the cockwomble in hi-vis jeans, whose ineptitude at his job and abject shitness at Hide and Seek, got us into this mess in the first place. Wonder why that might be? 

[CB Fry]

24 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Stop bullying me, or I might start crying about the fact that a nasty man hasn't been sacked.

You know it was you who raised the topic about me being a bully right?

Cry more