Tonda Eckert

[Willo of Whiteley]

Let’s be brutally honest, every club up and down the country does it. It’s just the fact we got caught doing it.

He’ll get a six game ban, Middlesbrough will complain that justice still hasn’t been served and we’ll laugh and still finish ahead of them in the league.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

This will all be about the perceived nature of the bullying that was allegedly involved. The FA will want to be seen as making a stand against individuals who are supposed to be carrying out this behaviour. If they believe he has bullied club employees into spying on opponents then I think they will look to make an example of him. 

[badgerx16]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/13/spygate-saga-continues-to-haunt-southampton-as-case-drags-on

[CB Fry]

5 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Let’s be brutally honest, every club up and down the country does it. It’s just the fact we got caught doing it.

He’ll get a six game ban, Middlesbrough will complain that justice still hasn’t been served and we’ll laugh and still finish ahead of them in the league.

All correct apart from the Middlesbrough bit.

They won't say anything like that. They got the  punishment they wanted and for them it's over.

 

[saintant]

3 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

This will all be about the perceived nature of the bullying that was allegedly involved. The FA will want to be seen as making a stand against individuals who are supposed to be carrying out this behaviour. If they believe he has bullied club employees into spying on opponents then I think they will look to make an example of him. 

Where is the evidence of bullying? Isn't Salt still working for the club? Don't see bullying being an issue.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

This will all be about the perceived nature of the bullying that was allegedly involved. The FA will want to be seen as making a stand against individuals who are supposed to be carrying out this behaviour. If they believe he has bullied club employees into spying on opponents then I think they will look to make an example of him. 

Different division but Mourinho was cleared by the FA for his treatment of Eva Carneiro, despite a subsequent legal settlement. 

[Mboto Gorge]

20 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

All correct apart from the Middlesbrough bit.

They won't say anything like that. They got the  punishment they wanted and for them it's over.

 

Never known a more odious, butter wouldn’t melt fanbase than those cunts 

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

25 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/13/spygate-saga-continues-to-haunt-southampton-as-case-drags-on

"The incident left a deep stain on Southampton’s reputation, one that will take time to fade and will leave an indelible mark on their history."

When did Henry Winter and Troy Deeny start writing for The Guardian?!

[badgerx16]

Just now, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

"The incident left a deep stain on Southampton’s reputation, one that will take time to fade and will leave an indelible mark on their history."

When did Henry Winter and Troy Deeny start writing for The Guardian?!

Can Troy Deeny write ?

Edited 10 hours ago by badgerx16

[whelk]

14 hours ago, Dman said:

Hasn't he just had a child? 6 months at home, getting paid, with your newborn might seem appealing... 

fuck me have you got kids? 

[Football Special]

21 minutes ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Never known a more odious, butter wouldn’t melt fanbase than those cunts 

Almost every post about Saints on social media , up pops Boro fans , they were whipped up into a frenzy back in May and some of them just can't move on from it , build up to our game with them in November will be nauseous, crying Kim no doubt reiterating he's "forgiven us" 

[Mboto Gorge]

5 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Almost every post about Saints on social media , up pops Boro fans , they were whipped up into a frenzy back in May and some of them just can't move on from it , build up to our game with them in November will be nauseous, crying Kim no doubt reiterating he's "forgiven us" 

Funny thing is no-one else cares, just them, even Pompey fans aren’t that fussed about it. They’re an embarrassment 

[The Wyvern]

Also worth bearing in mind we haven’t actually felt the -4 punishment yet. Not until the end of the season will we actually know what the-4 punishment actually is. We finish 3rd, missing 2nd by a couple of points for example, it’s a completely different punishment to a team that finishes mid table this year. 
 

Or we miss out on the play off due to -4, that’s two years on the trot the punishment would have kicked us out of the playoffs, whole thing incredibly disproportionate the more I think about it. 

[DellBlockH]

13 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

why would he be getting paid?

Why wouldn't he? According to the EFL, the spying was authorised from the top. He'd have a case against the club if they stopped paying him for doing something they authorised. And, besides, we'd want him back at the end of any ban. And, in my opinion, given the EFL punishment, any ban would be disproportionate to the offence. A warning about future conduct would be fair, possibly with a suspended 3-match ban if they really feel they have to do something.

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, DellBlockH said:

Why wouldn't he? According to the EFL, the spying was authorised from the top. He'd have a case against the club if they stopped paying him for doing something they authorised. And, besides, we'd want him back at the end of any ban. And, in my opinion, given the EFL punishment, any ban would be disproportionate to the offence. A warning about future conduct would be fair, possibly with a suspended 3-match ban if they really feel they have to do something.

He has admitted guilt and previously offered to resign.

If he, personally, gets banned I can't imagine a scenario where he sits at home for 6 months on full pay

[sfc4prem]

43 minutes ago, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

"The incident left a deep stain on Southampton’s reputation, one that will take time to fade and will leave an indelible mark on their history."

When did Henry Winter and Troy Deeny start writing for The Guardian?!

The levels of sanctimony continue to baffle me. A stain? Indelible? Fuck off, no one gives a shit any more.

[RedArmy]

33 minutes ago, Football Special said:

Almost every post about Saints on social media , up pops Boro fans , they were whipped up into a frenzy back in May and some of them just can't move on from it , build up to our game with them in November will be nauseous, crying Kim no doubt reiterating he's "forgiven us" 

The way they go on you’d think they didn’t get to play in the final. 
 

 

[Maggie May]

1 hour ago, badgerx16 said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/13/spygate-saga-continues-to-haunt-southampton-as-case-drags-on

The “cheating bastards” chant is just fan banter. I guarantee fans of other clubs really don’t give a flying f*** about spygate now, Boro aside of course.  If anything, our formidable form is showing Eckert is genuinely a talented coach that doesn’t need to “cheat” or “spy”, and the knowledge gained from the three incidents was negligible.  

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

This will all be about the perceived nature of the bullying that was allegedly involved. The FA will want to be seen as making a stand against individuals who are supposed to be carrying out this behaviour. If they believe he has bullied club employees into spying on opponents then I think they will look to make an example of him. 

Do we know if an official complaint alleging bullying was made by the staff member re. Tonda?
 

If yes, do we know if an in-house investigation into the bullying allegation has taken place?
 

And to what outcome?

If no internal investigation has taken place that may be telling in itself. But IF the matter was investigated internally then the outcome would certainly be confidential - not made public basically.
The fact that (1) Tonda remains in post and (2) The employee not only remains but has been confirmed as a permanent employee, tends to suggest that, internally, its not regarded as an issue of substantive additional process need ie an internal disciplinary ( although this MAY have happened already to Tonda and the outcome kept confidential ). 
 

If that is the context I think the argument that the whole issue is about bullying rather than circumventing footballing rules is weaker than you suggest. 

[saintwbu]

I thought recent info suggested Tonda had never had any contact with Will Salt himself and had no contact details for him. The bullying headlines seemed to be more of a media push, mainly from north east based journalists.

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Never known a more odious, butter wouldn’t melt fanbase than those cunts 

I'm not talking about fans on social media.

[sadoldgit]

43 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

He has admitted guilt and previously offered to resign.

If he, personally, gets banned I can't imagine a scenario where he sits at home for 6 months on full pay

You handy heard of gardening leave? If they are not going to sack him and keep on the books of course they will pay him. He will still be under contract.

[Tamesaint]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

This will all be about the perceived nature of the bullying that was allegedly involved. The FA will want to be seen as making a stand against individuals who are supposed to be carrying out this behaviour. If they believe he has bullied club employees into spying on opponents then I think they will look to make an example 

Bullying is rife in most sports. When he delivered his infamous hairdryers wasn't Ferguson bullying his players? 

[Weston Super Saint]

27 minutes ago, Tamesaint said:

Bullying is rife in most sports. When he delivered his infamous hairdryers wasn't Ferguson bullying his players? 

No. That was "character building" and "motivational".

[beatlesaint]

46 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

I thought recent info suggested Tonda had never had any contact with Will Salt himself and had no contact details for him. The bullying headlines seemed to be more of a media push, mainly from north east based journalists.

It was reported that Tonda didn’t have his mobile number yes……and why would he ffs? Any instruction would go through Salt’s boss in the Analysts Dept. There was even a clue where it was published that Salt received a text saying “the boss will be happy with this” or words to that effect.

[egg]

1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

Also worth bearing in mind we haven’t actually felt the -4 punishment yet. Not until the end of the season will we actually know what the-4 punishment actually is. We finish 3rd, missing 2nd by a couple of points for example, it’s a completely different punishment to a team that finishes mid table this year. 
 

Or we miss out on the play off due to -4, that’s two years on the trot the punishment would have kicked us out of the playoffs, whole thing incredibly disproportionate the more I think about it. 

Although I get that, we're in a playoff position after 7 games, and only 4 (ha!) off top 2. From here on in, it's in our hands. 

[Whitey Grandad]

2 hours ago, CB Fry said:

All correct apart from the Middlesbrough bit.

They won't say anything like that. They got the  punishment they wanted and for them it's over.

 

Indeed. They achieved their objective. Then they blew it.

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

Also worth bearing in mind we haven’t actually felt the -4 punishment yet. Not until the end of the season will we actually know what the-4 punishment actually is. We finish 3rd, missing 2nd by a couple of points for example, it’s a completely different punishment to a team that finishes mid table this year. 
 

Or we miss out on the play off due to -4, that’s two years on the trot the punishment would have kicked us out of the playoffs, whole thing incredibly disproportionate the more I think about it. 

That -4 is really going to hurt when we miss out on the record points total by three points...

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, sfc4prem said:

The levels of sanctimony continue to baffle me. A stain? Indelible? Fuck off, no one gives a shit any more.

Yeah it's bollocks. I generally have forgotten about it and assuming the punishment isn't mental everyone else will too.

[Badger]

Think we (fans) have to stop referencing the -4. It’s happened, no amount of “where we’d be without it” is going to change it.

As I pointed out before on here when Tonda took over in early November he was -10 points from the play offs and - 13 from the automatic places. 
 

Trust in Tonda. But expect the FA to try and bugger it up. 

[Doctoroncall]

2 hours ago, RedArmy said:

The way they go on you’d think they didn’t get to play in the final. 
 

 

It’s bizarre, you do wonder after missing autos, then given a reprieve after not beating Saints over two games and being beaten in the final by Hull that they are projecting their failure from last season on us, rather than moving on. 

Of course they’ve broken the rules when in the premier league by not fielding a side for a fixture to unsuccessfully postpone it. How long does the cheat label last?

I hope to hear our fans chant they ballsed it up not once but three times rather than the spy when we want. 

[trousers]

4 hours ago, egg said:

Although I get the precedent on that, women's international teams usually play 8-12 games over a 12 month period. If they follow the time ban, that means a ban of 50 + games, which is vastly different. What Tonda did wasn't 5-6 times worse so doesn't warrant 5-6 times the ban. 

If we were to compare with games that actually matter, the Canadian women's team played the grand total of 3 competive games during their manager's 12 month ban...

[Viking Saint]

2 minutes ago, Doctoroncall said:

It’s bizarre, you do wonder after missing autos, then given a reprieve after not beating Saints over two games and being beaten in the final by Hull that they are projecting their failure from last season on us, rather than moving on. 

Of course they’ve broken the rules when in the premier league by not fielding a side for a fixture to unsuccessfully postpone it. How long does the cheat label last?

I hope to hear our fans chant they ballsed it up not once but three times rather than the spy when we want. 

I'm hoping Gibson is visible from the stands and he gets absolute dogs abuse

[egg]

1 minute ago, trousers said:

If we were to compare with games that actually matter, the Canadian women's team played the grand total of 3 competive games during their manager's 12 month ban...

That's another perspective. I think the issue will be a time / game suspension, with the Canadian precedent being time, and our approach being to look at the likely matches in that time.

[Nordic Saint]

15 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

isn't it also about the suggest / alleged bullying and such like?

 

You mean the allegation by the Middlesbrough spy (not Will Still)*, who gathered information from Southampton before returning to Middlesbrough, as reported to Gibson's employee on the EFL board? Tonda Eckert didn't even have Will Still's phone number or that of any other junior analyst. The organisation of the scouting was an internal matter among the analysts.

 

*I've clarified this, CSA96, as I mean the junior analyst who came down from Middlesbrough to work here for a brief spell before returning to them. He's the one who Gibson used. I don't recall his name.

Edited 6 hours ago by Nordic Saint

[CSA96]

2 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

You mean the allegation by the Middlesbrough spy, as reported to Gibson's employee on the EFL? Tonda Eckert didn't even have Will Still's phone number. The organisation of the scouting was an internal matter among the analysts.

Will Still was terrible in many ways but I think it's a bit much to put blame on him for Spygate 

[Badger]

3 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

You mean the allegation by the Middlesbrough spy? Tonda Eckert didn't even have Will Still's phone number. The organisation of the scouting was an internal matter among the anlaysts.

Interesting that our First Team Analyst left, I think given as mutual consent in the summer. Coincidence, scapegoat, or unrelated?

Answers on a postcard. (For those old enough to remember that)

[West end Saints]

Same fixtures last season update after 7

 

Away to watford drew (L) -1

 

Home to stoke lost (w) +2

 

Home to Millwall drew (w) +4

 

Away to Birmingham drew (d) +4

 

Away to Lincoln (top promoted side) drew (d) + 4

Home Swansea drew (w) +6

Home Bristol City drew (w) +8

So 8 points better off than same 7 games last season.

Points earned  from first 7 games , 7 last season 14 this

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Football Special]

2 hours ago, egg said:

That's another perspective. I think the issue will be a time / game suspension, with the Canadian precedent being time, and our approach being to look at the likely matches in that time.

And the Bielsa precedent obviously as well 

[egg]

2 minutes ago, Football Special said:

And the Bielsa precedent obviously as well 

I disagree, vastly different. The similarities they'll see with Canada are direct breach of an express rule, use of prohibited tech and intrusion, top down coercion of staff. Leeds was different to that. 

Anyways, it only matters how the FA view it, but it won't be a light penalty. 

 

 

[Disco Stu]

I think some here are in for a nasty surprise if they're expecting him to only miss a handful of games.

[AlexLaw76]

20 minutes ago, Football Special said:

And the Bielsa precedent obviously as well 

Not sure there is a precedent there

Edited 4 hours ago by AlexLaw76

[Lee On Solent Saint]

7 hours ago, saintant said:

Where is the evidence of bullying? Isn't Salt still working for the club? Don't see bullying being an issue.

My bad. I thought he was being investigated for his treatment towards Salt as well.

[hypochondriac]

19 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

My bad. I thought he was being investigated for his treatment towards Salt as well.

Nope. Just bringing the game into disrepute I believe.

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

I think some here are in for a nasty surprise if they're expecting him to only miss a handful of games.

Let's be honest no one knows. It could be anything.

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, egg said:

I disagree, vastly different. The similarities they'll see with Canada are direct breach of an express rule, use of prohibited tech and intrusion, top down coercion of staff. Leeds was different to that. 

Anyways, it only matters how the FA view it, but it won't be a light penalty. 

 

 

"Prohibited tech and intrusion" lol it was an iPhone behind a tree trunk outside of the training ground . I'd hope our legal team will draw comparisons with similar previous case that FA deemed insufficient for punishment 

[Football Special]

40 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Let's be honest no one knows. It could be anything.

Agreed.

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Not sure there is a precedent there

Thanks for the update Lord Pannick 

[die Mannyschaft]

I think a 12 match ban. FA like EFL will make an example of Tonda and its an opportunity to set new precedent and rewrite its laws or whatever sections of its FA codes it has. The anti Saints sentiments in Middlesbrough's campaign against Saints has been superb and EFL gone with it. Irrespective of Saints and or Tonda breaking rules or not the ban will be in a similar punishment of removal from final and -4.

The delay in FA announcing length of ban or additional fine points is also part of the unseen punishment to make sure Saints dont get off to a good start in season and not make top 2. 

 

 

[egg]

5 minutes ago, Football Special said:

"Prohibited tech and intrusion" lol it was an iPhone behind a tree trunk outside of the training ground . I'd hope our legal team will draw comparisons with similar previous case that FA deemed insufficient for punishment 

Phone - tech, we weren't invited, thus intrusion.

Our legal team ballsed it up first time round by, amongst other things, not recognising the seriousness. They won't be that stupid this time. 

[The Kraken]

I’m definitely coming down on the side that if he gets a 6-8 game touchline ban, that would ok compared to what the FA might/could do.

The fact it has taken so long is an absolute disgrace though. And nothing would surprise in what they eventually serve down.

If he does get a sanction, I wonder if any of the senior analyst team get a subsequent charge. Would’ve thought we’d have heard before by now but wouldn’t rule it out. And I wonder if the analyst leaving in the summer was something to do with it all, odds must be high that it was/is.