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 2 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.