Spygate: Who is Tonda Eckert and can he keep his job?

By

Football issues correspondent

Just 2 weeks ago, Tonda Eckert was a caput manager who had the satellite astatine his feet.

The German had transformed Southampton from relegation candidates to favourites to triumph the Championship promotion play-offs.

It was a singular turnaround.

And past came Spygate, the explosive contention which would effect successful the south-coast nine being thrown retired of the play-offs and deducted 4 points for adjacent season.

No-one knows precisely who was complicit with William Salt - an intern expert - embarking connected spying mission to Middlesbrough's Rockliffe Park grooming base, oregon akin visits to ticker Oxford United and Ipswich Town.

The written reasons from the English Football League volition supply the way of evidence. Until then, we don't cognize Eckert's role, oregon whether helium was involved.

Eckert looked similar helium was the antheral to physique a caller epoch for Southampton successful the Premier League.

But galore supporters and those connected with the nine person made their minds up. He is intrinsically linked to a acheronian play successful the club's history, whether helium knew astir the spying oregon not.

Why was the 33-year-old truthful highly rated? Is determination a aboriginal for him astatine St Mary's?

And who precisely is Eckert?

When Will Still was sacked by Southampton connected 2 November, Saints were successful 21st spot - 3 points extracurricular the Championship relegation portion with 1 triumph successful 13 games.

That is erstwhile the nine turned to Eckert, who had lone arrived astatine St Mary's successful July 2025 erstwhile helium replaced a Chelsea-bound Calum McFarlane and took complaint of the club's under-21 team.

He appeared cleanable for that academy job.

Eckert's vocation had mostly progressive younker football, successful his homeland with Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. He had besides helped the under-18s astatine Austrian nine Red Bull Salzburg triumph the Uefa Youth League.

Four months aft moving to Saints, helium would regenerate Still and negociate a nine successful 1 of the biggest leagues successful Europe.

Eckert's lone anterior enactment successful elder shot came done 15 months arsenic the fig 2 astatine Barnsley, and 3 years arsenic adjunct brag astatine Italian nine Genoa.

But helium was good known to Johannes Spors, Southampton's sporting director, arsenic they were astatine Genoa together.

So Eckert, astatine the property of 32 and with nary erstwhile managerial experience, stepped into Still's shoes connected an interim ground which became imperishable a period later.

Eckert won a hat-trick of Championship manager of the period awards - for February, March and April - arsenic Saints not lone stormed into play-offs but finished wrong 4 points of the automatic places.

Southampton (68) won much points aft Eckert took complaint than immoderate different nine - including champions Coventry City (67).

But conscionable 48 hours earlier Saints were owed to play Middlesbrough successful the archetypal limb of the play-off semi-final, Southampton's satellite came crashing down.

Salt was discovered observing a Middlesbrough grooming session, and the saga known arsenic Spygate began.

If helium is recovered to person been involved, Eckert perchance faces not lone losing his occupation but helium could beryllium banned excessively aft the Football Association opened its ain investigation.

Dan George is simply a BBC Sport writer who covers Southampton. He has intimately watched Eckert implicit the past fewer months, from quality league to pitch-side.

Eckert is rather a unsocial personality, idiosyncratic that comes crossed arsenic a precise antithetic idiosyncratic to the likes of erstwhile Saints managers Still and Russell Martin.

He is softly spoken, intelligibly intelligent and typically takes his clip erstwhile responding to questions, measured and articulate successful his responses.

The German was keen to marque a bully content with the media aft his archetypal matches, shaking the manus of each newsman and camera relation successful his property conferences.

This continued for a fig of occasions earlier helium was astir apt told this was not a play requirement.

After being asked a question, helium often pauses earlier diving into his answer, causing an awkward silence. He would past dive into his answers with a chill but aggravated oculus contact.

Despite Southampton's occurrence and advancement nether Eckert, helium ne'er got excessively acold up of himself. The adjacent lucifer was ever his sole focus, an reply that would sometimes get repetitive but displayed his mindset.

That strength intelligibly crosses over, immoderate players highlighting his meticulous attraction to item and enactment ethic.

One subordinate who played nether Eckert earlier helium was astatine Southampton described him arsenic an idiosyncratic who is fixated with football.

"He's a bully manager that's obsessed with details, a truly awesome shot antheral and bully guy," they told BBC Sport.

As is the mode with astir managers, you got to spot a glimpse of his existent property connected the touchline during games.

Eckert bonded good with the Saints fans aboriginal on, often fist-pumping the Northam Wall astatine St Mary's aft wins and adjacent capable ever doing a thigh of applause with the players.

The 2 biggest displays of his emotion came successful the 2nd limb of Southampton's play-off against Middlesbrough, a crippled his broadside won 2-1.

He was seen successful a heated speech with Boro brag Kim Hellberg. At 1 constituent erstwhile being spoken to by the referee helium adjacent had to beryllium restrained by an official.

It was a broadside to Eckert we had not truly seen before.

Later helium sprinted down the touchline - Jose Mourinho-style - erstwhile Shea Charles netted successful other clip to, truthful it seemed, nonstop Saints to Wembley.

The players liked him and were keen to spot him named manager permanently. Leo Scienza went connected grounds arsenic saying "give the antheral the job" aft a 3-0 triumph implicit Leicester City astatine the extremity of November.

Midfielder Flynn Downes besides highlighted attraction to item with Eckert successful a punctuation that immoderate person highlighted the irony of pursuing the Spygate situation. The information of Eckert's engagement - oregon whether helium adjacent cognize astir the goings-on - should soon go known.

"His attraction to item is unreal. Literally each small happening helium conscionable gives you," Downes told BBC Sport successful November.

"It makes it truthful easy. You spell retired connected a Saturday and you cognize what you're doing, you cognize what the different squad are doing."

Former Southampton managers, players and the club's fans person spoken of feeling severely fto down.

That Saints besides admitted to spying connected Oxford and Ipswich suggests a wider problem.

Jo Tessem, who made 130 appearances for Saints betwixt 1999 and 2005, thinks Eckert whitethorn person to go.

"Something has gone earnestly incorrect if you person continued to interruption the rules," Tessem told BBC Radio Solent Sport.

"Then you are breaking the estimation and disrespecting the crippled of football, and I don't deliberation the nine has thing other to bash and they mightiness person to get escaped of him.

"To rescue thing you've got to marque pugnacious decisions, and I deliberation this is 1 of those decisions that unluckily volition happen. I don't deliberation there's immoderate mode astir it."

Nigel Adkins, who managed the nine for 3 years and earned back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League, said helium did not cognize "what they're going to summation from spying".

"If you speech astir the integrity of Southampton Football Club, that's present been tarnished," Adkins told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It's going to instrumentality a agelong clip to travel backmost from this."

BBC instrumentality writer Martin Sanders says helium ever felt Eckert was excessively inexperienced for specified a large job.

"It's casual to accidental successful hindsight, but I was ever unsure astir giving the occupation to idiosyncratic with nary acquisition of managing a men's team," Sanders said.

"Obviously, done these past six months, it indispensable person felt similar they'd got everything right."

Sanders predicted: "Tonda Eckert volition ne'er negociate a crippled for Southampton Football Club ever again."