What Should Happen To Tonda Eckert Now?
- Thread starter Saints_Alive
- Start date
-
Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
-
The only Rule that has changed was the cobbled up Rule 127, 7 years ago. The EFL still haven't clarified exactly what "Spying" actually is, just using Rule 3.4, which has only an assumption that "spying" meets the criteria of unsporting behaviour. Spying however is OK in the period before the 72 hour rule, but is still unsporting? That makes no sense at all. I reckon in a real court of law, the outcome would have been somewhat different.
The new talk about further Spying? In a Court of law anyone witholding that information, would be guilty of Perverting the Course of Justice, but of course this isn't the Law, just a cobbled up Kangaroo court.
I completely agree with Glen de la Cour's views on Tonda's behaviour and what should happen to him...
You must log in or register to see media
He also brought us the best second half of a season we've had for over a decade. As for shame and embarrassment, I honestly don't feel much of either; we've more than paid our debt to the footballing society.
I’m over any sense of shame…shouldn’t have done it, but others do worse. And us fans had nothing to do with it. Don’t want to do ‘ the right thing’ and have people fall on their swords. Only want what’s best for Saints…and if that’s a sinner, go for it.
For me it comes down to asking ourselves what would actually fix this situation. The answer to that is success on the pitch.
The answer to the Tonda question is to go into next season with the manager that gives us the best chance of promotion. Tonda is clearly the right man in terms of ability, but it really depends on the squads relationship with him, other available candidates and whether fans would accept it.
Liked but with reservations as to his relationship with club staff and the playing squad. There's also an FA investigation underway which may result in bans for those responsible, along with that jar of worms are reports players are considering legal action.
Leo Scienza described the punishment as “heartbreaking” and said the club’s fans “definitely deserved better”.
“We gave everything for this dream,” he posted on Instagram. “Day after day, sacrifice after sacrifice, always believing we could bring this club back to where it belongs.
“For me, the dream of playing in the Premier League was something I fought for with everything I had. That’s why this pain cuts so deep.”
Southampton could face further punishment over ‘Spygate’ scandal as FA investigates
Southampton were kicked out of the Championship play-offs after admitting spying on opponents and could now face further punishment
www.independent.co.uk
We can expect the core of the team, those whose performances took us to a denied place in the final, to leave during the summer. The dust is yet to settle.
Yeah it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions & I’m so on fence now. At first I thought, back Tonda then I saw the case of “pushing juniors etc” and then now I’ve thought about it more, you always get asked to do **** you don’t want to do, in any job. Christ, if I had a quid for every time I’ve broke the rules in jobs as an apprentice when my boss asked me to I wouldn’t be working for the same types of bosses 
Now dust has settled a bit in media, think this is all gonna depend on;
• what do the players think of Tonda now?
• how many can we keep with him still in charge?
• will the fans back him?
• will he receive a ban from FA and make irrelevant?
I do feel somewhat for Tonda too. Comes from a totally different culture and we have to remember he’s literally 33 years old and the 2nd youngest coach in English history. He’s always gonna make mistakes & if the FA go light, we back him and he continue to grow at the pace he is, we will have a future Elite manager on our hands.
If there’s one thing I know for certain Sports Republic will do, that’s they will put themselves before anyone else lol strap in & get ready for the ride!!
Now dust has settled a bit in media, think this is all gonna depend on;
• what do the players think of Tonda now?
• how many can we keep with him still in charge?
• will the fans back him?
• will he receive a ban from FA and make irrelevant?
I do feel somewhat for Tonda too. Comes from a totally different culture and we have to remember he’s literally 33 years old and the 2nd youngest coach in English history. He’s always gonna make mistakes & if the FA go light, we back him and he continue to grow at the pace he is, we will have a future Elite manager on our hands.
If there’s one thing I know for certain Sports Republic will do, that’s they will put themselves before anyone else lol strap in & get ready for the ride!!
For me it's down to two avenues of thought.
1. He's young and he pushed the rules for competitive advantage (like everyone does and it's not dis-allowed pretty much every where else) and we got caught doing it. We shouldn't have tried to avoid admitting it and we shouldn't have been arrogant enough to try to be flippant about it. Unless he's banned and totally lost the players there is a way back from this.
2. He's actually a bully (and not just a "this is my way and it will be done my way" person). Harder to quantify as for me as I'm on the end of the previous generation and when I was an apprentice I did what I got asked to do and sometimes it had to be done in ways that were on the edge of ok. There is a lot of good done in terms of HR etc in recent years but it's also softened the skin of a fair few people along the way. If he's crossed the line and into abuse territory then for me there is no way back.
1. He's young and he pushed the rules for competitive advantage (like everyone does and it's not dis-allowed pretty much every where else) and we got caught doing it. We shouldn't have tried to avoid admitting it and we shouldn't have been arrogant enough to try to be flippant about it. Unless he's banned and totally lost the players there is a way back from this.
2. He's actually a bully (and not just a "this is my way and it will be done my way" person). Harder to quantify as for me as I'm on the end of the previous generation and when I was an apprentice I did what I got asked to do and sometimes it had to be done in ways that were on the edge of ok. There is a lot of good done in terms of HR etc in recent years but it's also softened the skin of a fair few people along the way. If he's crossed the line and into abuse territory then for me there is no way back.
On X = Pep Guardiola on the practice of spying after Leeds’ Spygate in 2019:
"It is more difficult [in England]. It is private. But in all the countries I have been before, everybody does it. When we were training at Bayern Munich there were people in the little mountains with cameras and the opponent was watching what we did. Everybody did it. It is the culture of the clubs.”
In 2015, when #SaintsFC head coach Tonda Eckert worked at 1. FC Köln, a story emerged claiming the club had spied on Hamburg using a scout disguised as a journalist.In 2013, Edin Terzic, who will be the head coach of Athletic Club from next season, disguised himself as a steward to enter a Real Madrid training session while working for Borussia Dortmund.Ole Werner, the head coach of RB Leipzig, said last month that he sent staff to hide in bushes and monitor opponents’ sessions with drones.
Plenty more where that came from. However it doesn't justify what we did, there is no justification for that at all.
"It is more difficult [in England]. It is private. But in all the countries I have been before, everybody does it. When we were training at Bayern Munich there were people in the little mountains with cameras and the opponent was watching what we did. Everybody did it. It is the culture of the clubs.”
In 2015, when #SaintsFC head coach Tonda Eckert worked at 1. FC Köln, a story emerged claiming the club had spied on Hamburg using a scout disguised as a journalist.In 2013, Edin Terzic, who will be the head coach of Athletic Club from next season, disguised himself as a steward to enter a Real Madrid training session while working for Borussia Dortmund.Ole Werner, the head coach of RB Leipzig, said last month that he sent staff to hide in bushes and monitor opponents’ sessions with drones.
Plenty more where that came from. However it doesn't justify what we did, there is no justification for that at all.
I'm very much the in the second school of thought, I believe that he is a ruthless individual who puts pressure on junior staff and uses humiliation too as witnessed by the "joke" memes of Will Salt in camouflage.
People may say that all top managers are a bit like that but the likes of SAF and Cloughie were loved by their club staff and are socialists that actually care for the welfare of people.
Football is a sport, not life or death and if any of my sporting heroes were involved in nefarious activities I would no longer follow their success.
I just can't see a scenario where Tonda's reputation can survive this, it will follow him everywhere in the UK and i'm personally hoping that the club start to distance themselves from the spying by terminating his contract even before the FA take disciplinary action.
Last edited:
My line of thought is it's irrelevant what we do as the FA will ban him. Problem is that could take weeks and I don't really see the benefit of sitting around and waiting for that.
We need this sorted by pre season at the latest which I assume is about 5/6 weeks away.
We need this sorted by pre season at the latest which I assume is about 5/6 weeks away.
Liked but with reservations as to his relationship with club staff and the playing squad. There's also an FA investigation underway which may result in bans for those responsible, along with that jar of worms are reports players are considering legal action.
Leo Scienza described the punishment as “heartbreaking” and said the club’s fans “definitely deserved better”.
“We gave everything for this dream,” he posted on Instagram. “Day after day, sacrifice after sacrifice, always believing we could bring this club back to where it belongs.
“For me, the dream of playing in the Premier League was something I fought for with everything I had. That’s why this pain cuts so deep.”
Southampton could face further punishment over ‘Spygate’ scandal as FA investigates
Southampton were kicked out of the Championship play-offs after admitting spying on opponents and could now face further punishment
We can expect the core of the team, those whose performances took us to a denied place in the final, to leave during the summer. The dust is yet to settle.
I’m fairly confident some players can and will,
Take legal action .
This could result in 2 or 3 players we expected good money for to go on a free .
Certainly don’t want it to happen , but wouldn’t be at all surprised if it did .
We will be well in credit by the time the FA hands out its bans then
I can only think that due to there being an ongoing FA investigation the club can't take any outside action against the same individuals as the early the better in terms of the knowing who's in charge next season.
If the FA don't ban him (unlikely if there is systematic breaking of the rules) then it will be a club decision and I'll have no say in the outcome anyway.
I think the club and him could survive anything that ends up being purely "trying to get a sporting advantage" and I'd be ok with that provided there was some visible attempt to put it right going forward but I don't think he should be able to survive any patterns of actual abuse to staff.
Don't see it, they can't say Tonda cost them the chance of promotion when he's the reason they remotely had a chance of it.
Be funny if they did though.
I don't see why the FA investigation means we would have to wait personally.
I also can't see the players trying legal action to get out for free on this as any prospective clubs will be "ok - when will you try that with us?"