Tonda Eckert has issued a full apology to the Southampton fans and players, admitting he is a “young coach who has made a mistake”, but won’t be sacked for his role in the Spygate scandal.
The Saints were expelled from the Championship play-offs after admitting to charges of spying on Middlesbrough ahead of their semi-final tie, which Southampton won 1-0, and ahead of regular-season games against Ipswich Town and Oxford United.
In addition to being kicked out of the play-off final against Hull City, Southampton were handed a four-point deduction for next season.
The club appealed, alleging the punishment was “manifestly disproportionate”. However, that claim was dismissed by an arbitration panel.
Southampton boss Eckert finally shows contrition
Eckert is the central figure in the drama and had previously showed his frustration when discussing it, storming out of his post-match news conference following the second leg against Middlesbrough when asked if he was a cheat.
The German, who oversaw a remarkable upturn in Saints’ form after replacing Will Still in November, authorised the spying in what was described by an independent disciplinary commission as “a contrived and determined plan from the top down”.
And he chose this morning to issue a full apology.
Speaking to the club’s social media channels, he said: “What I’m going to say is not going to be perfect, but I will try to be as honest and clear as I can be.
“I think you deserve that. For everything that’s happened, I do want to apologise, and I hold my hand up because as a head coach, I am responsible.
“I am responsible for everything that has happened in this football club. I am responsible for everything that has happened in my coaching staff.
“I do apologise to the supporters, to everyone who has travelled with us, who has supported us over so many games.
“To the ones who have shared emotions game by game, who have managed to bring us all the way up to this very end of the season.
“We were supposed to play the biggest game of the season. I apologise to the players, who have done absolutely everything that they can.
“They have done absolutely everything in the last six months to bring this club back to where it belongs. They would have deserved to play the final.
“I apologise to all of the clubs that have been involved, and mostly I apologise to our supporters.”
Eckert says he brought Italian culture of spying to Southampton
Prior to moving to St Mary’s, Eckert worked as an assistant to Alexander Blessin at Genoa and he says the culture of watching opponents was commonplace in Italy.
“When I worked in Italy for over four years, every starting line-up that we’ve chosen for the games was always out in the media before games,” he added.
“The reason is that our training sessions, especially the ones before games, have always been observed by the media and have always been observed by opponent teams that we came up against.
“[Pep] Guardiola has spoken about this at his time at Bayern Munich, that it has been common practice in Germany to observe training sessions, knowing that other teams would do the same.
“I don’t want to say this to excuse anything that we have done. I just want to give you context in the way that I grew up in the football world.
“There are different rules in England. There are different rules from the EFL. And I should have known them.”
Addressing the Middlesbrough game, in particular, he said: “When I look back at the preparation for the semi-final against Middlesbrough, we had met as a coaching staff on Monday.
“While we prepared for the game, we also wanted to find out if Middlesbrough would play with Hayden Hackney and if he would be back fit for the game.
“We had decided on Monday to send somebody to observe a training session and find out if he would be available for the game or not.
“We have trained on Tuesday, and we have finished our preparation on Wednesday. On Wednesday, we have given the starting lineup to our players, and we have finished our tactical preparation.
“We have disclosed our training session, and we have disclosed our meeting from Wednesday to show. And this is the bitter irony of the cases.”
Southampton did not benefit from spying, claims Eckert
He continued: “None of what has happened had any effect on the sporting performance. I don’t want to use this as an excuse, but just as much as I promise honesty and clarity, I also want to give you a little bit of context.
“I think you deserve to have some context to what has happened. It has been the players, and it has always been the players.
“In every single game, it is the players who have made the difference. It has been the players who, for many months, have sacrificed everything in their private life to put this football club back in the Premier League.
“I am a young coach. I have made a mistake, and I take full responsibility. I want to thank [owner] Dragan [Solak] and the board for the support, especially in times like this.
“With everything that I have said, without script and without a predefined statement. Speaking to you from the heart, I hope that you have an overview of what has happened over the last weeks.
“I hope that over time you can understand and forgive, and I hope to see you all soon.”
Southampton owner Solak to stick with Eckert
Eckert will see Southampton’s fans at the start of next season, although he is unlikely to be offered a warm reception, after Solak said he would stand by the embattled 33-year-old.
Speaking to BBC Sport, the Serb said: “I think he deserves a second chance and I would give it to him. My full support would be behind him actually, because I think he’s a super-talented manager.
“I believe Tonda that he didn’t know that it was the rule that he was breaking.
“My personal opinion, and the opinion of the board, is that he is a manager who deserves to be backed by us and to be supported by us. I will obviously seek advice from the team. I will seek advice from the players, from the fans. But yes, if it’s ultimately my decision, he stays.”
Solak hopes Eckert will learn from his mistake and there will be no repeat.
He added: “I told him: ‘You almost broke my heart. You do it again, you’ll kill me. The next time I see you in July, if you don’t know the EFL book of rules by heart, you can’t work for me. Because, we can’t have another mistake.’
“I truly hope that he will learn from this experience and he will achieve an incredible career.”
