"PREPOSTEROUS!" Simon Jordan REACTS to Tonda Eckert's APOLOGY to Southampton Fans after Spygate!

Two weeks on from being chucked out of the playoffs, why have we seen no fall guys at Southampton?Spygate.Remember Spygate?The written reasons of the league's arbitration panel for the expulsion of Southampton have been published.Junior members of staff told the Independent Disciplinary Commission how head coach Tonda Eckert had placed them quotes, under extreme pressure to carry out a task they were clearly uncomfortable with doing and felt was morally wrong.In the written reasons, Southampton's conduct of spying against Oxford, Ipswich, Borough was described as a contrived and determined plan from the top down, which head coach Eckert had approved.

We're going to hear from Tonda Eckert in a second, but the owner, Dragan Solak, spoke to Southampton's official social media.

Rules have been broken, there must be a consequence.And I'll take responsibility for that.But I also believe the sanction imposed is grossly disproportionate.The level of breach combined with the outcome of previous cases makes this feel incredibly harsh.is the fans as well as the players who suffer the most, many of whom had already made arrangements for Wembley once the semi -finals had been gone ahead.I also believe that the competition itself loses credibility.

Suggesting that decisions made off the pitch can see a result on the field simply wiped out, this cannot be good for the game.As I have said, I want to close this chapter and look ahead, and I want to look ahead together as one.including Tonda and his staff.Tonda's period as our head coach has been a success so far.Our form during 2026 has been remarkable.And we believe he is the man to take us forward.

As a board, we are fully behind him.And together, we only have one objective.We want promotion back to Premier League.

Tonda Eckert stays.Tonda Eckert, Simon, addressed the situation as well.

When I worked in Italy for over four years,every starting lineup that we've chosen for the games was always out in the media before games.And the reason is that our training sessions, especially the ones before games, have always been observed, have always been observed from media and have always been observed from opponent teams that we came up against.Guardiola has spoken about this at his time at Bayern Munich, that it has been common practice and 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's different rules in England.There's different rules from the EFL and I should have known them.I am a young coach.I have made a mistake and I take full responsibility.I want to thank Dragan and the board for the support, especially in times like this.With everything that I have said, without script and without predefined statement.

Speaking to you from the heart, I hope that you have an overview of what has happened over the last weeks.And I hope that over time you can understand and forgive.And I hope to see you all soon.

They could have been in the Premier League by now, Simon.Would you have sacked them?Would I have sacked him?

Well, they had been sanctioned.so the manager can clearly manage so what you're going to do double whammy yourself now what is the point of falling upon your sword now you've been sanctioned i might have said i might have offered if there was a trade -off to be to be had with the efl which was if i sat downdo I keep my place in the playoff final?That's like pleading with a copper on the side of the road, but he tells you to give a speeding ticket and then he wants you to kiss his backside for five minutes.Well, no, I'll kiss your backside if I'm not getting speeding ticket, but I'm getting speeding ticket.Just give me the bleeding ticket.

Let me go about my business.They've given the sanction.Now, clearly the manager can manage.Clearly the guy's a capable lad.So why would you want why would you want to have further indications of self harm?The way to avoid this is not to have cheated.

to suggest that you didn't know is preposterous because you might not have known because of the fact that you've been working in Italy and what a wonderful role model that is where they get their biggest clubs and chuck them out of the league for corruption so I've worked in Italy where the biggest clubs have been relegated down the pyramid because they've been corrupt and we know who they are with due respect and you're telling me that the people that signed off the expenditure for the trips the flights and things didn't know it so he may not have known this specific EFL role he may well have been conditioned to an environment it's no good using Guardiola as an example because Guardiola is not being cited in British football being a cheat you are So they've had their two, three weeks to get this together, and this is their best version of it.And to suggest that the people within the confines of the business that would have been, because what you've got is sporting directors over here now, and you've got commercial and chief executives over here.And what the sporting directors have been able to engineer a situation is where the chief executives are idiots, they don't know anything, they just run the commercial side of things, keep them away from the football.And so the expenditure side of things that would have been incorporated, I would imagine, to have signed off things that needed to have been done, whether it's flights to different parts of the country, will have been signed off by people that do know the rules.And I've decided that those rules don't necessarily apply to Southampton because the better outcomes were there.We live in a world where I am in the camp of saying the playoff sanction was disproportionate.

I believe it's disproportionate and so did Stefan Borson when we discussed it the other day.I thought it was harsh.But we also live in a world where they'll tell you emphatically that marginal gains make a difference.So when you're suggesting that they don't, for the purpose of this conversation, because it suits the narrative, Dragon doesn't have any integrity, because he's prepared to, on one hand, argue the principle of the fact that there is an offence here that's cheating, but doesn't really have any integrity.it that much.And I don't blame him.

Because his belief is, is that the manager will get you to the promised land.And we've been sanctioned.And I, to some extent, I understand why we do that.Why would you fire the manager?Who are you doing that for?Do your fans want him fired?

Probably not.They probably think, well, you imbecile, you've got us in this situation, but you're a bloody good manager.

Yeah, but don't you need to set an example at the football club, Simon?

There is no fool guy in this.There is a fool guy.The bleeding club's a fool guy.They've been booted out of the playoff semi -final.The chairman's a full guy.The chairman's bankrolled this football club for hundreds of millions of pounds.

Probably borne the losses this season of Pembrokeshire wages from last season.Done what he could to keep the club afloat.Changed managers, fired the previous manager, borne the cost.He's the full guy.

Yeah, but the man at the centre of it, undoubtedly, is Tonda Ecker.

And he's not been fired.There's no consequence of it.Well did Leeds?Yeah, there is because he could have been a Premier League manager.And he could have been a Premier League manager with a great big fat salary and a great big fat reputation.Does he deserve a second chance?

By the standards that we've existed under, yeah, because he also got one.So we use Leeds as an example in suggesting that a £200 ,000 fine was what Leeds got and he didn't get smacked on the wrist.He didn't get vilified by his own club.And this hypocrisy inside football where there's some...Everybody in football cheats.The players cheat relentlessly and endlessly.

I just listened to some whining nonsense from Mikel Antonio this morning about being treated like a piece of meat because he injured himself outside of football and he expects everyone to carry him for the rest of his life.Football is reset with people taking liberties.So I'm afraid I don't believe that Southampton should have fired him unless they want a clean house for our benefit.for the integrity of the sport.But everybody goes unpunished.

I know they haven't got to the Premier League.

The fans have been ridiculously punished.The owner's been ridiculously punished.The manager's been reputationally damaged and financially impacted upon.So how much, what do you want?You want absolute bloodletting.You want him out in the middle of the street and people queuing up to throw tomatoes at him.

They got their punishment.They got their absolute punishment.

they could have got so what we want now is we want the council culture in its absolute finite form we want him taken out and banned for life you know when you you employed thousands and you were you were the employer if anyone had made an absolute huller of a mistake which this is yeah mistake and it's cost your business big time Would you be sacking them?

Well possibly, no not necessarily because if he's been able to and because there's been receptive ears to it let's just assume that the ears are receptive they want him to produce an outcome that means they haven't got to fire him because they like him they can clearly see he can manage right so they don't really want to lose him and they look at it and go well we've been slaughtered We couldn't have had anything more, so why would we commit another act of self -harm?We've already done one.We've been stupid.We've spied on other sides.We don't think...Nobody really thinks in football.

Nobody really thinks that the material advantage of watching Middlesbrough...I bet you even Steve Gibson didn't until the circumstances...Because the rules have been created on the back of a set of standards that they believe underpins the value of the game.So with that in mind, why do players cheat all the time then?Why are we having to deal with simulation?Were rules brought in to protect us from that?

So I think, with all due respect to the consequence, I'm not entirely sure.What does Southampton achieve?

by firing the manager.Well, let's hear from the fans this morning, and when I come back, I'll put some more meat in the bones as to the written reasons of the league's arbitration panel for the expulsion of Southampton, because these written reasons have been published, and some of them are absolutely mind -boggling.But the fact of the matter remains, if the EFL deems it so serious, would no consequence for the manager suggest Southampton don't?And on Tonda Eker, does he deserve a second chance?Does he retain Southampton fans your support no fall guys it seems at southampton we heard from the owner dragon solak they'll learn from it we heard from tonda ecker the manHe stays in a job.

They've all copped for it, but at the end of the day...It doesn't seem as if anyone is going to take the rap.Apologies, right, left and centre.What might have been, yes.Apologies to the fans, who are all set to go to a playoff final at Wembley, where they would have faced Hull City.It didn't happen.

Middlesbrough took their place, but Hull won in the day, and they go to the Premier League.But how are Southampton fans really feeling this morning?On Tonda Eckert, does he deserve a second chance?Does he retain your support?Many Southampton fans calling the number 03717223344.James, Southampton fan, first up, good morning to you mate.

So he says, does he retain your support?

Morning James, quite sure as always.He's massively dragged our badge through the mud and we've been at the centre of attention for all the wrong reasons recently.No -one really talks about our unbeaten run anymore and no -one talks about how we took it to Arsenal or Man City and all we talk about now is this.Yeah, he's been found out and he's stupidly done it but I think it's taken some courage and guts to come out and talk about it, and we have to praise him slightly for that, it's wrong.And like Simon says, if we sack him, what does that get us?We've still got this massive farm, we've still got the point deduction, that doesn't go with him.

I think yeah.Yeah sure reading between the lines.Maybe the players have said if you get rid of him, we're all be going as well.So I think that maybe that's why all everything's gone a bit quiet.And I think now the dragons come out and supported him said we're going to back him and with the squad to go forward and get promotion.Is that him way of saying we want to keep this group of players together.

They want to play for the manager.They've seen how we done it and next year we're going to go forautomatics.

Okay James, what's your take on what James has just told us Simon?

I'd be surprised if the players would have that ability to dictate to an owner based upon the behavior of their manager and the fact that they also have lost an opportunity by the behavior of their manager.And this idea that he didn't know, I think is for the birds.But I am in the same place I was in the conversation that we just had.What is the purpose?Are Chelsea running around bloodletting for all the cheating that they did five, six, seven years ago?No.

Well, if Man City were convicted, would they?No.Do other clubs do things?No.So the greatest act of harm that was done to Southampton was visited upon them by the EFL by booting them out of the biggest game in world football.

Just interestingly in the passing, when you appointed a manager, did you suggest to him, listen, check out the rules, you've got to be across them?

I would assume that if you provide a manager with a professional job, they're professional enough to do it in the first place.But we've sat here watching footballers don't even know the handball rule.When they had to change the rule in the middle of the season three or four years ago because footballers didn't even know it.

Yes, yeah.Here's Charlie, a big Southampton fan.Charlie, good morning.Tonda Ecker, does he deserve a second chance in your view?

Yeah, 100%, Jim.Hi, Simon.Big fan.First time calling in.Yeah, Tonda Ecker, 100%.What he's done at our football club, in all the years that I've supported Southampton, genuinely, the connection that he built with the fans obviously what happened is wrong but at the end of the day is there a better option available on the championship i would think no the momentum is still there so i think we have to back him 100 percent do you think his credibility is still intact charlie um it's difficult obviously because um like i work for a lot of pompey fans obviously it's been quite hard for me but um yeah overall it's i think his credibility is still there because i think to him it's obviously in common practice to what is known in other leagues.

yeah obviously it's not easy but I think at the end of the day the results still do speak for themselves.

Okay Charlie thank you for that.Roger Southampton fan are you going to tell me anything different or do you say nah keep him in situ he's the man?

Hi Jim, I think we've got some good synergy from the callers here, so I'm saying yes, let's keep it.I've worked at director level for quite a long time and firstly can I just say I've been off most of this year, my wife's been quite ill and your show is one of the things that really has sort of got me through.So thank you ever so much, you guys are great.

Roger, we wish you well and your wife obviously.

Yeah, thank you very much, you guys honestly have really helped.But yeah, I think I totally agree with Simon.I've seen it in business all the time where people do do some slippery things and even detrimental to the business.But what comes through that is you wouldn't get rid of your best employee, the one that brings in the most sales or bonds everybody together because it's a double jeopardy.So I totally agree.Give them a second chance.

And I think society also has to accept that sometimes you do need to give people a second chance at things.So, yeah, that's my view.

So he carries on, Roger, even though it's perceived that Eker undoubtedly brought Southampton's name into disrepute.

I think where I am with you, Jim, I think he has lost some credibility.And there's no question, you know, he has.And I think that's for the club, him personally, his coaching team and the players to build that credibility back up.And with the fans as well.And the only caveat I would add is he needs the fans' support.If things start going badly wrong, the fans could possibly turn on him because of his previous actions.

The one thing that he will have lost, and Roger's right, is he will have lost forbearance.So he will need to win.The owner will be expecting him to hit the ground running.and expecting the team to be successful and all of this will be chip paper if in 12 months time they're sitting in the Premier League but I can tell you what he will have is he will have less forbearance in terms of Southampton don't start well and 10 -15 games into the season they haven't got 25 -30 points and not looking like they're going to be pushing up the table then you're going to find yourself in a situation where he will not get the tolerance I suspect.

Roger thanks for the call, love to your wife.George Middlesbrough fan, very briefly George you got a different take on this, good morning.

Yeah, I believe what I'm listening to.If I literally blatantly broke rules at work, I'd be sacked.No question.Doesn't matter how good at work you are.You're basically saying that the guy can break rules.Bear in mind he did it three times.

He didn't do it once.He did it three times.Everybody knew that it was against the rules.The rules brought him off the leads.He would have been aware of that.Or at least somebody in the club would have been aware of that.

And there's also the fact that he pressured um um interns to do it yeah and they felt pressured but with respect that's not a mistake with respect but with respect first and foremost what business of yours how southampton discipline their staff second of all here they've been consequence and your opportunity was given back to you so in real terms if you break rules in environments you get warnings so if you break a rule depends upon the nature of the rule in your workplace you wouldn't get fired depend upon the circumstance of the rule that you broke you'd be getting a warning so isn't just a case of You break rules, you get fired.I'm in the situation where maybe Steve Gibson would take the moral high ground.In fact, I believe Gibbo would and probably would have fired his manager because I think he operates on the principle of owning a football club for 30 odd years.Probably drives most people insane, but he wants to operate with a level of integrity.Well, he's cost the club a potential 250 million quid uplift.But that's for Southampton to worry about.

That's not just a mistake, is it?But that's up to Southampton.If they are prepared to oversee that and to overlook it more to the point, then really and truly the club has been set upthe owner is the person that's got to bear this cost implication the challenges that go with it and the audacity of his players potentially suing him.

What message does that send out though?

What message do you think football sends out on a daily basis when we see players cheating left right and centre we see agents doing what they're doing this this holier -than -thou attitude that pervades football astounds me.

George McGrath I bet you're looking forward to playing them again in the championship right?

Oh yeah, and it will be a hell of a couple of games, I'll give them that.There's a guarantee there'll be chants of cheating and all sorts going on.

True.

They'll have to live with it, won't they?Because that's the consequences of their behaviour, isn't it?

George, thanks so much for the call.It's 10 .30, more on what they did and how they did it coming up.At the moment, you know, it's life is normal for Southampton, not in the Premier League, but in the championship.And Tom De Eckert remains the man in charge of Team Matters.Dragan Solak says no change there.But what did they do?

And we'll take some more calls on this very shortly.03717223344.Those WhatsApp messages.A junior analyst sent to observe Oxford United train before their December fixture with Southampton sent a message to colleagues saying, I didn't really have an option.and wasn't provided an opportunity to say no.I was an intern and was doing what I was told.

When he sent details from that session back to his boss, he received a WhatsApp message reading, you legend.Manager loved it.Upon being asked to carry out a second spying mission on Ipswich, he expressed concern but was told that the boss is adamant that someone needs to go.Ahead of Middlesbrough in the playoffs, Eckhart was particularly interested in finding out if Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney was training or not.There were differing reports as to his fitness.Southampton's operations manager booked flights and two nights accommodation.

The junior analyst intern was shown drone footage of the Middlesbrough training facilities sohe could get an idea of where to stand.He flew up to Middlesbrough on Wednesday, the 6th of May, but was told that Eckert was unhappy he didn't fly up on the Tuesday so that he could see the Wednesday training session.The junior analyst intern went back to his hotel and awaited permission from Eckert to return home.When this didn't come, he left of his own accord and caught a train.It was while he was on the train that he learned from news on the internet that Southampton have been caught spying on Middlesbrough?

It goes on, Simon, it goes on.Before we go any further, you'll probably remember former Southampton defender, who just retired last week, Jose Font, hugely respected figure in the game, had this to say on Spygate.

If it was only the manager that was involved in this situation, or the manager and his staff, I feel it's very, very tough to punish a club and the supporters for something that one man has done.In my eyes, if it was the manager's decision to do that, he needs to be punished, not the club, not the supporters, not the players.Obviously, it is wrong what he's done.But if the board had no idea what was happening, if the players wasn't aware of what was happening, why should they be punished?Why the supporters should be punished?I don't understand.

Collective responsibility, Jose, unfortunately.

Well, yeah, collective responsibility.But the fans, unfortunately, are drawn into it because they support the football club at the heart of this.But he's saying, Eker, no, no deal, should go.Rob's a big Southampton fan.Do you agree?Rob that it should be time up for Eker or are you of the opinion no it's right that he stays?

No Eker needs to go.straight up.He's ruined the sanctity of this club.He's dragged it through the mud.You know, we're a club, you know, built on faith, like St. Mary herself watches over our club, and this guy has literally ruined it.I'm ashamed to wear my Southampton shirts now, because it's...

I'm afraid of what, you know, people will say.You know, before that, it was all, you know, it's football banter, like you were talking about yesterday.It's just football banter.You know, I get it, you take it.Give take, that's what it is.But if I go ahead and make fun of your club, right, you're going to turn around to me and call me a cheat.

And unfortunately, that's true.And that cuts me deep.Like, I'm not going, I can't go to any games next season.I can't bring myself to do it.because it's just a massive slap in the face that they've decided to keep this guy who's openly admitted what he's done.It's sickening to me, you know?

Rob, I'll put that to Simon.There's Rob, who very genuinely and honestly is telling us what his football club means to him.

Entitled to his view.I mean, the manager has a different version of events, whether we believe them or not.He says he didn't know the rules.Do you believe that?Listen, given the fact that most of them don't know the rules about anything, I wouldn't be surprised.But the people that signed off the expenditure, that were involved, whether it was the operations manager that people refer to, they do know the rules.

So have a look at them.The club's been consequenced.The club has had many challenges over the years.My God, you're the ones that had Rupert Lowe as your chairman, for Christ's sakes.If you can live through that regime, you can live through anything.Let's have a look at these clubs.

Let's have a look back in the past.Everyone, everyone, everyoneLiverpool should be pulled apart when Bruce Grobbler was accused of cheating and taking bets.These things have gone on in the past.Get over it.Get on with it.

These situations happen.Tonde Rekker is probably your best solution to get out of the Premier League and if you can't bear to wear your Southampton shirt anymore.And if you feel that your club has been compromised by the actions of perhaps an uninformed manager in an industry which is beset with cheating from top to bottom, then that's for you.And that's a shame for you because you'll miss out on perhaps your football club recovering its poise, finding its way back into the Premier League.At the end of the day, in an industry which is beset with, doesn't matter how you get there, doesn't matter who tells the truth, doesn't matter how the businesses are run, it's about getting to the end game.And unfortunately, that's the real world.

If you can't countenance that, then that's obviously your choice.

It's not enforced clearly in other countries.So spying on your opponent, should they scrap the rule?

It's like tapping up, isn't it?I mean, it's just a silly rule.I mean, it's just a silly rule.I mean, the players talk to one another in the dress rooms.They all know what's going on in one another's business.They all know what they're getting paid.

They all know who they're going out with.They all know most things.So in the great scheme of things, and in the games that they spied on, they've never won any of them.So the material advantage is virtually none.So scrap it.Scrap it, not scrap it, but the point is that if you want, if you believe that it's underpinning, what we're saying is we're taking this holier -than -thou, not this caller, but the industry itself is taking this holier -than -thou rule that once upon a time, six years ago, Bielsa, who openly copped to it, didn't get any real sanction, and they got a £200 ,000 fine, has now turned into the loss of a potential £250 million opportunity.

What's going on here?I'll tell you what's going on here.Hysteria created by outlets like ourselves.Ramping the noise up, ramping the outrage about it, looking at it.You've just read the charge shit.I couldn't care less what they said to one another.

They've been found guilty.They've been found guilty.The correspondence between an intern and internal management between Southampton is irrelevant to this conversation.They've been sanctioned.Now what we're trying to do is what we do in every walk of life is we're not happy with people apologizing.

That's not necessarily true.It is.Trevor Burch at the EFL, who you respect and know, but you thoroughly respect and admire, made the decision, along with Rick Parry.To what?At the EFL?No, they didn't.

Who you respect and admire?

No, they didn't.They didn't make any decisions.They put it in front of the Independent Commission who made the decision.

Right, right.

And so they represented the actions of the other 71 football clubs in the EFL to uphold a rule.And they put expulsion on the table, and they argued a case.

But they could have got in front of Steve Gibson at Middlesbrough and said, now, slow down.This is ridiculous.No one's getting kicked out of anything.

Well, that's not their gift.It's the Independent Commission's gift.The constitution of the rules that the clubs have put together is not for... it's not Trevor Birch's decision.Trevor Birch has no say in this.The constitution has to be upheld, the rules have to be applied, and the independent commission assesses the case on its merits.Was it right to kick them out?

No.It's disproportionate.I've never...I've not changed from that.I've said it's ridiculous.It's like putting someone in an electric chair for shoplifting.

So for pushing it, does Steve Gibson, the man at the top of the house at Middlesbrough, lack integrity?Would you have done what Steve Gibson did?

No, I would have done what he did because he has a right to have a view on it.There's a rule, the rule's been broken, but the materiality of that rule is the argument that has to be put into play.

Even though you knew it would be disproportionate if Sir Thampton were chucked out, you would do what Gibson did?

That's not his job.his job is to suggest i'm claiming he pushed for a sport i'm claiming foul i do you know why you know and i know why he claimed for a sporting sanction because the southampton made an absolute horlicks of the way they conducted themselves look at their own admissions they've terminated themselves and by the way some of the things they're saying in some of their statements probably are ill -advised as well because they're now suggesting that the panel was made up of people that admittedleaning.To add insult to injury, you've probably actually gone up to Middlesbrough in the playoff game, had a conversation with Steve Gibson, smoothed everything over, and then did the polar opposite in public.He's a lone wolf.Those sort of things probably incited Gibbo to riot, if I know the man.

Who comes out of this looking good?

Nobody.Southampton will be playing in the Championship next season.For the record, Hull beat Middlesbrough on the day at Wembley.There you go.Spygate.Sheezo.