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When describing his past experiences of spying in Germany and Italy, where he worked as assistant manager to Patrick Vieira at Genoa, Eckert said: “I don’t want to say this to excuse anything we have done, I just want to give you context of the football world I grew up in.”
Indeed, the Southampton scandal is not the first spying case in which teams Eckert has worked for have been
Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis has admitted he regrets taunting Middlesbrough players after his side scored a winner in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final.
After Shea Charles scored in extra-time to – at the time – send Saints through to Wembley, Harwood-Bellis was seen mimicking a pair of binoculars with his hands in the direction of Boro’s Aidan Morris.
Southampton would later be removed from the play-offs after
The most damning section for the Southampton head coach comes in the second determination of the judgement.
This states the German not only knew about the spying, but also had given his blessing.
Eckert was shown to have approved spying on Oxford to discover their formation after they had just changed manager.
In the case of Middlesbrough, he wanted to find out about the availability of a certain player –
Former Southampton manager Harry Redknapp feels the decision to expel the club from the Championship play-offs for the ‘Spygate’ scandal is a “very harsh” call.
Saints were set to face Hull City in Saturday’s Wembley final but have now been replaced by Middlesbrough after an independent disciplinary commission removed them from the play-offs and docked them four points for next season.
Redknapp, who managed Southampton for 48 matches between 2004
Southampton have been thrown out of the play-offs after admitting they spied on three clubs in the Championship season.
The EFL charged Saints with watching training sessions of Oxford United and Ipswich Town, in addition to filming Middlesbrough as they prepared for the first leg of their play-off semi-final on 7 May.
The independent disciplinary commission also handed Southampton a four-point deduction in the Championship for next season.
Saints will
The situation leaves a shroud of uncertainty over the play-offs before the second leg. And it will continue to cast a cloud if Southampton get to the final.
The independent disciplinary commission has all powers open to it – from just issuing a fine, to a points deduction to even removing Southampton from the play-offs.
For this reason the EFL – which does not decide the punishment itself – has
The English Football League (EFL) has launched an investigation into an alleged case of spying by Southampton on Middlesbrough before they meet in the Championship play-offs.
The first leg of their semi-final takes place at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday, with the return at St Mary’s on Tuesday.
BBC Sport has learned Saints’ performance analyst was allegedly caught recording Boro training and taking pictures of tactics late on Thursday morning.