Southampton to 'sack' Tonda Eckert if he lands extended ban

Southampton will be forced to sack Tonda Eckert if he is handed anything more than a three-month ban for his role in the Spygate saga.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes chairman Dragan Solak will already have a plan in place depending on the scale of the German's punishment.

This comes after Eckert was charged with misconduct by the FA due to him sending staff members to spy on Championship rivals last season.

Wyness believes that Southampton's stance will be dictated by the impending penalty the boss receives, but noted that they could not realistically work without a manager for longer than a three-month period.

There is also the possibility that Eckert could receive a suspended ban from the FA, and in that scenario, Wyness expects Southampton to continue to support him.

Solak and the rest of the hierarchy have stood by the 33-year-old so far, and still believe he is the right man to lead the club back to the Premier League.

Keith Wyness explains Southampton boundary

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that if Eckert is banned for the majority of the season, then Southampton will be left with no choice but to part company.

He expects the Saints to set a boundary at the three-month mark, and any suspension that goes above and beyond that point will see him lose his job.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness was clear that Southampton's faith in Eckert will have to be tested.

"The owner's already come out and said he's going to support him. However, if he gets a ban for most of the year and it's not suspended, then you can't have the club running without a manager," he said. 

"Now, if it becomes a three-month ban that is actually enforced, then the manager could probably just about exist and the club could manage to get by in the short term for three months to do that.

"So a lot's going to depend on the outcome. I hope common sense prevails and there is a suspended ban and he's warned, of course, over future conduct.

"But the owner, if it is a year's ban and they get that, then I'm afraid Eckert would have to be moved on because there's just no way they can wait for a year. Three months, probably just about, and that's where I see it."

Southampton face 'harshest punishment ever seen in sports'

Wyness told Football Insider earlier this week that the FA shouldn't go beyond a suspended ban for Eckert, and feels that he and Southampton have already been punished enough.

He labelled the EFL's decision to kick them out of the Championship play-offs as the "harshest punishment ever seen in sports," and believes that the Saints have already "suffered enough."

Wyness explained that Eckert and the players likely lost out on promotion bonuses, while the coach has also had his reputation "tarnished" by the Spygate saga.

However, he also wanred that a suspended sentence could be the "most lenient" outcome, as we continue to await the FA's punishment.