Tonda Eckert should have been 'sacked' over Southampton scandal
Tonda Eckert is incredibly fortunate to still have his job as Southampton manager after the Spygate scandal, with the FA handing him a suspended ban and a fine this week.
That is the opinion of experienced former Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The 33-year-old will remain in charge of the Saints after the FA's independent regulatory commission settled on a £28,000 fine and a six-week ban from football, suspended until the end of next season.
Eckert was at the centre of a dramatic sequence of events at the end of last season, with the German found to have organised spies to watch and record the training sessions of several of Southampton's upcoming opponents.
One of these was Middlesbrough, who were given a bye to the Championship play-off final despite having been knocked out, after the Saints were expelled.
Southampton have experienced an up and down start to the new season, having won four of their opening eight Championship games.
'The whole thing is ludicrous'
There had been immediate suspicions that Eckert would be sacked or banned from football, but Southampton quickly positioned themselves behind him.
The German had cost the Saints potentially hundreds of millions of pounds by taking them out of the play-offs, but there is confidence that he can get them back there again this season.
"That for me is another joke in football. Spying. If you're going to spy, you go to see the team you're going to play like we always used to in the old days," King told Football Insider.
"If you're at Everton and you're playing Manchester United, then you have people going to watch them play their game at home and away. Then you can assess the things you're going to do.
"You don't go and watch them training. What's all that about? He got a £28,000 fine. That's going to hurt the football club. And then he's got a suspended six-week ban. Now, work that one out."
Asked what punishment Eckert should have received, King added: "The sack, if it's that serious. Otherwise, I'd laugh at it.
"If he thinks that's going to change football by sending somebody up there to watch training, standing behind a tree with a video on his phone. Come on here. Child stuff. Ridiculous. The whole thing's ludicrous. Ludicrous."
What did Eckert say?
Eckert spoke on Thursday following conformation that he would be able to continue as Southampton boss.
"I made a mistake and I said that relatively quickly and then I think you just have to accept the consequences," he told the media ahead of Sunday's game against Portsmouth.
"The only thing for me was to give my version of the story and I'm happy the commission listened. In the end, if you make a mistake, it's not for me to judge the consequences, I have to take whatever comes my way.
"I'm very happy we go into Sunday into one of the biggest games of the season and we have clarity. And that's not just for me, that's for everyone involved in this football club."