Southampton boss Tonda Eckert will be in the dugout for Sunday’s south-coast derby against Pompey after being given a suspended ban for his involvement in the Spygate scandal.
Pundits from across football have been left astonished after Southampton boss Tonda Eckert escaped serious punishment ahead of Sunday’s south-coast derby against Pompey.
The German was at the centre of the Spygate scandal, which rocked the Championship in May, after his side admitted to snooping on Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town and Oxford United last season.
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After the Blues’ bitter rivals were expelled from the play-offs and given a four-point deduction by the EFL, the head coach was subsequently charged by the FA in July.
Tonda Eckert.placeholder image
Tonda Eckert. | Getty Images
But after a hearing with a Disciplinary Commission at the end of last month, Eckert has only been slapped with a six-week suspended ban and hit with a £28,000 fine by English football’s governing body.
This will now see the Southampton boss line-up in the dugout for Sunday’s eagerly-anticipated south-coast derby with Pompey.
Pundit astonishment on FA punishment for Southampton boss ahead of derby
However, the FA’s lenient punishment has drawn criticism from a host of former players, including Darren Bent, who was stunned with the outcome.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the ex-Spurs and Sunderland man said: ‘The £28,000 (fine), I get it’s a lot of money but in this situation here a suspended suspension. What?
‘He’s obviously not going to do it again, it’s ridiculous. They (the FA) have to say something.
‘Obviously Southampton got kicked out of the play-offs and a points deduction and know they can’t do this again.
‘A suspended ban, what is the point? There are going to be rival fans out there chewing (at the lenient punishment).
‘I’m glad they have put this to bed but I would’ve liked this to have been done before the season started so everyone knows exactly what is going on and move on.
‘But to make us wait this long and then to give him just a suspended ban. Really?’
Those views were echoed by EFL expert and former Reading and West Ham striker Jobi McAnuff, who ‘cannot understand’ how the commission came to the final verdict.
He told BBC Radio’s 72+ EFL Podcast: ‘I'm not quite sure how you go from three months, in terms of the commission, to 16 weeks to absolutely nothing.
‘I absolutely understand that Southampton fans, the players who were involved and other staff at the football club who had no knowledge of what was going on, have been incredibly harshly punished.
‘I felt justly, though. I just do not think they could have gone through to a (play-off) final and potentially got themselves promoted having admitted cheating, which is what it is. Let's call it as it is in terms of how we do things in this country, and our rules and regulations and particularly after Bielsa, the rule that was brought in.
‘I get that, but I still feel, ultimately, one man was responsible for all that, and that was Tonda Eckert. That is why there has obviously been a separate case for him to answer.
‘I just cannot understand how that commission has come to the conclusion that he won't face any time off that touchline in terms of being the man who leads his football team out.
‘I think, particularly, what you see managers get suspended for nowadays and have to miss games for - real petty stuff - and the fact they've obviously admitted, on three occasions, breaching the rules, and now not having to serve any length of time at all, I feel is a real shock and something I didn't see coming.’
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What former Pompey midfielder Jamie O’Hara said on Eckert verdict
Jamie O'Hara celebrates scoring Pompey's fourth in the 4-1 win at St Mary's in February 2010. Picture: Phil Cole/Getty Imagesplaceholder image
Jamie O'Hara celebrates scoring Pompey's fourth in the 4-1 win at St Mary's in February 2010. Picture: Phil Cole/Getty Images | Getty Images
Former Pompey midfielder Jamie O’Hara also voiced his opinion on talkSPORT during a debate with ex-Chelsea man Jason Cundy and insisted Eckert and Southampton did gain an unfair advantage.
He added: ‘It’s cheating. You’re spying on the other team, you’re breaking the rules. You’re not allowed to spy on the other team.
‘The definition of cheating; acting dishonestly, breaking established rules or using deception to gain an unfair advantage. It is cheating, that is the meaning of it.
Diving is (also) cheating. You’re using an unfair advantage.
‘He’s cheated. He hasn’t got the referee in his back pocket or the lino but he has broken the rules and cheated.
‘Suspended ban, what is that on the scale of getting away with it? He’s cheated.’