Southampton players are considering LEGAL ACTION against the

Southampton players are considering LEGAL ACTION against the club after being kicked out of the Championship playoff final for allegedly spying on rivals’ training sessions.

The squad are furious after Middlesbrough were reinstated for the Wembley final against Hull, with tensions inside the dressing room now said to be at breaking point.

(Source: Guardian)

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I wonder if this includes the players making binocular gestures during the Boro game.

I cannot see Tonda Eckert surviving this if the board were unaware of his actions.

He has cost the club a quarter of a billion pounds

I wonder if this includes the players making binocular gestures during the Boro game.

I cannot see Tonda Eckert surviving this if the board were unaware of his actions.

He has cost the club a quarter of a billion pounds

He must have known simply because there are at least two other clubs they spied on! He's facing FA charge which could lead to a season long ban at minimum ..... what makes me laugh a lot of Saint fans think punishment is to severe and don't think cheating is that bad? Who on earth thought it was good idea to do something that really was never going to benefit them in 1st place is staggering..... possible £200m+ hit for nothing... can see trouble ahead for owners and non playing staff.

I think the players will have a hard time winning any sort of compo from this...

Too many what if's;

WHAT IF they didn't go up?
WHAT IF you got relegated straight?

And all the other contractual bonuses that are thrown into contracts these days...

I agree the gaffer will be gone, Chairman is fuming by all accounts as they have brought the club into disrepute.

I say nothing less than a prison sentence for all involved!

The big question is were Southampton the only ones doing it or simply the only ones that have been caught?.

The manager will get the sack for sure, I'll be shocked if he's not given some sort of ban for this

Its contagious? Wrexham player wants playoff re run as they finished 7th... Hull want straight promotion... shows teams do anything to be in premier league!

Its contagious? Wrexham player wants playoff re run as they finished 7th... Hull want straight promotion... shows teams do anything to be in premier league!

Wrexham probably have the best case out of those three with Hull's just being ridiculous, do they just expect Boro to say "yeah that sounds fair"?

Reports said that it will cost them over £200M for not going up - Some of those players might have had a clause in their contract if they were to go up .

Its contagious? Wrexham player wants playoff re run as they finished 7th... Hull want straight promotion... shows teams do anything to be in premier league!

Just heard that myself. What they fail to understand is that the sanction of being kicked out was almost certainly for the Boro instance as this was the only way that the injustice to Boro could be remedied at this late date.

Its contagious? Wrexham player wants playoff re run as they finished 7th... Hull want straight promotion... shows teams do anything to be in premier league!

Just heard that myself. What they fail to understand is that the sanction of being kicked out was almost certainly for the Boro instance as this was the only way that the injustice to Boro could be remedied at this late date.

Milwall have now joined the circus! Playoffs are a separate entity to the league and cup competitions... so the rules governing them is not same for Playoffs

Millwall?????????? They're having a laugh, surely this cannot be serious. This is even more ridiculous than Hull expecting to just get promoted because they feel like it.

Just two weeks ago, Tonda Eckert was a head coach who had the world at his feet.

The German had transformed Southampton from relegation candidates to favourites to win the Championship promotion play-offs.

It was a remarkable turnaround.

And then came Spygate, the explosive controversy which would result in the south-coast club being thrown out of the play-offs and deducted four points for next season.

The independent disciplinary commission found that Eckert had "specifically authorised the observations" and that the club showed a "particularly deplorable approach in its use of junior members of staff".

That involved William Salt - an intern analyst - embarking on a spying mission at Middlesbrough's Rockliffe Park base to find out if Hayden Hackney was training.

Eckert looked like he was the man to build a new era for Southampton in the Premier League.

But many supporters and those connected with the club have made their minds up. He is intrinsically linked to a dark period in the club's history.

Why was the 33-year-old so highly rated? Is there a future for him at St Mary's?

I seem to be in the minority here, but I think its overkill of a sentence. Yes, rules are rules, but this has been going on since sport began.

Clubs get all sorts of information from agents and other secondary sources. Analysts review every breath an opposition player makes. Football managers lie all the time saying player A is injured, then miraculouly revovers or fails to mention that player B broke down in training, or fails a seconf dope test Is that cheating?

A kid with an iPhone costing players tens, even hundreds of thousands in bonuses, I'd see if i could sue!!

I seem to be in the minority here, but I think its overkill of a sentence. Yes, rules are rules, but this has been going on since sport began.

Clubs get all sorts of information from agents and other secondary sources. Analysts review every breath an opposition player makes. Football managers lie all the time saying player A is injured, then miraculouly revovers or fails to mention that player B broke down in training, or fails a seconf dope test Is that cheating?

A kid with an iPhone costing players tens, even hundreds of thousands in bonuses, I'd see if i could sue!!

Like I said originally, if you don't want the opposition to know what you're doing then DO NOT have your training sessions in an open field that anyone can walk up to & watch.

I seem to be in the minority here, but I think its overkill of a sentence. Yes, rules are rules, but this has been going on since sport began.

Clubs get all sorts of information from agents and other secondary sources. Analysts review every breath an opposition player makes. Football managers lie all the time saying player A is injured, then miraculouly revovers or fails to mention that player B broke down in training, or fails a seconf dope test Is that cheating?

A kid with an iPhone costing players tens, even hundreds of thousands in bonuses, I'd see if i could sue!!

I think the problem is Bielsa done this with Leeds and got caught

so anyone trying to use the "everyone's doing it" excuse is going to have the book thrown at them

I bet a lot of clubs have done something similar over the years but they haven't been caught out

but if you get caught there isn't much you can argue with because bielsa's situation with Leeds was all over the media

And the EFL will make the punishment more harsh the more this goes on just to send a message

I seem to be in the minority here, but I think its overkill of a sentence. Yes, rules are rules, but this has been going on since sport began.

Clubs get all sorts of information from agents and other secondary sources. Analysts review every breath an opposition player makes. Football managers lie all the time saying player A is injured, then miraculouly revovers or fails to mention that player B broke down in training, or fails a seconf dope test Is that cheating?

A kid with an iPhone costing players tens, even hundreds of thousands in bonuses, I'd see if i could sue!!

But then it basically sends a message to other clubs that says "if you do this, then all you'll get is a fine."

If it was a £1m fine, that's nothing to most Championship clubs.

The punishment is effectively a two point deduction for each game they did their spying. But as points are irrelevant in the play-offs, the only option was to give the tie to Middlesbrough.

When you think of it like that, it's a proportionate sanction.

What about man united in the 90s , Alex Ferguson was the master at spying even checking hotel checking ins to see who was likely to be in the match day squads . It’s a silly rule about spying . If a team wants it kept secret then train indoors. I believe Southampton have been dealt a harsh card .

What about man united in the 90s , Alex Ferguson was the master at spying even checking hotel checking ins to see who was likely to be in the match day squads . It’s a silly rule about spying . If a team wants it kept secret then train indoors. I believe Southampton have been dealt a harsh card .

So the Rules don’t count when a club is caught?

They broke the Rules, the EFL had few workable options other than to throw the (not so much) Saints out!

Changing the Rules for the future is another matter and maybe ‘invites’ could go out to rival clubs to let them in when ‘private’ coaching/tactics sessions are going on?

What about man united in the 90s , Alex Ferguson was the master at spying even checking hotel checking ins to see who was likely to be in the match day squads . It’s a silly rule about spying . If a team wants it kept secret then train indoors. I believe Southampton have been dealt a harsh card .

So the Rules don’t count when a club is caught?

They broke the Rules, the EFL had few workable options other than to throw the (not so much) Saints out!

Changing the Rules for the future is another matter and maybe ‘invites’ could go out to rival clubs to let them in when ‘private’ coaching/tactics sessions are going on?

While this was outside the rules & they were punished accordingly, your line about invites to private coaching/tactics sessions is a bit wide of the mark for this one as looking at the pictures shows them training in an open to everyone field. If they want it to be private then do it in private, not in an open field where anyone can walk up & watch, that's not a private setting. Or, if you're going to do it in an open field then have some sort of security, even younger players, looking for & getting rid of any unwanted watchers.