Southampton owner will not sack head coach Eckert
Southampton owner Dragan Solak says he will not sack Tonda Eckert, despite the "mistake" the head coach - who has apologised - made when authorising a spying campaign against rival Championship clubs.
"I think he deserves a second chance and I would give it to him," the Serb businessman told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.
"My full support would be behind him actually, because I think he's a super-talented manager."
Eckert addressed Southampton supporters on Tuesday morning in an eight-minute video published on the club's social media channels.
"For everything that has happened I want to apologise. I hold my hands up because as a head coach I am responsible," Eckert said.
"I am devastated that after six months of building that relationship [with supporters] back up, the season has come to an end, an end that couldn't have left us in a worse place than we are in right now.
"I am a young coach, I have made a mistake, and I take full responsibility."
After a short spell as caretaker boss, Eckert was appointed on a permanent basis in December to lead a Southampton side who were involved in a relegation fight. He guided them not only to safety but to the Championship promotion play-offs after a fourth-place finish.
However, Saints were expelled from the play-offs after admitting observing opponents' training sessions, and they have been deducted four points for the 2026-27 season.
An independent disciplinary commission said that Eckert, the club's 33-year-old German boss, accepted he had orchestrated what it called a "contrived and determined plan from the top down".
On Monday, it was revealed that a junior member of staff claimed that Eckert's proposals had placed them "under extreme pressure" to carry out a task they were uncomfortable with and felt was morally wrong.
Details emerged after the publication of the written reasons of an arbitration panel appointed to hear Southampton's appeal against their punishment. Eckert was said to be "surprised" to learn that EFL regulations prohibited the practice.
"I believe Tonda that he didn't know that it was the rule that he was breaking," said Solak, whose media company acquired a majority stake of the club in 2022.
"My personal opinion, and the opinion of the board, is that he is a manager who deserves to be backed by us and to be supported by us. I will obviously seek advice from the team. I will seek advice from the players, from the fans. But yes, if it's ultimately my decision, he stays."
Speaking from Slovenia, Solak added: "In Italy or in Germany, where Tonda was working, this is basically common practice that nobody cares about."
However, Solak said he also issued Eckert with a warning. "I told him: 'You almost broke my heart. You do it again, you'll kill me. The next time I see you in July, if you don't know the EFL book of rules by heart, you can't work for me. Because, we can't have another mistake.'
"I truly hope that he will learn from this experience and he will achieve an incredible career."
Southampton admitted to charges of spying on Oxford United and Ipswich Town in the regular season, and then Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final.
Eckert explained why he sent a staff member to observe training sessions involving those clubs, adding that the "bitter irony" is that "none of what happened had any affect on the sporting performance".
"When I worked in Italy for over four years, every starting line-up that was chosen for games was always out in the media," said the former Genoa assistant.
"The reason is that our training sessions have always been observed from media and opponent teams.
"[Pep] Guardiola has spoken about this at his time at Bayern Munich, that it's common practice in Germany to observe training sessions knowing opponents will do the same.
"I don't want to say this to excuse anything we have done, I just want to give you context in the way I grew up in the football world. There are different rules in England and the EFL and I should have known them."
Eckert added that he spoke "from the heart" without a script, and that he hopes with time supporters can "understand and forgive".
– BBC Sport
