The Saints continue to be dogged by scandal despite semi-final success
Tonda Eckert and Kim Hellberg at St Mary’s Stadium(Image: Robin Jones/Getty Images)
Tonda Eckert insisted Southampton are taking the ‘spygate’ scandal “very seriously” after his side booked a place in the Championship play-off final against Hull City with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Middlesbrough.
Aggrieved Boro boss Kim Hellberg fought back tears in his post-match press conference as he branded the situation “disgraceful”, following a fortuitous 116th-minute winner from Saints midfielder Shea Charles.
Southampton have been charged with a breach of EFL regulations for allegedly snooping on a Middlesbrough training session ahead of Saturday’s goalless first leg.
Amid suggestions they could be thrown out of the play-offs if found guilty, Saints are set to play City for a place in the Premier League on May 23 at Wembley, with the kick-off time set to be confirmed imminently.
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Asked if he was aware what the potential punishment could be as his club awaits the outcome of the independent disciplinary commission’s investigation, Southampton head coach Eckert said: “No, I don’t know. It’s not easy for me to not comment, there’s just nothing I can say at the moment, because it’s an ongoing investigation. We’re taking the matter very seriously. I will say something. I just can’t say it now.”
Prompted by Southampton’s communications director, Eckert ultimately walked out of the press conference having been asked directly if he was “a cheat”., for the second time after the same happened on Saturday at the Riverside Stadium. Saints came from behind to ensure the ‘spygate’ row rumbles on, Charles preventing penalties by scoring with an attempted cross after Ross Stewart’s header cancelled out Riley McGree’s early opener.
Hellberg congratulated Southampton’s players and fans, but refused to acknowledge Eckert and his coaching staff. The 38-year-old Swede spoke emotionally about the impact of the alleged spying as he outlined the sacrifices he has made in trying to end Middlesbrough’s nine-year exile from the top flight.
“I worked 15 years as a coach in terms of trying to get to the Premier League,” said Hellberg. “That’s my dream, for 15 years. I know there are clubs with bigger resources, there are teams that have more money, there are teams with bigger squads than us. What you have as a coach and as a group is the tactical element of the game, where we can beat opponents.”
“If we wouldn’t have caught that man that they sent up on a five-hour drive, you would sit there and say, ‘well done (to Southampton) in the tactical aspect of the game’ and I would go home and feel like I had failed.
“When someone decides, ‘nah, we’re not going to watch every game, we send someone instead and film the session’, see everything and hope they don’t get caught – I guess that’s why he was switching clothes and everything that I have seen on the television – it breaks my heart in terms of all those things I believe in. I think that it’s disgraceful. It makes me very sad. If we hadn’t caught that person, I would be sitting here thinking I should have done better things.”
On a tetchy evening, the two rival managers had to be separated on the touchline in the first half following an apparent on-field complaint made by Middlesbrough defender Luke Ayling against Taylor Harwood-Bellis, which was reported by referee Andy Madley, and the Saints will now face a nervous wait for any potential punishment from the FA towards their defender.
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