Southampton face Middlesbrough in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Saturday, a day after they were charged by the EFL with spying on opponents.
Tonda Eckert’s team have been accused of spying on Middlesbrough’s training sessions (Image: Rich Linley/Getty Images)
Southampton manager Tonda Eckert has dismissed the significance of ‘Spygate’ after being accused by the EFL of spying against Middlesbrough ahead of Saturday’s Championship play-off semi-final first leg.
A Saints employee is said to have used high-tech equipment to record Boro’s training session at their Rockliffe Park home base on Thursday. Middlesbrough, who will host Saturday’s 12.30pm kick-off, are furious and are understood to want the EFL to throw the books at their opponents.
“I think the club issued a statement yesterday, but I can’t comment,” Eckert told Sky Sports before kick-off. Next, they were asked about spying on training sessions in general.
“When you get to this stage of the season, you believe it’s the players who win games, not the coaches, and today will be exactly the same,” he said.
Asked what impact the tie would have, Eckert added: “We’re focused on ourselves and we’ve been all week. We know we’re playing a good team today and we know they’ve been a good team all season. It’s going to be a big challenge.”
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read more: EFL slams Southampton over Middlesbrough ‘spying’ incident ahead of play-off showdownread more: How to watch Middlesbrough vs Southampton – TV channels, live streams and kick-off times
Boro manager Kim Helberg was asked how he felt that he might have been spied on. “Maybe?” he retorted with a smile. “It hasn’t affected our build-up. We’ve been doing what we’re supposed to do before a game like this.
“We watched the whole Southampton game and tried to find different solutions to beat Southampton. How to press, how to build up, give it our all all day long and try to do what we need to do in the right way to get the advantage to win.”
The Telegraph reported that Saints would accept the charges but claim the analyst in question was working alone and not following orders from above.
In a statement, the EFL said: “Southampton Football Club has today been charged with a breach of EFL regulations and the matter will be referred to an independent disciplinary committee.
Middlesbrough host Southampton in the first semi-final (Image: Anna Gowthorpe/Shutterstock)
“This follows a request from the EFL to observe the club following a complaint from Middlesbrough regarding alleged unauthorized filming on private property ahead of the clubs’ meeting in Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final first leg. The charges relate to the following provisions:
“EFL Rule 3.4 requires clubs to act towards each other in the utmost good faith and EFL Rule 127 prohibits any club from observing or attempting to observe another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs.”
“Under EFL regulations, Southampton would normally have 14 days to respond to accusations. However, given the nature of the matter, the EFL will ask the Independent Disciplinary Panel to shorten the response period and hold a hearing at the earliest opportunity. The league will make no further comment while the case is ongoing.”
Southampton said in a statement: “SFC has confirmed the statement issued by the EFL regarding the alleged breach of the EFL Regulations. We can confirm that we will fully co-operate with the league throughout this process. Given the ongoing nature of the matter, the club is unable to comment further at this time.”
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