Dragan Solak said he will not sack Tonda Eckert after Southampton's spying scandal, giving the 33-year-old head coach a public vote of confidence even as the fallout from the club's rule breaches continues to widen. Solak said Eckert deserved a second chance and that, if it came down to him, the coach would stay.
The reason the issue is being searched now is simple: written reasons from an arbitration panel on Monday put fresh detail around a case that had already cost Southampton dearly. The club admitted observing opponents' training sessions, including those of Oxford United and Ipswich Town in the regular season and Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final, and was expelled from the Championship play-offs while also being docked four points for the 2026-27 season.
Solak did not try to downplay the damage. He said the punishment was severe and completely disproportionate to the mistake made by the club, adding that Southampton had lost its chance to win £200m. Eckert, who had already guided the side to safety and then on to a fourth-place finish and the promotion play-offs after a permanent appointment in December, now has the backing of the owner at the very moment that backing matters most.
But the story is not closed. An independent disciplinary commission said Eckert accepted he had orchestrated a contrived and determined plan from the top down, and a junior member of staff said his proposals had left them under extreme pressure. Solak says he can support Eckert even if he is banned, though he cannot make him manage if that happens, and the Football Association is still investigating the scandal with the option of charges still hanging over him.
Solak has also made the test for Eckert brutally clear. He said he had warned him that he must know the EFL book of rules by heart by July, a reminder that Southampton's owner is backing his manager for now, but not giving him any room for another mistake.
