Southampton owner Dragan Solak supports coach Tonda Eckert despite spying controversy
Southampton owner Dragan Solak has confirmed he will not dismiss head coach Tonda Eckert following the revelation that Eckert authorised a spying operation targeting rival Championship clubs. Solak described the incident as a "mistake" but expressed confidence in Eckert's abilities and commitment.
"I think he deserves a second chance and I would give it to him," Solak, a Serbian businessman, told in an exclusive interview. "My full support would be behind him actually, because I think he's a super-talented manager."
Eckert, a 33-year-old German, initially served as caretaker manager before being appointed permanently in December. He took charge of Southampton when the club was embroiled in a relegation battle and successfully led them to safety and a fourth-place finish, securing a spot in the Championship promotion play-offs.
However, Southampton were expelled from the play-offs after admitting to observing training sessions of opponents. Additionally, the club was penalised with a four-point deduction for the 2026-27 season.
An independent disciplinary commission found that Eckert accepted responsibility for orchestrating what was described as a "contrived and determined plan from the top down."
On Monday, further details emerged revealing that a junior staff member claimed Eckert's directives placed them under "extreme pressure" to perform tasks they found morally objectionable. These revelations came following the publication of the arbitration panel's written reasons regarding Southampton's appeal against their sanctions. Eckert reportedly expressed surprise upon learning that the EFL regulations prohibited such practices.
"I believe Tonda that he didn't know that it was the rule that he was breaking," Solak said. "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."
Solak also issued a stern warning to Eckert:
"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."
Potential FA ban and future implications
Southampton admitted to spying on Oxford United and Ipswich Town during the regular season, as well as Middlesbrough prior to the play-off semi-final. The Football Association (FA) is investigating the matter and may decide to charge Eckert.
When questioned about Eckert's future if banned by the FA, Solak stated:
"I can support him even if he's banned, but I can't make him manage if he's banned. My support comes from a very simple legal situation where there is no double jeopardy. Whatever crime you did, you can be sentenced only once. I think we were 'over-sentenced'. The punishment that the club received was severe and completely disproportionate to the mistake that we made. We lost our chance to win £200m.
"But if they're going to go again and then double that with [a] ban, we might appeal. But he will have my support through the process. But if he's banned, he's banned. I mean, I can't put somebody to manage the club if he is not allowed.
"I'm looking at him as a young, extremely talented manager - the guy who took our club when we were 21st in the table and brought us almost to direct promotion. I am amazed that Tonda is willing to come back in this hostile environment after the witch hunt he had in the media.
"I'm pretty sure if the FA decides to ban him, he will get a triple better-paid job in Italy or Germany."
Regarding whether it was fair to label the incident as "just a mistake" given that Southampton spied on three rivals, Solak responded:
"It was three times out of 46 games. If he would do it on an industrial level, he would do it on every game. Right?"
Spygate WhatsApps and related coverage
Further coverage includes revelations from WhatsApp messages related to the Spygate scandal, profiles on Tonda Eckert, and details of Southampton's expulsion from the play-offs due to spying.
Solak compares spying impact to diving in football
In a comprehensive interview, Solak revealed he was unaware of the spying operation until it became public last month via social media.
"I actually learned from X. I sent a message: 'What the hell is this?' Even people I talked to at the highest level of the club didn't have a clue what was going on. They really thought it was a joke."
Describing the club's punishment as "ridiculous," Solak sought to minimize the impact of the spying:
"Yes, we tried to obtain an information that was not legally allowed. OK, what you do with this information and how you use it on the pitch, is a different thing. And what is the direct influence of this information on the pitch?
"On the other side, we can see on almost every game, players diving, trying to basically get a penalty or get a red card. That is not fair. And it's very simple to call this cheating because they know what they're doing, it's much, much more direct influence on the game and the result than whatever we did.
"I'm not saying that what we did is right. I agree with the league that they want to stop it once for all. I just think that they are not treating every offence equally."
Regarding club staff awareness of the spying, Solak said:
"This whole thing was happening within the environment of our analysts. I think we have a couple of guys that are foreign analysts, so for them you could say probably that they didn't have a clue that this was against the rules.
"And then we have probably five or six British analysts. How come they either didn't know or they didn't tell? I don't know. But this is something that will be additional soul-searching for us... I am definitely very focused that we come to the understanding of this because this is the only way it will never happen again."
Junior staff involvement and club culture
The EFL's disciplinary commission condemned the use of junior staff members to conduct covert observations as "deplorable." Solak acknowledged that such a culture was unacceptable but attributed it to a combination of misunderstanding, ignorance, and arrogance within the club.
He emphasized the importance of empowering staff to refuse uncomfortable tasks:
"We have dysfunctions in the club, but we will actually make an effort for people to understand that whoever orders them to do something, that is putting them out of their comfort zone, they have every right to refuse."
Regarding the analyst intern caught spying on Middlesbrough's training, Solak said:
"I don't see really this culture when somebody is really making junior staff do something they don't want. I believe that our junior intern felt personally it's wrong, and he didn't feel right for doing this, and I think he should have expressed that stronger. I'm pretty sure that if [he had] come to us, the top management, actually it would be the seniors who would be punished, not him.
"I have a lot of pity. I'm sorry for what he had to go through. And we obviously would like him to stay in the club and we offered him a prolonged job with the club."
Reports have indicated that some Southampton players are considering leaving the club and may pursue legal action over lost promotion bonuses after the team was expelled from the play-offs despite defeating Middlesbrough over two legs.
Solak commented on the players' situation:
"Honestly, it's on them to decide. I had a very open conversation with them, and they were actually very nice. And you could see that they are hurting. But through that, they still behaved as gentlemen. You go through things, but life is fair.
"If you are a player of Southampton that really has quality to play in Premier League, I'm pretty sure you'll play in Premier League this season or the next."
Club's response and arbitration panel's criticism
The EFL Arbitration Panel criticised Southampton for initially providing misleading information about the spying operation, noting the club first denied any video was captured or analysed before later admitting otherwise.
When questioned about the inaccurate initial response, Solak explained:
"We were requested by the EFL to respond in 12 hours, ahead of a huge game where everybody's travelling. So the people who made the response had a limited time to try to get the truth. And that's why I think their response was imperfect. During the process later, we absolutely delivered everything we know."
Solak also referenced the legal advice the club sought:
"When we were preparing for this whole process with the EFL, we hired football expert lawyers, they hired a criminal prosecution expert lawyer. So I would say we have been a bit naive in the whole thing. But since we made a mistake, I'm not going to justify anything."
He expressed regret over the impact on fans and the club:
"I'm completely devastated. As a club, we need to apologise to our fans. They gave everything to us. And I'm sure we gave them a lot of great moments, but at the end we gave them this huge disappointment. So I really feel sorry for them. I feel sorry for the whole club, you know, because few people made a mistake, but the whole club suffers.
"But all I can tell them is that my dedication to the club is not wavering at all. I think that out of all of this, we will become stronger."
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