14 May 2026 16:48:53
With each media update, the story worsens. The suspect is reported to work for our back room staff in some capacity and left evidence at the scene (bank details) which may lead to an auditable trail around the country.

If the evidence is incontrovertible (and it seems that way) we have a serious problem.

Even falling on our sword and pleading for leniency won't cut it.

It may boil down to 'proportionality' - a punishment to fit the crime. One could argue that a £100m forfeiture for missing out on a place in the PL is way over the top.

Unfortunately, if proven this is a generational event that will take years to come back from.

If unproven, it will leave a smear that has tarnished an unexpectedly good season.

Either way, we're cattle trucked - it's just a case of how much.

1.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 01:15:39
Yea from the pictures posted you can clearly see him amongst the staff members in the picture with Tonda receiving the Manager of the month award.

They tracked him down with a combination of pictures and the fact he brought a coffee at the golf club that he subsequently ran back into change clothes later when he was caught.

Now the bigger concern is that they're asking for his bank account files. Meaning I'm guessing that want to see if his behavior of buying coffee/food with his own bank card near the venues of other training grounds matches up with the dates that were playing teams of said training grounds.

If that evidence does match up then yea we have a bit of a sh!t storm on our hands.

If indeed there are multiple occurrences of this spying stuff then Tonda most definitely is not the tactical genius many people on here have made him out to be, at best he can throw the analyst guy under the bus and say he knew nothing about it, but at worst which I think is more likely (If there are more occasions of it happening) he did know either some or all of it.

2.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 08:15:18
It must be a major distraction for the players. They do live in a bubble for much of the time, but they are not insulated from this sort of global scrutiny.

I don't believe the players were aware of any of this (if the allegations are true) because footballers cannot keep secrets and could hold the club to ransom if they felt so inclined.

Lesleee, your choice of term 'rubbish show' could prove an understatement.

3.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 08:36:46
I thought I read that this analyst left Saints in March and now works for AV. He is reported not to be in the March or April photos of Tondas award suggesting it may be a lone wolf job pre semi final playoff. Motive would be unclear then why but don't know why he left.

He then was not removed from the staff website. Maybe if he was previously doing this it was unknown and then became known. Feel more reassured it's independent lawyers dealing with it and will assess the evidence and full context properly without emotions clouding judgement

4.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 10:25:51
Please God, you're right Guernsey Boy. Any form of damage limitation will be welcome.

5.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 10:45:45
Now confirmed by Ugly Inside article. Looks increasingly like no case to answer verdict to me. Oh and a heavy costs order against EFL who brought the case. We shall see

6.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 11:36:24
Someone from the senior management said at an early stage that it was an intern 'trying to impress'. it was a one off comment that got lost in the noise of hysteria
It appears that this seems to be the case and that he acted renegade.
no case to answer. end of.
And as much as lesleeeee has decided that this new manager must have been achieving with inside information,
He's achieving because he is a very intelligent, technical genius
Go listen to some of the players talking about Eckert.
his in-depth analysis has been so in-depth that they can't believe it and are in awe

Now let's get back to the business
COYR

7.) 15 May 2026
15 May 2026 12:03:02
Well said Rich. The boys are so focused and we need to give them loads of encouragement now and until the final. Let's all get behind them COYR

8.) 16 May 2026
16 May 2026 07:28:52
Lesleee regardless of how Tonda may have got his information, he still had to know how to use it. He has to set up a team to play in a manner that cancels out what he may or may not have seen.

This would require tactical genius.Has anyone tried filming a football match/ anything from over, in my estimation, 200m away on a iPhone? Very difficult to hold still and keep focused on everything.

9.) 16 May 2026
16 May 2026 12:38:43
Not at all Saint Kenny, it doesn't make you a tactical genius in the slightest, it very much makes you the opposite.

I guarantee with the team we have anyone of us here could have put a few points on the board with it.

Now if you tell me, to add to that before each match you're going to give me the training plans/anayalsis/drills of how the other team are directly looking to set up against me and approach the game, well you've just made my job a while lot easier and ensured I put even more points on the board.

You have to stop thinking like a Southampton/Tonda fan and see it for what it is.

If it was a one of, then sure the whole situation is more forgiving. If it comes out as being multiple occurrences than that shows a systematic reliance on needing information that the opposition didn't have to succeed.

If I was the manager (if it was multiple occasions) I would have questioned how the data/footage came about.

Especially if Tonda is looking at direct footage of the training sessions, that's pretty damning on his part because he didn't shut it down.

& Don't be naive about camera phones, this isn't the Motorola or Nokia era we're living in, you can literally buy high end spec video phones with ultra high motion capture specs on them these days.

10.) 16 May 2026
16 May 2026 13:09:07
You're walking a tight rope Southants and asking for a fall by calling Tonda a tactical genius whilst all this spying stuff is still in the evidence collecting/trial stages. Go and ask the wider footballing community whether they think Tonda is a tactical genius currently ?

You literally said "In-depth anayalsis that the players are in awe of", almost like Tonda knew something that others didn't, funny that.

Like I say I want Tonda to succeed but you have to be careful and you have to be logical, because the fall you're setting yourself up for, you can guarantee I will be there when you do ??

Have to stay on point too, my none acceptance of the Tonda genius claims aka the Messiah your making him into (even though you said you aren't, that's what a Messiah is, building someone up), is something I've been holding to for a long time, before this spying stuff. I've repeatedly said I won't/cannot judge Tonda/credit his success this season (entirely to him) when this team is predominantly Will Stills. That's a valid point wether you like it or not. Now next season when players come and go, when he's directly responsible for the team built going forward and presented for the season ahead, then yes that is when I will start to judge him and if the results are the same as they are now then I'll gladly put my hand up.

None promotion means we should at least be able to replicate what we have done this year in the championship next year and if we are in the premiership then our run in the FA cup and superior team (and manager by your own words) means we should at least comfortably avoid relegation.

Anything less and you have to accept that my points of Will Stills recruitment and the spying were factors in Tonda's success.

I have listened to the saints players talk about Tonda, many times, and they ultimately say the same thing - that he's obsessively focused and spends time away from the players, focusing on the details. Now yes that could mean he's this tactical, obsessive genius and I'm all for that, but with this spying stuff coming to light and reports of it on multiple occurrences, it could mean he knows he's dealing with shady information and working behind the scenes with one or two closed circuit staff members to gain the results they have illegally.

Unlike you I don't have tunnel vision, I see things from both sides. I want Tonda to be the man we all hope he is but I also want nothing to do with victory under such circumstances (if true). Southampton FC is the only true allegiance I have, managers/players come and go and their impact leaves us like a ragdoll being thrown up and down the leagues. My arguments and points on here are always about stability around the club and hoping that when success comes, that it is sustained. You may want promotion and wins at any cost but if it is down to Tonda's systematic cheating then inevitably that same success is going to crumble.