Tonda Eckert has always been a man for the details.
As a teenager, he worked as an analyst for the German national side alongside studying for his degree. By the time the 2014 World Cup came around, he was preparing in-depth reports on Argentina, who Germany beat in the final.
When he first took over as Southampton boss, he encouraged every member of staff to smile a bit more. That positive energy, he believed, would rub off on the players and that could be the difference between winning and losing. He badgered bosses to hire more psychologists and analysts.
The 33-year-old brought in German neuroscientists, neuro11, to strap sensors to his players’ heads and analyse how long their free-kick run-ups should be. For the son of a doctor in mathematics, Eckert knows better than most how much of a difference those one per cents can make.
‘He’s a control freak,’ one source has told Daily Mail Sport. ‘The level of detail he goes into is abnormal.’ The question now, of course, is quite how much control he had when William Salt, one of the club’s analysts, was sent to film a Middlesbrough training session ahead of the Championship play-off semi-final first leg. Or, as we now know, when the club spied on multiple opponents throughout the season.
Could this all-seeing coach, who demanded to be sent every match report and interview written up from his Southampton Under 21s games, who rocks up at press conferences with a tactical dossier on the opposition, really be unaware that one of his staff was collecting even more data from a golf course next to Boro’s training ground?
Tonda Eckert has always been a man for the details – ‘he’s a control freak,’ one source told Daily Mail Sport
The question now, of course, is quite how much control he had when William Salt, one of the club’s analysts, was allegedly sent to film a Middlesbrough training session
The practice of spying on opponents is, after all, quite commonplace around Europe, especially in Germany. ‘When we were training at Bayern Munich, there were people in the little mountains with cameras and the opponent was watching what we did,’ Pep Guardiola once said. ‘Everybody did it.’
In 2018, Bundesliga side Werder Bremen used a drone to spy on opponent’s Hoffenheim. Their manager Julian Nagelsmann, now in charge of the German national side, responded: ‘I’m not really angry at the analyst doing his job.’ That didn’t stop him telling staff to blast music from a children’s TV show at full volume to stop potential spies eavesdropping on his tactics in the build-up to Germany’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Spain.
When Boro boss Kim Hellberg was asked if he thought Eckert knew about the spies, he simply replied: ‘No comment.’
Eckert has given nothing away. He has responded to every question about Spygate – and there have been plenty – with the same unflinching, unblinking expression. The club have made a statement, there’s nothing more to say right now because of the investigation, it’s hard for him too, the club are taking it ‘very seriously’ and he has things to say just not yet.
Any chance of going into detail has also twice been cut short by the club’s media officer who brought a premature end to both press conferences after the two legs due to the nature of questioning over Spygate.
Daily Mail Sport was in the room when Eckert was asked outright ‘are you a cheat?’, bringing a swift curtain down on that particular occasion, and there was barely a flicker of emotion on the German’s face then either as he stood up from his chair and casually made for the door. Away from the cameras, Eckert is known to be much more jovial and relaxed.
Eckert’s habit of pausing for a second or two longer than feels natural before answering questions, a trait inherited from his father, is nothing new but the changing narrative around the club naturally alters the perception.
Throughout a run of 21 league matches unbeaten, it’s painted a picture of a measured genius collecting his thoughts. This is a man who completed his Pro Licence in Italy, in Italian, despite not speaking a word of it when he arrived, and qualified as best in class. In the current climate, however, it makes you wonder what he’s choosing not to say and, thus, what he’s hiding.
Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg (centre) was furious with Eckert (second left) during the play-off semi-final
Eckert and Hellberg clashed over a complaint from Boro’s Luke Ayling that Southampton captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis had mocked his stammer
After Southampton were kicked out of the play-off final and docked four points for next season – the club are appealing – Eckert and technical director Johannes Spors could face separate action from the FA if they are deemed to be involved. The governing body can force them and the club to hand over emails, WhatsApp messages and phone records. It is believed that texts between Southampton staff were incriminating, and proved systemic espionage.
The result is a furious fanbase, within whom Eckert has gone from hero to villain as their chances of Premier League football next year lie in tatters, all because of the schemes the club used to spy not just on Middlesbrough, but also Ipswich and Oxford United. It should be noted that Saints did not even win any of these matches.
Supporters group Rainbow Saints said in a statement: ‘While we are disappointed with the decision made to expel Southampton from the play-off final, we’re left embarrassed and even more disappointed about the admissions made on behalf of the club of three occasions where rules were breached.
‘The players worked so hard to turn around the first part of the season and us fans spent countless amounts of time and money travelling around England and Wales in all sorts of weather to cheer them on. Yet due to decisions completely out of our respective control, we’re left entirely let down by incredibly poor decision-making.’
As well as revealing the scandal and the first picture of the spying in action, Daily Mail Sport’s investigation also uncovered an image of Salt on the shoulder of Eckert, celebrating his manager of the month prize for February. Sources say Salt is a key part of Eckert’s first-team operation and highly valued by the German.
Eckert had, as one source put it, ‘breathed life back into the place’ after two Premier League relegations in three years, one as the second-worst team in history, left the club a toxic mess. Saints were 21st in the Championship when predecessor Will Still was sacked.
Even though he’s only 33, he’s worked under three World Cup winners in Miroslav Klose (with whom he shared beers in the sauna at Bayern Munich while coaching their Under 17s), Alberto Gilardino and Patrick Vieira. Those who have followed his career say learning from that trio, from different countries and cultures, shaped a ‘complete’ tactical view of the game.
During his early days as an analyst for Germany, he studied opponents’ cultures and traditions – what musical instruments do people in Ghana play, for example – as much as tactics. In his youth, he watched matches to help EA Sports give accurate player ratings for their FIFA video game franchise and bumped up ones of his friends.
Eckert had, as one source put it, ‘breathed life back into the place’ after two Premier League relegations in three years, one as the second-worst team in history, left the club a toxic mess
Now, Eckert has gone from hero to villain at Southampton with their Premier League dreams lying in tatters
Eckert’s relationship with technical director Spors has been key to it all. Spors hired Eckert at Genoa before bringing him to Southampton to take charge of the Under 21s but with a view to taking over the first team in the future. He just didn’t think it would happen inside three months.
‘He never stops, I love it,’ Spors told Daily Mail Sport before the Spygate scandal. ‘Sometimes when managers are demanding, some of the staff think, “Yeah, give him a couple of weeks and he’ll calm down”. I don’t want him to calm down.’
Eckert is known to watch at least three matches of every opponent and even celebrated his side’s 5-1 win over Charlton in December by going home to watch a Leicester game for their meeting a few days later, in which they would come from 3-0 down at half-time to win 4-3.
Those who work with him talk of a desire to win at all costs. ‘I would prefer to win an ugly game than lose a beautiful one,’ Eckert said when appointed permanent boss in December. We are now finding out just how ugly the success really was.
