Southampton are awaiting the results of an FA hearing on Tonda Eckert’s involvement in the Spygate scandal.

Southampton are apparently putting together a managerial contingency plan while the Football Association investigates Tonda Eckert’s participation in the spygate scandal.

The German is at the core of the affair, which shook the Championship as the Blues’ bitter rivals admitted to spying on Middlesbrough, Oxford United, and Ipswich Town last season.

The EFL ejected the St Mary’s Stadium side from the play-offs and fined them four points for the upcoming season, while the FA punished the head coach with three charges of bringing the game into disrepute.

Southampton consider hiring former Middlesbrough manager

Following a hearing on Thursday, Southampton and Eckert are awaiting the final ruling, which is likely before the end of the international break and the current south-coast derby against Pompey on October 11.

According to a new claim from The Telegraph, a contingency plan is already in the works if the 33-year-old faces a lengthy suspension.

According to John Percy and Mike McGrath, former Middlesbrough manager Rob Edwards is being considered as a possible replacement for the St Mary’s manager position.

According to the article, Southampton has long admired the 43-year-old, and he has been mentioned internally as a potential interim appointment.

The former Luton Town manager has been without a job since June, when he was fired by Wolves after their Premier League relegation and replaced by Cesar Peixoto at Molineux.

According to the Telegraph, the FA is also under pressure to give a quick decision on any potential punishment for Eckert, who was initially charged in July.

Tonda Eckert appeals for pardon as FA verdict awaits.

Southampton were expelled from the play-offs in May and punished four points for the next season by the EFL.

Eckert pled for forgiveness again this week, while a decision on a potential FA sanction awaits.

He stated, ‘We’ve talked a lot over the summer about how we want to go through that process of addressing everything, allowing everyone the opportunity to ask questions, to express their feelings and experiences, and then to close the door and go on.

Because, in actuality, it is a new season. We have huge objectives as a football club, and to achieve them, we need to move on.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the FA about everything that happened. Now it is up to them to make a decision. I don’t really have any feelings about it.

‘It’s been a big punishment. Nothing like this has ever happened in sports history.

‘And it’s difficult for me to say that because it worries me. I’m criticising myself, not an external situation. But I’ve prayed for forgiveness for what I did. I apologised publicly.

‘I believe the punishment has been very harsh on the club over the last season. And to start a new season at minus four. And the rest is not up to me.