Former EFL veteran and current analyst, Jobi McAnuff, has hit out at the Football Association’s ultimate sanctions to Southampton head coach, Tonda Eckert, after the German’s hearing following Spygate.

The Saints boss was fined £28,000 and handed a suspended six-week ban from all football and football-related activities, with the sentence being announced on Wednesday afternoon.

It’s five months since the South Coast side were first accused of spying on Middlesbrough’s training session at Rockliffe Park ahead of the first leg of last season’s play-off semi-finals, before it was later revealed similar acts had been carried out ahead of games against Oxford United and Ipswich Town.

There were many outsiders who were calling for Eckert to be removed imminently after Southampton were duly booted out of May’s Championship play-off final with Hull City and were handed a further four-point deduction at the start of the current campaign.

Owner Dragan Solak did have his public backing, although the FA’s own probe into Spygate ran on until last week.

Jobi McAnuff reacts to FA sanctions against Southampton boss Tonda Eckert

The FA initially considered a ban of at least three months but the three-man independent commission reduced that to 16 weeks then six weeks with the suspension lessening the impact it has on Southampton as a football club.

The suspended penalty will last until the end of the 2027/28 season, but it is a decision which McAnuff couldn’t come to terms with.”I’m not sure exactly how you get from three months, in terms of the commission, to 16 weeks to nothing at all,” he told the BBC’s 72+ podcast.I know he’s suspended, but at the end of the day, he’s not going to miss any time on the sidelines.“I fully appreciate Southampton fans, players who were involved and other staff at the football club who had no idea what was going on, have been hit very hard.He said, “I felt right. “I just don’t think they could have gone through to a (play-off) final and potentially got themselves promoted having admitted cheating which is what it is. “Let’s call it for what it is in terms of how we do things in this country, and our rules and regulations and particularly after Bielsa, the rule that was brought in.“I understand that, but I still think in the end it was one man who was responsible for all of that, and that was Tonda Eckert,” concluded McAnuff. That is why there was definitely a distinct case for him to answer.

Tonda Eckert’s record at Southampton As of 08/10/26

Head-to-heads

W

D.

The following is the text of the text in English:L

Win %

48

29

10 9 60% “I just don’t see how that commission has come to the decision that he’s not going to get any time off that touchline in terms of being the guy that leads his football team out.I think, especially, what you see managers get suspended for these days and have to miss games for – real petty stuff – and the fact they’ve obviously admitted, on three occasions, breaching the rules and now not having to serve any length of time at all, I feel is a real shock and something I didn’t see coming.

Southampton owner Dragan Solak has a different take on how the EFL and FA dealt with the Spygate affair.

Solak also praised how this specific hearing was handled versus the EFL’s past process, although many wanted clarity on Eckert’s stance to come sooner. Eckert’s suspended ban also follows after he was charged by the FA with three counts of misconduct against the governing body’s E3.1 rule after admitting to his role in the scandal.

“The FA process has been a good experience,” said the Serbian.

“Tonda had the opportunity to be open and honest with the panel and the panel was able to see that he is just a good person who made bad decisions.

“The same can’t be said for the EFL process and the way they have dealt with us since then is not something we will forget,” he added.

Southampton motivated for South Coast derby after Tonda Eckert verdict

Everyone involved with Southampton will be relieved that the business with Spygate is over, however not everyone is happy with the punishment.

You might say the club will now be even more united and it could help them ahead of a weekend meeting with Portsmouth in the first South Coast derby of the season.

Had Saints not had four points deducted they would now be fifth, thanks to their healthy goal difference, which says a lot about why Eckert’s team were still being seen as promotion contenders in the pre-season, despite the management instability.