This Southampton great has shared his opinion on the painful wait for Tonda Eckert’s FA punishment to be revealed.

Tonda Eckert’s individual punishment for his involvement in Spygate has yet to be revealed.

The FA hearing on the controversial German was held on Thursday, but as of Sunday, no one knows what penalty will be imposed on the 33-year-old.

Will it be a touchline ban that Southampton can easily push to the side? Or will it be something more sinister, with the youthful head coach barred from the game altogether, forcing the South Coast side to recruit a replacement?

At this point, I believe Southampton simply wants some clarity, regardless of the actual punishment, given this has been going on since May.

St. Mary’s icon, Francis Benali, has chimed in with his thoughts on a sanction still not being handed out, in his outspoken column for the Daily Echo.

Benali’s thoughts about the current scenario

Making 364 appearances in total for the Saints, it goes without saying really that the St. Mary’s masses revere and cling onto every word from their former defender when he produces a new article.

This time around, he has shared his thoughts on the drawn out crisis affecting the club at this exact moment, with Benali questioning whether or not Eckert and Co. have been punished enough, already, with their expulsion from last season’s Championship playoffs an unprecedented step

In his most recent musings, he stated: “I was really offended that our club had been brought into this mess in May, and part of me believed he would have been sacked or banned.

However, the heavy punishment imposed by the club most likely influenced the decision to keep him, and everyone concerned now wants to move forward.

If another large or, in some people’s eyes, punitive sentence is imposed on him personally, it would be a double whammy for the club.”

Going on to say that “the whole process has been agony,” everyone involved with the club sounded exhausted and shattered by the continuous suffering, with Benali evidently trapped in the same mindset as well.

Calling out Neil Harris’ comments on the situation, too, by accusing the ex-Millwall boss of “piling in” and Harris suggesting that Eckert’s individual penalty must be severe, it’s evident that Benali, like the rest of Southampton fans, is agitated by the never-ending feel of Spygate.

Unfortunately, the long wait for a verdict continues, and no one knows when news will surface on social media.

The nervous wait continues.

Eckert must be feeling like he’s in purgatory right now.

On the one hand, he will want to look forward to the upcoming games, particularly the South Coast Derby against Portsmouth, but he will also be away from the sidelines for this appetising game.

However, he will also be concerned about being banned from the game for an extended period of time, with reports indicating that he might be barred from any football activity for a staggering six months.

This must be wearing on the 33-year-old, who pled for forgiveness for his role in Spygate following the Wrexham defeat shortly before the international break, knowing he was about to be penalised.

With the hearing over, certainly an end is in reach.

However, more nervous waiting will be required before a verdict is announced, with many nails being bitten as the painful hold-up continues.