Tonda Eckert refuses to get drawn into Spygate talk as Southampton prepares for a playoff final

Southampton's unbelievable 116th-minute winner against Middlesbrough in the Championship playoff semi-final on Tuesday night should have been the moment that stole the headlines post-match.

Instead, yet more talk of the Saints' Spygate antics dominated the post-match chatter, with the South Coast club's punishment set to be announced very soon.

Kim Hellberg didn't hold back with his emotive post-match comments, as Tonda Eckert remained his cold and calculated self at the full-time whistle, while trying to enjoy his team's dramatic victory.

Hellberg's emotive comments after Southampton's win

Boro will feel immensely hard done by, away from just the allegations that a Southampton analyst spied on their first-team training sessions.

Indeed, across both legs, the Teesside outfit had several fantastic openings, but could only manage to muster up one goal, as Riley McGree scored after only five minutes had been played in the second leg.

When Shea Charles curled home Southampton's outrageous winner, with only four minutes of extra time remaining, the visitors must've cursed their bad luck, with the toll of the disappointing defeat clearly getting to Hellberg at the full-time whistle.

He would emotionally open up about the "disgraceful" Spygate incident post-match, by stating: “I don’t care if there’s different rules in other countries. This is England. I think this is where football is the biggest thing. That’s my feelings about it. I think that is disgraceful to a colleague who you work against. It makes me very sad.”

While the ex-Hammarby boss was understandably sensitive at the full-time whistle, Eckert would barely give the ongoing Spygate narrative a moment's notice, as he goes about preparing his team for a playoff final.

Eckert refuses to comment on Spygate scandal

All of this drama that has come out has put a real dampener on what had been a whirlwind story for the South Coast giants that had captivated the wider footballing world.

Indeed, Southampton had gone a mammoth 19 games unbeaten from January to May to clinch a spot in the lottery of the playoffs, but now, they are very much seen as an unsportsmanlike villain.

Eckert has refused to give the media soundbites when being quizzed on the spying drama, and that continued after the 2-1 win over Boro was secured, as the 33-year-old walked out of his post-match press conference when being branded a "cheat."

With events playing out like a soap opera, it would be easy for Eckert to lose his head and rashly make comments about the sensitive situation.

But, he has - more wisely - kept his trap shut, with his focus surely all on Wembley on May 22nd, as Southampton gun for promotion glory against Hull City.

At the end of the day, despite shouts from journalists, it's very unlikely that the South Coast outfit will be removed from the playoffs, so Eckert will just be blocking out all this outside noise to ensure his team is all singing off the same hymn sheet to overcome the Tigers at Wembley.

Southampton will be punished, that goes without saying, but it remains to be seen how much of an example the EFL wants to make of Eckert's men, having only fined Leeds United back in 2019 when they were found guilty of similar espionage tactics.

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