Spygate playoff row deepens as Boro’s Hellberg labels Southampton ‘cheats’

Southampton’s manager, Tonda Eckert, walked out of the post-match press conference at Middlesbrough on Saturday after repeatedly refusing to answer questions about allegations that one of his analysts had spied on Kim Hellberg’s training session last Thursday.

Shortly afterwards Hellberg said his Middlesbrough team were victims of “cheating” in the lead-up to this vital Championship playoff semi-final first leg.

A clearly uncomfortable, distinctly unhappy looking Eckert is now preparing for not merely Tuesday’s second leg against Hellberg’s Middlesbrough but an English Football League disciplinary commission.

Less than 24 hours before Saturday’s 0-0 first-leg draw in a tie dominated by Boro at the Riverside the EFL charged Southampton with misconduct and, shortly before Hellberg made it clear he felt utterly wronged by the incident, Eckert squirmed uncomfortably in his chair.

In the face of a barrage of questioning about what has become known as spygate, Southampton’s manager kept reiterating. “I think the club has made a statement yesterday evening and that’s all there is to say at the moment.”

Pressed repeatedly on reports that the analyst had acted unilaterally he maintained a largely awkward silence, merely saying: “I think I’ve said more than enough.”

Asked if he had talked about the incident to his players, the 33-year-old said: “No, there was nothing to say, there was a big job at hand.”

Hellberg, who, frostily, shook Eckert’s hand but said he did not speak to his Southampton counterparts, was rather more forthcoming. “Some people saying it [watching an opponents’s pre-match training session] doesn’t give you a big advantage. That’s wrong; it’s a massive advantage. Without it [spying] it would have been impossible for them to know our shape in the first half. We have never used that shape before today.

“It’s just unfair. It’s not OK. There was anger. There’s a loss of respect. It makes me disappointed. It was a big game and they saw everything we were doing – set pieces, goal-kicks, everything.

The Swede, who also said a fine would be insufficient punishment as it fails to provide a proper deterrent, revealed he could barely credit what he was being told when club officials informed him of the incident. “It was a weird situation. I couldn’t believe it when they told me. They had to tell me two or three times.

“I feel sorry for Southampton’s supporters and players,” he added. “They are brilliant and do not deserve to have this thrown back at them. They had nothing to do with it. But someone at Southampton has made a decision to go and cheat. That’s clear. It’s just wrong.”