Southampton boss Tonda Eckert cut short a tetchy post-match press conference following his side’s goalless draw with Middlesbrough after refusing to answer questions about ‘spygate 2.0’.
As revealed by Daily Mail Sport, Saints allegedly sent a junior male intern to watch Boro train at their Rockliffe Park training ground on Thursday and were charged with a breach of EFL regulations the following day.
Eckert was inevitably quizzed about the saga but refused to answer questions directly about the alleged incident, instead referring reporters to the statement his club issued on Friday night.
He denied the claims of espionage had impacted his team, who were well below their best during the first-half.
The Southampton boss said: ‘I don’t think so. We have to give credit to a good team, they have quality on the ball.
‘You need to accept that at this point of the season you come up against teams that are very good. Compliment to the boys for getting away with a clean sheet.’
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert refused to answer questions on ‘spygate’ following his side’s draw with Middlesbrough
Pushed further on Thursday’s alleged incident, Eckert said: ‘I think I’ve said more than enough to that.
‘I know that the questions keep coming up, but the club made a statement yesterday evening and that’s all there is to say at the moment.’
Middlesbrough counterpart Kim Hellberg was more forthcoming on the alleged incident, saying: ‘It was the weirdest situation.
‘I couldn’t believe my eyes or ears when I heard it. They told me for the second time, or the third, but then it was quite clear that they tried [to spy].
‘I’m not putting anything on the players or supporters of Southampton.
‘They have nothing to do with it and I sometimes feel sorry for them because they get thrown this in the face, but there’s someone making decisions to go and try to cheat, that’s clear.
‘It’ll be interesting to see what happens.’
The episode has echoes of English football’s original spygate thriller which exploded in January 2019, when Derby had the last laugh on Leeds and Marcelo Bielsa by beating them in that season’s Championship play-off semi-finals.
Middlesbrough’s Kim Hellberg, however, was more willing to speak on the alleged incident
Over seven years on and ‘spygate 2.0’ stars another couple of upwardly mobile clubs bidding to reach the promised land of the Premier League in Middlesbrough and Southampton.
It could yet be some sequel, and there will certainly be an epic ending for one of these sides heading into Tuesday’s second leg at St Mary’s with a place in the play-off final at stake.
Hellberg’s hosts dominated the first-half here, hitting the post through Tommy Conway, yet Saints steadied themselves after the break and might have nicked a win late on when Taylor Harwood-Bellis crashed a header against the crossbar.
Saints sent a junior intern to watch Middlesbrough train at their Rockliffe Park training ground on Thursday morning and the man, known to be in his early 20s, was caught in the bushes and approached.
It is claimed he deleted video footage and pictures before refusing to identity himself.
By Friday evening, Saints had been charged with a breach of EFL regulations before they arrived for the first leg of this Championship play-off semi-final at a seething Riverside.
That backdrop of espionage added another huge layer of intrigue to an already emotionally fraught occasion at a frenzied, sold-out Riverside.
Thousands of Boro fans lined the streets to greet Kim Hellberg and his players when the team coach arrived around two hours before kick-off.
Southampton were far from their best, but Eckert denied the situation had an impact on his side
And all the talk was of spygate 2.0 and some Southampton supporters brought binoculars to goad their Boro counterparts.
English football’s original espionage blockbuster saw Bielsa infamously admit to sending a member of his Leeds staff to spy on Derby ahead of a Championship game in 2019, earning his club a £200,000 fine.
The enigmatic Argentinian infamously staged an extraordinary press conference where he not only confessed to sending a spy to watch Frank Lampard’s Rams train 24 hours before their game at Elland Road.
Remarkably, Bielsa went so far as revealing that Leeds had watched all of their opponents train before they played them – and on his say-so.
‘I observed all the rivals we played against and watched the training sessions of all opponents,’ Bielsa told stunned reporters.
‘We think that by gathering information we feel that we can get closer to a win.’
The furore surrounding Southampton’s alleged spying antics has been the talk of football since news of the dramatic story broke on Thursday.
Hull City boss Sergej Jakirovic and Millwall counterpart Alex Neil were quizzed about it following their sides’ goalless draw in the first play-off semi-final on Friday night.
Middlesbrough now face the task of going away from home and having to force a result
Neil said: ‘It doesn’t affect us, but I would certainly comment if somebody from Hull had been hiding in a tree. But I might not have caught him!’
Cue laughter all round.
Jakirovic said he was not even aware of what had happened but reasoned: ‘Why would you need to spy? I already know everything about every team.’
Quite what information Southampton gleaned from their scheming analyst’s observations of watching Hellberg’s team train is unclear.
Boro, roared on by their vociferous crowd, began brightly but hugely influential midfielder Hayden Hackney, the Championship Player of the Season, was still absent through injury.
Southampton ended the season unbeaten in their last 19 Championship games and with self-belief coursing through their veins.
But with Luke Ayling – a key figure at Leeds during Bielsa’s tenure – expertly marshalling Boro’s backline and Morgan Whittaker a threat up front – Saints struggled to gain a foothold on proceedings.
Whittaker fired just over in the 15th minute and moments later Riley McGree diverted Callum Brittain’s low right-wing cross just wide when he should have hit the target.
Saints could barely escape their own half and on the half-hour mark, Ayling strode forward and hit a shot from 18 yards which flashed just wide of the far post.
Two minutes later, Tommy Conway had time and space to shoot at the far post but Southampton defender James Bree made a vital block to avert the danger.
Ten minutes before half-time, Cyle Larin lost possession and McGree played in Conway, whose first-time shot rebounded off the inside of a post.
Saints improved markedly after the break but Harwood-Bellis’ header rebounded off the woodwork, leaving the tie finely poised ahead of Tuesday’s second leg.
