RE-REWIND

The recent international break has proved to be a goldmine for punishment admin, nicely wrapped up on Wednesday night with the latest chapter of the Southampton Spygate saga. It sounds like a three-part Netflix documentary – and almost certainly will be one day – but for now, here’s a reminder of what went down; feel free to add your own haunting synth soundtrack … two days before the first leg of their Championship playoff semi-final, Middlesbrough staff spotted someone lurking on the perimeter of their training ground and the EFL confirmed “an individual associated with Southampton” was involved. Southampton won the tie and advanced to the final, but the storm kept building. After days of uncertainty and wild speculation, Saints were kicked out of the playoffs (and docked four points for the following season) and Boro went to Wembley. Their opponents, Hull City, threatened their own legal action, which by now we can safely assume is going absolutely nowhere.

Much like Marcelo Bielsa, who met similar accusations of spying at Leeds with a weary shrug and a cache of PowerPoint slides, Saints manager Tonda Eckert emerged as the central figure in the scandal. An independent disciplinary commission called the scheme “a contrived and determined plan from the top down”, where footage was captured of three opponents: Ipswich, Oxford and Boro. Amusingly, Southampton failed to win any of the relevant matches – but reports emerged that, in a tribute to Saints legend Kevin Keegan, the manager had “loved it” when presented with the footage. And who can blame him? His team had gone to Boro and got something. Eckert accepted “full responsibility” and proffered his wrist to authorities – but as a relative newcomer to English football, he also employed his own version of the Costanza defence. Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?

Eckert’s prospects looked bleak, but he was fortunate that Southampton had a supportive owner with a name straight out of a Bond film. Dragan Solak declared himself ready to “close the chapter and look ahead together”, pending final sanctions. Away fans kept bringing their binoculars to St Mary’s, but this gripping espionage tale lacked a final act until the latest verdict, when Eckert was hit with, er, a suspended six-week ban and £28,000 fine. The FA’s lawyers had targeted a potential nine-month suspension, later reduced to three months – but the independent panel found Eckert to be a “particularly impressive witness” who showed “genuine contrition”. So long as he can avoid concocting a similar scheme in future, Eckert will serve no ban at all; he will be in the dugout for Sunday’s derby against Portsmouth.

Despite the points deduction, Southampton already sit in mid-table and look a decent bet for promotion. Our preferred punishment – making this the permanent club crest – has also failed to materialise. A genuinely huge story at the time, Spygate will go down as one of football’s stranger and more pointless transgressions, its final act dwarfed by the news of Manchester City’s many, many charges. In the end, perhaps there was no point prolonging Eckert’s spell in limbo. Even if he was banned from attending Southampton’s training sessions in person, we’re pretty sure he would have found a way around it.

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Ed Aarons is answering your questions about the Premier League as we type in this Conversation Q&A.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It is difficult to recognise this team from the one that played just a few months ago. One might think that the [Geopolitics] World Cup was an illusion” – TV Azteca’s Álvaro López Sordo laments the end of Mexico’s honeymoon under new boss Rafa Márquez after a run of defeats that had one front-page headline audibly sighing: “¡Qué Horror!”.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. While enjoying the contrast between the departing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, I’d politely draw your attention to two other veterans of the game: Robert Lewandowski and Luka Modric. They seem able to focus on what they are paid to do – play football” – Diana Brighouse.

This message may be later than a Mark Dennis tackle, but a comment on a recentish podcast about teammates with rhyming names reminded me of a Manchester United youth XI of the 1950s that featured Nobby Stiles, John Giles, Harold Batt and Tommy Spratt. This gem of information came from Tommy who owned the newsagent in Timperley village when I moved there in 1970” – David Campion [have any other former footballers given you similar tidbits of trivia? – Football Daily Ed].

Although I’m an England fan, I enjoyed seeing the picture of an ecstatic Gary Caldwell celebrating his winner for Scotland v France back in 2006 (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition). I’m also a Wigan Athletic fan and poor Gary hasn’t had much to smile about this season, with the team firmly stuck at the bottom of League One, plus he’s had to deal with the desperately sad loss of his goalkeeping coach and good friend Kevin Miller. Here’s hoping the turnaround starts on Saturday at Stevenage. Up the [redacted] Tics!” – Adam Clark.

If you have any, please send letters to [email protected]. Today’s letter o’ the day goes to … Adam Clark, who wins a copy of Games of My Life by Sir Alex Ferguson. It’s out now and available in The Guardian Bookshop alongside loads of other great football titles. Terms and conditions for our competitions are here.

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