![\"Tonda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_GettyImages-2275885678.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Saints continue to be dogged by scandal despite semi-final success<\/p>\n
Tonda Eckert and Kim Hellberg at St Mary’s Stadium(Image: Robin Jones\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Tonda Eckert insisted Southampton are taking the \u2018spygate\u2019 scandal \u201cvery seriously\u201d after his side booked a place in the Championship play-off final against Hull City<\/a> with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Middlesbrough.<\/p>\n Aggrieved Boro boss Kim Hellberg fought back tears in his post-match press conference as he branded the situation \u201cdisgraceful\u201d, following a fortuitous 116th-minute winner from Saints midfielder Shea Charles.<\/p>\n Southampton have been charged with a breach of EFL regulations for allegedly snooping on a Middlesbrough training session ahead of Saturday\u2019s goalless first leg.<\/p>\n Amid suggestions they could be thrown out of the play-offs if found guilty, Saints are set to play City for a place in the Premier League<\/a> on May 23 at Wembley, with the kick-off time set to be confirmed imminently.<\/p>\n JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest Hull City news and analysis on our Hull Live FB page<\/a><\/p>\n Asked if he was aware what the potential punishment could be as his club awaits the outcome of the independent disciplinary commission\u2019s investigation, Southampton head coach Eckert said: \u201cNo, I don\u2019t know. It\u2019s not easy for me to not comment, there\u2019s just nothing I can say at the moment, because it\u2019s an ongoing investigation. We\u2019re taking the matter very seriously. I will say something. I just can\u2019t say it now.\u201d<\/p>\n Prompted by Southampton\u2019s communications director, Eckert ultimately walked out of the press conference having been asked directly if he was \u201ca cheat\u201d., for the second time after the same happened on Saturday at the Riverside Stadium. Saints came from behind to ensure the \u2018spygate\u2019 row rumbles on, Charles preventing penalties by scoring with an attempted cross after Ross Stewart\u2019s header cancelled out Riley McGree\u2019s early opener.<\/p>\n Hellberg congratulated Southampton\u2019s players and fans, but refused to acknowledge Eckert and his coaching staff. The 38-year-old Swede spoke emotionally about the impact of the alleged spying as he outlined the sacrifices he has made in trying to end Middlesbrough\u2019s nine-year exile from the top flight.<\/p>\n \u201cI worked 15 years as a coach in terms of trying to get to the Premier League,\u201d said Hellberg. \u201cThat\u2019s my dream, for 15 years. I know there are clubs with bigger resources, there are teams that have more money, there are teams with bigger squads than us. What you have as a coach and as a group is the tactical element of the game, where we can beat opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf we wouldn\u2019t have caught that man that they sent up on a five-hour drive, you would sit there and say, \u2018well done (to Southampton) in the tactical aspect of the game\u2019 and I would go home and feel like I had failed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen someone decides, \u2018nah, we\u2019re not going to watch every game, we send someone instead and film the session\u2019, see everything and hope they don\u2019t get caught \u2013 I guess that\u2019s why he was switching clothes and everything that I have seen on the television \u2013 it breaks my heart in terms of all those things I believe in. I think that it\u2019s disgraceful. It makes me very sad. If we hadn\u2019t caught that person, I would be sitting here thinking I should have done better things.\u201d<\/p>\n On a tetchy evening, the two rival managers had to be separated on the touchline in the first half following an apparent on-field complaint made by Middlesbrough defender Luke Ayling against Taylor Harwood-Bellis, which was reported by referee Andy Madley, and the Saints will now face a nervous wait for any potential punishment from the FA towards their defender.<\/p>\n Here at Hull Live<\/a> , we are dedicated to bringing you the best Hull City<\/a> coverage and analysis. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group<\/p>\n You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here<\/a> to subscribe. You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here<\/a> to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Saints continue to be dogged by scandal despite semi-final success Tonda Eckert and Kim Hellberg at St…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[24820,59,24815,22145,24819,566,101,56,54,55,198839],"class_list":["post-581701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-football-league-championship","tag-gb","tag-hull-city","tag-middlesbrough-fc","tag-sergej-jakirovic","tag-southampton-fc","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wembley-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}