Southampton sent major player exit warning after play-off expulsion | OneFootball

The fallout of Southampton's expulsion from the play-off final continues

Southampton are now preparing for another season of Championship football after being expelled from the play-offs.

The Saints had earned their shot at a return to the Premier League with a fourth place finish in the table, as well as a semi-final victory over Middlesbrough earlier this month.

But an independent commission have kicked the club out of the competition for breaching the EFL’s rules against spying on opposition teams.

The Hampshire outfit admitted to three cases of filming opponents in the lead-up to meetings, including Boro before their first leg clash at the Riverside.

Tonda Eckert’s future is up in the air, with the Football Association now launching an investigation into the individuals involved in the scandal.

And it has been reported that the players are considering legal action against Southampton after they missed out on the chance to win a place in the top flight.

Southampton warned of players terminating contracts this summer

Southampton have been warned by Geoff Cunningham, the former head of legal at the EFL, that players could look to terminate their contracts following the spying scandal.

He believes that breaching the league’s rules without the players’ knowledge could be seen as acting in bad faith, which could be found as a breach of their contracts, putting the Saints at risk of losing key stars going into the summer.

"Fundamentally, the club has acted in bad faith and breached the regulations of the league and in doing so, have affected the players’ chances of earning their maximum remuneration packages out of their contract, so on the face of it, there is a form of breach of contract,” said Cunningham, via the Independent.

"One thing I imagine Southampton needs to be very careful of, and protect heavily against and defend heavily, is any notion that that potential breach of contract is severe enough to enable that player to terminate their contract, then making them a free agent to disappear into the summer window."

It remains to be seen what the fallout will be from Southampton’s expulsion from the play-offs, with Middlesbrough now taking their place in the final to face Hull City.

Boro and the Tigers both haven’t competed in the Premier League since 2017, while the Saints were seeking an immediate return after coming 20th in the division last year.

Failure to gain promotion is likely to see interest from a number of key players in the summer window, with the likes of Leo Scienza and Shea Charles potentially set for an exit.

But the risk of losing players through the termination of their contracts could be ruinous for the club, particularly as it will then be much harder to replace them without transfer fees arriving in.

Sheffield Wednesday saw a number of players leave last summer through the termination of their contracts, albeit under different circumstances, setting the precedent that it can happen.

Southampton will be hoping to compete for promotion from the Championship next year, but they face an uphill battle as they have already been docked four points as part of their punishment from this spying scandal.

Southampton could suffer massively as fallout of spying case continues

If the Southampton players threaten legal action, and some contracts do end up terminated then the club could have a long road back to recovering from this scandal.

It’s difficult to foresee Eckert remaining on as manager, and he had earned a reputation as a promising young coach that had turned things around at St. Mary’s.

The cost of missing out on promotion is already worth around £200 million, and the reputational damage could also cost the club more money in the form of sponsorship.

Losing players for nothing could be a total disaster, and the Saints will now be working overtime to ensure they can ease the tension created with the first team squad from their play-off expulsion.