Matt Le Tissier issues "frustrating" Southampton claim as Tonda Eckert, Spygate saga continues | OneFootball

The Southampton legend has had his say on the charges against Saints boss Tonda Eckert

Southampton legend and advisor to the board at St Mary's, Matt Le Tissier, has branded the ongoing FA hearing over Tonda Eckert's charges of misconduct "frustrating", as Saints wait for the decision over what level of punishment he'll be given.

The Southampton boss was understood to have attended an FA hearing on Thursday, where the outcome of his charges relating to last season's Spygate fiasco should be decided.

The EFL threw the Saints out of the Championship play-off final in May after finding them guilty of spying on Middlesbrough's training session ahead of their play-off semi-final first leg.

Southampton also admitted to spying ahead of league games against Ipswich Town and Oxford United, which brought about a four-point deduction at the start of this season.

However, the FA later charged Eckert with misconduct, and the outcome of that investigation should be clear sooner rather than later.

Matt Le Tissier gives his verdict on Southampton's start to the season amidst Tonda Eckert charges

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Speaking to the Daily Echo, former Southampton striker Matt Le Tissier felt frustrated over how unclear the possible punishment could be at the moment, but used that uncertainty to praise how well the club have done on the pitch despite that.

In the meantime, Southampton have gone about their business on the pitch well, especially at home, where they've won four from four, scoring 15 goals in the process.

"Obviously it’s been quite frustrating," Le Tissier said on Eckert's hearing. "Not knowing what’s going to happen to your manager is never great, but despite that, we’ve been pretty strong at home. We should know very shortly what the verdict is on Tonda.

"We’ve got to sort our away form out a little bit. No away wins in the league yet, so that’s got to come soon. There’s been some good stuff. We’re probably not keeping quite as many clean sheets as Tonda would like at the moment, and we’re tending to give teams a head start sometimes.

"At home, even if we concede a goal, we still look pretty strong, and then we have gone on to win games 3-1, 4-1, 5-1. I don’t think there’s a problem at St Mary’s. We just need to sort it out away from home."

Southampton could find themselves searching for an interim head coach if Tonda Eckert is banned

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Indeed, there's a possibility that Tonda Eckert will be handed a lengthy ban from managing the side. Back in 2024, Canada women's national team head coach Bev Priestman was handed a one-year ban by FIFA after she was found guilty of using a drone to spy on opposition training sessions.

It's unknown whether the FA will use that precedent, with the wait becoming tiresome for some of the higher-ups at St Mary's.

Chairman Dragan Solak and co backed Eckert over the summer, instead of going out and finding a new head coach to bring them into the new campaign. However, there could be a situation where they'll need to be searching for a new head coach anyway.

Ex-Middlesbrough and Wolves Rob Edwards is reportedly in the frame, which would add even more spice to the eventual meeting in late November between the brooding spygate rivals, Boro and Southampton.

Southampton will hope to hit a new level if Tonda Eckert comes out of the FA hearing without a ban

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With the amount of uncertainty surrounding what will happen to Tonda Eckert, it can be excused if Southampton have been a little slow out of the traps at times in the infancy of the campaign.

While the players can say they are remaining professional, having that doubt over whether their head coach will still be in charge as the year goes on can impact performance.

That being said, without the points deduction, Saints would be sitting in fourth currently. Indeed, only Swansea City, West Ham United and Middlesbrough have had better starts to the campaign than they have, and only the Hammers have scored more goals.

Given how ruthless they were under the German boss in the latter half of last season, it's clear that Southampton still have that next level they can hit.