"Fingers Crossed for a Southampton Defeat in Playoff Final – EFL Lacks the Guts to Penalize Them for Spygate Scandal!"

SOUTHAMPTON have been hammered 9-0 twice in recent memory and I hope it happens again if they are in the play-off final.

I have never had any real issues with Saints as a club, but this whole absolutely stinks.

Troy Deeney hopes to see Southampton hammered if the playoff final goes ahead Credit: Getty SunSport reporter Gary Stonehouse at the scene of Spygate Credit: The Sun

They have to have the book thrown at them by the EFL, kick them out of the play-offs regardless of the mess that would create.

The biggest worry is that I don’t think the EFL have the b***s to do it.

They have to hit Saints as strong as they can as, otherwise, all that says to clubs lower down the table who are looking for an edge is that they can cheat next season.

One thing is for sure, the players will be raging with their coaches and those above who knocked up thisthey stand accused of.

Southampton have been on an incredible run, they were 21st in November, and are unbeaten in 21 Championship games.

Is that easier if you have the cheat codes, as they may have done if found guilty? Of course it is. But those players have still put the performances in.

Head Coach Tonda Eckert is sure to come under some scrutiny in light of the allegations Credit: Getty

They still turned up and beat and in the , while also driving the club from a horror start to the season and into the playoffs.

Those players, and have a fantastic squad, now face having all of that taken away because Tonda Eckert cannot be arsed to do his preparation properly and in the correct way.

All of the praise from his players on the detail he goes into looks very awkward now.

Saints have one of the best squads in the Championship, they have internationals and parachute payments – but someone thinks they still to beat ?

The players will feel insulted by it, the fact that someone within the club doesn’t think they’ve already got enough to win the playoffs, that they have to cheat to do so.

Had it happened to me while I was playing I would be taking this very personally.

Getting details on how teams are setting up for set pieces can make a huge difference in games, but this is a team that should not need these sort of details to win games.

And contrary to what some people seem to think, it is not commonplace.
There are always some things going on, clubs using almost any avenue they can to gain an advantage ahead of games.

Harwood-Bellis mocks Middlesbrough with binoculars celebration amid Spygate storm Credit: x.com/SkySports Southampton first-team performance-analyst intern William Salt allegedly filming a training session Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk

Watford’s training ground is right next to Arsenal’s and – ahead of one game against the Gunners – we tried to sneak a drone up to have a look at what they were doing.

Arsenal very quickly clocked it and sent their own up to knock it out of the sky! Leaning on mates who are out of the team and not happy with their manager was an old classic.

You might message a pal at another club before playing them at the weekend and ask about swapping shirts, only for them to message back in a rage because they’ve been dropped and let that slip to you.

While some might think that was just a chat between mates, you would be straight on to pass that onto your boss. But you would never truly know until the teams landed.

And that is where a manager can make a difference, in the five minutes after a team comes out and you’re all caught on the hop – that is where they show whether they have got it or not.

Away from Southampton, Eckert might not get the chance to do that elsewhere now – his reputation is tainted beyond belief.

Eckert could be found to have been complicit in breaking rules to make millions for a club via promotion that he does not own and could sack him three months into next season, just as they did .

Is that worth it for everyone to wonder if you are a cheat? What happens when he goes for another job, how can anyone interviewing him take anything he takes seriously? Eckert’s reputation was sky high after the run to Cup semi-final. It is gone now.

We have to spare a thought for here too. They pulled off a brilliant result to win away at Millwall in the second leg and must have been glad to get the extra day to prepare for the final.

Now they may only have a few days to prepare given we might not know if they are playing, or who against or even when and where until Tuesday. It is a mess the EFL have to grapple in the strongest possible way.