Southampton kickstart their return to normality with derby win after Tonda Eckert’s ‘Spygate’ reprieve

Tonda Eckert claimed his first Hampshire derby win as Southampton manager (Image credit: Getty Images)

There are people within football who think Tonda Eckert was dealt with too leniently by the FA independent regulatory commission that ruled on his involvement in Southampton’s ‘Spygate’ scandal.

Eckert received a £28,000 fine and a six-week suspended ban. With Southampton owner Dragan Solak already voicing his unwavering support for his manager, the decision not to hand down an immediate ban effectively ensured that Eckert’s job was safe.

Southampton, says Solak, have been punished enough. It’s in the interest of the EFL, the Championship and football at large to draw a line under it too. Eckert’s position is secure and Southampton spied themselves out of the play-offs. The time has come to move forward.

Flynn Downes leads the way at the heart of Southampton’s renewed normal

Flynn Downes acquainted himself with Pompey's Ebou Adams during a terrific individual performance (Image credit: Getty Images)

The commission was peopled by masters of timing. As the top two divisions emerged from an extended international break, Eckert and Southampton were able to breathe a sigh of relief in the middle of their preparations for Sunday’s Hampshire derby against hated rivals Portsmouth.

Saints and Pompey are on the opposite sides of one of English football’s truly great derbies and certainly one of its most underappreciated. Away from the south coast, it’s easy to overlook the sheer enmity and deep social history between two neighbouring cities.

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Eckert’s Saints only needed one goal to send Portsmouth packing. Finn Azaz made it and James Bree finished it.

He became the first Southampton scorer in a home derby in the league since 2012 on the day Billy Sharp, who scored both of their goals in a 2-2 draw that afternoon, announced his retirement from football.

Bree’s goal gave Eckert’s team something to defend after the first-half dismissal of Hampshire-born youngster Cam Bragg. The 21-year-old midfielder left the pitch distraught after an instinctive shirt pull earned him a second yellow card. The performance of Flynn Downes after the break spared his heartbreak.

Downes, now 27, was magnificent in the first match of the new-ish era. He won and protected the ball in midfield, pressed with striker Cyle Larin, and put his body on the line in his own penalty area.

Azaz’s passing and a good stand-in shift on the right helped to win the game. Bree scored the goal after a terrific run in behind. Jack Stephens, Keven Schlotterbeck and Ryan Manning gave everything they had at the back. But Downes led the resistance by example.

James Bree finished off Finn Azaz's perfect pass to score the only goal against Portsmouth (Image credit: Getty Images)

Eckert needs to take Southampton back to the Premier League

Eckert’s post-reprieve Southampton will be played with 11 men but needed a player to stand up and be counted in an unexpected moment of adversity at its outset. Bree was the player who finished the game in a head bandage but it was Downes who fulfilled every other aspect of the heroic stereotype when leadership was called for.

Southampton, free of the shadow of Spygate, can parlay this fiery derby victory into their renewed normal. Eckert and Solak have both acknowledged, through gritted teeth or otherwise, that Saints were in the wrong. They’ve been punished, and they have a genuine chance for redemption.

The clubs directly impacted by the scandal might not agree that he should still be in his job, but Eckert is now locked in at St Mary’s and fully backed in the stands and the boardroom. Spygate cast a shadow over Eckert’s improvement of Southampton’s fortunes on the pitch but something that was abundantly clear in both halves in Hampshire on Sunday is that he has a much better team than the one that drew 0-0 in the same fixture last season.

Tonda Eckert is aiming to make up for lost time (Image credit: Getty Images)

Stephens, Downes, Azaz and Manning were the only players who started both matches. They were arguably Southampton’s four best players this time around but they’re now the core of an Eckert team who must now repay the backing of their supporters.

Eckert in particular must deliver promotion, ideally this season. It’s a ludicrously high bar but it’s one that Southampton set themselves by exploding their own chances when it was within reach in 2025/26.

Beating Portsmouth took Southampton to five wins from their first nine matches. Now unencumbered by uncertainty and on the back of a positive return to action, surefootedness can take over.

Chris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Coventry Sphinx.