Southampton's appeal against being thrown out of the Championship play-off final for spying was rejected this week, in devastating news for the Saints.
The club admitted to three separate instances of spying on opposition training sessions: against Oxford United in December, Ipswich Town in April and Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final first leg.
Reports state that the orders for spying came from Eckert, a manager who may have used such tactics in the past, after a tweet revealed that the German has been connected to multiple counts of spying in the past.
In 2014, France boss Didier Deschamps lodged an official complaint to FIFA about the drone which halted training. Then, France captain Hugo Lloris said it was like a 'little helicopter' that watched over training.
“It’s a good object for journalists! We heard it and then we saw it. We didn’t see anyone controlling it. Maybe they were behind the stand. It didn’t stay over us for a long time. There was nothing we could do to stop it – maybe kick the ball at it. But it’s a big challenge to hit it.”
Interestingly, Eckert was Germany’s opposition analyst at that World Cup, leading to suspicions that it could have been his plan.
One year later, ESPN reported that FC Cologne sent a scout to watch Hamburg train ahead of their clash. The report stated that the scout was first seen taking notes during the Hamburg training and then suspiciously joined journalists.
Saints, who were expelled from the Championship play-offs, have been deducted four points for the 2026-27 Championship season. Whether this was Eckert’s tactical plan is unknown, but signs point towards him using this tactic for a number of years.