Southampton manager Tonda Eckert ‘already preparing for ban’ as likely verdict date is revealed after Spygate

TONDA ECKERT may be left to sweat over his potential touchline ban until September, according to reports. His Southampton side were booted out of the Championship play-offs in May and will start this season on minus four points after he admitted to spying on opponents’ training sessions last campaign. Tonda Eckert is still waiting to discover his punishment from the FA Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire A Southampton employee was caught spying on Middlesbrough’s training session last season Credit: Unknown And the FA are still deliberating on whether to compound his punishment with a touchline suspension. Eckert, 33, is facing a ban of up to six months, and he has admitted that the saga is still “in the back of his mind”. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! The German is set to stew on it for a while longer yet. According to the Daily Mail, a verdict before Southampton’s league opener at Watford this weekend is ‘highly unlikely’. And senior figures at the club fear it could be as far off as next month, which is just under three weeks away. Eckert has seemingly used part of pre-season to prepare for a touchline ban. He voluntarily watched the friendly against Preussen-Munster from the stands and practiced sending instructions from there to the bench, and onto the players. Though Eckert is leaving no stone unturned, he is in an awkward spot where a stiff punishment could spell the end of his time at St Mary’s. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Dragan Solak admits he may have to look for a new manager if Eckert gets a lengthy ban Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire Saints owner Dragan Solak has backed the young coach but admits he will have to take action if the FA throw the book at him. He told the Southern Daily Echo: “If they ban him, we will appeal. If we lose the appeal, and it’s such a long ban, we’ll have to take a new manager. We can’t leave the club unmanaged.” Comment now