'I've asked for forgiveness' - Eckert and Southampton braced for Spygate verdict

More than four months since the Spygate scandal erupted, Southampton manager Tonda Eckert's wait to discover his fate for authorising an espionage campaign is almost over. In the coming days, a decisive Football Association hearing will take place, after the German coach was charged with misconduct in July. Spying on three clubs has already cost Southampton the chance of promotion to the Premier League (worth £200m), after they were expelled from the Championship play-off final. An EFL panel also docked the club four points for this season. Now Eckert could be banned. As the club prepared for the latest twist in the saga, sources spoke exclusively to both Eckert and Southampton chief executive Phil Parsons, who - in his first interview on the case - insists any further punishment would be "really tough to take". But how are the club and their coach dealing with the prospect of more turmoil? What is at stake? And why have Southampton given a permanent role to the intern who was caught spying on Middlesbrough in May? 'It's been a big, big punishment' "I would lie if I say that the summer has just been easy. Of course, if you care deeply about your profession, about the football club, there's nothing that prepares you for that. There just isn't." Eckert speaks slowly and with an intense gaze when asked to reflect on being at the centre of one of the biggest controversies in English football history. The 33-year-old apologised in June after an EFL independent disciplinary commission found he had orchestrated a "contrived and determined plan" to spy on Oxford United, Ipswich Town, then Middlesbrough before the play-off semi-final. Having insisted he was unaware it breached EFL rules, and that the spying had no impact on performances, Eckert was backed by Southampton. His team have made an encouraging start to the new season. Without the four-point deduction, they would be fourth in the table, rather than 13th. "We've talked a lot over the summer of how we want to go through that process of addressing everything, giving everyone the chance to put questions out that are still there, to put out what they feel and have gone through, and then also close the door and move on," he says. "Because the reality is it's a new season. We have big ambitions as a football club, and in order to reach them, we need to move on." That is easier said than done, with Eckert in limbo while he awaits the outcome of the FA's disciplinary process. "I've had the chance to sit down and just talk the FA through everything that happened," he says. "And now it's up to them to make a decision. I don't really have any emotions towards that." So does he feel the FA has listened to him during its investigation? "That was my impression," he says. "We sat for almost four hours, so it's been quite a long conversation." When asked whether he feels the club has been punished enough, and if a suspension for him would be excessive, Eckert chooses his words carefully. "It's been a big, big punishment," he says. "Absolutely unheard of in the history of sports. "And it's tough for me to say that because it concerns me. I'm judging on myself, not an outside situation. But I've asked for forgiveness for what I've done. I've apologised publicly. "I think the punishment has been very hard on the club for the last season. And to go into a new season on minus four. And the rest is not for me to decide." 'We've taken enough' Parsons is more forthright on whether the club has been punished enough. "We don't know what the FA will actually hand out," he says. "It could be a long ban. It could be a short ban. It could be a suspended sentence. "What we hope as a club is they actually recognise where we are at the moment, and what we've already been through, because I think it has to be taken into account. I really feel like we've taken enough. We've been hurt. I think it's one of the largest sanctions ever when it comes to football, or even sporting, history. "This isn't just about the club, this is about people. We lose money not being in the Premier League, but [local] businesses lose money. We had to spend a huge amount on legal fees, and it really impacts the club even further. We don't want to be seen as a victim of this. We need to get on. We've had our cards dealt." When it is put to Parsons that the EFL's punishments applied to the club - rather than Eckert himself - he says: "I think it's impossible to sanction the manager without the club