Whatever your feelings about Spygate, the truth of the matter is that without Tonda Eckert coming in and turning what was turning into a disastrous season around, the situation would not have happened and didn't he give us an exciting time in doing so.

I have made my thoughts clear on Tonda Eckert, I do not want to see him leave Southampton Football Club, that may be out of the club's hands, the next few weeks will be interesting, but in the meantime surely every Southampton supporter is grateful for the way that he turned our season around.

Under Will Still we were slowly sliding down the table and lacked direction, leadership & identity, at the time I stuck to my guns that we had a squad that was capable of promotion and that we had bought well in the transfer window, it was just not clicking.

When Tonda Eckert was given the job of replacing Still, everyone just assumed that this would just be a temporary measure whilst we considered the full time replacement, but after winning at Queens Park Rangers in his first game, he followed it up with another 3 straight victories and people were taking notice.

The German who most Saints fans had barely heard of was suddenly a contender !

After winning 6 out of his first 7 games he was now permanent boss and there were many who still were sceptical and demanded an experienced older and name manager rather than someone who had never been the manager of a senior level side.

The month between mid December and mid January seemed to fuel that feeling in the more panic prone members of our fanbase, 3 draws, 3 defeat and no wins in 6 League games and changes were being demanded, but after beating Sheffield United on 21st January we would not lose another game in either the Championship or play offs and our only defeat at all was to Premier League giants Manchester City.

Of course the season would end in controversy and the who will be in charge of the team come August is uncertain, but perhaps now is the time for Saints supporters to sit back and take a minute to reflect on the season and what Tonda Eckert has done for this club in such a short time.

Perhaps he was a little rash in the Spying issues, but we would not have even been in the position to be doing so without his meticulous methods in the previous 6 1/2 months before Spygate reared its ugly head.

But what a 6 1/2 months that was, what a job Tonda did, he turned a team of headless chickens being run by someone out of their depth, into the best team in the Championship bar none since January.

He did that with steely determination and methodical planning in all areas, he had an aura about him, you could see just by looking at him that he had something about him that only the top managers had.

It was that meticulous planning that ultimately proved our undoing come the final week of the season, I like many would say that the punishment did not fit the level of the crime, the EFL seems to be the only club that makes spying on other clubs a crime and in the Premier League and across Europe, Eckert would not be seen as a cheat, but as one of the most thorough and meticulous up and coming coaches.

Personally I do not want to lose that, I want to see him stay at St Mary's and carry on the good work, obviously without the spying.

Now there is talk of the FA getting involved and banning Eckert, I am not sure of the legalities of that, I would see this as an EFL rule, not an FA one, if Arne Slot did it, then it would not be an offence as it is not illegal in the Premier League.

If Liverpool got caught for spying, then the Premier League would take no action as no rule had been broken and I presume that neither would the FA, why would they no rules have been breached

So how can the FA have a two tiered justice system, Eckert has not breached the rules of the game as set by FIFA, UEFA or the FA, he has broken an EFL regulation, the matter ends with the EFL as I see it.

That being the case Southampton FC have to stand by their man and so do Southampton supporters, whilst we might not condone this rule breach, we have to put it in perspective and we have already been given the Death Penalty for Shoplifting in relative terms. So we have punished enough and we don't want to increase that by sacking the most promising manager we have had in a long time.

We are a football club not a society concerned with upholding the morals of society, if we want to compete with other football clubs at the level we desire, then we have to accept that football is now a dirty corrupt game and that cheating seems to be rife in all aspects of it.

We have broken some rules as a football club and I would hazard a guess that most supporters of Saints break some sort of rule on a weekly if not daily basis, yet don't have a problem with it, whether it's speeding, parking on a yellow line or some other misdemeanour.

Yes it's not the same. but what is the rule broken that may have the most consequences, a young lad in a field with an I phone on Teeside or someone doing 55 miles an hour in a 30 mile limit in Millbrook, I know what the parent of the child he hits would say about that.

So thank you Tonda Eckert for all you have done for this football club, you have given us back our pride and now we have to show pride and that we are proud of you and we are proud of the football club and we are proud of Tonda Eckert.

We are proud of the fact that we are not Manchester City or Chelsea or a host of other football clubs who constantly break rules with the arrogance that comes from being able to afford to pay lawyers to let them be seen by the rest of us to get away with it.

We have to show the spirit of Southampton itself, that we are a family and when a member of a family does something wrong it closes ranks, especially when justice is not served.

All Photos Via Reuters