FORMER Millwall boss Neil Harris said Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert should face “severe punishment” over ‘Spygate’.
Eckert admitted it was his decision to send a member of staff to spy on a Middlesbrough training session last season.
Saints defeated Boro in the Championship play-off semi-finals but were booted out of the final, with the Teessiders taking their place. Kim Hellberg’s side went on to lose 1-0 to the Lions’ semi-final opponents Hull City in the Wembley decider.
Eckert was charged with misconduct by the Football Association in July.
The FA is holding a hearing on Thursday when they could decide to ban the German.
Cambridge United manager Harris was speaking to BBC 5 Live Sport about the case this week.
“Probably on behalf of myself but also every other manager in the Football League, and probably a lot of fans as well, [they think] that what happened is bordering disgraceful.
“Listening to the [Southampton] CEO talking about how they’ve been punished enough as a football club, yeah, and I agree, the football club, Southampton Football Club, and the fan base and the workforce have been punished hugely.
“Tonda’s owned it and said that it was his decision to spy and send a junior member of staff. He’s owned it. The club have decided to stick with him.
“The manager should get a ban and get a huge ban, in my opinion as a senior football man in this country. He’s gone way across the mark of cheating. We don’t do that in this country. There’s no place for it in the game over here, and he deserves a ban.
“I’ve seen a couple of bits recently where they talked about, it should be like a two- to four-game ban, three-game ban, maybe four maximum. And we’re talking about basically cheating and trying to gain an advantage on the opponent.
“So, as you can tell, I feel quite strongly with it. And it’s not just me. Every manager in the Football League agrees. So I think whatever punishment he gets needs to be severe, and it needs to be stamped out and can’t happen again in the game.”