The above came as part of Derby County manager Frank Lampard's post match comments to the BBC following a 2-0 defeat to Leeds United in Friday night's (January 11) Championship match. The build-up to the game in English football's second tier was dominated by a storm around an alleged spy.

I say alleged… 

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa actually admitted he sent a spy to Derby's training ground prior to the match. Derby only became aware when notified by police that they had spoken to a man at a fence around their premises, although no arrests were made.

Bielsa, who has taken his team to the top of the table following his summer arrival, offered a refreshingly honest answer when quizzed by Sky Sports pre-match.

"I am the only one responsible for it, because I didn't ask for the permission of Leeds to do it," the former Argentina national coach admitted. "Without trying to find a justification, I have been using this kind of practice since the qualifiers for the World Cup with Argentina. It is not illegal, we have been doing it publicly and we talk about it in the press."

Biesla, who is widely respected in football, suggested opinions would differ as to whether he had been in the wrong but he admitted he would seek to "respect the norms" of the country he works in. Leeds United later released a statement claiming they would remind their head coach of the integrity of their team.

I sense, given Leeds' position in the table, the Argentine will not have received much of a telling off from the club.

Perhaps understandably, Lampard complained that his team had been disrupted by the incident and expressed his irritation that their tactics and team line-up could have been gleaned by the spy. The former England international did admit the incident did not ultimately affect the outcome of the game, however.

The incident, which has naturally been dubbed "spygate", caused debate over football's moral code. Some pointed out that Lampard had played for Chelsea, whose former scout turned manager Andre Villas-Boas admitted to turning up at opposition training grounds "incognito" to glean information to aid his then boss Jose Mourinho.

Several also reminded the media of last year's FIFA World Cup, where sections of the press suggested Raheem Sterling would be dropped by England after a photographer snapped the notes of a member of coaching staff at training.

Others still have pointed out that spying is probably quite low down the list of football's ills, with issues like financial fair play and the tax arrangements of players among some of the more pressing issues. Misconduct on the pitch, such as "tactical fouls", has earned praise from pundits. So why the outrage about spying, some have questioned?

Another football "spygate" scandal came back in 2007. Although, in this instance, it was American football.

A case emerged involving the New England Patriots after a video assistant was found to have recorded signals from the New York Jets' defensive coaches. While videoing was not in itself an offence, the recording was said to have taken place from an unauthorised area.

An investigation was launched by National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell, who deemed the incident to be an attempt to contravene rules encouraging fair play.

As part of the investigation, further tapes and notes were reportedly discovered at the team’s training facility and were destroyed by NFL officials.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was ultimately given the highest fine possible for an individual at $500,000 (£390,000/€435,000). The team were also slapped with a $250,000 (£195,000/€220,000) sanction, along with losing a first round selection in the NFL draft.

Belichick accepted responsibility and claimed he had mistakenly "misinterpreted" the rules, asserting his belief that he thought the analysis could only not be used during matches.

Evidently, team sports are likely to be the most likely to have a "spy" situation, with an awareness of an opponent's tactics and patterns offering up an advantage.

Accusations of spying have occasionally been thrown around in rugby. Before the 2003 Rugby World Cup semi-finals, then Australia coach Eddie Jones reportedly insisted on security guards being in place at training after alleging that "some espionage had been going on" prior to their clash with New Zealand.

Australia would win that tussle but suffered defeat in the final in front of a home crowd to England.

There was nearly a spying storm on the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour, after an individual was found to have been filming training sessions prior to a match against Australia. The incident was later played down by coach Warren Gatland, with the Kiwi revealing it was discovered to have been a member of the public.

While it seems likely some spying does go on, perhaps the fear of been spied upon plays more on coaches' minds.

In 2006, Australia's attack coach Scott Johnson poked fun at the idea by turning up to a press conference before a match against New Zealand dressed in camouflage.

Accusations of spying have occurred in bidding for the Olympic Games. A British-based freelance journalist and consultant saw their accreditation stripped by officials from the Rio 2016 bid on an International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission visit. It followed the discovery that the consultant, who worked for the Madrid bid, was accredited by a Spanish news agency.

Madrid 2016 claimed they had not been spying, but instead wanted to see how an Evaluation Commission visit worked. The Spanish bid suggested the situation had been blown "out of proportion".

Possibly the best use of spying at the Olympics came at London 2012. You know what I am going to say. The decision to team up James Bond with The Queen at the Opening Ceremony was viewed by many as one of the highlights of the Games.

There was also the fictional Olympic medallist in a fencing sequence involving Bond in Die Another Day, with Pierce Brosnan and Madonna both undergoing training for their roles.

Bond also made use of Winter Olympic venues in Cortina D'Ampezzo for the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. This memorably included the bobsleigh track, which Bond was seen skiing down in a pursuit scene. Sadly, on the final day of filming of the chase, a stuntman was killed on the track.

The course, which has been closed since 2009, could be revised if Italy are chosen to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. Officials have expressed their intention to stage competition at the track named after Eugenio Monti, who won nine World Championship titles during his career, along with two Olympic golds.