The Man Behind the Madness: How Tonda Eckert has Brought Southampton Back from the Brink

From Shock Relegation Candidates to Play-Off Hopefuls - How Eckert has Rescued Southampton's Season

I think it’s fair to say that Southampton’s Championship campaign has been nothing short of mental. Relegated from the Premier League as favourites to yo-yo back up to the top flights to being quickly discarded by mid-October, when they lay in 20th, the Saints have made themselves very hard to predict.

But for Tonda Eckert, this unpredictability has played right into his hands. Promoted from his role of U21s manager at the club, the 33-year-old German has defied critics, fans and opposing managers by leading a resurgent Saints back to the brink of the play-off spots.

Tonda Eckert has genuinely changed my life:
5-1 away win, never seen anything like it especially 4 goals in 8 minutes
3-0 down to 4-3 best comeback I’ve ever seen and won’t see anything like it again
5-0 win against a team who’s won 3-1 away to 4th on the weekend#SaintsFC

— Liam 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🪄 (@liamtribb) February 24, 2026

With next to no senior coaching experience, Eckert has led a charge from the bottom rungs of the second tier all the way to the promotion battlefield, all while being the second youngest manager in the entire EFL. Beginner’s luck? Not a chance.

The Handover

Southampton were a sorry sight to behold under previous manager Will Still. Though one of the most creative sides in the Championship, having more shots per game than almost any other outfit, their finishing was abysmal, which, combined with a lack of focus on defence, saw the seasiders slump to a series of extremely poor results.

A 2-0 defeat at home to Preston at the start of November proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back – Still was sacked, and with very few free agent managers willing to take on what looked to be a very tricky Southampton job, Eckert was called up from the senior team on a temporary basis.

🥇 The Championship table since Tonda Eckert replaced Will Still as Southampton manager #saintsfc pic.twitter.com/LvCXDHogWe

— SaintsExtra (@SaintsExtra) February 24, 2026

Immediately, the German made a good impression – winning his first four games in charge without really changing anything systematically, it was clear that the young manager knew how to get his players behind what he was trying to do. Feeding on their belief, this translated into the way the Saints played on the pitch, and soon enough, Eckert had them motoring along.

Two goals against QPR, three against Sheffield Wednesday, five against Charlton and three against Leicester underlined exactly what Eckert was all about – wave after wave of devastating attacks, combined with ruthless, clinical, no-nonsense finishing in front of goal

Defeat against Millwall brought the fanbase back to earth, but even in light of the loss, Eckert was handed the role of Southampton manager on a permanent basis, having repaid the trust placed in him by the club during his temporary spell, and wins over both Birmingham and West Brom seemed to reinforce that the Saints hierarchy had made the right call.

Bouncing Back From Adversity

However, with two wins opening his spell in charge on the south coast, concerns were quickly raised – following the 3-2 win at home to West Brom, Eckert failed to win any of his next six games in charge, losing three and drawing three.

Systematically, the German still hadn’t changed anything and was still employing the 3-4-3 formation that his predecessor had stamped on the side. Was this a reminder that with this group of players, the three at the back would always falter eventually? Will Still had certainly found out that it did.

Southampton have announced Tonda Eckert as their new permanent First Team Head Coach, signing a contract until 2027 🚨✍️ pic.twitter.com/NyxiwtY2qg

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) December 5, 2025

It seemed Eckert was well on his way to founding the very same thing, and his job was even considered at risk in the wake of a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Middlesbrough. However, it was this very result that spurred Eckert into making the first tactical alteration of his time at St Mary’s.

Finally stepping away from the inconsistency of the 3-4-3, Eckert instead introduced the now commonplace 4-2-3-1 setup, used far and wide for the balance it provides both with and without the ball. Eckert was in luck, as the following fixture pitched his side against League One outfit, Doncaster Rovers, is the perfect opposition against which to do some experimenting.

The new setup by no means made things easy for Southampton – despite building a 3-0 lead by the 30-minute mark, they conceded two in quick succession after half-time to make things more than a little nervy. But to the manager’s credit, he stuck with the system, and eventually, he was able to guide his side into the next round of the League Cup. The 4-2-3-1 had been baptised with a win.

Its first outing in the league was less of a success, as the Saints sank to a 2-1 home defeat to high-flying Hull. However, their performance in that game deserved more, and they carried this level into their next game with fellow early strugglers Sheffield United, putting them to the sword with an early goal and another convincing showing.

After a rough spell, in which Eckert, the player, and even the Southampton hierarchy would have been questioning whether they had made a knee-jerk decision far too early, the German exhibited his adaptability.

This is such an important trait in the Championship – across a 46-game league season, things are bound to go wrong or stop working at various points throughout the season. A side with a more adaptable manager will benefit hugely in the fact that he can chop and change at will without harm being done to their performance, whereas a side with a manager more stuck in his ways could spiral out of control.

Eckert has displayed a wide range of managerial skill despite being in charge for just three months – boasting the bravery to change tactics mid-season indicates that the Saints might just have a keeper on their hands here. Very few managers can make that change seamlessly.

Is Promotion a Possibility?

As his squad slowly grew used to the four-at-the-back system, Southampton started to look convincing once again, similar in quality to the high-scoring performances they had delivered in Eckert’s first weeks in charge.

Since their win over Sheffield United, Southampton have played seven games across all competitions and, remarkably, have avoided defeat in any of them, illustrating just how successful the transition to a new formation has been on the south coast.

A draw with rivals Portsmouth presented a low-key start to this streak, but consecutive clean sheets in wins over Stoke and Watford were extremely encouraging. It was here that Southampton were faced with a Championship/FA Cup double-header with Leicester, who had accompanied them down to the Football League from the Premier League in the summer.

The first clash, their championship meeting, truly announced Tonda Eckert as one of the most promising managers of the next generation. 3-0 down on the hour mark, Eckert once again doubled down on his new four-at-the-back policy. Precisely 35 minutes later, thanks to goals from Ross Stewart, Jack Stephens, Ryan Manning and Shea Charles, Southampton ran out as unlikely victors, piling the misery on the relegation-threatened Foxes in the process.

From 3–0 down to a 4–3 win — an unbelievable comeback from Southampton against Leicester 💪🏼pic.twitter.com/FYr6YPobcC https://t.co/dJKrgonAoB

— Nosebleed Footy (@NosebleedFooty) February 17, 2026

A 2-1 victory against the same opposition in the cup, along with a draw to Charlton and a dominant 5-0 thrashing of QPR last weekend, Southampton have vaulted their way into play-off contention in a matter of months, a quite remarkable turnaround after the misery of Will Still’s spell in charge.

Praise, of course, must go to the players – Leo Scienza in particular has been having a brilliant time of things since Eckert’s appointment, netting five goals and providing a further eight assists in what has been a coming-of-age season for the Brazilian, while summer signing Finn Azaz has started to rediscover some form under the German’s stewardship.

Léo Scienza's last three:

🆚 QPR: ⚽️🅰️🅰️
🆚 Charlton: 🅰️
🆚 Leicester: 🅰️🅰️

A genius pick from 1.4% of you 👏#FantasyEFL pic.twitter.com/bCqPBjclwd

— Fantasy EFL (@FEFLOfficial) February 24, 2026

However, Eckert is without question responsible for the unbelievable turnaround witnessed at Southampton in three short months. Hurdling most of the league table in that time and turning one of the most modest unpredictable sides in the league into a force to be reckoned with, home or away, the German has well and truly made his mark on the south coast.

Southampton in the Championship since Tonda Eckert took charge in November 2025:

◉ Highest xG (35.6)
◉ Most shots on target (118)
◉ Most goals scored (41)
◉ Most points won (38)
◉= Most wins (11)

What a job the 33-yeard-old is doing. 👏 pic.twitter.com/ezY6WpMVBC

— Squawka Dugout (@SquawkaDugout) February 25, 2026

It’s is too early to be making prediction, but given their recent form, the Saints will be one of the favourites to secure a play-off spot, and if they can somehow navigate an improbable return to the Premier League, something tells us that Tonda Eckert won’t be staying around for long …