No Southampton manager had ever won their first three games in charge, until Tonda Eckert.
Enter 32-year-old interim manager Tonda Eckert, who achieved this feat by beating Charlton Athletic 5-1 on Saturday, in a performance some Southampton fans have hailed as the club’s best in recent years.
After just three matches in charge of the club, Eckert has already won more league games than former managers Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles, Simon Rusk, Ivan Juric and Will Still.
Tonda Eckert is the front-runner for the permanent job at Southampton. However, what may appear on the surface as the German having little experience, Eckert actually has over ten years of experience working with many impressive names, building up to this moment…
Tonda Eckert: A Decent CV
Eckert’s coaching endeavors began at just 19 years old, at FC Koln’s U17 setup in 2013, after a three-year stint as a scout and analyst for Fortuna Koln and the German national side.
He then went to Austria in 2016, still in his early twenties, to become the assistant manager at Red Bull Salzburg’s U19s, then remaining in the Red Bull group when joining Leipzig’s U19 setup as the assistant manager in 2017.
Tonda Eckert spent over 30 games managing alongside Marco Rose at RB Salzburg academy 2016 and 2017 – before Rose won the league twice in two seasons as first team manager in 17/18 and 18/19, then went to Borussia Monchengladbach, Dortmund, and RB Leipzig.
Eckert then joined one of Europe’s most prestigious clubs for a 17-game stint as Bayern Munich U17 assistant manager in the 2019/20 season, before venturing into senior management.
Eckert took on Barnsley as his first role as an assistant manager, working with the likes of Valérien Ismaël (now Blackburn boss) and Gerhard Struber (now of Bristol City) from 2020 to 2022.
This was at a point when Barnsley were in the Championship – Eckert actually has more experience than predecessor Will Still in the second tier despite being a year younger.
His stint in the EFL was followed by a three-year spell as assistant manager with Serie A outfit Genoa.
He took his first head coach role at Southampton’s U21s prior to the start of the 2025/26 campaign, overseeing ten games and a 1.90 ppg record as Saints U21 assistant.
Having already worked with the likes of Robert Klauß, Alexander Blessin, Alberto Gilardino, Patrick Vieira, and, formerly mentioned, Marco Rose at the age of just thirty-two, Eckert has had plenty of inspiration.
While a lack of experience on his CV has been suggested, Eckert is one of a growing trend – career coaches who rise from an analytical role to prosperity.
Managerial Philosophy
“I think that English football, in general, is special and very intense, which fits quite well to Gerhard Struber’s style and philosophy.
With me working for Red Bull and knowing their style of play is a very interesting combination together with Barnsley.” – Eckert upon joining Barnsley in 2020.
The Red Bull football philosophy:
Characterised by a high-intensity, attacking style. Key principles include a clear and consistent playing style across all clubs, a focus on developing young players with freedom to be creative, a strong emphasis on both offensive and defensive work rate, and a mentality of getting the ball back.
The “Red Bull style” is generally associated with high pressing, vertical play, quick transitions, and structured, intense training.
While Eckert doesn’t lay out his complete tactical playbook publicly, his background in that system is significant in assessing his style.
At Southampton, we’ve already seen tropes of this philosophy. Young academy players Barnaby Williams and Cam Bragg have made lengthy appearances.
The side has shown an improved work rate and clear playing style, which was missing under Will Still. And most importantly – they’re winning!
The Numbers
Southampton among Championship sides since Tonda Eckert took interim charge:
-Joint-most wins (3)
-Most big chances (14)
-Most goals scored (10)
-Best goal difference (+7)
Under Ivan Juric, Simon Rusk, and Will Still (who managed a combined 39 games), Southampton failed to create a two-goal lead in any of their matches…
Under Tonda Eckert, they’ve done it in all of their first 3 games!
Charlton Athletic had conceded just four goals in 630 minutes at home all season before playing Southampton. The Saints scored five past them in just 29 minutes.
Eckert’s Tactical Tweaks
Tonda Eckert has continued to play the same formation as Will Still, a 3-4-3, but that’s just on the surface of things.
The team plays out from the back more consistently, focusing on a patient build-up style.
The centre-backs then look for an outlet out wide, or an option to break through the lines, as they did to great effect in their win against Charlton.
While under Will Still, there was a huge emphasis on getting balls into the box, when the Saints get into crossing opportunities under Eckert, there are often more options to hit.
Eckert is also playing Southampton’s best deliverers of the ball – Ryan Manning and Tom Fellows, out wide consistently.
Other figures who were outcasts before are back in the fold – Gavin Bazunu, goalkeeper, is thriving when being able to play the ball out from the back.
Leader Jack Stephens is back, too, after seemingly falling out with Still.
Read More: Southampton’s Simple But Revolutionary Tactical Tweaks
Will Still may feel unlucky that his signings are only starting to deliver after he left, but football is a brutal sport!
Eckert was always brought in by Southampton Sporting Director Johannes Spors to succeed Will Still, but not so early.
If the Saints take good results out of Leicester and Millwall, then the job might just be his.
Can he take Southampton back up to the Premier League?
