Tonda Eckert interview: The boss who has Southampton back on the march
Tonda Eckert was unexpectedly thrusted into the head coach job at Southampton, but he's now thriving at St Mary's; Watch Wrexham vs Southampton live on Sky Sports+ and the Sky Sports app on Tuesday night; kick-off 8pm
Monday 6 April 2026 18:09, UK
From 21st in the Championship when he took over to the thick of the play-off race and an FA Cup semi-final.
It has been some rise for Southampton under Tonda Eckert.
But he is more aware than anyone else of how quickly things can turn. It even happened to him in the middle of his reign. Seven winless games between mid-December and mid-January.
Since then, however, there have been nine wins in 12 unbeaten league matches, and an incredible run in the FA Cup that has seen them reach the final four, beating Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
It has been some job done so far since stepping up from the academy role to take over from Will Still, but in Eckert's mind his achievements mean nothing yet.
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"It's nice if you get some appreciation if you win football games," he tells Sky Sports. "We are going in the right direction at the moment. But you know how quickly things can turn. That's the nature of the game.
"It's nice to get a round of applause every now and then, but it doesn't take you anywhere. The appreciation only matters at the end of the season once you go on vacation. At the moment it doesn't mean anything."
It is that drive and determination that has seen Eckert take his first senior management role. He was 32 when he took the job, initially on an interim basis, back in November.
He has reinstilled belief into a squad that had barely won a game in 18 months following a disastrous relegation from the Premier League.
"I wish it was so easy that you can come off a bad season and things just start to click and go in the right direction," he says. "There can be a turnover in the squad and sometimes you just need that little bit of time for the group to grow together again and connect all the parts.
"We have just needed a little bit more time at the very beginning of the season to find that confidence to grow together as a group. With a little bit more time together now, we've managed to get some bits in a good direction."
Eckert kicked things off with six wins from seven, before that mini slump around the turn of the year.
Even as the Saints slumped back down the table and doubts set back in, the German always retained the faith that things would turn around again.
"Once you lose the belief, you're done," Eckert says. "But we always had confidence in each other. You always find that belief and that trust in the boys. There will always be moments in the season where you don't pick up the results, and that might happen in a spell.
"We definitely had that over Christmas, but we made some good decisions in January. We reduced the size of the squad, a couple of players have come back from loans and done very well for us."
Needless to say Eckert has embraced the challenge, even if it arrived earlier than he planned.
Having been appointed to lead the U21s last July, after a coaching career that has seen him work at academies in Germany at Koln, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, while he also had a spell as assistant manager to Gerhard Struber at Barnsley in from 2020-22 when he was still in his 20s.
"I've enjoyed every single day at this football club," he says. "Whether it was with the U21s or in the first team. You can feel it's a special place when you walk into the building, and you can feel the history behind the club.
"As a head coach you need to live up to the standards that you demand every single day yourself. You're standing there in front of them and you need to represent what you ask for.
"In the best way, you can do that with a smile and in a very positive way, but we need to all be willing to sacrifice in some moments. We need to all be humble. We need to show up for work every single day and be well prepared. That's something that you just constantly need to live every single day."
And it is that drive that Southampton fans will be hoping gets them over the line and into the play-offs by the end of the season.
Seven huge games await, starting with a trip to rivals for a top-six spot in Wrexham on Tuesday night, live on Sky Sports.
"You get into football for these moments. We live for them and we enjoy them. You prepare from day one for these types of decisive games when the pressure comes.
"You have to have that deep confidence that you go into every single game to win, whoever it is against. That is something we need to live by every day. And once you've proven it, you need to prove it again."
