Tonda Eckert

[Killers Knee]

Tonda has us playing in a style where for the very first time in a very long time I am starting to believe we will see a return of the quality football I witnessed as a kid, that fast paced one and two touch football and those emotions are all I want back again.
 

 

Edited Wednesday at 23:01 by Killers Knee

[West end Saints]

10 hours ago, Saint86 said:

1) but he's yet to do enough to convince me he'll get us promoted.

2)his current defensive setup isn't working and is already costing us points, 

3)But he has absolutely got to sort out his game plan out

4)get some coaches in around him to help him, or someone have a word in his ear, 

 

Just taken a few bits out as yours was a long post to quote...

1) fair enough, your feeling. However the evidence is that he is managing to get us to be more successful than any other team in the division, despite coming into low morale and poor form. I would say the objective view is that he is managing at a level you would expect a team to get promoted and if we do miss out it is more likely to be due to the bad start than his management.

2) He has 18 points from 7 games FFS! Genuinely , if you had told me Pep was coming in, I wouldn't have expected that! (Not saying he is Pep before someone jumps on that!). All these experienced managers (?) who are great at setting up defences have dropped more points. We lost one game, away to a decent side, we didn't play as well as other games but it was far from the low levels of earlier in the season, we were away and had more shots, more shots on target, possession etc - I'm not saying we should have won, or defended well, but it hardly deserves a great inquest into poor management.

3) bottom line is - he doesn't. It's working. I am sure he wants to improve it. But he has said he wants to start fast, win games then rest players and kill the game. Maybe these substitutions and resting our best players is why we over run teams in the next game??

4) I think this comment is patronising. The young lad needs a grown up. Again, happy for him to keep learning and improving but he is beating older more experienced managers every week!

And...

Since he came in

Saints 18 pts +12GD

Coventry 16 PTS + 5 gd

Middlesbrough 14 PTS +4 gd

Ipswich 12 PTS +7 gd

Skates 4 PTS -4 gd!

 

Edited Wednesday at 22:26 by West end Saints

[Killers Knee]

A tactic of "we will score more than you" cannot be bettered. Buy the ticket, enjoy the ride.

 

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, West end Saints said:

Just taken a few bits out as yours was a long post to quote...

1) fair enough, your feeling. However the evidence is that he is managing to get us to be more successful than any other team in the division, despite coming into low morale and poor form. I would say the objective view is that he is managing at a level you would expect a team to get promoted and if we do miss out it is more likely to be due to the bad start than his management.

2) He has 18 points from 7 games FFS! Genuinely , if you had told me Pep was coming in, I wouldn't have expected that! (Not saying he is Pep before someone jumps on that!). All these experienced managers (?) who are great at setting up defences have dropped more points. We lost one game, away to a decent side, we didn't play as well as other games but it was far from the low levels of earlier in the season, we were away and had more shots, more shots on target, possession etc - I'm not saying we should have won, or defended well, but it hardly deserves a great inquest into poor management.

3) bottom line is - he doesn't. It's working. I am sure he wants to improve it. But he has said he wants to start fast, win games then rest players and kill the game. Maybe these substitutions and resting our best players is why we over run teams in the next game??

4) I think this comment is patronising. The young lad needs a grown up. Again, happy for him to keep learning and improving but he is beating older more experienced managers every week!

1.)  Its great that he's come in and got 6 wins out 7. I don't think we really deserve all 6 wins, but he's got them - so great. And attacking wise, fair play, superb stuff - i really couldn't ask for any more there - he's putting our best players on the pitch, and got them playing some sensational flowing football at times. But game management/defence wise, there are some concerning signs that some of us would like to see improve - its unfortunate that this is seen as a bad thing by some. But, if we can do that, then I personally feel we have another level we can go to.

I'm also not interested in talk of "missing out" with this squad, or excuses to that effect. Regardless of the bad start, we are easily in the best three matchday 11's and overall 25man squads in the league. There are 78points to play for and we're only 9 off 2nd despite a very below par start and with every team above us to still play at least once. So to be honest, if Eckert doesn't get us promoted he was the wrong hire, and it really is as simple as that for me - and the same would go for any manager appointment we could have made come the end of the season. In fairness to Eckert, he's basically said the same thing with regards to promotion.

2 & 3.) You're talking about results, but score lines hide performances - and again, i don't think we really deserve all of those 18 points based on the actual full 90min performances 🤷‍♂️. Ultimately this season won't be defined by a one of sample size of 7 games, it will be defined by the 31-34 he'll have as manager - we've played some fantastic attacking football, he's had a good start overall, but we've certainly had a bit of luck in that. I think we can get better and both dominate teams in an attacking sense whilst also looking comfortable and defensively solid (the part we aren't at the present), but to do it he does need to improve on game management and sort his defensive setup/tactics. Get that right and we've got the potential to comfortably be the best side in the league imo. He's a young manager and therefore can be expected to learn and develop.

As it is though, we seem to have 2 distinct gears under Eckert, a frankly superb attacking setup that is capable of blowing teams away, and then this jekly/hyde transition into a pretty passive and weak defensive setup - one which I really don't like, and that sees us essentially cede 2/3 the pitch to the opposition and invites them back into games. It has already nearly cost us points vs:

• WBA - we did everything we could to scrape a draw from a 3 goal lead 🙃,
• Brum - who had every right to get a draw after twice being 2goals down,
• QPR - who frankly completely outplayed us for much of the game,

And then ofc, we did drop points vs Millwall - where we lost despite leading twice, and which was entirely due to standing off them and dropping deeper and deeper, inviting them on to us, and allowing them to pepper our box with crosses and long shots. Needlessly.

If we stay as we are, I still think we'll get play offs like as not, but its going to be pretty tense watching us invite teams to pepper our box with crosses and shots with these awful defensive setups - I can't say i relish the prospect of that in say a play off 2nd leg (or even at Wembley).

I don't have an issue resting players - i have an issue with standing off the opposition and inviting them onto us. We are changing the players like for like, but completely changing the system into one that invites pressure.

4.) I don't agree that its patronising - Still's coaching setup left with him, Lallana is now with the u21, and Paul Trollope has also left. There seems to be a bit of a void there to fill with respect to senior coaching support. He's the youngest / least experienced manager ever at this level. The club would look to bring in experienced coaches and assistants to support any other manager, it can't just be deemed patronising because Eckert is 32 😄. And just look at managers like Jose, SAF, or Pep etc., who've had many prominent assistants over the years, not least the likes of Arteta and Maresca recently.

Edited yesterday at 01:45 by Saint86

[Weston Super Saint]

9 hours ago, Killers Knee said:

Tonda has us playing in a style where for the very first time in a very long time I am starting to believe we will see a return of the quality football I witnessed as a kid, that fast paced one and two touch football and those emotions are all I want back again.
 

 

I'm looking forward to sand all over the pitch.  It's been years since I've seen that.

[saintant]

Tonda has deservedly been nominated for Manager of the Month.

[Willo of Whiteley]

3 hours ago, saintant said:

Tonda has deservedly been nominated for Manager of the Month.

But none of his players quite amusingly 🤣

[E_H_Saints]

My only concern and hope to be proven wrong.  Is that I like a manger has a fine balance between fight, motivation and desire to improve when speaking to the media and hopefully to the players.  Maybe because he thinks the players are too fragile but I need to hear his passion to get clean sheets.  Desire for his players to improve these situations but ATM it's all positive and we are all working hard etc. 

 

Lampard has a team winning who still expects more even after wins. If it's not a clean sheet thats what he desires.  Obviously coming back from being behind is different but leading by 2 or 3 goals means we have it in is to close the game anything else is lack of concentration or shutting off at the wrong times.

Don't get me wrong, I love the direction but would like to start to see signs of his passion for more.  This isn't U21, this is a team that things could get harder if we have the chance for promotion so start hitting them with high expectations as soon as possible. 

[Badger]

13 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

I'm looking forward to sand all over the pitch.  It's been years since I've seen that.

They don’t make pitches like they used to.

It was a real test in those days throwing up something different through the season. An ice rink at times in winter, and a mud bath in spring , threadbare for the last month or so. Not a bloody bowling green designed for knee slides ! 

[Weston Super Saint]

14 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

But none of his players quite amusingly 🤣

Why is it amusing that none of his players were nominated for manager of the month?  That just seems logical.

[Willo of Whiteley]

1 minute ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Why is it amusing that none of his players were nominated for manager of the month?  That just seems logical.

It’s just baffling how no Saints players have been selected. 😂

It is entirely logical, that’s the point, who puts these shortlists together 🤣

[Weston Super Saint]

5 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

It’s just baffling how no Saints players have been selected. 😂

It is entirely logical, that’s the point, who puts these shortlists together 🤣

How many other teams have their players selected for manager of the month?