Tonda Eckert

[Willo of Whiteley]

Absolute bollocks on the whole “the players dictate what happens” or “the board dictate the formation”.

There are that many leaks through the club it would be common knowledge.

Also it would be fucking stupid of Sprt Republic to try and build a reputation on players that aren’t good enough and a formation that doesn’t work. 🤣

[tdmickey3]

10 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Absolute bollocks on the whole “the players dictate what happens” or “the board dictate the formation”.

There are that many leaks through the club it would be common knowledge.

Also it would be fucking stupid of Sprt Republic to try and build a reputation on players that aren’t good enough and a formation that doesn’t work. 🤣

Well, they are doing it with a goalkeeper 

Edited yesterday at 07:54 by tdmickey3

[Weston Super Saint]

9 hours ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Also it would be fucking stupid of Sprt Republic to try and build a reputation on players that aren’t good enough and a formation that doesn’t work. 🤣

Sadly, I now accept SR's 'stupidity' as the 'norm' for us.  

[AlexLaw76]

https://saintsmarching.com/tonda-eckert-just-affirmed-what-southampton-fans-have-been-saying-for-weeks

[Osvaldorama]

On 15/12/2025 at 15:43, tdmickey3 said:

Sorry, but there is nothing ridiculous about expecting a manager/coach to identify glaringly obvious flaws in our tactical set up and make attempts to rectify them but we have seen nothing so far.

We play one way and when it is nullified we don`t have an answer except desperate backs to the wall defending, yet in that defending we continually let teams put crosses in to our box virtually unchallenged, inevitably teams will score as was proven on Saturday

This backs to the wall stuff has been evident for a while now, we got away with it against QPR and West Brom, Millwall and Norwich beat us after our first half did not bear fruit we needed and we offered very little in the 2nd half of each game

Sadly i think the Coventry game will be the time it will be shown to be a major issue

You can’t just flick a switch and turn a poor team into a good one. 
 

So far he’s done better than anyone could have hoped for, results wise. 
 

I agree we are poor in the second half. I also would prefer a 3 man midfield. 

But stuff takes time and he has to work with what he has been given. 
 

[Dark Munster]

3 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

https://saintsmarching.com/tonda-eckert-just-affirmed-what-southampton-fans-have-been-saying-for-weeks

Weird headline. I didn't see anything in that article about Tonda affirming anything it says. It should say "Saints' defeat affirms what Southampton fans have been saying for weeks"

[StrangelyBrown]

On 15/12/2025 at 21:21, Willo of Whiteley said:

Also it would be fucking stupid of Sprt Republic to try and build a reputation on players that aren’t good enough and a formation that doesn’t work. 🤣

So what's your rationale for the multitude of managers playing 3 at the back despite it not working and not having done anything about Bazunu who is statistically proven to be one of the very poorest keepers in the championship?

[StrangelyBrown]

8 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

You can’t just flick a switch and turn a poor team into a good one. 
 

So far he’s done better than anyone could have hoped for, results wise. 
 

I agree we are poor in the second half. I also would prefer a 3 man midfield. 

But stuff takes time and he has to work with what he has been given. 
 

You can expect to see some marginal improvement though.

Defensively we are still as bad as we've been for some time. Yes our players aren't the best but there are some simple glaring issues that can be addressed on the training ground - For instance what is Jack Stephens role in the defence? To the best of my knowledge he hasn't won a "best seat in the house" competition to watch the game so he should take responsibility for some defending. Why does Ryan Manning let his man have so much space game after game?

[tdmickey3]

9 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

You can’t just flick a switch and turn a poor team into a good one. 
 

So far he’s done better than anyone could have hoped for, results wise. 
 

I agree we are poor in the second half. I also would prefer a 3 man midfield. 

But stuff takes time and he has to work with what he has been given. 
 

Not suggesting he could flick the switch but the 2nd half types of performance show zero signs of any moves to address it

[Willo of Whiteley]

53 minutes ago, StrangelyBrown said:

So what's your rationale for the multitude of managers playing 3 at the back despite it not working and not having done anything about Bazunu who is statistically proven to be one of the very poorest keepers in the championship?

But then you would hope that any one of those managers would’ve turned around and said “are you fucking deluded”?

I’m not disagreeing but I feel like if managers would be strong armed into certain criteria off the pitch then we’d hear about it.

[danjosaint]

18 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

But then you would hope that any one of those managers would’ve turned around and said “are you fucking deluded”?

I’m not disagreeing but I feel like if managers would be strong armed into certain criteria off the pitch then we’d hear about it.

Your not going to turn down £1.5m a yr on 3yr contract despite knowing you may be asked to play a certain way. There's evidence of other teams, Forest, Chelsea etc where the owners are interfering so whose not to say its happening here, it may or may not be happening you or I wont know, but for me there are enough snippets to think something is/has been going on 

Edited 12 hours ago by danjosaint

[LuckyNumber7]

4 hours ago, StrangelyBrown said:

You can expect to see some marginal improvement though.

Defensively we are still as bad as we've been for some time. Yes our players aren't the best but there are some simple glaring issues that can be addressed on the training ground - For instance what is Jack Stephens role in the defence? To the best of my knowledge he hasn't won a "best seat in the house" competition to watch the game so he should take responsibility for some defending. Why does Ryan Manning let his man have so much space game after game?

Since Tonda took charge, we have won 6 out of 8 games and scored 22 goals, more than anyone else in the league. Is that not a pretty huge improvement?

Of course there are still issues especially in defence, but I'm not sure why people expect him to be some kind of miracle worker. He still has the same mostly shit defenders and goalkeepers to choose from, and that probably won't change until at least the summer.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, LuckyNumber7 said:

1. ) Since Tonda took charge, we have won 6 out of 8 games and scored 22 goals, more than anyone else in the league. Is that not a pretty huge improvement?

2.) Of course there are still issues especially in defence, but I'm not sure why people expect him to be some kind of miracle worker. He still has the same mostly shit defenders and goalkeepers to choose from, and that probably won't change until at least the summer.

1.) Not specifically aimed at you, but i feel there is a need for some of the fans to adopt some realism here.

And on that, i mean that our results generally overshadow the quality of the performances (across 90min) - i.e., we don't deserve to have won 6 games out of 8 - and so constantly having people bandy that stat about like its some kind of "gotcha" argument to counter anyone raising concerns is becoming quite tedious.

So yes, we did comfortably beat a injury ravaged Charlton, an imploding Sheffield Wednesday, and 10man Leicester... But surely, any serious fan (that expects us to be targeting promotion with this squad) would have expected as much?.

Then you look at the other games, and it really hasn't been that convincing imo. There has been spells of breath taking attacking football - but matches are longer than 20-30min!

• We led twice vs Birmingham, allowed them back into it the first time, and ceded the entire pitch to them after going 3-1 up - on another day they get at least a draw because they certainly had the chances. A lucky win.
• WBA - 3-0 up and we tried our hardest to snatch a draw from jaws of a comfortable victory - a terrible performance and lucky to get the win (which after being 3-0 up is very poor).
• QPR - Outplayed us and deserved at least a draw, if not the win - so another lucky win for us.
• Norwich - A side in the relegation places missing their best player and only real goal threat (The rest of that team had a maximum of 7 career goals at championship level, Sargent has 50). Handball goal aside, we would have carried on the same way until they'd scored regardless. So all in, we deserved that loss.
• Millwall - we were poor. Soft penalty in our favour, had the lead twice, ceded the pitch and initiative to them. End result - you certainly can't begrudge Millwall the win, and its a deserved loss for us.

Its been the exact same pattern in each of those matches, with no signs of him adapting or learning from it. Its a huge tactical flaw in his game and if it doesn't get addressed we won't get promoted.

2.) What does being a miracle worker have to do with anything? He's manager of Southampton football club, a position he should only have been given on merit. With the squad of players available, that means he should be good enough to deliver promotion. Regardless of the results, there is certainly an open point on our performances (game management and defensive setup) to be concerned over whether he's good enough to achieve that. I think that is all people are (rightly) saying.

Hopefully he learns and develops, but Saints are not here to be a creche for new managers - as a club we need promotion. Equally, does he have the background and experience to radically learn and adapt his tactics in the short timeframe he has this season? I hope he does, but i'm not convinced. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Saint86

[revolution saint]

3 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

 

And on that, i mean that our results generally overshadow the quality of the performances (across 90min) - i.e., we don't deserve to have won 6 games out of 8 - and so constantly having people bandy that stat about like its some kind of "gotcha" argument to counter anyone raising concerns is becoming quite tedious.

 

I've read some bollocks on here but this takes the biscuit.  Winning games is the only thing that counts.

[saintant]

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

1.) Not specifically aimed at you, but i feel there is a need for some of the fans to adopt some realism here.

And on that, i mean that our results generally overshadow the quality of the performances (across 90min) - i.e., we don't deserve to have won 6 games out of 8 - and so constantly having people bandy that stat about like its some kind of "gotcha" argument to counter anyone raising concerns is becoming quite tedious.

So yes, we did comfortably beat a injury ravaged Charlton, an imploding Sheffield Wednesday, and 10man Leicester... But surely, any serious fan (that expects us to be targeting promotion with this squad) would have expected as much?.

Then you look at the other games, and it really hasn't been that convincing imo. There has been spells of breath taking attacking football - but matches are longer than 20-30min!

• We led twice vs Birmingham, allowed them back into it the first time, and ceded the entire pitch to them after going 3-1 up - on another day they get at least a draw because they certainly had the chances. A lucky win.
• WBA - 3-0 up and we tried our hardest to snatch a draw from jaws of a comfortable victory - a terrible performance and lucky to get the win (which after being 3-0 up is very poor).
• QPR - Outplayed us and deserved at least a draw, if not the win - so another lucky win for us.
• Norwich - A side in the relegation places missing their best player and only real goal threat (The rest of that team had a maximum of 7 career goals at championship level, Sargent has 50). Handball goal aside, we would have carried on the same way until they'd scored regardless. So all in, we deserved that loss.
• Millwall - we were poor. Soft penalty in our favour, had the lead twice, ceded the pitch and initiative to them. End result - you certainly can't begrudge Millwall the win, and its a deserved loss for us.

Its been the exact same pattern in each of those matches, with no signs of him adapting or learning from it. Its a huge tactical flaw in his game and if it doesn't get addressed we won't get promoted.

2.) What does being a miracle worker have to do with anything? He's manager of Southampton football club, a position he should only have been given on merit. With the squad of players available, that means he should be good enough to deliver promotion. Regardless of the results, there is certainly an open point on our performances (game management and defensive setup) to be concerned over whether he's good enough to achieve that. I think that is all people are (rightly) saying.

Hopefully he learns and develops, but Saints are not here to be a creche for new managers - as a club we need promotion. Equally, does he have the background and experience to radically learn and adapt his tactics in the short timeframe he has this season? I hope he does, but i'm not convinced. 

We didn't.

[coalman]

38 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

I've read some bollocks on here but this takes the biscuit.  Winning games is the only thing that counts.

Out of curiosity, do you think we're going to continue winning games if we continue with the performance we showed against Norwich?

[revolution saint]

Just now, coalman said:

Out of curiosity, do you think we're going to continue winning games if we continue with the performance we showed against Norwich?

I've no idea and that's pretty much irrelevant.  My point is you can do your monday morning quarterback sessions all you like but let's not relegate winning games into just another stat like possession percentage or xG.  

[tdmickey3]

6 minutes ago, coalman said:

Out of curiosity, do you think we're going to continue winning games if we continue with the performance we showed against Norwich?

No chance

[Wade Garrett]

16 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

You can’t just flick a switch and turn a poor team into a good one. 
 

So far he’s done better than anyone could have hoped for, results wise. 
 

I agree we are poor in the second half. I also would prefer a 3 man midfield. 

But stuff takes time and he has to work with what he has been given. 
 

I agree.  We get outnumbered in the middle of the park at the same time as we have 2 centre-backs free.  It’s madness.

[coalman]

27 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

I've no idea and that's pretty much irrelevant.  My point is you can do your monday morning quarterback sessions all you like but let's not relegate winning games into just another stat like possession percentage or xG.  

How is the ability to win future games irrelevant? How is wanting to see the team address obvious weaknesses irrelevant?

[revolution saint]

2 minutes ago, coalman said:

How is the ability to win future games irrelevant? How is wanting to see the team address obvious weaknesses irrelevant?

It's irrelevant because it wasn't the argument I was making. I could try and explain it again but once is enough. 

[coalman]

2 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

It's irrelevant because it wasn't the argument I was making. I could try and explain it again but once is enough. 

Understood. It's still going to have the same gaping holes you don't want to address in it the next time you try to make it anyway.

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, saintant said:

We didn't.

Well regardless, it was still a well below par  / shit performance.

[Saint86]

2 hours ago, revolution saint said:

I've read some bollocks on here but this takes the biscuit.  Winning games is the only thing that counts.

Over a 46game season you'd have a point - but thats actually the point the rest of us are broadly making. Whereas since you take umbridge with that, i can only assume you think a 6 to 8 game sample size for a completely fresh manager is enough to extrapolate the rest of the season from, despite us not playing well in over half of those games and being damn lucky to have got 3 of those 6 wins. But Yeah... those of us that are worried about the tactics, game management, and overall performances (and what it will mean for future dropped points) are the ones chatting "bollocks" 🫣.

Edited 4 hours ago by Saint86

[Saint NL]

Just saw that Brendan Rogers has gone to Saudi. I thought he'd have a choice of jobs, but guess he wanted some money

[sockeye]

3 hours ago, revolution saint said:

I've no idea and that's pretty much irrelevant.  My point is you can do your monday morning quarterback sessions all you like but let's not relegate winning games into just another stat like possession percentage or xG.  

We've had a decent return over a number of weeks, but our performances had weaknesses that have persisted over the run, and we will see those weaknesses continously exploited by the rest of the league adapting to our play, which already happened against Norwich. It's not irrelevant at all to notice that.

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Over a 46game season you'd have a point - but thats actually the point the rest of us are broadly making. Whereas since you take umbridge with that, i can only assume you think a 6 to 8 game sample size for a completely fresh manager is enough to extrapolate the rest of the season from, despite us not playing well in over half of those games and being damn lucky to have got 3 of those 6 wins. But Yeah... those of us that are worried about the tactics, game management, and overall performances (and what it will mean for future dropped points) are the ones chatting "bollocks" 🫣.

I understand the sentiment - there are areas that need improvement. However, what I don’t agree with is this entitled viewpoint that seems to suggest we should be winning every single game, which would be nice but unlikely. I’m starting to enjoy watching my team again and that’s because Eckhert has tangibly changed our style of play, with faster flowing football and yes, wins. I don’t start watching games thinking here we go again - another loss…why do I bother? Anyone with an iota of sense would know that there was every chance our ‘recovery on the run’ would be patchy - 6 from 8 wins is a very good return in relation to where we were just a short time ago. I think patience is needed right now.

[revolution saint]

2 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Over a 46game season you'd have a point - but thats actually the point the rest of us are broadly making. Whereas since you take umbridge with that, i can only assume you think a 6 to 8 game sample size for a completely fresh manager is enough to extrapolate the rest of the season from, despite us not playing well in over half of those games and being damn lucky to have got 3 of those 6 wins. But Yeah... those of us that are worried about the tactics, game management, and overall performances (and what it will mean for future dropped points) are the ones chatting "bollocks" 🫣.

I'll take 18 actual points out of 24 over your opinion any day of the week and twice on Sundays.  If you find people repeating the only stat that means anything tedious then listening to people who have watched too much Carragher and fancy themselves as armchair pundits is ten times worse.  I have no idea if the run will continue - if it doesn't then Tonda will deserve some stick but so far he's done a good job and I'm happy to give him credit for it.

29 minutes ago, sockeye said:

We've had a decent return over a number of weeks, but our performances had weaknesses that have persisted over the run, and we will see those weaknesses continously exploited by the rest of the league adapting to our play, which already happened against Norwich. It's not irrelevant at all to notice that.

It was irrelevant to the point I was making which is that actual wins trumps opinion or placing it in some arbitrary pile of stats that may or may not mean anything. 

[Wade Garrett]

36 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I understand the sentiment - there are areas that need improvement. However, what I don’t agree with is this entitled viewpoint that seems to suggest we should be winning every single game, which would be nice but unlikely. I’m starting to enjoy watching my team again and that’s because Eckhert has tangibly changed our style of play, with faster flowing football and yes, wins. I don’t start watching games thinking here we go again - another loss…why do I bother? Anyone with an iota of sense would know that there was every chance our ‘recovery on the run’ would be patchy - 6 from 8 wins is a very good return in relation to where we were just a short time ago. I think patience is needed right now.

The fast football is great when we play it.  The slow tippy tappy RussBall seems to be rearing its ugly head again though.