Tonda Eckert

[obelisk]

9 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Don't disagree with this overly. Its a pretty tasty side. Begs the question, should we have kept (/ would we be better with) AA on the right and not signing Fellows... for me, probably a yes - would have added some serious threat down our right side.

Fellows offers a threat, right up until the moment he shoots. Maybe if he gets one to dribble in then the floodgates will open. Mind you, he probably has a fair number of assists.

[coalman]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Don't disagree with this overly. Its a pretty tasty side. Begs the question, should we have kept (/ would we be better with) AA on the right and not signing Fellows... for me, probably a yes - would have added some serious threat down our right side.

No. We immediately improved when Armstrong left. 

[manji]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

IMO, no. I've got no evidence for this whatsoever, but I've a hunch he might have been a bit of a 'cage rattler' behind the scenes... Yes, he was one our best players, and probably better 'on paper' than Fellows, but team spirit and cohesion is often worth more than individual player ability...

Yeah I heard that from quite a few people. I may be wrong but without AA the team looked far more motivated.

[Saint86]

40 minutes ago, coalman said:

No. We immediately improved when Armstrong left. 

AA as a central striker vs AA as a right winger playing off a big man though. He was essentially championship player of the season under Martin when he played on the right coming off of Adams - They are very different things.

I am purely hypothesizing over his on pitch offering, not any potential issues behind the scenes.

Fellows has been very frustrating so far. He's great running at players, has a very good engine, but his end product isn't enough. AA had 36 goal involvements playing largely on the right under Martin. Fellows managed 6 last season. I know people can be revisionist over players that leave, but thats a 30goal difference per season 🤷‍♂️

Edited August 4 by Saint86

[coalman]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

IMO, no. I've got no evidence for this whatsoever, but I've a hunch he might have been a bit of a 'cage rattler' behind the scenes... Yes, he was one our best players, and probably better 'on paper' than Fellows, but team spirit and cohesion is often worth more than individual player ability...

Not even sure he was better on paper. He only looked good when the other team stood off him and gave him space or the ball dropped to him and his first time shot went in. 4 out of his last 8 penalties scored tells a story of its own. His greatest strength was shooting on sight which was also a huge weakness. He rarely stretched play or beat his man and the ball rarely stuck to him when competing for it - he was not an out ball. One thing in his favour was work rate but after Elyounnoussi I didn't want another attacker who was good without the ball.

Throw in the alleged team dynamics issues and Wolves are welcome to him. I hope he's happy and successful there. Just not against us obviously.

Edited August 4 by coalman

[AlexLaw76]

Armstrong was brilliant the season we went up with Martin.

Crap before and after. Last season, that miss at Fratton was hilarious 

[trousers]

1 hour ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

This fella has done his homework….

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/332732/are-saints-going-to-get-an-impartial-decision-on-tonda-from-the-fa/#2

I'm sure our crack legal team are on the case to snuff out such bias...

 

[saintant]

Shows how little news there is on Tonda when this thread takes a turning to discuss the merits of AA over Fellows 🙂

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

32 minutes ago, trousers said:

I'm sure our crack legal team are on the case to snuff out such bias...

 

FFS, cue an incoming 6 month ban.

[BERMUDASAINT]

From Downes about Tonda, another example of how good our young coach is!!

"Everyone feels ready to go now," Downes added.

"Personally, I feel really good and, to be honest, this is probably the best I have ever felt, the gaffer's been unreal with me. 

"I feel like my game's developing, my football IQ's getting better and physically I'm improving too, let's see what the season holds."

We've got one goal, and that's to win the league. 

"So it doesn't matter whether we're starting on minus four points or not. We're going for that and that's that."

Edited August 4 by BERMUDASAINT

[benjii]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

I'm sure our crack legal team are on the case to snuff out such bias...

 

Send this to Parsons and ask him not to be such a fuckwit this time.

[Saint NL]

Nah, you're alright mate.

 

 

Tbf to him, his full quote makes it sound like a whole lot of nothing. If this is what the Skates think, then you know it's not as big as it's made out to be.

"I don't think it's particularly widespread in England but I think it's probably more common on the continent and beyond.  

"Do people want to get a competitive advantage and push the rules as much as they can, the answer's yes and sometimes that spills over.  

"If you want to come see us train then just get a day pass at the gym or buy one of the houses around the back, it's no problem whatsoever.  

"What happened in the summer was unfortunate for that club but we have to just keep our heads down and wait for the outcomes, but for now we'll just get on with it."

Edited August 4 by Saint NL

[Charlie Wayman]

1 hour ago, BERMUDASAINT said:

From Downes about Tonda, another example of how good our young coach is!!

"Everyone feels ready to go now," Downes added.

"Personally, I feel really good and, to be honest, this is probably the best I have ever felt, the gaffer's been unreal with me. 

"I feel like my game's developing, my football IQ's getting better and physically I'm improving too, let's see what the season holds."

 

We've got one goal, and that's to win the league. 

"So it doesn't matter whether we're starting on minus four points or not. We're going for that and that's that."

We all love THB but this is real leadership, maybe this is the guy who should be wearing the armband?

Edited August 4 by Charlie Wayman

[Charlie Wayman]

4 hours ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

This fella has done his homework….

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/332732/are-saints-going-to-get-an-impartial-decision-on-tonda-from-the-fa/#2

 🤣 🤣 🤣 Whatever he's on should definitely be on prescription. 

Edited August 4 by Charlie Wayman

[Mr X]

It would be so good to stick it to these fuckers and win the league from minus 4 but the reality is it's a very very tough league and it has only got tougher! West ham and the likes will surely start as favourites and I feel our team could be weaker than it was.... Tonda will need to get fans on side quickly a bad start to the season and I wonder how many will remain forgiving 

[skintsaint]

5 hours ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

This fella has done his homework….

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/forum/332732/are-saints-going-to-get-an-impartial-decision-on-tonda-from-the-fa/#2

[Jimmy_D]

If the rest of the team have got the same attitude as Downes, we won’t have any problem with motivation this season.

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, trousers said:

I'm sure our crack legal team are on the case to snuff out such bias...

 

I still think he'll get anything from a fine with suspended ban, to a 3-6 week touchline ban. What he did was less impactful than Bielsa (spying on all teams throughout a season vs 3 teams and failing to win any of those games) and there is no evidence of personal bullying by Eckert (that we are aware of) for the FA to make that charge stick. People can say there is now an EFL rule all they want, but the EFL don't get to sanction Eckert, and there is no FA rule about spying - the challenge for the FA is to show that Eckert's behavior was notably worse than Bielsa's - and without evidence of Eckert bullying staff, and the fact that Bielsa's spying was far more widespread, that's going to be very difficult for them. As a result, if they go to hard then we will appeal and potentially take them to court.

Edited August 4 by Saint86

[Charlie Wayman]

3 hours ago, Mr X said:

It would be so good to stick it to these fuckers and win the league from minus 4 but the reality is it's a very very tough league and it has only got tougher! West ham and the likes will surely start as favourites and I feel our team could be weaker than it was.... Tonda will need to get fans on side quickly a bad start to the season and I wonder how many will remain forgiving 

"He of faint heart never won fair lady!"

We are going to walk this league - even Flynn Downes thinks so. Well hammer the Hammers, hunt down the Wolves and finish off the Clarets in one swig.

Edited August 4 by Charlie Wayman

[Window Cleaner]

5 hours ago, Saint NL said:

Nah, you're alright mate.

 

 

Tbf to him, his full quote makes it sound like a whole lot of nothing. If this is what the Skates think, then you know it's not as big as it's made out to be.

"I don't think it's particularly widespread in England but I think it's probably more common on the continent and beyond.  

"Do people want to get a competitive advantage and push the rules as much as they can, the answer's yes and sometimes that spills over.  

"If you want to come see us train then just get a day pass at the gym or buy one of the houses around the back, it's no problem whatsoever.  

"What happened in the summer was unfortunate for that club but we have to just keep our heads down and wait for the outcomes, but for now we'll just get on with it."

Obviously the bloke isn't a real skate, no tradition.  A real skate would hope we get totally banned from everything possible.

[Starksj1995]

So they think we will

hearvin September break 

[Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd]

Tonda should've gone in May. All those blinkered fans willnsoon see that he's not the answer and that his cheating was the reason for the decent run of form last season.

I reckon we'll be 5 games into the season with about 3 or 4 points. 

Other than Dobbin we've added nothing and we're about to lose Charles and probably Jander. Our defence is the same as last year and at times it looked awful.

This lot ain't going up! 

Edited August 8 by Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd

[beatlesaint]

33 minutes ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

Tonda should've gone in May. All those blinkered fans willnsoon see that he's not the answer and that his cheating was the reason for the decent run of form last season.

I reckon we'll be 5 games into the season with about 3 or 4 points. 

Other than Dobbin we've added nothing and we're about to lose Charles and probably Jander. Our defence is the same as last year and at times it looked awful.

This lot ain't going up! 

Talk about drama queen……

Hope I’m never in the same shop as you when they’ve run out of your favourite cereal 🤣

ffs

Edited August 8 by beatlesaint

[Nordic Saint]

He keeps on winning. . 63.41% win rate now. The best of any Saints manager in history, who's been in charge for more than 30 games.

 

List of Southampton F.C. managers - Wikipedia

Edited August 8 by Nordic Saint

[Saint86]

12 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

He keeps on winning. . 63.41% win rate now. The best of any Saints manager in history, who's been in charge for more than 30 games.

 

List of Southampton F.C. managers - Wikipedia

So... are you saying we should ignore Sidney's potentially hysterical post above? 😄

[Give it to Ron]

1 hour ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

Tonda should've gone in May. All those blinkered fans willnsoon see that he's not the answer and that his cheating was the reason for the decent run of form last season.

I reckon we'll be 5 games into the season with about 3 or 4 points. 

Other than Dobbin we've added nothing and we're about to lose Charles and probably Jander. Our defence is the same as last year and at times it looked awful.

This lot ain't going up! 

If your the 3rd how shit must the other two be?

[skintsaint]

2 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

I reckon we'll be 5 games into the season with about 3 or 4 points. 

After 5 games and 4 points, over the season that going rate would put us on around 70 points, sitting in the playoffs. Not the end of the world if you class this squad weaker than last season. 😅

Edited August 8 by skintsaint

[badgerx16]

3 hours ago, Sidney Fudpucker the 3rd said:

I reckon we'll be 5 games into the season with about 3 or 4 points. 

Starting from -4 that would be 8 points from the first 5 matches, not a bad start and on target for @72ish. With 2 extra teams in the playoffs, that should be enough.

Edited August 8 by badgerx16

[Maggie May]

The guy is the real deal. He impresses me more and more in each press conference. He’s calm and eloquent; each answer is considered and unflustered.  The comparison between him and Will Still is night and day. Our best manager since Ralph by a mile. 

[Badger]

All the talk of -4,

Put it in context, when Tonda took over from Still he was -10 from the Play Off places (Preston), and -13 from the automotic spots (Middlesbrough, who also had an 11 goal GD advantage as well). 

[Ted Bates Statue]

On 08/08/2026 at 19:36, Nordic Saint said:

He keeps on winning. . 63.41% win rate now. The best of any Saints manager in history, who's been in charge for more than 30 games.

 

List of Southampton F.C. managers - Wikipedia

In a way I'm not surprised given we've been unbeaten for months in the league, but that's quite staggering.

Even if we just compare league results with those who managed us in the 2nd tier, it's 60% and 2.06 points per game, beating even Adkins and his Liebherr-powered squad. 

I'm not worried about a touchline ban but the only thing that concerns me is long-term injury to either Larin or Peretz could destroy our season.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

On 13/08/2026 at 20:23, Maggie May said:

The guy is the real deal. He impresses me more and more in each press conference. He’s calm and eloquent; each answer is considered and unflustered.  The comparison between him and Will Still is night and day. Our best manager since Ralph by a mile. 

I think he's better than Ralph and is going to the top 

[SNSUN]

He'll be sacked before the FA even get their hands on him. 😄 #notserious

He does need some help in the window though (SR - over to you). I know we're hamstrung with players we need off the books but we can't afford to waste too much time when we're -4 down. 

[AlexLaw76]

13 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

He'll be sacked before the FA even get their hands on him. 😄 #notserious

He does need some help in the window though (SR - over to you). I know we're hamstrung with players we need off the books but we can't afford to waste too much time when we're -4 down. 

Help? He has an amazing and settled championship squad 

[trousers]

45 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Help? He has an amazing and settled championship squad 

Eh? I thought most of the squad were "mediocre championship players"...?

Edited 21 hours ago by trousers

[Wade Garrett]

I thought he fucked up yesterday by playing Dobbin and Scienza out of position.  Trying to be too clever again.

[John B]

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I thought he fucked up yesterday by playing Dobbin and Scienza out of position.  Trying to be too clever again.

I thought he fucked up badly spying on Middlesboro when we were virtually in the PL 

Now with minus 4 points and Wolves Burnley Millwall West Ham and Middlesboro in the league it is going to be so much more difficult to go up 

[LiberalCommunist]

We paid 200 million pounds not to have VAR this season. Lets try to enjoy it.

 

lol

[Wade Garrett]

1 hour ago, John B said:

I thought he fucked up badly spying on Middlesboro when we were virtually in the PL 

Now with minus 4 points and Wolves Burnley Millwall West Ham and Middlesboro in the league it is going to be so much more difficult to go up 

Agreed, amazed he wasn’t sacked.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Cheap option.

He's got no choice but to be promoted this season.

As for Sport Republic, not only have they had their extra time, borrowed time, they're now clinging on my a nail. 
Their decision making has been reckless and quite simply I don't trust any of them.

[Miltonaggro]

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Agreed, amazed he wasn’t sacked.

On reflection, I think that the naivety and stupidity of that episode was absolutely remarkable - there was legal recourse and means of obstruction if we hadn't had the bizarre confessional and capitulation regarding facts - plus the punishment was wholly disproportionate (remember David Pannick appearing at the eleventh hour in the appeal just as realisation set in). 

Solak's backing of Tonda, Parsons et al., at the time seemed to indicate that he would 'compensate' SFC's reputation and the long suffering fanbase via a promotion at all costs agenda. Beginning to feel that the Board feels they have ridden the storm, outsmarted the thicko support (yet again), and the appeasement strategy has been trimmed accordingly over the summer.

Guess we find out over the next month.

[Fabrice29]

Very funny how Jack Stephens booting the ball into the path of an on rushing attacker can massively sway peoples opinions   

[saintant]

21 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Very funny how Jack Stephens booting the ball into the path of an on rushing attacker can massively sway peoples opinions   

Not so much 'sway' as reaffirm. 

[Wade Garrett]

41 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Very funny how Jack Stephens booting the ball into the path of an on rushing attacker can massively sway peoples opinions   

Who picked him in the first place?

[Saint86]

8 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I thought he fucked up yesterday by playing Dobbin and Scienza out of position.  Trying to be too clever again.

Lack of physicality in the side as well (THB and Stephens) when really one (or both) Woods and Quarshie) should have played Vs a rather limited but very physical and direct Watford side.

We forget, he still only has 6months experience, and he sometimes walks into rather basic errors like this with his eyes wide open - was a fairly common grumble last year....key part is that he learns and tends not to make those mistakes again.

The -4points could be a rather awkward monkey to shift at the start of this season. If we can start getting some wins then autos is still possible, but I suspect we will land in the playoffs and hopefully finish the regular season strongly.

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[Saint86]

19 hours ago, SNSUN said:

He'll be sacked before the FA even get their hands on him. 😄 #notserious

He does need some help in the window though (SR - over to you). I know we're hamstrung with players we need off the books but we can't afford to waste too much time when we're -4 down. 

Agreed. We are light up top and in CM, and in all seriousness we do need a quality CB addition.

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[Lord Duckhunter]

8 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

I thought he fucked up yesterday by playing Dobbin and Scienza out of position.  Trying to be too clever again.

I don’t think “again” is appropriate. One thing that’s impressed with him so far is his sensible and predictable line ups. He tends to pick players in their best positions, and pick sides that aren’t  that controversial. Of course, you could argue with the odd pick, Stephen’s/Wood or Fellowes/ Matski but overall he’s picked round pegs in round holes. Even the 11 on Sat was pretty much on the mark. It’s not like he’s played centre halves in CM or false 9’s like some other clowns. That’s probably why it was such a surprise that he played Leo as he did, and then didn’t switch it earlier 

[ant]

2 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Beginning to feel that the Board feels they have ridden the storm, outsmarted the thicko support (yet again), and the appeasement strategy has been trimmed accordingly over the summer.

Bingo.

There was marked surprise at just how well the appeasement went.