When Will Still was sacked by Southampton on 2 November, Saints were in 21st place – three points outside the Championship relegation zone with one win in 13 games.<\/p>\n
That is when the club turned to Eckert, who had only arrived at St Mary’s in July 2025 when he replaced a Chelsea-bound Calum McFarlane and took charge of the club’s under-21 team.<\/p>\n
He appeared perfect for that academy job.<\/p>\n
Eckert’s career had largely involved youth football, in his homeland with Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. He had also helped the under-18s at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg win the Uefa Youth League.<\/p>\n
Four months after moving to Saints, he would replace Still and manage a club in one of the biggest leagues in Europe.<\/p>\n
Eckert’s only prior work in senior football came through 15 months as the number two at Barnsley, and three years as assistant boss at Italian club Genoa.<\/p>\n
But he was well known to Johannes Spors, Southampton’s sporting director, as they were at Genoa together.<\/p>\n
So Eckert, at the age of 32 and with no previous managerial experience, stepped into Still’s shoes on an interim basis which became permanent a month later.<\/p>\n
Eckert won a hat-trick of Championship manager of the month awards – for February, March and April – as Saints not only stormed into play-offs but finished within four points of the automatic places.<\/p>\n
Southampton (68) won more points after Eckert took charge than any other club – including champions Coventry City (67).<\/p>\n
But just 48 hours before they played Middlesbrough in the first leg of their play-off semi-final, Southampton’s world came crashing down.<\/p>\n
Salt was discovered observing a Middlesbrough training session, and the saga known as Spygate began.<\/p>\n