Southampton's Home Form Under Tonda Eckert: A Strong Connection
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert says the bond between his team and the St Mary’s crowd sits at the heart of the club’s outstanding home form in 2026.
The 33-year-old German stepped up from coaching Saints’ U21s to take the top job in November 2025 after Will Still was sacked, inheriting a side marooned in 21st place and a fanbase running on frustration and fatigue. Since then, St Mary’s has turned into a fortress.
Saints have collected 47 points at home under Eckert, the best record in the Championship over that spell, and have opened the new campaign with three straight home wins.
“You know the condition the club was in when I came in and you know the condition our supporters were in the moment I came in,” Eckert told BBC Radio Solent. “It’s not easy to play home games if you don’t have that connection. And rightly so, there was not that connection at that very moment for a variety of things going on.”
The scars of last season still sit close to the surface. Eckert dragged Southampton into the Championship play-offs, only for the club to be thrown out in the wake of the Spygate scandal. The anger was real. The sense of injustice, raw.
Yet the stands never really emptied. Attendances have stayed around the 30,000 mark heading into the new season, keeping Saints among the top 20 supported clubs in the country. The loyalty has given Eckert a platform, but he insists nothing about the repair job has been simple.
“It’s not one thing that you change. There are so many small steps that you need to take to earn the trust and build on a connection and build a relationship back up,” he said. “Then you need to earn that right to connect again to the supporters, to the city, because it means so much more, the football, to the city of Southampton.”
The transformation at St Mary’s is something Eckert feels as much as he sees.
“St Mary’s just feels completely different than it did a year ago and that is just many, many things coming together,” he said. “However, I do believe that to ‘win’ a season, you must play a successful season at home.”
For now, that home form is doing a lot of heavy lifting for a club still rebuilding its reputation as well as its league position.
Jander still sidelined
Not everything is falling into place. Eckert confirmed that Saturday’s game against Bristol City will come “too early” for midfielder Caspar Jander.
The 23-year-old has yet to feature this season after picking up a quad injury early in Southampton’s first pre-season outing against National League side Eastleigh. His absence has stretched midfield options, and the staff have chosen caution over risk.
“We’re going to push, so hopefully it’s going to be some minutes against Wrexham (on 19 September),” Eckert said. “We had to delay a little bit, but I think he’s on a good way now.”
The noise at St Mary’s is back. The trust is edging with it. If Eckert is right, and seasons are truly “won” at home, Southampton’s revival will be judged by how long that connection holds when the pressure really bites.
