By the middle of this week it had become clear that Johannes Spors had made his mind up about who would replace Will Still on a permanent basis and it was only a matter of when and not if ! But this is an appointment that will divide the fans.

I like many Saints supporters felt after the sacking of Will Still, that what was needed now was experience, that the strategy of putting relatively untried managers such as Nathan Jones, Ruben Selles, Russell Martin, even Ivan Juric in terms of English football and then Will Still had not worked, what was needed now was someone that has been there and done it in English football.

However there is no guarantee of success, indeed the most successful managers at Southampton Football Club have not been those with a successful track record at the level that we were in at the time.

Ted Bates had been coaching the reserves for only two years after retiring as a player when he was appointed as Saints manager in 1955, his successor Lawrie McMenemy had no playing experience and had not coached above Division 3 and likewise Chris Nicholl who had not managed anyone when he got the job.

In the last 35 years it has been the left field appointments that have succeeded the most, Alan Ball languishing at Exeter in Division 3, Gordon Strachan who had just got Coventry relegated, Mauricio Pochettino just sacked by Espanyol, Claude Puel a little known French coach.

The big name or experienced coaches rarely worked, Glenn Hoddle & Ronald Koeman were exceptions to the rule, but there is a long list of "experienced" failures, Graeme Souness, Harry Redknapp, George Burley, Mark Hughes being the most prominent.

So appointing an inexperienced coach in Tonda Eckert isn't some Sport Republic invention, it has been the Southampton way for 70 years.

As I mentioned earlier I was one who thought that now was the time for some experience, but now the appointment has been made,, I am not going to spend my time moaning about it, I want Southampton Football Club to succeed, so I get behind the manager, I give him a chance to prove himself, that is not happy clapping, that is just being a supporter.

Older supporters may point a finger at me and say well that was not the case when you were prominent in the formation of the Southampton Independent Supporters Association and campaigning for the removal of Ian Branfoot, but I would say that Branfoot had been at the club for over 2 seasons back then, SISA and those involved stood up and made a stand, if those that are so against Sport Republic are angered by this appointment and indeed how the club is run, then perhaps it is time for another SISA, time to give the fans a voice again !

We are perhaps the only football club in the top 4 divisions of English football that have no properly organised supporters club/association representing all fans an in it's home town (I have carefully worded this as of course we have the Southampton Disabled Supporters Club who do a great job for their members)

So although I am not completely convinced that we have the right man for the job, I am willing to give him a chance to prove his worth and to be fair he has made a decent start to it.

A look at his experience shows that he has more than most would think, 8 years of working his way up the ladder in the Academy set ups in Germany & Austria was followed by two seasons as assistant manager at Barnsley.

He followed that up with 3 years as the assistant manager at Genoa, before leaving there to join Saints as the U21 coach this summer, where he immediately made an impression.

I had the feeling when I saw this that Johannes Spors would have known him from his own spell at Genoa and that Eckert was being earmarked for bigger things at St Mary's, I thought he would be the next manager of this club, but I was assuming that Will Still would last a lot longer than he did.

So we have to give Eckert the chance, if only for the reason that we have no choice, he is appointed, he has made a good start to the job, long may it continue.

The key though will be who he has assisting him in the dug out, I would imagine that he will know a fair bit about our team, he probably saw all of our home games and some away before his elevation to the 1st team dug out as the U21 side rarely played on the same days as the 1st team, so he will have some knowledge of this division.

But that is not enough, so far he has been helped by his U21 coaches and with Adam Lallana now taking over running the U21's to be blunt he is short on experience in the dug out, if we are to have Tonda as the manager, then it has to be counter balanced with bringing in some coaches who can offer him what he lacks and also shoulders to lean on and good counsel.

So good luck to Tonda Eckert, I truly hope he succeeds in the job and we are singing his name at the end of the season.

History tells us that this is the type of appointment that works well at Southampton, id did so in 1955, 1973, 1985, 2001, & 2013 I could go on, history also tells us from 1993 that if you care about something and want things to change, then at some point you have to stop pontificating about it to anyone who will listen in the pub (In the modern era Social Media) & get off your arse and do something about it.

All Photos Via Reuters

StEdmund added 11:58 - Dec 6 He can only work with what he's got. Just get 100% out of them and create some stability in team selection. Good luck to him and judge him on what he achieves. ... or doesn't.
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Southamptonfan added 12:06 - Dec 6 It's a big risk, for such an inexperienced, young man to now have the heavy responsibility of getting this big club back in the big time. I have a feeling it could e d in tears. However as alluded to in this article, he has been appointed now. He has done a good job as interim, he is much clearer and a breath of fresh air in comparison to Will Still. I will give him a chance, but it does seem like the cheap option again. I wouldn't say that Sounness and Hughes were failures? They both kept us up at the Dell.

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TringSaint added 12:56 - Dec 6 I hope for all our sakes that he is successful! Given that he is speaking in his 2nd language, his answers to press questions come across considered and clear. Which hasn't always been the case with his his predecessor(s) and also seems reflected in how some of the players have described his instructions. I just hope he doesn't burn out, feeling individually responsible for everything.

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underweststand added 13:28 - Dec 6 in the last decade we have had a long row of so-called " experienced managers " most of whom achieved sweet F.A. to improve the squad or the results. The fact is that the "bonding process " between manager and players is the real secret to success. Regardless of Tonda's "so-called" inexperience he had managed 4 wins in 5 (something no new man has done in years) and it seems his methodology has clicked with the players. His tenure at Barnsley and Genoa helped them to better times, but no-one knows just how much of their success was primarily due to his influence. The manager gets credit for wins and carries the can for defeats but much of the team selection is down to those who coach them day-in and out and their advice and input. Clearly Tonda has had a big influence on the U21's this season and the introduction of several new names in the squad has proven his good judgement. Regardless of today's result (Brum) - if we are in, or somewhere near the Top Six by New Year, it will show that (for once) the Board may have made the right call this time.

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WestSussexSaint added 14:01 - Dec 6 In Tonda we Trust
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YosemiteSaint added 19:08 - Dec 6 So, in the end (at least for the time being), the Still hire was a success, because he brought Eckert with him! Thanks Will!
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