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.
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.
He appeared perfect for that academy job.
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.
Four months after moving to Saints, he would replace Still and manage a club in one of the biggest leagues in Europe.
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.
But he was well known to Johannes Spors, Southampton’s sporting director, as they were at Genoa together.
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.
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.
Southampton (68) won more points after Eckert took charge than any other club – including champions Coventry City (67).
But just 48 hours before Saints were due to play Middlesbrough in the first leg of the play-off semi-final, Southampton’s world came crashing down.
Salt was discovered observing a Middlesbrough training session, and the saga known as Spygate began.
If he is found to have been involved, Eckert potentially faces not only losing his job but he could be banned too after the Football Association opened its own investigation.
