Southampton's Tonda Eckert on Home Form and Supporter Connection

Southampton boss Tonda Eckert believes the bond between his team and the supporters is driving the club’s formidable home form – and he makes no attempt to play down how fragile that relationship once was.

The 33-year-old German, promoted from the club’s U21s in November 2025 after Will Still was sacked with Saints languishing in 21st, has turned St Mary’s into one of the most intimidating grounds in the Championship. Since he took over, Southampton have collected 47 points at home – the best record in the division – and have opened the new campaign with three straight wins on their own turf.

Eckert knows exactly where that transformation started.

“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,” he 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.”

St Mary’s had been flat, bruised by poor form and off-field turmoil. The relationship between stands and pitch felt strained, almost broken. Eckert did not try to gloss over it; he set about repairing it.

“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,” he said.

He did exactly that on the pitch last season, dragging Saints into the Championship play-offs, only for the campaign to implode in the aftermath of the Spygate scandal, which saw the club thrown out of the competition. Anger among fans was raw and loud, yet they did not walk away. Crowds of around 30,000 have continued to file through the turnstiles into this season, keeping Southampton among the top 20 attendances in the country.

That loyalty, Eckert insists, has been earned step by step.

“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 explained. “St Mary’s just feels completely different than it did a year ago and that is just many, many things coming together.

“However, I do believe that to ‘win’ a season, you must play a successful season at home.”

The numbers back him up. Saints have turned home games from a source of anxiety into a platform. The noise has returned, the edge has returned, and with it a sense that St Mary’s is once again a place where visiting teams suffer.

Injury blow for Jander

Not everything is falling perfectly into place for Eckert, though. He confirmed that Saturday’s clash with 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 dragged on longer than hoped, forcing Eckert to manage both expectations and minutes carefully.

“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.”

With St Mary’s roaring again and key players edging back towards fitness, Southampton’s head coach has rebuilt more than a home record. He has restored a sense of belonging. The question now is how far that renewed connection can carry them through a long, unforgiving Championship season.