Tonda Eckert has been waxing lyrical about this Southampton star, who has been key to the Saints’ recent unbeaten patch of form.
Southampton is clicking into gear at the best possible time, as they aim to return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, at the end of the gruelling Championship season.
The South Coast outfit’s clear progress under Tonda Eckert was visible in their battling 1-0 win against Fulham in the FA Cup, with Saints sides from previous years perhaps collapsing to a weak defeat, up against the dominant Cottagers.
In the here and now, thankfully, Southampton look to be equal parts gritty and classy, as they sit just four points off the coveted playoff positions in the Championship.
There is a lot of hard work ahead for Eckert and Co. if they are to push into the top six at the final hour, but the determination levels of the entire team collective across recent matches stand them in great stead to go all the way and return to the promised land of the top-flight in style.
Everyone is playing their part in promotion bid
Often, when looking over promoted teams that have pushed up to the Premier League, there is one standout performer who is doing the heavy lifting.
In Southampton’s case, though, they’re very much a team that all work for each other, rather than relying on a moment of individual star quality.
This togetherness flowing throughout Eckert’s camp was needed when 11-goal hero Adam Armstrong left the building in January, with the Saints’ top scorer departing mid-season having the potential to curb their ongoing promotion bid.
Thankfully, the likes of Leo Scienza and Finn Azaz have just stepped up their performance levels, in the wake of Armstrong leaving, with goals and assists galore coming their way during a recent 5-0 demolition job of Queens Park Rangers.
The defence have also chipped in with goals themselves, as both Ryan Manning and James Bree scored at crisis-ridden Sheffield Wednesday last time out in the league, to secure a sixth win for the Saints, across their last seven near-faultless matches.
The other goalscorer during the 3-1 win was Taylor Harwood-Bellis, with the England international enjoying some of his best football at St. Mary’s at the moment.
Eckert didn’t hold back on his praise of the 6-foot-2 warrior at the close of the famous Fulham victory, as he hailed the clear transformation the 23-year-old has undergone, to get back to his South Coast best.
Eckert hasn’t held back with praise of Harwood-Bellis
Harwood-Bellis entered the 2025/26 season as a somewhat bruised individual, having been a major part of the Southampton defence that leaked an atrocious 86 league goals in the top division.
He did show that he can hold his own versus Premier League attackers against Fulham, thankfully, as the dominant centre-back won four duels for his troubles, to protect the clean sheet.
Eckert handed Harwood-Bellis the captain’s armband for this tie in London, amid shouts from the German that he is a “different player” now compared to his feeble 24/25 offerings, and he immediately saw a captain-like performance from the loyal Saints servant.
He said, when speaking after the 1-0 win: “I had a small conversation with him on the morning walk today. I think that he’s on a journey at the moment.
“I’ve seen a lot of him in the last year in the Premier League, and I think that he’s a different player by now. He’s growing, he’s taking responsibility.
I think at his age, there aren’t many players who have already played this amount of games. He’s just become more and more mature.”
Amazingly, he has even noted the 24-year-old’s maturity and wealth of experience at the very top, as being extremely beneficial to his youth troops.
To add context, Will Still fielded one starting lineup, before he was given the boot, that had an inexperienced average age of just 24.7.
He concluded: “The boys look up to him, so it was an easy decision to name him. We didn’t give Fulham too much today.”
Harwood-Bellis appears to be a figure that Eckert would build his starting XI around, if Southampton were to move back up to the Premier League, as he’s certainly a dependable defender for the German in the division below.
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