Tonda Eckert will be hoping he can occupy a touchline with Pep Guardiola again next season.
Indeed, the German went head-to-head with one of the game’s greatest ever managers on Saturday evening, and very much held his own in the fascinating tactical tussle that ensued, as his Southampton side narrowly lost 2-1 to Manchester City in a hotly-contested FA Cup semi-final.
Guardiola would even go out of his way to praise the up-and-coming head coach when the dust had settled on his team’s almighty scare, stating that “big credit” must go to the Championship underdogs for how much they managed to stifle the Manchester giants at Wembley.
This would have been surreal for Eckert to hear all this praise, having noted the Spaniard for being an “inspiration” in the build-up to his clash at the home of football.
Yet, he is now very firmly in the spotlight as an extremely promising manager, in his own right, with Southampton’s season completely transformed by the 33-year-old picking up the pieces from Will Still in style.
Eckert is destined for the top
With 19 wins next to his name from 31 games in charge of Saints, at the time of writing, it’s clear that Eckert is destined for a managerial career that isn’t just limited to the Championship.
Instead, he looks as if he will be a head coach who will hold his own in a top division, with or without the South Coast outfit, with Guardiola nearly coming unstuck at the hands of the rookie manager at Wembley.
New reports have suggested that Bundesliga giants Stuttgart have Eckert in mind as a manager target, as Sebastian Hoeneß is reportedly on Real Madrid’s summer shortlist, with Stuttgart in with a shout of Champions League football come the close of the season.
The humble Saints boss won’t be paying attention to any of these wild rumours, as he is surely just focused on making the South Coast club’s promotion dreams come true.
He was his matter of fact self again when discussing Southampton’s promotion chances, at the close of the dramatic FA Cup defeat, with the Saints needing to be ready for another taxing battle against Ipswich Town on Tuesday night.
Eckert’s frank comments ahead of Ipswich
Southampton cannot rest on their laurels after recieving so much praise for how valiant their efforts were against Guardiola’s side.
Indeed, while it is of course heartwarming to have your peers speak so admirably of your fortunes, a loss against Ipswich on Tuesday night would kill Southampton’s automatic promotion chances for good.
Eckert was very blunt with his thoughts on Southampton’s remaining Championship games, as he believes the games to come will be a “test” of his team’s maturity.
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent shortly after the semi-final defeat, he said, rather cold-bloodedly: “The reality of football is that you get some praise for a performance but (by) tomorrow no-one cares. We wanted to go to the final and we didn’t make it.
“It’s a big test of maturity for us on Tuesday, because we need to be ready again.”
Eckert will hope his cold words about the fast-paced nature of the beautiful game have their desired effect on Tuesday night, with Southampton craving meaningful silverware, rather than hanging on to short-lived praise.
This cut-throat attitude from Eckert stands him in good stead to be a long-lasting manager at the very top, with the elite few – such as Guardiola – known to be ruthless characters.
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