Southampton's Home Form: Tonda Eckert's Connection with Fans
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert says the bond between his team and the St Mary’s crowd sits at the heart of the club’s formidable home form in 2026.
The 33-year-old German, promoted from Saints’ U21s to replace the sacked Will Still in November 2025 with the club languishing in 21st, has turned St Mary’s into one of the most hostile venues in the Championship. Since his appointment, Southampton have taken 47 points at home – the best record in the division – and have opened the new campaign with three straight home wins.
“You need to earn that right”
Eckert is under no illusions about the state of the club when he stepped up.
“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.”
The break in trust was obvious. Results were poor, the mood was flat, and the stands felt restless.
“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.
Eckert did exactly that on the pitch, dragging Saints from the lower reaches of the table into the Championship play-offs last season. Their campaign ended in chaos when the club was thrown out in the wake of the Spygate scandal, but the damage many feared it would do to the fanbase has not materialised.
Despite the anger that initially erupted around the club’s expulsion, attendances have held steady at around 30,000 heading into the new season, keeping Southampton among the top 20 supported clubs in the country.
St Mary’s transformed
For Eckert, the revival at home has been built on countless marginal gains rather than any single masterstroke.
“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.
The change, he insists, can be felt in the air.
“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.”
Right now, that box is being emphatically ticked. St Mary’s has gone from uneasy and sceptical to loud, defiant and expectant. The team’s intensity has risen with the crowd’s noise, and the numbers back it up: no Championship side has collected more home points since Eckert took charge.
Jander still waiting on comeback
Not everything is falling into place as quickly as the head coach would like. Midfielder Caspar Jander remains on the sidelines and will not feature when Bristol City visit on Saturday.
Eckert confirmed the game has come “too early” for the 23-year-old, who has yet to play this season after suffering a quad injury early in the first pre-season outing against National League side Eastleigh.
“We’re going to push, so hopefully it’s going to be some minutes against Wrexham (on 19 September). We had to delay a little bit, but I think he’s on a good way now,” Eckert said.
If the connection between players and supporters continues to tighten, and key figures like Jander rejoin a side already thriving at home, the question for Southampton is no longer whether St Mary’s can stay a fortress – but how far that fortress can carry them this season.
