Eckert: Togetherness key to promotion ambitions
Tonda Eckert believes togetherness holds the key to Southampton’s fortunes this season.
The 32-year-old German, now appointed as Men’s First Team Head Coach on a permanent basis after taking 12 points from a possible 15 in interim charge, is insistent that players, staff and supporters must be pulling in the same direction if Saints are to continue their recent rise up the Sky Bet Championship table.
Eckert admitted he felt the club needed a lift when he initially took over in early November with Saints 21st in the table, but immediately inspired a run of four straight wins, and believes promotion is possible if that momentum continues.
“Whenever there is a change, normally the reason is that things haven’t gone the way that we wanted them to. I just knew that we needed to lift the place again, get some new energy into the players and into the staff, and we will continue in that direction,” he said.
“I think we have an excellent group of players, but first and foremost people, together. That is always going to be a strength, but we need to make sure that we are able to transform that into an ambition on the pitch.
“I think they all need to be on board, and that is my job to create that feeling of being together, and if we get that bit right I am very sure that we look into a very bright future.
“We go all in; there is no other way. I don’t shy away from being ambitious to say that we want to play for promotion, whatever that is going to look like in the end. We will go for every single point there is to take.”
On the role of the fans, Eckert has been hugely impressed with Saints’ support both home and away, and grateful for their backing from the start of his reign.
“I have tried to say this a couple of times: in every football club, for me, the fans are everything,” he continued. “The football club lives from emotions, from the atmosphere in the stadium, from the support.
“We have an excellent fanbase. We have been starting to get that across, especially in the home games.
“Away games so far have been quite close, so the travel was not too far away, but it is brilliant to see in the away games we have a sold-out away section, and that just gives us so much energy and moments in the games that we need in order to win football games.
“The fans have been excellent with me from the very first day. It is my responsibility and I’m very much aware that I will need to confirm that again and again and again, to represent the football club and the fanbase in the best possible way, and I can promise to live up to that 24/7.”
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