What Leo Scienza has said about Southampton appointing Tonda Eckert - he's been very honest | OneFootball

Tonda Eckert has overseen a perfect spell of results as Saints' interim boss

Southampton FC winger Leo Scienza has urged the club's hierarchy to offer Tonda Eckert the St Mary's job on a permanent basis after his 100 percent record was maintained against Leicester City on Tuesday night.

The German has been in the hotseat on an interim basis ever since Will Still was relieved of his duties by under-fire ownership group, Sport Republic, on the evening of Sunday, November 2nd following a 2-0 home defeat to Preston North End.

Eckert has since been able to transform the outlook of the newly-relegated side, who entered the first of his four games in temporary charge thus far in 21st in the Championship table after winning just once since the opening day of the season under the recently dismissed Still.

The South Coast side have since put all of Queens Park Rangers, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic and now fellow newly relegated Leicester to the sword, with eight goals also being scored in the 180 minutes of football which have followed the final international break of the calendar year.

Such a strong run of electric form, particularly in the attacking third of the pitch, has now propelled Saints into the top half of the table ahead of Wednesday's remaining fixtures in the second-tier, as well as seeing a major improvement on the goal difference front ever since Eckert's interim stint began on November 4th.

A final and concrete decision is yet to be made by Sport Republic as to what direction Southampton will head in for the remainder of the season, with the potential appointment of Eckert also splitting opinion amongst supporters and pundits such as ex-Saints hero, Matt Le Tissier.

However, it is clear which camp the aforementioned Scienza is in, with the Brazilian already becoming a firm favourite after his summer arrival.

It was revealed ahead of Saturday's remarkable 5-1 success against Charlton at The Valley that Eckert would be given the remit of overseeing that particular encounter, as well as matches against the Foxes and Saints' upcoming trip to Millwall on Saturday.

Several names had previously been linked with the vacancy whilst it was reported initially that sporting director, Johannes Spors, was hoping to identify a German-based manager or head coach to take control on a permanent basis after Still only lasted five months in the dugout after he penned a three-year contract in pre-season.

However, numerous outlets have also reported that Eckert has emerged as a strong contender to take the job on a full-time basis after initially being appointed as Southampton's Under-21s boss in the summer following spells as an assistant manager at the likes of Genoa and Barnsley.

The 32-year-old is believed to have "key allies" within the club, whilst Sport Republic have also reportedly been warned of the risks which would come with a permanent deal.

However, his chances of landing the job were only increased on Tuesday as a Taylor Harwood-Bellis double, either side of Finn Azaz's fourth goal in three games, saw Saints race into a 3-0 lead inside 42 minutes.

Scienza also moved to St Mary's in the summer from FC Heidenheim, and has since become an immediate favourite due to his extremely passionate personality alongside a combination of two goals and one assist in 13 appearances thus far.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Brazilian winger issued his clear thoughts on the matter.

"We are happy with him. He's doing a great job, so why not? It can't get a lot better than four wins in four games, so give the man the job," he said.

"It was already good from the beginning , but now, when you start winning, it feels even better. We want more. I don't think we always played badly in the beginning; we were just unlucky, but now we are just clicking."

Tonda Eckert enjoys record-breaking Southampton FC run with Leicester City domination

The impact which Eckert has had on this Southampton side in such a short period of time has been laid bare for all to see, and is now backed up by the fact he is the club's first boss to win their opening four matches in charge since the end of World War Two.

As a result, Saints have also won four in a row for the first time since April 2024 under Russell Martin, and are starting to play in the vein which many expected at the beginning of the season, which has only increased the clamour for Eckert to remain in charge in the long run.

With there being 29 games remaining and very little difference in points between several Championship sides, it is fair to say a push for automatic promotion cannot yet be ruled out, although Eckert and his players will not be getting ahead of themselves given what has gone before.