When Tonda Eckert took over as Southampton manager on an interim basis, if you had said then that he would win his first four games and only lose a fifth with a 97th injury time winner, most would have been delighted and now he looks set to continue, at least for the short term.

There are some Saints fans who are still not sure about appointing Tonda Eckert on a permanent basis, although he has won 4 out of his 5 games so far in charge, for them it is about in what order where those games won and lost, if the German had had that loss in the first game or in the middle of the spell, they would perhaps have been happy, but as it was in the final game of the 5 so far, they see it as the bubble has now burst and Sport Republic should act fast and get in an experienced replacement.

But the problem that Johannes Spors has, is that at this moment in time, suitable candidates for the job are thin on the ground, or at least those that are likely to accept the job if offered.

There are still some experienced names without a job, on paper they all look good, but the question is whether many of them would be prepared to drop down to the Championship.

Even if they where the other question would be whether they would be able to get us out of that division and back into the Premier League and for those who like a good question a third would be whether they could keep us there.

The issue for Southampton is two fold someone who could win us promotion and then whether they could keep us there, two seasons ago, Russell Martin took us up in what was a dramatic climax to the season at Wembley in the play offs, he had achieved his first aim, but he then showed he was woefully inadequate to keep us there.

So Johannes Spors has to consider whether he is looking at one man to do two jobs or two men.

That being the case none of those in the list of potential candidates look to tick all boxes, so much so that even Russell Martin is still a leading favourite and Brendon Rodgers not far behind.

So in the meantime Tonda Eckert looks set to continue, but there is one man who could perhaps be on the Southampton radar, that man is Thomas Frank, currently at Tottenham Hotspur, but according to football365.com is on borrowed time as Spurs slump to a string of defeats.

Frank of course has connections to Sport Republic, the man who oversaw his appointment at Brentford in December 2016 as assistant coach to the then manager was none other than Rasmus Ankersen of Sport Republic.

He took over as head coach in October 2018 and the rest as they say is history as he led Brentford to promotion to the Premier League in 2021 and then kept them there before departing in the summer for Spurs, the two boxes that Southampton would like to tick in a manager.

But was that the right place for him, a big club with different expectations than at Brentford and since former Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino's 5 year stint ended in 2021, Frank is the 4th appointment to the hot spot, tenures stretched between the several months of Nuno Espirito Santo & the two seasons of Ange Postecoglou.

The rumour mill is now turning on and saying Frank could well be on his way with Spurs winning just 2 of their last 9 Premier League games and sitting 12th in the League, with a trip to Newcastle looming at the weekend to play the club only below them on goal difference, defeat could see Spurs press the panic button and the reports say Spurs have already identified their man ready to act if things continue.

He would be perhaps the only manager who ticks both boxes for Saints, getting a club promoted and keeping them there, Tonda Eckert is well rated at St Mary's and it seems Saints are willing to hedge their bets, hence that haven't jumped in to appoint him on a permanent basis after some good initial results, if Eckert keeps winning then it is a win win situation, Eckert takes a step nearer the job and Frank's position at Spurs will become clearer in the next few weeks.

For Frank it could be a perfect job, the chance to repeat his success at Brentford in a club a step up from the Bee's in size, in Southampton where he would not have the pressure that is on an Tottenham manager.

In many respects it could have be a potential dream team ending, Frank is sacked by Spurs and links up with Rasmus Ankersen again under Sport Republic and Eckert continues his learning curve under Frank as his assistant.

of course this is Southampton FC nothing is this simple, but it is a scenario that could well play out in the next few weeks.

All Photos Via Reuters

saintmark1976 added 10:21 - Dec 2 If, and it’s a very big if Frank is sacked, will he want to give up what will undoubtedly be a massive contract termination package to come and manage a mid table Championship team such as we currently are ? Sounds rather unlikely to me and in the meantime if we were to suffer another couple of defeats Eckert’s position will become increasingly untenable as the players will no doubt say “ he is only here on an interim basis so why put in any extra effort”. In the circumstances as they stand, surely it’s best to give Eckert the job, settle the speculation and try and recover from our very poor start to this season caused by Sports Republic’s ineptitude in appointing Will Still in the first place ?

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davidargyll added 10:52 - Dec 2 That looks like a flying pig seen through very rose tinted glasses…
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SaintPaulVW added 11:00 - Dec 2 As long as he is in the loop and clearly knows what targets he needs to meet, then this approach seems sensible. With his lack of experience as a full manager in a major league, we need to see some progress in his approach to what must be a steep learning curve. Tests against Millwall, Birmingham and West Brom are good indicators as to how he would cope. If they are just leaving him in limbo while they wait for something to turn up, then that's just daft.

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DorsetIan added 11:26 - Dec 2 I was encouraged that Solak cut out the usual dithering and ditched Still relatively quickly. I really hope they are not now messing about again, hedging their bets around Frank possibly becoming available while they have stumbled upon a very good manager already.
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Centurion added 11:32 - Dec 2 This is a very tricky situation. I would say sit and wait and see what happens over the next 4 games. If Thomas Frank does become available he will be chased by a host of clubs around our size but in a better situation both in the Championship and Premier league.
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kingolaf added 11:41 - Dec 2 Laughable
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landsdownsaint added 13:28 - Dec 2 Brighton manager goes to Spurs & Frank goes the other way ?
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Bowlercow added 14:27 - Dec 2 Dammed if you do dammed if you don't If they are waiting for a particular target then it probably isn't Frank He did mention returning to Germany for a coach and they tend to see out a season before moving on In that event Tonda till May andu then who knows from abroad If Tonda does get us promoted he would still probably need replacing to keep us in the PL
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StRipper added 14:57 - Dec 2 An interesting if highly unlikely chain of events. Though I do wonder, if Selles was given the job in the Championship with this squad, rather than in the EPL, would even he have scraped together 4 wins? At this point, Eckert shown very little other than the ability to put square pegs in square holes. And on the back of Millwall, his marriage to 3-4-3 and tactical decision making clearly have been brought into question. I remember above all Selles tried to stay chummy with the players. Whilst I really would like to think that there is more to Eckert, at this point, he could very well turn out to be Selles Mk II

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bryanK added 15:56 - Dec 2 I would like this manager to succeed but like the many doubting Thomas I have a niggle with his permanent appointment. Bringing an experienced manager in to help him as I would not like to see him leave could be the answer. However, looking at the candidates that the pundits keep banging on about I am not convinced they are the answer. Perhaps Sports Repubic have a gem on the continent that we are not aware of!! As for Franks we can dream.

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Colburn added 17:42 - Dec 2 You may be right Nick. Where else would he go and we may be the ideal next project for him. Spurs play at Newcastle tonight though, not at the weekend so if they get stuffed and lose at the weekend then he may be gone this time next week. We have also cleared out the assistants and back room staff ready for a top manager with his own team..people can laugh but there aren’t many better options outside the Prem than us.

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Saintandy66 added 17:52 - Dec 2 its not April the 1st
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mascott514 added 06:52 - Dec 3 Give TE the job! He's got that team playing for him, that's clear to see. The players look more confident, and he has got a lot right so far. Any manager is a gamble - and here we have someone who has made a clear difference to the squad, and has a great attitude and work ethic Thomas Frank may well be great - but he's not here, and if he arrived in a few weeks - there's no guarantee he turns us around. Tonda will always be under a little more pressure as he hasn't got the resume of the experienced managers - but he's deserves a bash at it I think.

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StRipper added 11:59 - Dec 3 mascott514, I think we've had enough of managers being given the Saints job to have "a bash at it". In fact, that is all we have had. We've all paid our money. Watched dull and negative football. Watched our managers consistently being tactically out thought by pretty much every other manager that we come up against, and only seem to get the win when the opposition team is floundering, on or off the field. So enough. No more experiments thanks. Eckert's decisions at Millwall showed to me that outside of playing people in their (kind of) correct positions (aside from the Wing Back situation), he may just be randomly pulling levers in the hope of finding a successful formula, a bit like the Wizard of Oz when we see behind the curtain. I can see a flood of platitudes, more weird decisions and promises of jam one day, not too far in the future from our inexperienced enigmatic friend, Tonda.

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Monksway added 17:38 - Dec 3 After the Millwall defeat, the next two matches become really informative. Brum and WBA are good sides that will have assessed the Millwall approach to beating Saints. Eckert has to find a way to beat both of them. If he does then he suggests he has the resilience and tactical nous to manage us successfully but if we lose them then we would be foolish to appoint him permanently.He has had significant backing from the players but that only goes so far given their attitude to Will Still, he has to do more than just get the basics right.

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