Until anyone says otherwise, Tonda Eckert remains as Southampton manager heading into the next Championship campaign.
Of course, a banning order could still be handed to the controversial German for his heavy involvement in the Spygate scandal, but with Dragan Solak publicly coming out to back the 33-year-old recently, he won't be axed by the Serbian anytime soon.
With plenty of wins secured at the St. Mary's helm last season, the overwhelming feeling is that he deserves another chance to finally realise his promotion dreams, without any spying antics being involved.
He has received another resounding Southampton show of support recently, too, as the Berlin-born boss continues to claw onto his employment.
The latest show of support for Eckert
St. Mary's hosted a different sporting event to the usual football that is played out week in week out on the famous turf on the 20th of June.
Indeed, Ryan Garner went head-to-head with Michael Magnesi at the Saints' home stadium in a blockbuster boxing event, with Garner hailing from Southampton.
Garner would win the tussle come the end of an emotional night for the 28-year-old, with those watching on inside St. Mary's even chanting for Eckert at stages during the captivating fight.
"We've got Eckert, Tonda Eckert," is the chant at St Mary's as we edge closer to Ryan Garner vs Michael Magnesi in the main event.
— George Rees-Julian (@rees_julian) June 20, 2026
That's the first public backing from Saints supporters towards the German head coach since Spygate. Think there will be more to come.#SaintsFC
Journalist George Rees-Julian would take to social media to confirm the nature of these chants, with "We've got Eckert, Tonda Eckert" reverberating around the ground, prior to the much-talked-about fight officially starting.
Noted as being the "first public backing" from Saints fans, since the horrors of Spygate came to light, the fact that all this drama has spilled into a different sporting event than the beautiful game truly shows just how strong the backing of the manager is, despite his antics seeing Southampton be expelled from the playoffs.
It's very clear what Southampton feels right now when it comes to Eckert, as the wait drags on to see what the severity of his final fate will be by the FA.
It's clear what Southampton feel
It's not just an outpouring of support that's reserved to the impassioned Saints masses either.
When both Cyle Larin and Daniel Peretz announced they would be sticking by the club, despite all that went on with Spygate, it was very clear they had been taken aback by the German's love and support, despite only being at the club briefly.
Larin would even say that he instantly felt as if he could trust the 33-year-old, and with nine goals put away during the latter stages of last campaign, it was a no-brainer for the Canada international to return permanently.
With James Bree also penning a contract extension, it's overwhelming how many players wanted to stick by Southampton and Eckert, even with Spygate throwing the club into uncertainty.
With the majority of fans at St. Mary's also backing him, next season has the potential to be a very special campaign, as Eckert quickly licks his wounds and tries to guide Southampton to that promotion they desperately long for.
Yet, he could still be stopped in his tracks, before he can redeem himself, if the FA decide to hand him a banning order, with the dark cloud of his espionage tactics not fully lifting.
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