Tonda Eckert has been nominated for the Championship's manager of the month award for November.
The Saints' boss won four out of five games in November, which had a big influence on him securing the role permanently.
Eckert picked up the reins following Will Still's sacking. Still had secured just two points in October and was dismissed following a 2-0 defeat at home to Preston North End.
The comparison between Eckert's Southampton side and the one left behind by Still is chalk and cheese.
What Eckert has achieved goes way beyond league points
The young German coach has revitalised Adam Armstrong to such a degree that he is now the Championship's leading goalscorer. Finn Azaz has become a free scoring, roaming football maverick who has the touch and finesse to make the difficult look easy.
He's bringing the best out of Tom Fellows, who is playing in an unfamiliar role. And, he's getting a tune out of goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who has not engendered any degree of confidence among Saints fans for some time.
The performances of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and the much maligned Jack Stephens have improved immeasurably. Harwood-Bellis is bringing the ball out of defence like John Stones and picking out passes like a modern day Frank Leboeuf.
The upturn of results under Eckert's interim stewardship lifted Saints from 21st in the table to 14th despite losing away at Millwall.
The three other nominees for the award reviewed
The Southampton Head Coach, faces stiff competition from Coventry City boss Frank Lampard, Birmingham's Chris Davies, and Derby County boss John Eustace.
Lampard will be the favourite to secure the accolade having led Coventry City to maximum points in November. Should the former Chelsea and England midfielder win award, it will be for the second successive month.
Birmingham City were free-scoring at home throughout November, smashing four past Norwich City, Millwall, and struggling Portsmouth.
John Eustace's Derby County were effective on the road in November. Swansea City, Blackburn Rovers, and Sheffield United were all vanquished on away days. However defeats at home to Watford and away at Middlesbrough could kibosh the former Blackburn and Birmingham boss' chances.
Based on results alone, Frank Lampard is a shoe-in for the Manager of the Month award and no-doubt he will accept it with good grace.
However, Coventry City were flying before the month began and Lampard's only challenge was maintaining the momentum. That's something incidently that he has failed to achieve in December.
The reason Eckert should win the November award
Eckert, on the other hand, has not merely turned the ship around. He has tugged the rusty sinking vessel out of Southampton Docks, welded the ripped hull together, refurbished the interior, resurfaced the lower and upper deck, and turned the trawler into a modern cruise ship.
As Brian Clough once famously said about his predecessor at Leeds, “I'd like to see [...] Don Revie do that!“
Whether Eckert wins the award or not is irrelevant in the grander scheme of things. Saints fans appreciate what they have in Tonda Eckert. They know the job that he has already done.
Eckert and lampard will go toe-to-toe on the St Mary's touchline when Coventry City visit Southampton on the 20th December. The Sky Blues are experiencing their first wobble and with 'Tonda at the wheel' Saints fans could be forgiven for being quietly optimistic.