At one stage during Will Still's disastrous reign at St. Mary's, Southampton looked like they could suffer the ultimate humilation of back-to-back relegations.
Only two Championship wins would come the much-talked-about Belgian's way, before he was unsurprisingly handed his marching orders.
Thankfully, the Saints had an internal diamond in the rough they could latch onto in Tonda Eckert, as the German has now completely revolutionised the South Coast outfit's fortunes, so much so, that they now sit just outside the playoff picture in the second tier.
How Eckert has turned Southampton's fortunes around
Initially, it would have been deemed a bold move upgrading Eckert from U21 duties at St. Mary's, to the full-time manager gig, but it's been proven to be an ingenious masterstroke.
The 33-year-old rookie has turned Southampton into a force to be reckoned with, especially in attack, with a bumper 34 goals being scored, across the 19 games he has been at the permanent helm for. He has also masterminded ten wins in total across that span of matches, pushing his rejuvenated troops into the playoff conversation, subsequently.
In stark contrast, Still would only manage to get a paltry 18 goals out of his down-on-luck side, from the 16 matches he managed to last in the Saints' hot seat.
Eckert's permanent record as Southampton manager:
Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals scored | Points amassed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 34 | 35 |
Finn Azaz has really come into his own under the fresh new methods of Eckert, with a sublime eight goals and five assists next to his name when the German has been watching on from the sidelines. He would manage zero goal contributions, staggeringly, under the previous regime.
Yet, despite the former Middlesbrough attacker's renaissance under the youthful head coach, Eckert has picked out a different part of his vibrant Saints forward options, who could be crucial to his side disrupting the playoff party.
The star Eckert believes will be key
Eckert will be preparing to utilise his full squad ahead of the run of fixtures to come, where Southampton must gain positive results to leap into the top six positions.
At the moment, the Saints are only four points shy of the coveted spots in the demanding division, with Tom Fellows preparing to play a key role, despite falling out of his manager's first team plans as of late.
The brash £10m summer signing has found his time on the South Coast to be rocky as of late, with only five assists falling into his lap from 32 second-tier games so far, resulting in him being benched for Southampton's last two league clashes.
Yet, for a player of his blistering quality, who amassed 28 sublime goal contributions for former employers West Bromwich Albion as they clinched a playoff spot under Carlos Corberan, he will rightly feel he still has lots to give Eckert's men.
The German has even hailed the Englishman as "excellent" when speaking to the Southampton Echo, despite Kuryu Matsuki usurping him in the manager's starting XI, as of late, on the right channel, with two goals and an assist coming the number 27's way in big wins over Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday.
He said: "Tom has had an excellent week in training, and I'm sure that he will be unbelievably important for us for the rest of the season."
There are not many teams at this stage of the season who have a team at full strength. We're in a good spot to compete. We're in a chase, and that chase is not complete."
The ex-Baggies winger up his sleeve could prove to be a very dangerous weapon to have on his side, as Southampton pray for an instant return to the Premier League under their transformative manager.