Southampton crumbled in 2024/25 in an embarrassing season for the owners, staff, players and fans. Finishing the season on 12 points and achieving just two victories, the Saints crashed out of the Premier League in humiliating fashion.
Quite rightly, Southampton fans were angry. Sport Republic had made some ridiculous recruitment decisions both on and off the pitch.
The first mistake was to allow Jason Wilcox, who was doing a good job as Director of Football, to leave for Manchester United in April 2024.
Then the club brought in a raft of average players who were clearly not good enough for the Premier League and retained a manager whose style of play was never going to work in the top division with the players that he had at his disposal.
The two Saints players who were good enough for the Premier League
Only Mateus Fernandes and Aaron Ramsdale were players in the squad of genuine Premier League quality. Perhaps Flynn Downes, Shea Charles and Taylor Harwood-Bellis could be added to that list now.
Since joining Southampton in Feb 2025, as Group Technical Director, Johannes Spors has been a revelation. Despite an inauspicious start, recruiting Will Still as manager and signing Damion Downs, the German has turned this around massively.
Extracting some incredible fees for (among others) Mateus Fernandes (£38m), Tyler Dibling (£39-41m), and Kamaldeen Sulemana (£14-£18m) enabled the club to invest in (among others) Finn Azaz, Caspar Jander, Tom Fellows, Léo Scienza, and Joshua Quarshie.
Those players should have been enough to enable Will Still to push for promotion, but Still struggled to convert potential into points, possibly hindered by the weight of expectation and the hangover from the previous season's relegation.
Spors most impressive appointment is obvious
Arguably Spors' most impressive appointment was Tonda Eckert. While most Southampton fans were demanding that the club recruit an experienced Championship manager, the German Technical Director stuck to his guns.
First, Eckert was brought in as interim Head Coach, and then, after impressing in his first month in charge, Spors had the courage of his convictions to appoint the 33-year-old rookie coach permanently.
As the cliche goes, Southampton haven't looked back since. Only a short blip as Eckert struggled to figure out that four at the back would work better than three or five with the players that he had in the squad, slowed their progress for a few matches.
Spors pulled off a master stroke in January, selling Adam Armstrong for nine million pounds to Wolverhampton and bringing in Cyle Larin in his place. Coupled with the signing of Israeli goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, the 43-year-old German has given Eckert the squad he needs to secure promotion.
Of course, the real test is about to come. What happens to this squad if Southampton aren't promoted this season? What players need to come in if they are?
However, with an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley to look forward to and a fifteen-match unbeaten run in all competitions that has given the club a fighting chance of a play-off spot, Southampton fans should take a moment to appreciate a job well done.