Tonda Eckert will be looking for his 29th Championship win as Southampton manager tonight when travelling to West Bromwich Albion.
The German stands out as a wonderful appointment with hindsight on side, with many at the time he was handed the temporary reins bemused by his inexperience, having only managed at U21 level on the South Coast.
Now, he's held in high esteem as one of the finest tacticians in the second tier, even if the Spygate scandal did soil his reputation somewhat.
The promotion chasers really needed the appointment of Eckert to work, after the dismal spells of both Ivan Juric and Will Still, and thankfully it has.
Russell Martin is looked back on with a lot more fondness than Juric and Still as another past remnant in the dug-out, as he guided the Saints to promotion at the end of the 2023/24 season.
After that, it did go all pear-shaped in the Premier League, and rather remarkably, he was sounded out as a possible candidate for this high-profile job during his up-and-down St. Mary's reign.
Martin was a candidate for this job
Before the 2024 FA Cup final, Erik ten Hag was on ever-thinning ice in the Manchester United dug-out.
The Red Devils would finish in an unsatisfactory 8th position come the end of the long and gruelling 2023/24 season, but the Dutchman did manage to lift the FA Cup at Wembley, as one final swansong moment, as he was then eventually sacked in October 2024.
The Athletic is reporting that Jason Wilcox, who was previously director of football at Southampton before taking up a similar role with the Manchester giants, sounded out Martin as a potential replacement for the unpopular ten Hag.
Before the FA Cup final win against Man City, Ten Hag was under major pressure and Jason Wilcox and others involved put forward several candidates as possible replacements.
— utdreport (@utdreport) November 3, 2026
One person Wilcox spoke highly of was Russell Martin, whom he had appointed the previous summer in his… pic.twitter.com/R3eSMSlS0j
In the end, he didn't make the shortlist for replacements, as the cursed Ruben Amorim was placed in the dug-out instead, but it's fascinating to think that Wilcox contemplated a move for the Scotsman, who has just one sorry Premier League win next to his name as a marmite character.
A couple of years on from being a possible candidate for the job at Old Trafford, Martin is struggling in the harsh waters of League One as Leicester City manager.
He's nowhere near that level of job now
The 40-year-old managed to pick up 34 wins from his 73 games in charge of the South Coast titans, with the losses that stacked up in the top-flight damaging his win rate.
While he was good at the time in getting Southampton over the line to promotion, Saints fans will see Eckert as a far more astute manager, with Martin's stock plummeting since his St. Mary's days.
At Rangers, he couldn't get a tune out of the Gers whatsoever, leading to his dismissal after only 17 games, as he mustered up just five wins in an environment that Rangers are meant to dominate.
In charge of the Foxes right now, he is widely disliked, as another high pressure job threatens to swallow him whole.
He has only seven wins next to his name at the time of writing from 17 games, with a 2-1 defeat to Burton Albion earlier in the season leading to a chorus of boos from home fans at the King Power Stadium.
Safe to say, Martin won't be considered for any big time jobs in the near future, like the wild Red Devils rumours that have come to light.
Southampton could have to bat away higher up suitors down the line for Eckert, in contrast, as the 33-year-old always seemingly finds a way to win, with a return to the Premier League firmly on his mind.
Coincidentally, the German's name has been discussed as a potential option for the Theatre of Dreams dug-out, when an animated TalkSPORT caller tipped him to replace Michael Carrick in September.
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