At the start of 2026, Tonda Eckert didn't look entirely comfortable in the Southampton hot-seat.
After a dream start to his managerial duties, in the wake of Will Still being dismissed, with two back-to-back wins in December, the German encountered a tricky patch of form.
Indeed, the 33-year-old would go six games without a win in the Championship to see out 2025, and to start the New Year, with this poor form coming to a head when losing 4-0 to Middlesbrough in January.
Southampton's horror show performance at Boro
Southampton completely lacked a cutting edge when they travelled to the Riverside to kick off 2026.
Eckert's men, who now sit on sizeable 82 goals in the division, would spurn 16 shots on the Boro goal in this game, leading to Kim Hellberg's hosts hitting the wasteful Saints for four, with a second half blitz of goals.
At the time, this allowed the Teesside titans to move into the top two positions, while Southampton slumped to 15th spot, with the Saints only nine points above the drop-zone.
Thankfully, this is arguably seen as the lowest point of Eckert's reign, as only one more loss would be stomached, at the hands of Hull City, before this winless run would become history.
Amazingly, losing 2-1 to the Tigers - who are also in the playoff picture - would then see Southampton click into the frightening outfit they're known to be right now, with a 19-game unbeaten run in the league still intact, after winning 3-1 on the final day at Preston North End.
This staggering unbeaten streak meant Southampton finished on the exact same points tally as Boro, despite once unravelling so dramatically at the Riverside, with the playoff meeting to come on Saturday more in the Saints' favour, than this January horror show.
Southampton is a different beast now
When Southampton have been under significant pressure, since this misstep on Teeside, they have passed the test with flying colours.
Instead of folding, they have soared, with a 5-1 win against Wrexham in April showing off the South Coast outfit as an untameable beast, as the Red Dragons were thumped to solidify the Saints' grip on the playoffs.
Winning away from home against Coventry City, too, in mid-March, winwhen everyone expected the Sky Blues to wn, owing to their top-of-the-table superiority, Hellberg will have to be wary that his team doesn't get stunned similarly, as they fall at the first playoffs hurdle.
Eckert has also changed his starting lineup quite significantly since that sobering day out at the Riverside, with Joshua Quarshie nowhere to be seen now in the away side's tight defence, having started the 4-0 loss.
The promotion chasers also had to deal with still having the wobbly Gavin Bazunu in goal for the 4-0 defeat, with Daniel Peretz far more well equipped the silence the likes of Morgan Whittaker, who scored a breathless brace in January, having kept a free-flowing Haji Wright quiet, in one example, at the CBS Arena.
Everyone in the Saints squad knows their clearly defined role, now, with Cyle Larin's January addition, alongside Peretz, also giving Southampton a potent goalscorer that they were lacking during the 4-0 loss.
It has all the makings of being a playoff classic, with Eckert and Co. the arguable favourites, when they once loitered in the middle of the table, next to their automatic promotion-challenging hosts.
Add us as a preferred source on Google