Southampton's latest interim manager may have more time at the helm than he originally bargained for.
Under-21 boss, Tonda Eckert, has been handed the role after former manager Will Still was sacked on Sunday after an extended poor run of form.
Now it seems that Sport Republic won't be rushing to fill the vacancy and will take their time to recruit better. According to Sky Sports, both Ralph Hasenhüttl and Russell Martin are no longer in the frame to succeed Still.
It is believed that Eckert may be in contention himself. He won't do his chances any harm if he is can 'just' to do what no manager has done since Russell Martin in April 2023 and win back-to-back Championship matches.
Eckert explains how he was influenced by the Italian Job
The 32-year-old German coach joined Southampton in the summer from Serie A side Genoa where he was assistant to Patrick Vieira. Before that Eckert had been assistant manager at Barnsley.
This season, without Eckert as assistant, Vieira has already lost his job - having taken Genoa to the bottom of the table.
Eckert has led the under-21's with great success. The young Saints are fourth in PL2, after eight games, two points above both Chelsea and Spurs! Last week Eckert's side went toe-to-toe with Spanish giants Real Madrid at St Mary's, earning a 1-1 draw with a dramatic late equaliser.
If the young German manages to turn things around it would put him in the driving seat to continue. If he doesn't do well then he will return to the under-21s better for having the experience of coaching the first team for a couple of games.
On the job interview will reveal two things about Eckert
Eckert's audition begins with a trip to Loftus Road for a difficult away match at Queens Park Rangers on Wednesday. Then, if no announcement has been made by the weekend, the German will take charge of the 'battle of the basement' home match against Sheffield Wednesday.
Fans can expect Eckert to try and keep things tight. His understanding of the game has been honed in Italian football culture in recent years. Talking about the high number of goals scored in the academy and under 21's, Eckert was dismissive of the focus of teams in PL2 on attacking play.
"For me, it's not the way first-team football works, especially when you come from Italy, where you have a lot of teams that score the first goal and that's game over," Eckert told the Daily Echo.
The second thing that fans will learn about Eckert is just how much more faith he has in the younger players than the outgoing boss.
It's unlikely that Eckert can step into the top job and command the dressing room any better than his predecessor. The senior players might just find another unproven young manager barking out the instructions from the technical area too much. Let the audition begin.