Tonda Eckert adamant to retain Southampton star who saved his job

Tonda Eckert is adamant to retain Southampton star James Bree beyond this season who saved his job a few months ago.

Southampton have closed March with a comfortable 2-0 Oxford United win. The Saints started on the front foot with Cyle Larin and Shea Charles first half goals and at no point looked vulnerable to dropping points on the afternoon.

These 3 points take Southampton to 12 games unbeaten in the Championship which is largely down to Tonda Eckert in the dugout. Credit must also go to winter signings Cyle Larin and Daniel Peretz for improving Southampton at both ends of the pitch.

At the same time, it would be an injustice not to mention James Bree’s stunning upturn in form. He was often limited to a centre-back role in the Premier League last season with Yukinari Sugawara favoured more at the right back spot.

James Bree saved Tonda Eckert’s Southampton job

This season was supposed to be the same for Bree with Mads Roerslev and Elias Jelert given enough backing until December. Thankfully, current boss Tonda Eckert took notice of Bree’s progress at Charlton Athletic and opted to test the 28-year-old.

Quite often, two out-of-favour individuals work wonders together. The same happened with a previously unwanted James Bree and Tonda Eckert, who was under-fire in December after a string of crushing defeats.

Also, it’s quite amusing to recall that Tonda Eckert trusted James Bree to mark his Saints comeback in the away derby at Portsmouth. Although Southampton couldn’t hold on to a 1-0 win, Tonda got the missing piece of his Saints back 4 in the form of Bree.

5 goal contributions have come from the fullback since then, who has also helped Southampton to 6 clean sheets since re-joining mid season. The next step? Southampton must ensure the Tonda Eckert and James Bree duo remains part of the project for the near future.

Tonda Eckert adamant to retain James Bree

James Bree’s Southampton contract is set to run out in 2026. That leaves very less time for the Saints higher-ups to make a decision. The fans might remember the Kyle Walker-Peters situation from last year, where he was one of the best defenders at St. Mary’s but let his contract expire in favour of a Premier League move later.

Bree isn’t as talented as Walker-Peters but one cannot rule out the possibility of him joining another Championship promotion favourite for the following campaign. Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has spoken his mind on this matter, and it’s a positive update overall.

In his own words, Daily Echo quoted Tonda Eckert saying: “I think it’s(Bree) quite a nice profile to have in your squad. My job is to prepare games, but there are some conversations that I have with the club, asking about my opinion on players. I’ve expressed that.”

Southampton player contracts to expire in 2026

Assuming James Bree’s contract extension gets done, the next permanent Southampton players with expiring contracts in 2026 are Ross Stewart and Alex McCarthy. McCarthy has been reduced to a fringe role ever since Will Still left and isn’t expected to feature again for Saints this term.

Simply put, McCarthy should be let go by the club after his 10 years of service at St. Mary’s. As for Stewart, he has proven to be a useful attacking asset this season as compared to the two forgettable years before.

Should Southampton remain limited to Championship football next season, Stewart should be renewed. On the other hand, the 29-year-old Scotsman has never impressed in the English top-flight. Hence, there’s not much merit in handing him a new deal with Premier League football on the cards.