The awful statistic that could see this former Southampton manager get the sack

Tonda Eckert has now been sat in the Southampton dug-out permanently for 42 games.

While the Saints' performances have been rather hot and cold this season, with disappointing draws away at Birmingham City and Lincoln City, sandwiched between big victories over Stoke City and Millwall, the German has only lost seven of those outings, which is very impressive.

If the South Coast side didn't have that miserable points deduction next to their name, either, they would be chilling in seventh spot in the division now, inside the expanded playoff format.

There would be some grumbles after the draw at Sincil Bank, when looking at Eckert's puzzling in-game decisions, but Southampton could be in a far worse position now if they had someone else in the dug-out.

While Eckert continues to pick up results in the choppy seas of the Championship, Russell Martin - who once guided the Saints to a glorious promotion up to the Premier League - has started very poorly this season in charge of Leicester City down in League One.

Martin's poor start at Leicester

Martin, at one stage of his bumpy managerial career, was viewed as a promising head coach.

Indeed, when he guided the Saints to Premier League promotion at the close of the 2023/24 season, he was looked at as a up-and-coming figure to keep an eye on.

Unfortunately, since this career highlight, Martin has struggled in the managerial hot-seat, with a short stint at Rangers seeing him be given the boot, after he was dismissed by Southampton mid-way through the 2024/25 campaign.

He is now in charge of Leicester, who will be desperate to break out of the third tier at the first time of asking.

Safe to say, he has started horrifically at the Foxes, as well, with home defeats to Burton Albion and Oxford significantly souring the mood already at the King Power Stadium.

The stubborn 40-year-old could be heading for another early dismissal, with Leicester fans calling for his head after the ex-Premier League champions were resoundingly beaten 4-0 by Aaron Ramsey's U's on Saturday.

All of a sudden, a 1-1 draw at a tricky Lincoln side doesn't seem so bleak.

He isn't exactly known as a manager who can get his team out of sticky situations, either, with this awful statistic only reinforcing the idea that he will be sacked by the Foxes sooner rather than later...

Could he be handed the sack?

Martin experienced an extremely up-and-down spell at St. Mary's.

He did, indeed, secure promotion up to the Premier League with the Saints, nobody can take that away from him.

But, he would bow out the following season with just one league win from 16, and it hasn't got any better for him since this poor patch of form ended his Southampton tenure.

Amazingly, since that 1-0 playoff final win against Leeds, Martin has only secured three league victories, managing the Saints, Rangers, and now the Foxes, with Leicester fans not exactly convinced he can turn around the ongoing shambles at the King Power.

Martin's dreadful league form since the playoff final win:

16 of those 28 games since those Wembley heroics have also ended in the all too familiar sting of a defeat, too, with Southampton supporters glad they've got Eckert at the helm currently, over the polarising Martin.

The German will be keeping his fingers crossed that the Saints can get back to winning ways against Swansea City on Tuesday night, who are - coincidentally - another of Martin's former employers.

Martin will be fearing the worst, as Leicester travel to Stockport County next, with the Hatters in third, while the Midlands giants loiter in an inexcusable 17th spot.