SAINTS boss Tonda Eckert called on his players to better represent the club when asked about their response to a 4-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.
The players upset supporters with their perceived lack of effort to apologise for their performance in a heavy defeat at Riverside Stadium.
Goals from Alan Browne, Samuel Silvera, and a brace from Morgan Whittaker ensured Boro ended their four-game goal drought with three points.
Eckert said he wanted to see all of his players make the short walk across the pitch to say sorry to the fans, after a sixth game without a win.
Leo Scienza aside, it is shocking that Southampton’s players have hardly crossed the pitch to apologise to the fans who braved the conditions to travel ~ 5 hours to get here. #SaintsFC pic.twitter.com/GzuiFD89DZ
— George Rees-Julian (@rees_julian) January 4, 2026
Leo Scienza was the only player to go all the way across to the supporters still left inside the stadium, as most stopped at the halfway line.
"I said this before the final whistle, that I expect all of the players to go over to the fans," Eckert said at Boro.
"We are grateful for the support always, and we need to make sure we show a different face against Doncaster."
Asked if he is disappointed that his players did not do that, Eckert responded: "I think that the players were over at the fans.
"What I can say is we need to represent this football club in a better way."
Eckert was pleased with how Saints played in the first 55 minutes, but lamented their response to a contentious opening goal.
"We need to work on the resilience as a group, and I think there were many games where you scored the first, second, third, and everything looks very nice," he explained.
"But it's not that every game writes the same story. We need to be more resilient in those moments. I think it's many, many, many small things that add up together.
"But we need to make sure that we get those bits right. We have some time now in January to get a couple of bits right."
When asked to clarify if he means signing players in the winter window, Eckert said: "It's not only players, it's many things, many, many small things that add up.
"We need to make sure that we make that step forward, not every game is going to go the way we planned it to go, and we need to be able to handle setbacks better than today."
