Southampton's Championship campaign gets underway against Watford on Sunday, with a four-point deduction and questions about Tonda Eckert's future. The Saints might have found themselves back among the heights of the Premier League this season but instead open away to Watford a week earlier. League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 4th in Championship, 72 pts, 20W-12D-10L from 42 games, recent form WWWWW. Goals this season: 73 scored, 50 conceded (+23 goal difference). Title race: 14 points behind leaders Coventry. Next fixture: vs Wrexham (at home, 2027-02-20) (7th in the table).
Last season's Spygate farce saw Southampton exiled from the Championship play-off final. Losing semi-finalists Middlesbrough took their place at Wembley but couldn't make it count against Hull City, who won the race for the third and final promotion place. The dust may have settled but the effects are very much still being felt today as Southampton start the season with a four-point deduction. There's also the possibility that Eckert will face a touchline ban - or worse - after being charged with misconduct by the FA.
Why it matters for Southampton
The Saints were charged with breaking EFL regulations 3.4 and 127.1 and ultimately admitted to an Independent Disciplinary Commission that they had conducted similar acts of espionage prior to games against Oxford and Ipswich Town earlier that same season, having initially denied spying. An arbitration panel reached the conclusion that Southampton had launched "a contrived and determined plan from top down to gain a competitive advantage” over their competition.
Tonda Eckert will be the man in the spotlight when Southampton return to Championship duties on Sunday. The German made the argument he was used to similar practices being acceptable in his homeland and Italy, where he'd gained much of his coaching experience. Eckert contended that he was not aware this was against EFL laws having taken charge in his first senior role midway through the season, though that wouldn't necessarily explain why Saints analysts had been quite so covert in their operations. The Saints' new season is a chance to redeem themselves and move on from the Spygate scandal. But for now, the focus is on Tonda Eckert and the team's ability to bounce back from a difficult summer.
