So it comes down to today.
Southampton's head coach has a deadline he can't ignore, and tonight the clock stops.
Tonda Eckert has to tell the FA how he plans to answer three charges tied to Spygate. The governing body laid out its case on Rule E3.1 last week.
The accusation is that Eckert directed or watched rival training sessions before Saints faced them. The clubs named are Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough, all Championship sides.
That alleged snooping stretched across the back half of last season.
The choice sitting in front of Eckert
Eckert now picks a path, with only two on the table.
Contest the charges and a disciplinary hearing follows before anyone lands on a punishment. Accept them and an FA Regulatory Commission goes straight to the sanction.
Cast your mind back to June, when Eckert had already put his name to a full apology and owned what happened.
That early honesty makes a long, drawn-out scrap look unlikely. Nothing is settled yet, mind.
The mood around the club hasn't turned on Eckert either. Saints Marching set out how short the runway is as the punishment now looms.
Why the sanction is anyone's guess
Here's the tricky bit. There isn't much of a map here, since cases like this one barely exist.
Older breaches of Rule E3.1 tended to bring fines and touchline bans. When Marcelo Bielsa was caught spying back in 2019, he collected a formal warning and dodged an FA charge altogether.
So the outcomes stretch a long way, from something light to something that stings.
Southampton, for their part, aren't backing away. Owner Dragan Solak has supported Eckert in public and shown no appetite for the sack.
The club has also promised to cooperate with the FA throughout, with the stated aim still a return to the Premier League.
The squad has stood by him as well. Saints Marching reported that the players remain firmly behind him, whatever the FA decides.
None of that wipes the slate clean. The club were thrown out of the Championship play-off final in May.
They now start 2026/27 four points down before a ball is kicked. Promotion back to the top flight just got a little steeper.
So today is a marker, not the verdict. Whatever Eckert files by the deadline, the punishment itself is still to come.
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