So the summer that was meant to be about squad-building has a very different deadline pinned to it. Tonda Eckert has until the 28th July to respond to three FA charges over Spygate.
The charges are pretty specific. The FA say Eckert broke rule E3.1 three times by "directing and/or observing" the training of Oxford, Ipswich and Middlesbrough.
The spying ran across last season, from December through to May.
None of that is up for debate at St Mary's. Southampton were thrown out of the play-off final in May and handed a four-point deduction for 2026/27, so the club is chasing promotion from a hole before a ball is kicked.
How big could the ban be?
Here is where it gets murky. Reporting on the likely punishment has been all over the place.
Suggestions run from a fine to a possible six-month ban.
The Telegraph reckons Saints are hoping for a fine or a short touchline ban, with part of it perhaps suspended. Ten-match bans have been floated elsewhere.
There is comfort to be found, mind. Sources at the club told The Athletic that a full ban looks "unlikely", while former Manchester City advisor Stefan Borson said Eckert would be "really unlucky" to be banned at all.
Why so much doubt? Because there is barely any precedent in the English game for a case like this.
The one everybody reaches for is the Canada women's team at the 2024 Olympics. They were done for flying drones over opponents' sessions, and coach Bev Priestman copped a year-long ban.
A promise the owner might have to break
Cast your mind back to early June, when owner Dragan Solak backed Eckert to stay. That looked settled enough at the time.
A ban changes the outlook. The season opener at Colchester is only a couple of weeks off.
Keep a banned coach working behind the scenes and the FA and EFL will watch Saints like a hawk. The timing hits hard for another reason too.
This is the final year Southampton collect parachute payments. They already land 45 percent lighter than before.
For all the mess, there is a fair case to make for the coach. Eckert inherited a side sitting 21st when Will Still was sacked last November, then hauled them up to fourth.
Supporters have a point of their own. Saints Marching has asked whether it's fair , given how heavily the club has already been punished, a grievance that flared once more when the fixtures rubbed it in.
The club has said it stands behind its coach. By Tuesday, though, the FA's process begins to decide whether that is a stance Southampton can actually maintain.
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