Southampton start their Championship campaign at Watford on Sunday [PA Media] While Southampton felt the full force of the EFL's disciplinary powers at the back end of last season, Spygate is far from over with the future of head coach Tonda Eckert still uncertain. Saints' Championship campaign gets under way on Sunday and it still remains to be seen how Eckert, who was charged last month by the Football Association (FA), will be punished. BBC Sport has been told the FA hearing is likely to be held in mid September. Once the result is known, and with the possiblty of an appeal to follow, Southampton will be a significant way into their campaign. Eckert was charged with misconduct by the FA on 22 July for his role in the Spygate scandal that led to Saints being kicked out of the Championship play-offs in May after admitting they spied on three clubs last season. The ongoing investigation is looking into who participated in the spying and assessing the culpability of those who knew it was happening. BBC Sport also understands that the intern involved, Will Salt, is set to be appointed to a permanent analyst role with the club since the controversy. Saints owner Dragan Solak revealed to BBC Sport in early June that he would not sack Eckert and that he was deserving of a second chance. That could be taken out of his hands if the German coach is handed a lengthy ban, and it could happen in the midst of the Championship season. Why has it taken so long? The EFL opened its investigation into the spying allegations before the play-off semi-finals and charged Southampton with spying on 8 May. Eleven days later Southampton learned their fate and were thrown out of the play-offs and given a four-point deduction for this season. Unlike in the EFL case, which needed to be resolved in order to complete the play-offs, the FA process has allowed Southampton more time to submit evidence in support of their case. When Southampton finally present that case it will be approaching four months after the FA began its investigation. The Championship will pause for three weeks between Monday, 21 September to Tuesday, 6 October for the international break - but whether Southampton will learn the outcome by then is not yet known. What's the plan if Eckert is banned? In short, it will depend on how long the ban is. Eckert is only contracted at St Mary's until the end of the current season, and a significant sanction could force the club to look elsewhere for a new head coach. Group technical director Johannes Spors provided some insight into the board's current thinking during the recent BBC Radio Solent Southampton FC fans' forum. Spors has held his position since 2025 and played a key role in handing Eckert the permanent job as head coach in December last year. "It all depends on what the outcome is as there are so many uncertainties of how this could look like," Spors said. "There is nothing too concrete at the moment, we're really focused on the here and now and if there is something that we have to deal with then we will deal with it. "In the back of my mind and in the office we do speak about different scenarios to be prepared for but I still hope for a positive outcome." Southampton were preparing for a number of possibilities on their pre-season tour. During one friendly Eckert watched the game from the stands, and later told the club's media: "Let's hope we don't need it," when asked about managing the game away from the technical area. If Eckert were to be banned by the FA, there is no guarantee this would only prevent him from being on the touchline. "At the moment I'm honestly very positive looking into the next weeks and we have some ideas in mind," Spors added. "There was some discussions earlier about how Tonda watched one of the pre-season games from above [in the stands] and we have to think into different scenarios like this." Siege mentality at St Mary's Throughout the Spygate process, members of the Southampton board have maintained a stance that they feel the punishment does not fit the offence committed. Parsons echoed those feelings at last week's fans' forum but has urged the club to move on, revealing that Eckert has now been asked to "focus on football". After initial disapointment from within the Southampton dressing room, the whole saga appears to have lit a fire inside those Saints players who missed out on playing in last season's play-off final. Club captain Jack Stephens felt that Spygate had brought the group together, while midfielder Flynn Downes said the squad have a chip on their shoulder heading into the Championship season. A similar mentality seems to have been adopted by some Southampton fans, who were chanting "we'll spy when we want" in their Carabao Cup opener against Colchester on Saturday. On the other hand, some supporters raised concerns at the recent forum about season ticket prices increasing for the current campaign despite all that happened in May. Parsons explained that the extra cost was being reinvested back into the stadium to increase the fan experience but said he appreciated people's frustrations. Private support for Eckert over the summer While Eckert has had time to think over the summer about his actions and last season's events, the coach revealed he has been proactive during his time off, as well as cooperating with the FA's investigation. His only prior work in senior football before the Southampton job came through 15 months as the number two at Barnsley, and three years as assistant boss at Italian club Genoa. The 33-year-old recently revealed he had used the summer period to sharpen up his knowledge of the EFL's rules and reach out to some fellow professionals in the game. "I've had a lot of support very quickly from the owner, sporting director and the players, but then also over the summer from lots of managers in the game, and that's helped me a lot over the summer," Eckert said in his pre-Watford news conference. "I used the summer to not only go through the 131 rules but also to connect with some managers that have been in the game for much longer than me and managers that have much more experience than myself across national teams and club football. "One is for the rules and regulations and the second that is even more important is the culture that's behind that, I've done that through many conversations with English managers, not just in football but other sports too." After last weekend's 2-0 cup victory away at Colchester, Southampton start their Championship campaign at Vicarage Road on Sunday when they take on Watford. This weekend Eckert's opposing manager will be Italian Alessio Dionisi, who he previously came up against during his time at Genoa while Dionisi was at Sassuolo.
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