And now the talking can stop and the football can actually start and then we can talk about that, rather than the narratives that the media have been peddling for the last week or so. That narrative as of course been Saints Spygate hangover with virtually every man and his dog positively foaming at the mouth in the hope that it will adversely affect us. They all seem to forget that we haven’t lost since January and instead focus on the “fact” that every professional footballer in the Championship won’t want to lose the Southampton. It’s like they’re going to be possessed by some sort of otherworldly power and they will “strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger”. as that quote from Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction goes.

Only of course, it won’t be like that. Most players won’t give a shit anymore than they ever did, and won’t buy into the narrative that this was the crime of the century. Maybe Middlesbrough players might have a little bit more edge in that particular game, but no one else will. Will Portsmouth want to beat us any more because of Spygate? No, they’ll want to beat us because we’re Dirty Scummers of course, and because it’s a local derby. Will West Ham, Burnley or Wolves want to beat us any more because of Spygate? No, they won’t give a shit. They will want to beat us because we are one of the better teams in the league. The media will continue to peddle the narrative, however.

I have been enjoying looking at everyone’s list from 1 to 24 of where teams are going to finish in the championship. We are usually in about fifth place and most peoples predictions. There is of course the odd engagement farming rage bait shit that puts us ninth, from people who pretend to know better. I don’t know, you might think my predictions are complete shit and if you want to check them out then they are here. https://league1minus10.co.uk/2026/08/11/championship-preview-2026-27/

In that article, if you go down to Watford then you will see what I think of them which is not a lot. I can never be bothered to learn too much about them because of the basket case approach they’ve got to managing the club. Three managers a season with regularity and players sourced almost exclusively from other clubs under the umbrella ownership of the Pozzo family. Udinese have provided five new players for Watford this season. They may be brilliant, they may be crap, they could be anywhere in between. The Pozzo’s seem to have lost interest in Watford a little bit and as a result over the last few seasons they’ve been lower mid table pretty exclusively.

It is an away game though and the opening game of the Championship season so you never know, they may hit the ground running with a blaze of enthusiasm provided by another new manager, Alessio Dionisi, who wins some sort of award for me because I have actually learnt his name. I would however lay money on him not being in charge when we play them in the second half of the season.

Watford have struggled to score goals over the past few seasons and actually seems like they’ve never adequately replaced Troy Deeney, who has been a regular shit opinion for media outlets for quite some time now. He has taken one particular team of the week job on the BBC from Garth Crooks and has managed to be no better, which is some achievement.

Watford’s current centre forward is Luca Kjerrumgaard, who of course came in from Udinese a year ago on loan and struggled with the physicality of the Championship last season. He has potential though and it will be interesting to see if he’s any better this year. Last year‘s thorn in our side was Nestory Irankunda, who has left the club so we don’t have to worry about him spanking a free kick into the top corner from 35 yards.

Back at base, Shea Charles completed his predicted move to Fulham and you have to say it sounds like a good move all round. He’s gone to a stable Premier League club where he will have a chance to grow in to being a Premier League footballer and we have got £30 million for him and he leaves with the best wishes of everyone with Tonda Eckert praising his attitude. Also, interestingly, he talked about the need to replace him with an incoming player.

That’s not going to happen in time for today however and with Casper Jander still recovering recovering from his injury picked up preseason at Eastleigh, it is widely expected that Cameron Bragg will start alongside Flynn Downes in the centre of midfield.

We have made a signing however, and that is of course the one year loan of Divin Mubama from Manchester City, a big physical centre forward who is the current starting number nine for the England under 21s. He will take the place in the squad vacated by Ross Stewart and we can certainly expect to see him on the picture sometimes this afternoon as it’s unlikely that Cyle Larin will last 90 minutes.

Tonda Eckert is going to get his first taste of Championship fan banter for the season and is no doubt geared up to ignore it. The press conference is after the game and questions from local journalists will be interesting however. Tonda for his part, has seemed quite relaxed and has seemed much more approachable and friendly and less, you know, weird. Hopefully he can continue this when the pressure starts ramp up because it is about to.

Today would be a great day for Saints to show that they are not going to be affected by all the bullshit that is going follow them around this season. I know we are starting on -4 but hopefully at the end of the day, we can turn round to all the other clubs in the Championship and say mind the gap, it’s getting smaller.