Southampton sold Taylor Harwood-Bellis to Aston Villa on transfer deadline day, but the former Saints defender left behind the symbol that is likely to trail the club for the rest of the season.

The Harwood-Bellis binoculars are set to appear at Championship grounds across the country, serving as a mischievous reminder that Southampton tried to gain an unfair edge last season and ultimately ended up costing themselves a place through the play-offs.

Saints chairman Dragan Solak has shown remarkable trust in manager Tonda Eckert. His side missed out on promotion and were also hit with a four-point deduction for 2026-27, yet Eckert has kept his job and Southampton are pressing on with a clear plan.

There were points last season when the idea of Southampton returning to the Premier League looked highly improbable. Eckert managed to change the mood and the trajectory, and he has now been afforded the opportunity to demonstrate exactly which elements were behind their results, and which were not.

Not every ownership group would have reacted in the same manner. It is now Eckert’s task to prove that the faith placed in him is deserved.

In the aftermath of ‘Spygate’, his preferred response is goals, and Southampton are producing them.

Saints’ entertaining 1-1 draw away at Birmingham City may, at first look, seem like a more routine evening. But from another perspective, it underlines that a free-scoring side can travel to some of the hardest venues in the division and still come away with a result.

Eckert’s side have scored 10 goals in their four Championship matches. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers — helped by a Konstantinos Mavrapanos own goal — have scored more. Southampton’s expected goals (xG) figure is also the highest in the second tier, standing 1.5 goals above Wolves.

Even so, they have outperformed their xG, and the player chiefly responsible for converting those opportunities is striker Cyle Larin, who struck twice against Millwall in the victory that moved Southampton into positive points and lifted them off the bottom of the table.

The Canada international had two very presentable openings at St Andrew’s but failed to get either effort on target. Eckert, however, was untroubled when asked about his number nine, pointing out that he has been finishing everything so far.

On a night when the home side created most of the game’s clearer chances, Southampton’s goal arrived from a different route. Defender Keven Schlotterbeck powered in a header from a corner in first-half stoppage time to put them ahead, before August Priske levelled 10 minutes into the second half.

The visitors headed back to the south coast with one point instead of three, but they still climbed another step on the long route back, and Eckert can draw encouragement from a goal from a set piece as well as the return of former captain James Ward-Prowse. His free-kicks at Birmingham forced a fine save from James Beadle and also led to a Kuryu Matsuki goal being ruled out.

Ward-Prowse’s golf-club supply complements the more fluid influence of Finn Azaz. The 25-year-old continues to be a vital part of Eckert’s creative pipeline, threading line-breaking passes from deep and also producing chances in tighter spaces further up the pitch.

All of these moving parts, and others besides, are working towards one objective: goals. That attacking power could be at the heart of Eckert’s second attempt to win promotion. Southampton will make errors at the back and they will concede; both of those things happened against Birmingham.

With Larin in scoring touch, set pieces delivering, Ward-Prowse pitching and wedging, and Azaz bringing craft and incision, rival managers will understand that their first priority is to stop Southampton scoring.

If Eckert’s side are to recover from the painful, highly unusual and self-inflicted blow that ended last season, then their capacity to keep creating opportunities and finishing them at a ruthless rate will be central to that effort.