Southampton discovered that the Championship will be an unforgiving arena this season as they were baited about Spygate on their way to being beaten 2-1 by a new-look Watford side at Vicarage Road.
Playing their first league fixture since the espionage affair that saw them thrown out of the play-offs in May, Tonda Eckert's side had no answer to the home team's energy and tenacity.
Summer signing Iker Bravo and teenage academy product Amin Nabizada gave new Watford manager Alessio Dionisi a fine win, while Southampton's players were heckled, both on the pitch and from the stands, for their actions at the end of last season.
When Taylor Harwood-Bellis screwed a stoppage-time shot badly wide, the defender who was seen as one of the villains of the Spygate saga was verbally riled by a succession of Watford players.
The defeat already leaves Southampton seven points off top spot, with the south coast side sitting at the foot of the table following their four-point deduction after the Spygate scandal.
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The Watford goals both came from errant Southampton passes.
Jack Stephens' aimless kick was seized upon by Bravo, a summer arrival from Udinese. The 21-year-old Spaniard did not hesitate, driving forward and stabbing the ball home.
The goal lifted the uncertainty that had enveloped Vicarage Road in the build-up to the new Championship season.
Australia winger Nestory Irankunda was sold to Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon 24 hours earlier, while last season's captain Imran Louza was left out of the squad by Dionisi after the midfielder again asked to leave the club.
On the opposite wing, Watford youth product Nabizada seized on another wayward Southampton pass, this time by Ryan Manning, to speed away down the right.
It appeared as if the teenager had pushed the ball too far as he drove into the Southampton area before he suddenly unleashed a low shot into the far bottom corner.
Southampton reduced their arrears in the second half. Cameron Bragg stabbed the ball through to Cyle Larin 10 yards from goal, and the Canada international slid the ball past Federico Ravaglia in the 56th minute.
Within a minute the new Watford keeper was forced into a reaction save low down from Larin's sweeping volley.
Seconds later at the other end, it might have been 3-1 to the hosts when the lively Bravo looked certain to extend Watford's lead, only for Manning to charge down his shot with a brilliant sliding challenge.
Southampton mounted a late siege to the Watford goal but Harwood-Bellis wasted their clearest opening.
Eckert: Players as close as they've ever been
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert:
Eckert said: "We came here to take a result, so we are very disappointed. Two errors in possession cost us against a very good transition team. That's the reality. We gave the ball away two times too many.
"We didn't have to change the way we were playing in the second half. We had to be a little bit cleaner on the ball. We kept pushing, and I think that we deserved more in the end.
"It's always easier to say things after you win a game of football, but there is no doubt about the dedication of the players. The boys are as close as they have ever been and completely united as a group.
"Obviously, communications are going on between the club and the FA in the background, but once you step onto the grass either for a training session or the sidelines, it is what it is, all of that disappears."
Phillips: Pressure already on Eckert | 'He didn't pick right team'
Ex-Southampton striker Kevin Phillips told Sky Sports:
"The pressure's going to start again, isn't it?
"They didn't perform today. You can't afford to slip up when you're four points behind.
"There's still a long way to go, and they showed last season that they can go on a run when they get it right.
"I don't think he picked the right team to start off with.
"The pressure's there, and we all know why. The next game for them is crucial, and they have to win it - it's as simple as that."
Dionisi: One team, one mentality
Watford boss Alessio Dionisi:
"I'm very happy, but very tired. Today was important because it was our first official match.
"There were a lot of positive moments, but at the end of the second half it was difficult for us without the ball.
"I liked every moment. I saw the players inside the pitch working together with and without the ball as well as the ball. One team, one mentality.
"It is important for everyone to stay inside the team every match with the same positive mentality.
"The second half was important to work well out of possession. With the many very talented teams in this division, it won't be easy for us. We played so-so with the ball in the second half."
