Southampton are challenging for another top-10 finish since their return to the Premier League, but could they have been better?
Southampton manager Claude Puel
Southampton are into their fifth season in the Premier League since they returned to the top-flight in 2012/13, following back-to-back promotions from League One under manager Nigel Adkins.
What has followed since has been a regular influx and outgoing of players to rival clubs as well as frequent managerial changes, with current manager Claude Puel being their fifth since their Premier League return.
But despite all these changes, the Saints have secured back to back improved final league positions each season, appeared in the Europa League this season and last as well as narrowly missing out on a League Cup triumph to Manchester United.
Could this steady rise for the Saints have been improved had they maintained the services of their previous managers?
Mauricio Pochettino guided Southampton to eighth placed finish with 56 points in his first season full season in charge, applying a high-energy and high pressing game that caught the eye of rival clubs, eventually leading him to sign for Tottenham Hotspur in 2014.
Ronald Koeman took the reins from Pochettino and was tasked with a rebuilding job as the club lost a number of key players to Premier League sides, including Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren.
Koeman however, continued to progress the club, finishing seventh in his debut season and improving that position to sixth and three points more in 2015/16, qualifying them for the Europa League.
The Dutchman left to join rivals Everton at the end of the season, and with him left more key players for the Saints, including Victor Wanyama and Morgan Schneiderlin, with Claude Puel taking his place.
Although the Saints look to be back on the rise under Puel after a difficult start to the season, this frequent change of manager would have done nothing to aid their progress.
Considering how both Pochettino and Koeman have improved Tottenham and Everton respectively since they joined, it is likely that if either of them had stayed at the helm of the Saints with time to mould the squad into their own, they would be regular contenders for top-six finishes, perhaps even top-four.
A Southampton fan before the match
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