When a whole host of key assets to Southampton left the club in the summer of 2014, everybody feared the worst.
Pundits were crying out “relegation”, fans were in meltdown at the recent player sales and things were looking incredibly bleak on the south coast after such a momentous, record-breaking season.
When manager Mauricio Pochettino opted to seek pastures new at the end of his first full season with the club in the form of Tottenham, concerns were raised as to how the Saints would cope without the Argentinian, but now looking back on the fretting of supporters all throughout that summer, what was there to worry about?
New boss Ronald Koeman came into the club with, admittedly, a humungous task on his hands, but he has more than delivered and repaid the club’s faith in him as after players have come and gone, he has provided Southampton with it’s first taste of European football in over a decade, as well as even more record-breaking moments.
Here, I will round up Koeman’s greatest five moments as Southampton manager.
Saints hit Black Cats for eight
It was a simply incredible afternoon on the south coast, as something totally unpredictable and quite frankly outrageous happened as the Saints took on bogey team, Sunderland.
Southampton ran riot thanks to three own goals from Sunderland trio Santiago Vergini, Liam Bridcutt and Patrick van Aanholt, and Saints also got their fair share of goals for themselves, too.
Graziano Pelle struck twice in the match, along with a rare goal from Jack Cork, a long-distance effort from Dusan Tadic and a strike from Victor Wanyama.
Not a bad day to be a Saints fan, I must say.
Sadio Mane ruins Villa to make history
As Southampton’s European dreams were put in doubt after four games without a win, three being losses, a big performance on the last home game of the season was needed; Sadio Mane knew that.
The Senegal international broke Premier League history as he struck three times within two minutes and 56 seconds to help Southampton to a dominant 6-1 win over relegation-threatened Aston Villa.
Shane Long also struck two goals, including one from 40-yards that would go on to be awarded the club’s goal of the season, as well as a sixth through a Graziano Pelle volley late on.
Saints' European adventure starts with a bang
After securing European qualification in the previous season, the Saints played their first game of the Europa League qualifying campaign against Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in what was a simply glorious occasion under the St Mary’s lights.
Saints took the lead through Graziano Pelle as he thumped the ball home, before Dusan Tadic scored a penalty on the stroke of half-time to double the advantage. Shane Long rounded things off in the second half as Koeman’s men took a 3-0 lead on aggregate to the Eredivise side.
Although their European dream was cut short, the occasion was one to savour for all associated with the club.
Southampton slaughter Arsenal in Boxing Day rout
In the midst of some treacherous mid-season form, losing nine games in 11 from November to early January, an incredible win came on Boxing Day.
Southampton faced second-placed Arsenal at St Mary’s when spirits were considerably low over the Christmas period at the club, however, a stunning performance from Saints raised the roof.
Cuco Martina’s wonder strike in the first half opened the scoring as his 25-yard outside of the boot shot swerved beyond Petr Cech to leave the Saints fans, and himself admittedly, in total awe.
Shane Long also went on to score twice in the second half as Jose Fonte powered in a header from a corner, capping an outrageous 4-0 victory over the Gunners.
Austin strikes late to snatch Old Trafford win
After calls for a natural goalscorer were ringing around the Southampton faithful, action simply had to be taken in order to get the goals flowing again, and the people higher up at the club didn’t disappoint.
The signing of prolific QPR forward Charlie Austin was announced a week before his debut for a staggeringly cheap £4 million; a fee that delighted Saints fans worldwide, including me.
So, Austin was all set to make his debut on one of the biggest stages of them all in the form of Old Trafford, and he duly delivered.
The striker came off the bench with just over ten minutes to spare and brilliantly found the net with a free header in the 87th minute to take all three points on his debut for the club.