Throughout all the press speculation about the future of Saints manager Mauriccio Pochettino and apparently half of his squad, Pochettino himself has always remained consistent in what he says.

Saints will run out at St Mary's on Sunday afternoon with many supporters as well as members of the media looking for every little wave or gesture or sentence to mean something, if Adam Lallana for instance appears to clap the fans some will say this was his parting farewell gesture and thanks.

But the truth of the matter is that firstly nothing has so far changed, no one has been sold and all that Sunday is, is the same as every year, the last game of the season and the chance to thank the fans for their support.

Secondly once the dust has settled as Pochettino himself has kept saying, that is the time when discussions will start.

The manager has talked of one five year plan ending and another about to start, in that respect he is right, it has been five seasons since Markus Liebherr took over with that much mentioned five year plan and now it has been succesfully completed its time to put the next one in place.

Pochettino speaks of the fans not fearing the future and he is right, hopefully in the summer he will hear what he needs to and he will be a part of that future, i he does he will know more than most that thereis a good chance that he will become one of the five longest serving managers in the Premier League, but if he is not then life goes on at Saints and indeed any football club, as have always said, the key to the future these days is not keeping your manager, but in making the right appointment to replace him.

Most Saints supporters are desperate for Poch to stay and continue our progress, hopefully he will, but whatever happens we should not fear change, it has to happen both on and off the field.

But what wedo have now at the club now is consistency, in many ways we can see the future now a lot more clearly than we have been able to do at any time in the past five years, 12 months ago many thought the club was at its most stable, a Chairman who was was speaking of Champions League qualification and of ambition that we now know was not in line with how the actual owner saw things.

So a year on we are actually a lot more stable, the people in charge are transparent and telling the supporters how they plan to move forward, some will not like this, they prefer to hear talk of reaching for the sky and getting the stars, despite the fact that they are not being told how it will be obtained.

Now though the talk is of sustainability and building the club in the right manner, again not what some prefer, but for the long term of Southampton Football Club it is the best way forward, would we prefer the last five years of a club not far from here who five years ago thought they were about to break into the big time and this season almost fell into the conference.

What I want over the next five years is a club that will build on the foundations that we have, that the next five years see us as a top ten finisher year in year out and that perhaps we can add to that with a cup.

That is a realistic five year plan and if we achieve that then perhaps we will be in the position to challenge for that fabled Champions League spot.

Mauriccio Pochettino says don't fear the future, I agree with him, many people will come and go from the club over the next five years, what will remain are the club and its supporters, that is the heart of the club and what we can now build on.

Photo: Action Images

altonsaints added 10:23 - May 10 Saints have had a great season and I think we are playing some of the best football we have played for many a year. I also think that decisions made over these next couple of weeks will send a clear message out to fans, of the intent of the owners of the club. When Saints reached the FA cup final, the club missed an opportunity to perhaps move up a notch, and I think that we are at a similar situation. If we want to 'step up a notch' then it's very important that we keep as much of the squad as possible and perhaps add to it to strengthen certain areas. All fans fear uncertainty, and perhaps it's the uncertainty of what may happen over the next couple of weeks that we are feeling at the moment. Having said that; it is great to be a Saints fan. Life would be very boring if we weren't!!!

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1970 added 10:32 - May 10 Nick Saints are on the brink of going places, just the odd cute signing here and there and we could quite easily snatch a champions league spot look at the two Everton games to see how close we are, or the points dropped when either Boruc didn't play or Fox and Jos did that's how close, to finish top eight sounds like we still play at the Dell,i loved the Dell Nick but move up a bit were nearly there i know the infrastructure is coyr.

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montecristo added 10:44 - May 10 I am sorry but I just dont agree with your analysis. To begin with it is symptomatic of the disease which has pursued Saints fans for as long as I can remember, that we should not set our sights too high, we are just a little club. Has it not dawned upon you that, Liebherr did not just buy the club because he was fond of the city of Southampton, but also aspired to greater things for the club. Nobody spends countless millions especially on a football club, not just on players, but on developing facilties that are the envy of the Premier league if they only have limited ambition. While Markus has gone his daughter shows no sign of wanting to pull back from sch aspirations, on the contrary she loved her father and seems determined to carry on his dream. This is without doubt the most important summer ever in the club s existence. I still doubt that the club has all the right people in the right places, I seriously question Les Reed s promotion to apparently overseeing contracts and player acquisitions he is no Cortese. Interesting to note that the club has made it clear that their attention will be be focused on the domestic market, hardly surprising as Mr Reed probably doesnt even have schoolboy french.

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abingdonsaint added 10:59 - May 10 It is going to be an interesting few weeks! I tend to agree with 1970. The team as it stands is really not a million miles away from the Everton and Tottenham's, so everything really revolves around keeping our best players and making two or three quality additions. Where we were found out was over the Christmas period when injuries coincided with tough games close together. This is where we differ from the 'big' clubs. Our first eleven is capable of competing with anyone. It is not necessarily all about money. Tottenham spent millions, but there are not many in their squad that I would swap with ours. If we had bought our squad in rather than produce it ourselves, it would have cost more than Tottenham's if you believe the rumours! This is where we differ from the Pompey story. They bought star players they couldn't afford. We just develop our own superstar's, which is far more cost effective! The players clearly think the world of Poch, and I think he is the key to all this. Replacing him will not be as easy as some seem to think. If he stays, so will the stars. Fingers crossed!

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slynch added 11:08 - May 10 Something's changed...Gallagher has just been "bought".
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IanRC added 11:21 - May 10 I agree it is a key summer. I have nothing but respect for the way Katharina has taken forward the club in accordance with her father's wishes thus far and i agree it is not the end of the world if Poch goes although I certainly hope he does not. What is important I think is that the key nucleus of players is kept together and that we look to build on that. In order to do that in my opinion we need to show some ambition in the transfer market as well as continue the excellent development work. I agree with Abingdonsaint that our first team is good enough to beat anyone (including those FP cheats City) but we do need more depth of quality. I look forward to seeing how the new management team perform over this important period. I certainly do not want to see Lallana and Shaw depart. Our CEO has said many things that I agree with for the time being I am happy to trust him and the rest of the management team to live up to the high standards the team has set on the field and I look forward to the World Cup announcements on Monday as a further endorsement that you can play for England whilst at Southampton.

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Whatsforpud added 12:22 - May 10 Montecristo - can't agree that this is the most important summer in the club's existence. That has to be when we were in administration. For a few long weeks we didn't know if we were to be rescued. It would have been impossible to image then, that in 2014 we would be concerned that we might not hold on the 8th place in the premier league!
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ChristchurchSaint added 15:07 - May 10 Nice article Nick. I would like to think that MP is giving us a hint that things are not as bad as we all fear. Hopefully everything that has been said by him, Les Reed and anybody else from the club has been totally honest and above board. If MP and Les Reed have been discussing pre-season etc, hopefully that means that some, if not all of, the building bricks for next season are in place. We do know that Saints, as a club, have always done things in their own way- they don't respond to press tittle tattle, and I, for one, was extremely surprised when Les Reed issued the press statement a few weeks ago. It has been said from the club, in the past, that things are only official when it is on the website, and not when some Fleet street hack decides to announce it!

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SaintNick50 added 18:41 - May 10 No one is bigger than Southampton F.C. I have been impressed by Katharina, she wasn't going to accept Cortese spending her money with little or no fiscal responsibility to her and who can blame her. So he went off in a huff. I always stand by the manager, Man U treatment of David Moyes is disgraceful as is Alex Fergusons part in that. To select a manager put him on a six year contract then drop him in less than a season is stupid beyond belief. Ferguson was given the time as we all know. This is a very good reason to stuff them tomorrow. If Poch goes it's not the end of the world. I would have Sherwood as a replacement.

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stmichael added 09:06 - May 11 I don't agree. There is nothing positive about losing your manager and 4 or 5 of your best players. Relegation would be more likely than a mid table finish. Cut out the marque signings and wages and reward our top players. Unearth another jay rod or lovren Or s.davis. People talk about our over expenditure but we are getting huge financial rewards year in year out in this division. In reality the training ground is covered by next seasons tv appearances alone. I said when NC left we could collapse like a pack of cards. It remains to be seen but that is a very real possibility.

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OwenTheSaint added 09:51 - May 11 I think we're just days away from losing the best manager we've had during the Premier League era, and if you need confirmation of the latter look no further than our points tally. How people can be so accepting of him leaving is beyond me. Don't give me all that 'the club is bigger than any man' rubbish. Clubs are made up of individuals and if those individuals are good, even great, at what they do then that results in a club that achieves. Yes, our manager would be replaced if he left but would the next man be as good? I doubt it, it's taken us this long to find a good one, they're not buses. What makes it even more frustrating is that like many people who have post on here I believe we are just a couple of good signings away from giving it a right good go, and pushing our way in amongst the cherry picking elite who always finish in the top seven. I feel we are at a crossroads this summer and it boils down to what sort of club we want in the coming years? Do we want a club that is an also-ran in the Premier League that sooner or later might get caught out by relegation and who just sells it's best players all the time. Or do we want a club that keeps it's players (that they developed) and god forbid sorry for even suggesting it to the top seven clubs, Sky and anyone else who long ago accepted the status quo of football, do we want a club that tries to challenge the top teams and win something. I want the latter, but nothing about the post-Cortese set up suggests to me that they do too. Still it's their money, not mine, so they have every right to decide. I just feel the club will be a house of cards this summer, MoPo, Lallana, Shaw and probably a few others will go. I wonder what Markus would have done at this crossroads, would he have pushed on from here?

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ItchenNorth added 13:42 - May 13 Pochettino and Lallana are the two that are the key for me . If Pochettino stays in demand players may look up, realise / see the progress we've made as a club and think yes, Im sticking around of another year to see where this goes. They are on great money at Saints so I'm not convinced this is a major factor in where you play your football (for most anyway). If we can somehow keep hold of Lallana that would be fantastic; we need another one club man. Creativity is incredibly difficult to replace hes our captain. I can live with Shaw going for 30mil as we need to invest in other areas of the team and left back is an easy spot to fill. We have depth in our midfield already so one or two from here could go; no big issue. Bottom line is, we've see it all before, it will happen again; that's football ! As fans we just get on with it ! I'm hoping in a couple of weeks time Pochettino and Lallana are still here and going nowhere soon put all rumours about them to bed

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