At the start of last season Saints supporters knew exactly where the weak areas of the team where, the problems weren't addressed and Saints struggled because of it, now things are different.
You didn't need to be a resident pundit to know where the Saints problems would be when 2012/13 season kicked off, sadly those on the transfer committee didn't seem to make them priorities and because of that Saints endured an horrendous start leaking goals left right and centre which made it a season of firstlyplaying catch up and looking over our shoulder.
The arrival of Artur Boruc was not an instant success, but once he got his feet under the table he was key to Saints staying up, but defensively we weren't quite right and were still prone to defensive howlers despite Boruc's heroics.
If the transfer committee hadn't dealt with the problem last season they wasted no time in rectifying it once the transfer window opened, Dejan Lovren has to be one of the bargain signings in the Premier League and was just what was needed, a commanding presence who leads by example and already a contender for player of the year.
Victor Wanyama has also shored up a what was a leaky defence in that he stops problems before they arise in midfield, his arrival looked harsh on Jack Cork, but in fairness Wanyama has done exactly what he was signed for with his ability to break up play, the only downside is that in sorting out the defensive problems Saints have lacked something in attack as Wanyama does not have the passing ability of Jack Cork (some would say Jack Hargreaves) however good teams are built firstly from the back and that can be addressed.
What Saints have now done by filling the key areas is build a team with a true spine at the centre of it, in Boruc, Lovren and Wanyama you have true characters who don't shirk challenges and do the job they are paid to do, without being harsh on Wanyama though who has played his part perhaps the two real key men are Boruc and lovren, with due respect I couldn't have seen us getting a point in the last two matches if those two hadn't been playing, they have truly been the difference this season.
Those who have read my pieces over the years will know that I have always said that its not a sin to make a mistake, the real sin is to not learn from it and repeat it, last season we didn't sign players to compete, we signed players for show in the main, this summer has been different
Saints still need to improve though and if they can hang in that top ten till January a couple of more key signings might just make a bigger difference than we could dream.