Saints fans were demanding signings in January, no one can complain that the owners haven't delivered with 5 new signings and you could almost call that 6 with the return of Jan Bednarek, but the proof of the pudding will be in eating.
The first thing to say is that even after a disastrous run of games starting well before the World Cup break and continuing through to the Everton fixture, although we might be rock bottom, we are not cast adrift, just turning two defeats into draws since Xmas would have seen us out of the bottom three and there are 6 clubs within 3 points of our meagre 15 point haul and Forest in 13th are only 6 points ahead.
Yet we started the season fairly well and at one stage stood in 8th place after beating Chelsea at St Mary's, so what went wrong ?
You can possibly pinpoint two key reasons, firstly the lack of a striker and secondly, injuries to key players in key positions, at one stage we had 4 of our 5 best players out with injuries.
The good news is that most of those players have returned from injury and secondly we have now not only signed 5 new players plus as mentioned the returning Jan Bednarek, one of them is different to what we already have, it is a big strong centre forward who not only has aerial power but knows how to put the ball in the net.
For most of the other teams down in that relegation battle although they have made some signings, little has changed, indeed Everton have signed no one and lost one of their best players in Anthony Gordon who was their joint leading scorer in the Premier League with 3 goals, given that is a 5th of their total, that is a big loss.
But for Southampton things have changed, the injury issues have eased and we have made 5 signings to strengthen all areas, if we could hang on to the coat tails of the others without them, then surely there will be improvements in the second half of the season.
For me the biggest plus point is the signing of a striker and more to the point one that has an experienced track record of scoring goals.
At 28 Paul Onauchu has a proven track record both in Belgium and also Denmark were he worked with Rasmus Ankersen, there is some confusion how tall he is, but from watching video footage there is no doubt he is good in the air and that is something we have lacked up front.
Of all the strikers we were linked with he was the one who I really wanted us to sign, he has the pedigree, ok not at the highest level in terms that neither of the Leagues he has played in are top class, but he has a decent record in the Europa League as well.
This season he has scored 16 goals in just 23 games in the Jupilo League, but in 3 1/2 seasons at Genk he has started 87 games plus 16 as sub and scored 73 goals, that is a good ratio, that is a goal every 1,41 games, if he can get anywhere near that ratio in the second half of the season we will be safe long before the end of May.
Of course it will be tougher to do that in the Premier League, but given most strikers outside of the Big 6 struggle to get into double figures 10-12 goals a season is a good return, a goal every 3 1/2 games in essence, if he can get that ratio it will change things.
But if Onauchu is a big game changer, then those that have also joined the club in January also offer us different options.
Mislav Orsic is proven on the World stage as well as in domestic competitions, his experience will be crucial and he will help in bringing other players on.
Carlos Alcaraz is still only 20, but he is a talent and has already shown Saints supporters that he brings pace and attacking flair to the side, this can only be good.
Kamaldeen Sulemana is an unknown quantity, but he already has a big reputation , he is mainly a left sided attacker, but he has played through the middle, this was a record price for Saints and at £22 million is slightly overpriced but not by much .
He has an eye for a goal scoring 5 in just 13 starts plus 21 off the bench appearances for Rennes in Ligue 1 and he also has a few assists to his name.
Last but not least is James Bree, he is not the most exciting signing, but he is hugely experienced in the Championship and is versatile and for a £750k outlay due to his contract being up in the summer, he is worth a punt.
At Newcastle he started slowly but grew into the game and although some of our fans will use this as a chance to berate the owners for planning for the Championship next season, it is a shrewd signing for a player who even if he doesn't work out at Premier league level, is a good squad player and will have a much higher sell on value than we paid.
So overall no one can complain much about our transfer window, I read somewhere that the only club who spent more this January were Chelsea, it shows that the owners see this as a long term investment and not just about farming youngsters and selling them on.
Mistakes have been made, but the reality is that if we had bought a striker that could have got us 6 goals in the first half of the season back in the summer, then we would be safely in mid table, hopefully we now have one and can therefore go into the final 18 games with a degree of optimism.
He will be hungry to prove himself and his arrival along with that of Mislav Orsic