Those who kept the faith were vindicated in a superb disciplined performance from Saints were they dominated the game from start to finish.
Ronald koeman rung the changes, some enforced and some tactical and was rewarded by a great performance were the entire side remained focused and concentrated for 90 minutes.
The return of several players through injury brought a freshness to the side lacking in the last three games and each of those players did their bit.
Fraser Forster did not have a lot to do, but his mere presence was enough to add confidence to his defence and although he was never really tested he did the three things he was called upon to deal with with a calmness that was good to see.
At right back Cedric Soares was superb and had probably his best game at the club, he defended strongly and overlapped with pace to offer options at both ends of the pitch for Saints.
Ryan Bertrand had only missed one game but returned to the starting line up and provided the cover that enabled Matt Targett playing in front of him to get forward and play telling passes and crosses without the worry of getting caught on the break, Targett like Soares also had his best game for the club so far.
In the centre of the midfield both Jordy Clasie & Oriol Romeu worked well together and not only harassed and won the ball, but moved it forward quickly meaning that Watford spent most of the game on the back foot.
Steven Davis was sublime, he is Mr Consistent and that ofen means being an unsung hero, but tonight he played out of his skin and was at the heart of most things Saints did.
Then there was Shane Long, great opening goal and did not stop running from the first to the last minute, he now only has one less Premier League goal than Pelle and has done it in around half the amount of time on the pitch, those who said that he was not worth the money have to eat their words .
Sadio Mane is the name being linked with a big money move and his pace caused lots of problems, but if Manchester United were monitoring him their scouts would be using words like Arse, Banjo, Cow about his finishing and he has not scored a Premier League goal in 12 games and nearly 3 months, his performance lacked nothing in guts, passion and pace, not to mention enthusiasm, but of late he can't finish his dinner let alone a ood chance.
So with Soares, Targett, Clasie, Romeu, Long & Davis all putting in 9/10 performances all it needed to win the game was the rest to put in a minimum of 7/10 and this they all did.
A mention for Ronald Koeman who once again showed tactical nous, not only in playing the Targett/Bertrand formation on the left, but being brave enough to replace Sadio Mane with Dusan Tadic a move that immediately paid dividends and could have been even better with a little more luck.
Koeman has stuck to his guns and showed why he is the best manager for this football club.
Watford were poor though, how much of that was down to saints I don't know but they did not look like a top 10 side, they showboated too much and when graft and basic's were called for too often they tried fancy back flicks.
Now Saints have a good platform to take on West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, this was a win wrought from hard work, determination and concentration, there was no element of luck about it, not was there an opportunity for the opposition manager to bleat about the referee costing him the game, this was just what the doctor ordered and will give us confidence for Saturday.
We can take on the Baggies knowing that we are within sight of the top 10 again and a few more wins like this will get us there.