The first half of the season saw Mauricio Pellegrino chop and change his side without ever seeming to find what he considered the right balance, that now seems to have changed.
Whilst it cannot be denied that Saints had problems in their camp in the first half of the season and that trying to placate Virgil Van Dijk was the biggest factor in those problems, it also cannot be denied that Mauricio Pellegrino didn't help his own cause by continually changing personell in other positions, but in the past 8 games, the manager seems to be finding it easier to know his best side and that could be good for the rest of the season.
Pellegrino now seems to know the core of his side and although changes will have to be made and indeed can be made due to the plethora of quality midfielders we have, if he sticks to that core then we are not only more than capable of pulling well clear of the bottom three, but perhaps a shock in the FA Cup.
Saints have a far better squad than they had this time last year, in essence given that Virgil Van Dijk and Charlie Austin were injured for the second half of the season and that the squad is virtually intact otherwise, the additions of Lemina, Hoedt and now Carrillo mean that we are stronger than a year ago, add to that, that hopefully Austin will return to the squad in the next few weeks and there is much to be hopeful about in the final third of the season.
But the key is the manager, he now can have little complaint about the make up of the squad, if Claude Puel could get us to 8th, although that is probably now out of Pellegrino's reach, there is no reason why he cannot kick on now, if he does then he may have a future at this club, if he doesn't thn it could be another managerial change.