After over two seasons of under performance from most of our squad finally we have a manager who knows how to get the best out of it's members.
We might still be a long way from being home and dry in the race for Premier League safety, but the transformation in the form of many of our squad members since the arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl is nothing short of amazing.
Suddenly we have a squad who are willing to fight and scrap for every ball as they did at Leicester on Saturday and although yes we are still short of a player or two we can move forward with confidence
Leicester was not a pretty game to watch, in mitigation just about every fit experienced member of the squad was in the starting line up with only Cedric on the bench with any real Premier League experience and Mo Elyounoussi the only other player out of the 7 with any real top flight experience, but the spirit was there for all to see and the Austrian manager was not afraid to throw 19 year old Callum Slattery on in the vital closing stages for his Premier League debut with his only other appearance being his start at Derby in the FA Cup a week earlier.
But it's not just the way that suddenly our youngsters seem to be blossoming under Hasenhuttl it's the way that he has transformed the season and perhaps the careers of several of our more experienced campaigners who have had varying standars of play over the last 2 years or so, but none truly to the level they should be achieving.
Nathan Redmond was already a contender for player of the year before Ralph arrived, but he has stepped up a gear or two and now looks a class act.
He was joined on Saturday by James Ward Prowse, Shane Long, Jack Stephens & Jannik Vestergaard all experienced players and all of whom had received a lot of flak from the crowd not only this season but apart from Vestergaard last as well.
They seemed to have a spirit in them that has been lacking in a long long time and hopefully the Supporters will realise that and now judge them on how they perform under Hasenhuttl and not our previous three managers.
James Ward Prowse was excellent at Leicester and showed leadership qualities that had been kept well hidden, his problem is that having come into the team as a 17 year old and now a veteran of over 200 games it is hard to see how he has changed over the years and that makes him hard for him to gain the respect he deserves.
Having said that I think that he has struggled to put his stamp on a game as he should have, mentally he seems to have seen himself as the little boy in the side for too long always eclipsed by expensive signings.
He should really have stepped up a few notches and at 24 started to believe that he can control a game, but under previous managers he failed to do that, perhaps because he sensed they really didn't believe he could either.
One thing that Hasenhuttl seems to do though is inspire his players and show belief in them by not being afraid to play them whoever the opposition.
Initially under RH JWP was on the bench, but with injuries and suspensions suddenly he has been in the starting line up and looked a different player, one with confidence, one with fight and one with a belief in himself.
Likewise Stephens & Vestergaard on Saturday, credit where credit's due they showed a level of play that both had rarely showed before and that offers hope that they could both have a future in our defence.
Shane Long looked back to his old form, he has never got the credit he deserves from many Saints supporters, but make no mistake about it, with the side we had to put out a the King Power due to injury and suspension there is no other player who could have led the line as he did in our squad, it's a team game and our defence did their job, but strikers win games and Long won us this one.
All over the squad whether they are youngsters or experienced pros there is a buzz and belief about the place they believe and it shows.
As I mentioned there is a long way to go and we still need a signing or two, but Ralph has got the best out of the squad so far and we will pull clear of relegation with time to spare if we keep this up, we are fitter, more motivated and slowly getting a bit better organised Hasenhuttl has gained 10 points in his first 7 games, thats 1.42 points per game, if we achieve that in the last 16 games then we will have 42 points more than enough.