Saints supporters were not surprised when Russell Martin picked the same side for the first two Premier League games, but when he selected the same outfield 10 for the third game in a row, it was puzzling to most.
When Southampton travelled to Newcastle on the opening day. the starting line up was no surprise and indeed after a reasonable performance, albeit one where we could not find a goal and ruined by a big error, you could understand why Russell Martin did not ring the changes for the Nottingham Forest game.
But after the performance in the 1-0 defeat to Forest, Saints travelled to Brentford with the fans expecting to see a change or two after several promising performances from those who had come off the bench against Forest and also at Cardiff in the League cup.
Now we host Manchester United on Saturday and this is the start of a month where we will play 3 Premier League games and these will be ones that will perhaps define Russell Martin as a manager and indeed perhaps decide whether he has a future at Southampton FC.
It is not as if he doesn't have any options, there are several players chomping at the bit who have come out of the opening 3 games with their reputations growing, Mateus Fernandes, Tyler Dibling, Cameron Archer & Charlie Taylor are 4 players who could feel hard done by at not starting at Brentford.
Then there is also Lesley Ogochukwu and Maxwell Cornett, both yet to feature in the League since arriving at the club and of course Armel Bella-Kotchap who seems likely to have to stay at the club.
The side needs freshening up and it also needs to get back to basics, a solid 3-2-3-2 or 4-4-2, it doesn't matter, but it needs to be a formation that is robust, not of this floating left back to centre of midfield shenanigans.
So when Manchester United arrive at St Mary's on Saturday the most crucial thing to get right is the team selection, Russell Martin has to show the fans that he can see what they see and more to the point he knows how to make tough decisions and deal with it.
He has to show he does not have favourites and we all know what I mean here, he has to show that he can pick a side on merit, he has to show that he has a plan B, he has to show he knows how to use his squad.
You can build all the fanzones that you want, you can create a home end, you can give them a big flag to pass above the fans heads, but an hour or so before the game, you can either get the fans buzzing with your team selection or you can deflate them before a ball is kicked.
So whether we like it or not, September will be a month that points the direction of Russell Martin as manager of this club, he has plenty of options available, yet in the main he hasn't used them yet.
He has said that he is not changing his philosophy, I don't have a problem with that, but every manager has to adapt their philosophy to suit the job they are doing, at the moment the players seem to be playing with the fear of being dropped if they clear the ball, they have to have the confidence to make their own decisions in tight positions rather than always be looking to pass it short.
So by 11.15 am on Saturday we will have a good idea of what direction this season is going and by about 2.30pm we will have a good idea of whether Russell Martin has a future at the club.
Some will say it is harsh to be judging the manager so early in the season, this is not something I do lightly, indeed anyone who has read anything that I have written over the past year or so about Russell Martin will know that I was not one of his critics, I did not decry what some sneered at as tippy tappy football.
Russell Martin gave Southampton supporters what many described as their best ever game when we went to Wembley and defeated Leeds United to win promotion.
For that he deserves respect and a chance to show he is the man to take us forward.
But that was last season and this is now a different job than a year ago for Russell Martin, he like his players have to step up a notch, if a player isn't performing he gets dropped, but if a manager isn't doing the job, the only option other than keeping him is sacking him.
That is the task now for Russell Martin, he has to show he can step up a notch, that he can be a Premier League manager and not an also ran.
He cannot lay the blame at the door of a lack of options, two years ago Saints failed to sign a striker and both Ralph Hasenhuttl and Southampton FC paid the price for that, of course there will be one or two players we will have gone for and not got, but we have one of the highest net spends of the 20 Premier League clubs this summer, yes some of them are players who were here last year, but we have signed 11 players who were not here last season, that is an entire team and they are in all positions, so the manager has no excuse whatever.
I truly hope that in 3 weeks time I am praising Russell Martin, I want him to succeed, but the ball is firmly in his court and not in mine.