The two ports of Southampton and Liverpool have always been closely linked, but the summer of 2014 saw them in competition as never before.
Although there are many Saints supporters who dislike Merseyside intensely, those who know their history of Southampton know that its growth from being a small town in the early part of the 19th century to become one of the countries major ports by the end of it owes a lot to Liverpool.
As Southampton prospered as a passenger port in the late 1800's it did so at the expense of Liverpool and many shipping lines moved services down from the Mersey to the Test, this meant that many of their employees moved down to Southampton to continue their employment and therefore many families in Southampton can trace their roots back to this historical background.
However on the football pitch it was not until the late 60's that Southampton could take on Liverpool and Everton on a equal footing and in truth over the next 45 years or so although we were on an equal footing we did not match the glory, however during various periods we did come into the radar in footballing terms and now it seems that we are in that radar again.
This summer saw Southampton & Liverpool football clubs closely linked due to the summer transfer window and Brendon Rodgers seeming desire to buy anything that moved on a football pitch in Southampton, Saints fans raged as he used the big wads of cash that he had received from the sale of Luis Suarez and threw a big chunk of it in the direction of St Mary's.
Most Saints fans were livid at the start of this cycle, after all Rodgers reputation as a manager had never been nigher and we didn't even have one, it seemed one club was destined to reach dizzy heights and perhaps even win a first Premier title, whilst the other was expected to lick its wounds and in the eyes of some fight a relegation battle.
At the time as i pleaded for Saints fans to remain calm, I said that "It would not be about what had happened, but what we did next" that would count.
At some stage though the balance of power between Liverpool and Southampton would change, it would not be on the opening day though as Liverpool beat Saints, but it would not be long afterwards.
So why has it changed ?
It is simple, one club had a manager who took his eye off the ball and bought unwisely and another had one who kept focused on what he wanted for his squad and bought very wisely.
Brendon Rodgers in simple terms stopped doing the things and buying the sort of players who had built his success, he seemed to be signing players just because he could, rather than whether they would fit into the way his team played, Saints fans could empathise with that, after all we had signed Ramirez and Osvaldo.
But the warning signs for Liverpool fans were there for all to see, Rickie Lambert was a Saints legend, but where would he fit in Liverpools way of playing ? he did not have the speed needed, Adam Lallana was a Saints legend, however was he as good as Coutinho, with an aging Steven Gerrard, the Anfield club needed steel and graft added to the midfield not another lightweight playmaker.
Dejan Lovren was another mystery, again a decent season for Saints, but did he have the ball control to play in a Liverpool back four ? at Saints he had always had a ball playing central defensive partner in Jose Fonte, this to a degree covered his shortcomings, but throw him in with any of Liverpool's very similar defensive options and the result would become clear, he needs a contrasting player alongside him so he can do what he does best and attack the ball.
So within a few short months Brendon Rodgers has gone from hero to zero, he has made abominable decisions in the transfer market and I haven't even mentioned Mario Balotelli. Rodgers has spent about £120 million on his squad in effect to replace one player, yet he has failed badly so far.
But hat irked Saints fan was the apparent hypocrisy of the man, a year earlier he has been bitching about Arsenal and the way they had tried to sign Suarez and underhand tactics, yet here he was doing the same and worse and was brazingly unapologetic about it, the word Billy Big Boots came to mind.
Oh and by the way I don't buy the Suarez one man team theory, last season without the suspended uruguayan, Liverpool won the opening five games.
At the other end of the Country Ronald Koeman arrived in a City with the supporters every bit as much in uproar as Liverpool's are now, there was a lot of money to spend but what would Koeman buy with it ?
It became clear from the start that Koeman was a man who had the potential to be the right fit for the Saints job, certainly more than his predecessor who treated everyone with contempt be it the supporters or the press, especially the press who all knew he spoke perfect English, but with whom he did not deign to do so with them using an interpreter.
Koeman's job was much harder than Rodgers, he did not need to replace just one man, he had to replace five key players in the squad, a whole coaching team and he had to do so with a boardroom only just being revamped after years of imbalance.
What Koeman did next must make every Liverpool fan wish that if Rodgers had wanted to have Lallana, Lambert & Lovren in his team so desperately he had taken the vacant managers job at St Mary's and that Liverpool had made one simple phone call to Ronald Koeman.
At Saints Koeman has been a revelation, he has spent money wisely, he hasnt signed a player just for the sake of signing him, each and every player has been carefully selected and can play more than one role, Koeman has been aware of the limitations of his job and signed accordingly, perhaps Rodgers had this attitude a year ago, but he had lost his way, so far Koeman has not and as well as his managerial abilities he has been the man who has re united a fracture club, bringing in ne backroom staff, dealing with a squad that contained several members seemingly destined elsewhere and more to the point united the supporters, although some believed Pochettino to be a one trick pony and that group was growing, most believed that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread (or in Lovren's case sliced clearances) that would all soon change.
So a few short months later and the tale of two managers indeed the tale of two cities has turned full circle, Liverpool fans who hope that there is still time for Liverpool to mount that title bid will be dismayed to learn that in the entire history of the Premier league no team has won it when after 10 games they have less than 18 points on the board, Arsenal fans will probably be looking away now as well, if history repeats itself
then the Premier League is now down to a three horse race, apologies to Liverpool fans but we Saints supporters will feel a sense of smug satisfaction that at least two of our ex players currently residing on Merseyside are not part of that race, however many of their ex team mates are.
Disclaimer
This article was brought to you tongue in cheek and any reference to mediocre players being sold for over inflated prices was purely unintentional and is not meant to bear any resemblance to any character living or dead ( Ok at least one who gets left for dead quite a lot these days)