Saints summer signings have all been under fire for being under par, on Saturday Stuart Armstrong showed why we signed him and at Leicester Jannik Vestergaard returned to the team could he be the missing link.
Part of the reason Les Reed lost his job was the quality of his signings in the summer seemed to be sub standard, Stuart Armstrong seemed lively but lightweight, Mohammed Elyounoussi seemed gifted and Jannik Vestergaard seemed slow and cumbersome.
The fact was though that none of the trio seemed to be able to adjust to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.
The same could have been levelled at Pierre Emile Hojbjerg in his first season at the club, so much so that in his second season he could not even get in the match day squad and at one point was allowed to go home during the season for the birth of his child, however he came back knuckled down and eventually was runner up to Alex McCarthy in the player of the year stakes, proving that it is possible to come good.
On Saturday Stuart Armstrong came into the side and showed that he has what it takes and with an eye for goal, last night at Leicester City it was Jannik Vestergaard making his first appearance in two months who showed that he should not be written off just yet.
Some will point out that it was a weakened Leicester side etc etc, but you can only play what is in front of you and take every game as it comes and he was up against Jamie Vardy who is no slouch.
Vestergaard looked leaner and sharper than he did a couple of months ago, he seems to have spent his time as Hojbjerg did by getting fit and stronger and waiting for his chance rather than whinging in the press.
Now we will see if he is ready to step back into the side and show why we paid £18 million for him.
The centre of defence is a key position for Saints and it has been a case of mix and match for the past two years with no stable pairing since Fonte started kicking off after his return from Euro 2016.
In the last year it has been mainly a case of Wesley Hoedt and someone else, Vestergaard, Stephens, Yoshida and Bednarek have all played alongside him and none have showed on a regular basis that they are up to the standard required.
Many would level that claim at Hoedt, I am not going to debate that hear, I can only go on what has been the facts, both Pellegrino and then Hughes both seem to think Hoedt is the best of the bunch, at least so far, perhaps that will change but as i write that is the situation, if you disagree don't shoot the messenger take it up with the manager.
What is also fact is that we need someone to step into that breach and stand up and be counted, if it is not Vestergaard then we need to buy again in the centre of defence in January.
I have been saying ever since Fonte left that we have neglected a key position in the team, it cost us the League cup final, it nearly cost us our Premier League status last season and if not addressed again will do this.
So can Vestergaard like Armstrong show he has what it takes, can he add the steel to the back four that is lacking and has cost us game after game, he has a month to show that he does, if he doesn't then we will be in deep trouble.