Graziano Pelle has had a few critics but he answered them all in fine style against Manchester United with some saying it was his best ever Saints game.
Following Rickie Lambert was always going to be a hard act to follow and i'm sure that Graziano Pelle was aware of that when he joined Saints just over a year ago.
What e would not have been expecting though was the level of animosity that some supporters would show to him, in only his second Premier League game and his first at St Mary's after only 15 minutes some sections of the crowd were cheering him ironically every time he won a header.
Luckily he then went on a scoring spree that showed just what he could do, but for a vocal minority that was still not enough and even at West Brom last week there were those who screamed abuse at him as if he had just robbed their grandmother.
Im still not sure why some Saints fans seem to hate the man with a vengeance, it is mercifully only a handful, but for some whatever Pelle does will not be enough, that is fair enough they are entitled to their opinion, but what I cant understand is the frothing at the mouth abuse they feel the need to hurl at him as he is trying to score goals for Southampton Football Club.
Last season he scored 12 goals in the Premier League, that was a superb total, indeed only 9 players scored more than him last season in the League and the total is even more impressive when you consider that he does not take penalties or free kicks.
Yes he had a barren spell but he never gave up trying or running or doing his job and that is a good sign for a striker.
This season he has started the season well and has hit 4 goals in only 6 Premier League games including the two against Manchester United yesterday and surely this game was his best so far in a Saints shirt.
Apart from the two well taken goals he put in a great all round performance, he never stopped running, he worked hard, he closed down defenders and he was a target man for the team, his link up play was superb and he helped get other players into positions to try a shot.
Anyone who has been a critic of Pelle would find it hard to argue that he as not the Saints man of the match yesterday and hopefully his display will have silenced some if not all of those who can do nothing but fling abuse at him.
If Pelle can keep in this form and those behind him can start to gel as a team then it won't be long before we are back to firing on all cylinders