Ronald Koeman is impressing Saints supporters with every passing week and the general feeling is that Saints have actually upgraded on the managerial front.

Last season there was a wave of admiration for Mauricio Pochettino and the job he was doing at Saints, many waxed lyrical on social media suggesting that this was the best ever football ever played by Saints and the Argentinian was the best manager we have ever had.

Personally although I admired the way he had re structured our playing style, I always felt that we only had one way of playing and i was not impressed by his failure to use the squad to its full potential, when I expressed these doubts in articles on this site I was often ridiculed by some who clearly didnt see what I did.

I also felt there was an aloofness about Pochettino that suggested he was not really that committed to the club and saw it as a stepping stone, his refusal to speak English at press conferences smacked of arrogance and although it was amusing at first it soon became tiresome especially when it became clear he could speak the language, in many ways it was an insult to Saints supporters that he would not deem to speak to us directly.

Two months ago the word "Meltdown" was used with alarming regularity, even the appointment of Ronald Koeman did not appease many but the Dutchman just got on quietly with the job.

In the last two games we have started to see the fruits of his work, whilst I do sing his praises with some caution as we are only 4 games in to the season, I can also see that he is a manager who unlike his predecessor has tactical nous that means he is very pro active rather than re active.

Last season we had a reputation amongst other managers in the Premier for being a team that could play one way and one way only, and the downside of that type of game was that after the hour mark the players started to tire, yes you could use substitutions, but that could only replace three players not an entire team who would be running out of steam and other teams knew it.

It was no coincidence that the other teams knew that if they scored first then it would be rare for us to comeback. if they could combat our way of playing then there was no plan B, they also knew that we were prone to giving away leads, in 8 games last season we scored the opening goal of the game(in two of them we went 2-0 up) and subsequently did not win the game, in total we dropped 21 points from this winning position.

In contrast we did not win one game home or away in 2013/14 where we had to come from behind, although we had 6 draws from this handicap, amazingly in Pochettino's entire reign never once did we win a game from a losing position. in the Premier League.

Ironically this weekend Pochettino is bemoaning the fact that Spurs lead twice at Sunderland yet did not win the game and is puzzled how they didn't win, I don't know why all he has to do is watch a few games from his time at St Mary's that may tell him a few things.

Now we have Ronald Koeman a man that has several game plans as he showed at West Ham where we did need to come from behind and yesterday against Newcastle where he changed tactics several times using his substitutions to great effect rather than the like for like changes we always saw under Pochettino.

But more than that Koeman uses his squad, he is not afraid to drop players in order to put out what he considers to be the right side for the occasion, but perhaps more importantly it is his ability to be pro active and read where a game is going and make those changes that impresses me. On Saturday after we blitzed Newcastle and took a two goal lead, he changed tactics, bought on Wanyama to make sure that Newcastle didn't grab a lifeline, when we had increased our lead again he changed tactics, bringing off Dusan Tadic and bringing on JWP to great effect, right at the end he also gave Gardos his debut for the club so he got a feel of the pace of the Premier League ready for when he is called to action.

I just have a feel for Koeman that here is a man who has a feel for the club, of course he won't be our manager for ever, but whilst he is here he is committed and part of the community, the Dutch have a footballing mentality like the English in respect of they know what a club means to the fans and that it has traditions etc.

From what I have seen so far from Koeman he has what it takes to truly take the club foward both in terms of how he has built a great squad up but also how he has built an attacking exciting squad, last season yes we did see some great performances, but we also saw some dire ones, the last two for Saints have resulted in great wins against West Ham and Newcastle, some would say that these are not the best teams in the league this year and that may prove to be the case, but you can only beat what is in front of you, Newcastle have had a tough start, but they only lost 2-0 at hoe to Man City on the opening weekend, they followed it up with two draws, one a toughie at Villa who are in form this year and now this defeat.

I feel that if Koeman can maintain his progress then this could truly be a season to remember, especially since we still have Sadio Mane to come into the squad and the return from injury of Jay Rodriguez, we now have far more firepower than last year and Koeman is getting the best out of players, Morgan Schneiderlin might just have had a lucky escape in being refused a transfer, already he has scored more goals than the whole of last term, yes eventually he will go, but it could be to a better club than Spurs if he keeps up his start.

Koeman has that reputation for getting better things from players than they have ever managed before as in Graziano Pelle as well as bringing through youngsters and that has always been the Southampton way since the 1950's when Ted Bates made Saints something more than just a football club.

Last season we had the players but I always had the feeling that we did well in spite of Pochettino more than because of him, the stats back that up, both in the fact that we rarely beat clubs above or around us and although we could despatch the bottom 5 with aplomb we could never quite close out the better teams as shown by those 21 points dropped.

It will be a long season, but we now have a manager who is focussed on a lot more than just avoiding the drop and therefore not wanting Europa League qualification to get in the way, Ronald Koeman is a winner, both as a player and a manager, in that respect he is the best qualified manager we have ever had, I think he might soon be considered one of the best and be spoken of in the same terms we refer to Lawrie McMenemy & Ted Bates and to a lesser degree Gordon Strachan, I truly hope so, there is a bright future ahead for Saints, something that didn't look possible to some only a few short weeks ago

Photo: Action Images

A1079 added 22:21 - Sep 14 Whilst the signs are looking good with Koeman and certainly some of the concerns that were raised by many, including myself, look to have been wide of the mark (and I am pleased if my concerns are proven wrong), and at the risk of being classified as negative, a bedwetter or worse still not a proper fan, I prefer if we remain cautiously optimistic rather than get above ourselves on the back of one or two good results. Just as one bad result does not make you a bad team, neither does a couple of wins suddenly make you champions league material. But, yesterday was a good result against a poor side (admittedly you can only beat what is in front of you) and I am pleased if we continue to prove the media, the pundits and the early doubters like me, wrong. Long may it continue.

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nomorerumours added 22:44 - Sep 14 A great piece Nick - in fact I would go further. One of the reasons RonKo said he decided to join Saints was due to our reputation to find and develop young players through our academy. He has a great desire to help players develop. He also said after his first week (when some said he would be leaving before the season started when the exodus accelerated) that he was "in it for the long haul". Now we can all see that he is an honest and sincere person - he was not just making a club face-saving statement. He is not driven by big cash - although he is getting and also deserves a high salary. The 3 year contract is almost irrelevant. I believe that RonKo will be with us for up to 10 years (not as long as Ted Bates who seemed to last forever (Fergie style). He will take us into unchartered territory. I know that as a responsible journalist, you cannot be as blatantly optimistic as me but you are one of a few in the media that can see what is happening. Each week, more Saints fans are buying into the RonKo regime. This is not a question of just making an assessment after 4 games. It is seeing the whole game changing picture. The great depth of our squad, the high quality of our young players and the great support they get under our shrewd and wise manager.

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Chesham_Saint added 23:46 - Sep 14 We can only beat what is put in front of us so Swansea away will be very interesting. RK seems shrewd and personable so, yes, I'm cautiously optimistic but he element of caution is withering as the games go by.....so far!
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saintwizzler added 03:45 - Sep 15 Saints Fan 73 will have a meltdown when he reads this article hun!! Prepare for his comments…
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WestSussexSaint added 07:33 - Sep 15 If we maintain the excellent start, should we fear the first managerial sacking at a "big" club? Ron will have ambitions and if he thinks he can further his career elsewhere he wouldn't be the first manager using Saints as a stepping stone. Therefore talk of him staying 10 years at this stage is ridiculous. I hope the club do all they can to keep him for as long as possible and hope if (when) he does leave we are in as strong a position as possible. Let's enjoy the ride for now though.

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Toussaint added 08:11 - Sep 15 Sometimes you can look into a persons eyes to see if integrity lives there,i spent every week looking into Adkins eyes,but i could only look into Poch eyes once,all season long i knew the guy was a mercenary because of his shifty eye movement,i just couldnt bare to look at the guy... well at last i can look into our new managers eyes with optimism ,Koeman seems to be an honest straight stand up guy with no airs or graces....and in his own words...``Im happy about dat``

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saintmark1976 added 08:47 - Sep 15 Toussaint, looking too deeply into men's eyes could get you into trouble! I would concentrate on the football if I were you.
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nomorerumours added 09:16 - Sep 15 WestSussexSaint you could not be more wrong about RonKo. Just because Poch stitched us up does not mean that every manager is in it for the same reasons. I have stated why RonKo will stay in my long post above - it is an insult to RonKo's integrity if you think that he will be enticed away by a so-called "Big" club. I can see that you will never be persuaded, at least until he has renewed his contract in or before the 3 years is up. You need to focus on this great man and why he chose Saints - this is deinitely not a stepping stone situation.

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SaintGeorge added 09:25 - Sep 15 Quite agree with all this. However... as a seasoned bedwetter, who was worried we'd be fielding a team of teenagers at the start of the season, I'm now worried how the academy kids are going to get a look in. Pretty much every position is now covered, with experienced professionals in competition for the slots available. Where are the new Shaw, Chambers and Lallana going to get a game?

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bstokesaint added 12:28 - Sep 15 I've found Koeman to be a more likeable character than Pochettino from the moment he joined us. I think it's fair to say his predecessor was ridiculously aloof (to the point of creating a clique with his favoured players), in much the same way Cortese was. And as a fan I did find that quite insulting, although when you're caught up in one of your most incredible seasons you don't want to complain too much. I've said it before though and I'll say it again, I work with an office full of Saints' fans and there were a few who openly spoke out against Pochettino when he was with us for his lack of squad use and tactics from losing positions. So far those same fans are very impressed with how Koeman has approached games. It is slightly disappointing that some youngsters may have had their route to the first team slowed down a bit, but then if they’re as good as Shaw, Chambers, JWP and the rest they’ll get their chance. Koeman has a reputation for working with good young players. The signs so far are very good and we go into the Swans’ fixture on the back of a win, unlike them.

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ChristchurchSaint added 12:32 - Sep 15 I wholeheartedly agree with "nomorerumours" first comment. It almost mirrors my own thoughts. I think that to be honest, we (mostly) rated Nigel Adkins , who slowly put us together as a team. However it was apparent, that although we would probably would have maintained our place in EPL with him, we would not have gone on to higher things. Judas offered us an exciting change to things, and we were led to believe (falsely) that we only had to turn up each week, in order to qualify for Champions League. Once it became apparent that this was not going to happen, he seemed to lose interest and I think that this was the point when he deceided that he was definitely going to jump ship. RoKo seems a totally different type of manager, and has said he is here for the long term, so unless things do go disastrously wrong, and he tells porkies ( which I do not believe that he does- I think he is genuine and I do believe that he is here for the long term), then he will see out this contract and hopefully more besides.

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WestSussexSaint added 12:43 - Sep 15 Nomorerumours, dont get me wrong I want nothing more than for RoKo to be a huge long term success. But to expect this to be the case based on the results of 4 matches and that he comes accross as a decent bloke in the media is being naive. I agree that Saints is a very attractive proposition to manage and I dont doubt that RoKo has every intention of seeing out his 3 year contract but a lot of things can happen between now and then. I'm just saying let's not get carried away!

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halftimeorange added 13:04 - Sep 15 You can't judge RK after so few games. Yes, the signs are all positive but there was one thing on Saturday that I couldn't understand. Why would an otherwise tactically aware manager not shut down Colpack through whom every decent move from Newcastle began? Either JWP or Davies could have shadowed his every move but he was given as much freedom as Pelle was for us and because of this apparent oversight we could have conceded a couple of goals. We can't allow that against better opposition.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 13:16 - Sep 15 SaintGeorge - Apart from JWP, the youngsters are the back up to the first team. It’s a long season and the likes of Targett, Reed, McQueen, Gallagher & Isgrove will get more of a look in as injuries and suspensions kick in. Harrison Reed is going to be some player btw. As for JWP, the sky is the limit. Josh Sims is the next 'big thing' to come out of our academy, he looks class! The future is very bright!! Swansea away will give us a more true picture of where we are. It should be a brilliant game of football between two very good sides. I fully believe we can go there and win but it'll be a massive test and they'll be much better than West Ham and Newcastle. The last 135 minutes that Saints have played has been excellent and if it continues away at Swansea then this could be a very good season. Koeman seems to be an absolute master-stroke of an appointment by the board. Such a refreshing change from our previous manager. I hope nomorerumours is correct and that he will stay with us for years to come, but in this day and age it’s a very rare occurrence. Apart from Wenger, Pardew and Allardyce, no-one has served more than 3 years at their current club. If Koeman continues to do well, which is looking possible, with our fixtures we could stay around where we are in the league until December. That will attract a lot of interest, and Koeman's stock could rise very high indeed. Would he really turn down a top 6 club or a massive CL team in Europe? I hope so but you have to remain realistic about these things. Going forward I hope we put out a full strength team at the Emirates in the league cup. If we take that competition seriously then we could go very far.

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richardmdcooper added 16:32 - Sep 15 Great article and a great time to be a Saints fan. I am far happier with Koeman in charge than Poch for the reasons set out above. And although its an unfair comparison due to injuries, our new players seem to be faring far better than the ones who left!
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