It may have seemed an eternity but there are now just three short weeks to go before the 2013/14 Premier League season kicks off.
But if you think thats not long to go, the Championship and League 1 & 2 get underway a fortnight earlier with only seven days left before the opening live game from the football league next Friday evening.
But back to Saints and things are starting to hot up and fast after a tough worout against Schalke they fase Besiktas in the same stadium early Saturday evening before heading to Spain for the game against Celta Vigo, followed by the visit of Real Sociedad to St Mary's a week later.
But the real test is on August 17th when Saints tavel to West Brom and the clock is ticking down to that one with the time to land some much needed transfer targets running out.
Worryingly this transfer window seems to be panning out like the last two, especially last summer when direct comparisons can be drawn, a couple of good early signings made followed by plenty of rumour and counter rumour but little activity and when you look at other clubs that is worrying, its all well being linked with every big name going, but as happened in the last transfer windows, if you chase players who are genuinely wanted by the likes of Spurs and Liverpool then when push comes to the shove they are going to go to what they perceive as the bigger clubs and we are going to be left with nothing.
At the start of the summer Mauricio Pochettino indicated that h would like to see all the transfer business done early preferably by the start of July, that deadline is well passed and indeed with every day we get nearer the big kick off giving the manager little time to assimilate a new signing into the squad, look at last summer, the players signed early whilst not the big names we were supposedly chasing, all had that hunger and potential that Saints looked for and that being the case were all succesful, the players signed with days to go in the transfer window arrived for well over the odds and have had varying degrees of success and that should be telling us something.
Indeed our transfer policy seems to be changing drastically, a year ago it was about signing good English players and bringing through youth, now it seems to be about luring big money players from abroad, those in charge of transfers dont seem willing or able to track down good players with potential preferring to pay big and hope that the reputation matches the fee, Norwich are a club we should be trying to replicate, at least in the short term, they have made a success out of this form of strategy and indeed the signing of Victor Wanyama could draw comparisons with our transfer strategy, two years ago both Saints and Celtic signed players from the Low Countries, Celtic signed Wanyama for £800,000 whilst Saints paid almost double that for Steve De Ridder, I dont think I need to say more.
So the next week or so will be crucial, with every day that clicks by without Saints making a signing it could cost us points in the coming season, in some respects our spell from hell start last term was actually a blessing, we got out of the way tough games againts Man City and Arsenal away, two games we would probably have lost at any point in the season, plus United at homeat a time when we were in disarray, the only downside being dropping three points at home to Wigan. This season we have no leeway, our first four games are all against sides who were around us in the league last season, ourselves, West Brom, Sunderland and West Ham are all sides who have aspirations of a top ten finish but neutral observers would all perhaps note that as much as one of those four could finish top ten, one of them could also be in a relegation struggle or relegated, the hard work never stops in the Premier, 14th last season counts for nothing now, there are 12 vital points against those sides we are seeking to finish above, another transfer window where we have to panic at the end of it could cost us a lot more than the start of last season where effectively we were just in the main losing games we would have lost anyway.
The clock is ticking in the Premier League you can never stand still and as many have found in the past you suddenly find out its ticking too fast.