Normally I am not one for stirring up talk of revenge on our ex managers and players, but I think it's time to make an exception !
Over the past 15 years Tottenham Hotspur have become the club that Saints fans most love to hate after Portsmouth, it started with the way they poached Glenn Hoddle and then Dean Richards and culminated with the departure of Mauricio Pochettino from St Mary's to White Hart Lane and the subsequent attempts to prise away Victor Wanyama and others from our squad using tactics that the Chairman of West Bromwich Albion was very upset by when similar ones were used by Spurs towards his club.
So when Spurs darken our doors again on Saturday rather than ask Saints supporters to forget about the past, concentrate on the future and not let abuse for a former manager get in the way of winning a game of football, I think it is time for the exact opposite and let the hate filled air generate an atmosphere that will get behind the home side to such a level that will make it one of those days we remember for a long time.
Those that remember Glenn Hoddle's return to Southampton will recall that the St Mary's crowd on Boxing Day 2001 did just that and were rewarded with a 1-0 win courtesy of a James Beattie goal, but it was the following season that truly saw the stakes raised and the hate towards Hoddle and indeed Dean Richards stir the Saints side up to 110% effort as the old cliche goes.
Firstly on New Years Day 2003 James Beattie again did the trick to record a second successive 1-0 win over the North London Yobboes, then 3 days later in the FA Cup 3rd round came our most decisive victory in the last 30 years, a 4-0 drubbing that saw goals by Michael Svensson, Jo Tessem, Anders Svensson and finally that man Beattie again give us a victory that was so sweet.
Since that day almost 14 years ago victories over Tottenham have been less frequent, but in many respects it did not matter as we truly put the situation to rest in September 2003 when we went to North London & beat the Yobboes 3-1 in what was the final game for Glenn Hoddle with this defeat for Spurs resulting in his sacking shortly after the game.
But since beating Spurs in March 2005 at St Mary's we have not managed to beat them in the 6 games played since, indeed the sequence of 5 straight defeats after our return to the Premier League in 2012 were broken last April by a 2-2 draw and now is the time to go one better.
So from this point of view with a rumbling crowd after our recent run, we need something to focus our attentions on and turn St Mary's into a cauldron and that focus can be Mauricio Pochettino and to a lesser extent Toby Alderweireld.
But that does not mean endless abusive songs about either, it means taking the vitriol that will be aimed at them and turning it in to positive energy to get behind our own team, just as we did in those 3 aforementioned games at St Mary's almost a decade and a half ago.
Crank up the noise and crank up the passion and in doing so create an atmosphere that will make it hard for Spurs o play in, as we did before, harass their players into mistakes and stir our own players into playing out of their skin, something we have lacked in recent weeks.
Football supporters are there to support their team and in times of problem that is what is needed sometimes, the supporters to chip in and do their bit.