As Saints run out against Sunderland up at the Stadium Of Light it will be exactly a year to the day that Mauricio Pochettino was appointed manager of Southampton Football Club.

What an action packed year its been, in fact we have probably packed more action into the last few days than most clubs would in that aforementioned year.

But a year ago it was that the Argentinian was announced as the replacement for Nigel Adkins whose own dismissal did not merit his own story on the Club website nor was he thanked for his undoubted contribution to the Club, he was merely mentioned in passing that he was being replaced.

That of course was not Mauricio Pochettino's fault and to their credit all Saints fans judged him purely on the job he was doing rather than by the standards Adkins had set and was revered for and sadly by far too many now forgotten for.

Pochettino arrived as the 11th permanent manager at St Mary's in ten years, so high as been the turn round in that period of time, although it should be noted that in the previous 10 years before 2004 we had had 7 permanent managers so the die had already been cast.

His record in the remainder of the season after taking over from Adkins was spookily identical to his predeccessor, in the remaining 16 games of last season Pochettino gained a total of 19 points, Adkins in his last 16 games had got 16 as well, so in essence not a lot had changed.

What had changed though was the style, although it has to be said that like this season we went from boom to bust very quickly and after a good start Poch only took 4 points from his last 6 games of the season with no wins.

Most Saints fans were happy with him though and the feeling was that with the benefit of having pre season with the squad and being able to impose his methods on the squad etc that the forthcoming season would be better than the last.

This proved to be right and after a mixed start, Saints got into their start and after a great run found themselves playing for the chance to go top of the League at Arsenal, sadly now the wheels started to come off big time and it has to be said that Pochettino and those around him had perhaps made mistakes in that the squad had not been strengthened enough and the manager had payed the same dozen players to distraction which meant that we picked up more injuries than we perhaps should have due to too many games and we didnt have players with match fitness to cope.

However in defence it was also a tough run of games and Saints didnt collapse in many of them and now look to have turned the corner.

So far then if we add last season to this, Mauricio Pochettino has managed Saints for a total of 37 League games, Sunderland will be his 38th, effectively a full season, in those 37 games he has gained 49 points (The total that West Brom got for 8th last term).

From this point of view it has been a good year for the Saints manager, that cannot be denied, at the start of the season, most Saints fans would have been deliriously happy to sit 9th now and over the course of a season 49 points is a great total for the position our club is in at the moment, ie a club trying to re establish ourselves back in the Premier.

It is though way short of our stated aim of Champions League qualification, even 7th last season required 61 points, way more than West Brom had, but perhaps we need a reality check, Premier League clubs are not built overnight, although as we found out the hard way as have many others, they can crumble that quickly.

So overall the first Birthday of Mauricio Pochettino is a happy one whatever happens at Sunderland tomorrow, if a year ago we had been presented with the scenario of what would happen we would have happily taken it.

But of course it is shrouded in controversy, it cannot be denied that Pochettino is close to Cortese, the temptation must have been there to follow his mentor, the fact that he has not has lead to all sorts of rumours, but perhaps the truth is a little more simple, firstly why leave a very good job in which you are building a good reputation for yourself, secondly what would be his next move, perhaps a couple of months ago there would have been a clamour for his services, after only 5 points in 9 games it has put him a step or two back in the pecking order, those who might have jumped at employing him might not be so quick, that poor spell casts a question mark.

But he will know that if he can finish this season with a flourish then those doubts will be overidden and his stock will be high again.

His press conference seemed a little contradictory in that on one hand he said he had a contract and intended to see it out, but in a later question seemed to indicate that he would be looking at the situation at the end of the season, I think that something was lost a little in translation so wouldnt be too worried, indeed what succesful manager doesnt consider options open to them at the end of each season, in most clubs a CEO leaving doesnt mean the manager joining him, so far that hasnt happened at Saints with Pochettino and I think most Saints fans would not want him to leave, he has made mistakes yes, but in the main he has learnt from them and come back stronger.

The fact that he has been here a year actually makes him the fourth longest serving manager of the last ten years, if he sees out the season then he will jump above Alan Pardew to 3rd, the other two George Burley and Nigel Adkins served 2 years 1 month and 2 years 4 months respectively, lets hope that Pochettino can beat both of them in the longevity stakes as that will mean that probably the club has enjoyed a stable period.

Photo: Action Images

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