For Saints supporters it has so far been a season of mixed emotions, however we go into the Xmas period in what I would consider our par position.
If you look at the Premier League table this morning Saints lie in 7th position and I would say that this is absolutely in line with where we stand in terms of the quality of our squad when compared to the other 19 sides in the division.
I think the 6 sides in front of us all have an advantage over us in terms of the quality of their squad and also in some cases the resources to hand.
That means Saints in golfing terms are playing to their par score
Indeed I would have said exactly the same about our standing last year at the start of the season, however as we all know the Premier was topsy turvy and although we finished above two sides who really should have scored more points than us, one side Leicester City over achieved, but that stil left us in sixth place, so last season we over achieved.
So the task this season is to try and under achieve again, if we were to finish 7th then I would not be surprised it is what I would expect if everything goes to the correct order of things and f we finish lower than 7t I would concede that we have under achieved, although as a rule of thumb I would say anywhere down to 10th in the League would not be a disaster.
As I said I considered us the 7th best team at the start of the season and I knew it would be very difficult to attain 6th place again this, due to the resources that all of the so called big six clubs have at their disposal, money talks in football these days and it is a fact that we don not have anything near that of those six clubs, we therefore have to take them on on our own terms and althoughsome Saints fans don't want to see this, that means selling high and buying if not low at a good price and repeating the process.
Yes there are those that say we cannot keep doing this year in year out and stay where we are, but the fact is we have a better chance of doing so than if we try to match those clubs in spending power.
That is something we would only be able to do for perhaps one season, then we would find it impossible to keep improving the squad year on year out.
So sitting in our par position despite a number of issues that have affected our squad including the extra games of two cup competitions, is a satisfactory position to be in.
Our task now is to build on that and try and chip away at the six clubs above us and hope that one blows up and when it does we are near enough to surge above them as happened last season.
Given all the issues , including a new manager with little pre season to prepare his squad, plenty of injuries, changing the style of play and the problems associated with that, as the season has progressed and the league table startd to find a proper shape, we find ourselves exactly in our par spot.
That shows that the club and Claude Puel are getting something right and having got there in difficult circumstances we can have confidence that we can overachieve in the second half of the season, especially if the club perhaps add to the squad in the transfer window.
In terms of League position though that is going to be a lot harder than last year, all of the six clubs above us have not had the issues that they had last season and only Manchester United are showing any signs of losing touch with the top five.
The aim for Saints is to get that fourth consecutive top ten finish, ideally in 7th place or higher, that would then see us for the first time in our history have finished in the top ten for four seasons running, that although some might not see it that way would be a great achievement.
Some Saints fans have got too used to improvement on the League position year on year since 2009, they see finishing below the last seasons position as failure, that is not the case, for us success is building a club that is seen as the 7th best in the Premier League and having achieved that looking to try and capitalise on the failings of the top six.
Can we ever be considered a top six club ourselves ?
This will stick in the throat of some but the answer is that although we can get into it from time to time, those six clubs have so much more resources in terms of the size of the stadiums, the size of their core support, the income generated in addition to other peripherals, but the real problem for us is those first three, you cannot just increase the capacity of the stadium and automatically get full houses and match the income of the big six.
But we can take them on on our own terms and that can be exciting and indeed this season should be being seen at the moment as one of success, however our Europa League exit has changed the perception for a lot of supporters who have forgotten for instance of how bad we were at times in the first half of last season and just see that and indeed the two before through rose tinted spectacles.
We have to get perspective of where we are and what we can achieve, that is not a reach for the sun and you get the stars philosophy preached by our ex Chairman, but a realistic methodical approach works a lot better as we have seen.
So we strive for the same goals as we have done in the past few seasons, that means looking for another Europa League qualification, we have a chance of doing that by winning the League Cup, we also have a chance in the league albeit harder.
It is probable that if we dont win it, the league cup will be won by Liverpool or Manchester United, that means that there will be a Europa League place for sixth spot in the league, if the FA Cup is again won by a top six club then 7th will get us into Europa.
That is very attainable for Saints this season, the sides just below us are there because they have overachieved compared to their positions in the recent pass, we have under achieved in terms of throwing away some silly points, yet we are still 7th, Saints fans should have some faith in there manager and his squad to get it right more than not in the New Year and make this an exciting season perhaps better than last.
If we can achieve where we are playing as badly as some would have you believe, what can we achieve when everything starts to click !