You could see it on the faces of the players and the manager, this win meant something, Saints have clear objectives for the season and are relishing achieving them.
This time last season we sat in a similar position to where we are now in the Premier League and the talk from the manager and Chairman was of qualifying for the Champions League, the league cup was considered to be a distraction to them and therefore it was no surprise that we put out a virtual reserve side at Sunderland and capitulated easily to the Mackem's.
Although all the talk was of taking that next step up and ousting someone of the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal or Man Utd, the players made similar noises, but those supporters with a touch of reality sensed that despite undoubted team spirit, there was no real sense of aim in the squad. The feeling was that before we jumped into the top four we had to make a few steps first.
Scroll on a year to the Britannia Stadium and the feeling is a lot different, it reminds me of five years ago when you sensed that winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy was a target for the club, that it represented something and was seen as one of the first steps in the right direction, back in that 2009/10 season there was no talk of automatic promotion, it was played down and realistic targets were set, the feeling was that Saints were under promising and looking to over deliver, that certainly was not the case last season, in fact the reverse was the case.
last night's win at Stoke saw a resilience in the team, a willingness to work for each other and a true team spirit, when Graziano Pelle scored the winner with a little over two minutes to go you could see what it meant to him and the players as they ran into the Saints supporters behind the goal.
Similarly at the final whistle, the Saints fans there could not only see but sense that a achievement had happened and a milestone passed, you could see that the players believed that what they are setting out to do is within their grasp, the club like five years ago is not giving impressions of grandeur, no ones ego is at play here, it's about setting realistic goals and that in itself motivates players and gives them that sense of achievement that was on view last night, the satisfaction of a job well done and the next stage in sight.
Once again we are under promising and over delivering, perhaps this season will not reap the rewards it deserves, football is a harsh game, but unlike last season we are within grasp of actually fighting for glory rather than dreaming of it.
I sense that instead of pie in the sky idle boasts about how we can take on the best and qualify for the Champions League there is a very structured plan in place to move forward step by step and that the first steps involve cementing a second top 10 finish and looking to win a cup along the way which in turn will mean that we have a real chance of competing in Europe, small achievable steps.
Anyone who has run a marathon will know that you have to break the race up into small targets, to be at a certain pace at various mile markers, that if you just set a time and try and beat it you will often fall short because you cant focus and that you need the bursts of adrenalin that hitting a certain time at a certain distance brings, football is the same, seasons need to be broken down and measured.
You could see what it meant to Ronald Koeman both when Pelle hit the winner and when our manager went down the tunnel after the game, arms in the air, fists clenched in celebration with Saints supporters, ironically a camaraderie and empathy between manager and supporters that was not evident with Pochettino, ironically on a night when our former manager is only keeping his head above water at Spurs by winning games in a competition he so openly despises.
We March On, if this is meltdown give me more !