A year ago Liverpool and the sly dealings of its manager Brendan Rodgers caught Saints as a club in turmoil. This year they are finding it a totally different story.
Initially a year ago when Brendan Rodgers came a calling with his sarcastic comments about Saints ambitions as a club he found that he could go about his bullying ways against people running Southampton Football Club who were still finding their feet, a year on and its a diifferent proposition.
So when he launched his usual media campaign aimed at unsettling Nathaniel Clyne he found that it didn't phase Saints chairman Ralph Krueger & CEO Gareth Rodgers, who delivered a stark message to the Liverpool manager that they would not consider talking under £15 million, a fair price for an England International full back when you compare against similar players.
Rodgers must be deaf as well as arrogant as the media reported that yes he was going to up his initial £10 million bid to a whopping £11 million, although some said he pushed the boat out to £12 million.
Im not sure what part of £15 million he didn't understand, but he is now up against a club that will not be bullied again.
The problem for Saints though is that with Clyne in the last year of his contract and with Manchester united already having seemingly seen flaws in Clyne that has stopped them bidding, Liverpool seem to be the only game in town for Clyne.
However do Liverpool have the money at present ? they have just splashed out £30 million to Hoffenheim and after Rodgers disastrous transfer dealing last year he has to sell before he can spend too much more.
But perhaps the player himself would care to reflect on what has happened to the careers of his three ex team mates since their move to Anfield and whether he might be better to sign a new deal at St Mary's and continue to build on the progress he has made over the last 12 months.
All in all it is leading to a stand off between Saints,Liverpool and indeed Clyne himself and it is one that needs to be sorted soon or Clyne might find himself in a dilemma and with not a lot of options for him.