There are only a few weeks left of the current football season, and soon the Manager of the Season will be announced. There are plenty of options in place: Jose Mourinho, of course, for his team’s outstanding form this season. Louis Van Gaal for turning his side around from the heap David Moyes left them in. Alan Pardew for keeping Palace up and making them a formidable side. But, really, we should be looking to Southampton’s Ronald Koeman for the Manager of the Year accolade.

Last summer, before the season started, Southampton were literally torn apart. They made around £100 million off of their departing players, but were left with very few options. Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert, Calum Chambers et al moved on to other Premier League clubs, as did manager Mauricio Pochettino. The future of Southampton was left in the capable hands of Ronald Koeman, who had a mountain to climb.

He spent around £60 million of the staggering £100 million made; he brought in the likes of Fraser Forster, Graziano Pelle and Shane Long. Forster holds 13 clean sheets to his name for this season - the highest thus far.

Southampton are currently sixth in the table, just one point behind Liverpool. But this is actually one of the lower placings they have had this season. In September and October, Southampton were sitting in second after four consecutive wins, the first being the 3-1 at Upton Park.

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Back in October saw Southampton claim the biggest win in the Premier League season thus far. Who could forget the 8-0 win at Saint Mary's? Three own goals from Vergini, Bridcutt and van Aanholt, as well as goals from Pelle, Cork, Tadic and Wanyama made for one of the most exciting games of the season. Sunderland were humiliated and Southampton were being seen as a real surprise package for the season.

What Ronald Koeman has done with Southampton is nothing short of incredible. The bones of his team left, and he still managed to pull a great side together in a short space of time. Southampton were very much written off at the beginning of the season but they came back stronger than before. They are, at present, a place higher than they finished last season.

No one could have foreseen how good a side Southampton would have been, or what they could have done this season. And much of this is down to their manager, Koeman. A wholly deserved candidate for Manager of the Year.

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