Saints have given themselves every chance of a 2015 to remember.

Going into the second half of this season Saints find themselves fourth in the Premier League and with more than an outside chance of staying in a Champions League spot.

Reflecting back over the year that has been makes it seem all the more remarkable.

To say 2014 was a year of ups and downs for Saints is somewhat of an understatement.

Having enjoyed a terrific start to last season, the campaign somewhat waned and, though ultimately they finished in a highly creditable eighth position, it was the end of an era for the club.

Chairman Nicola Cortese had departed, manager Mauricio Pochettino followed for Tottenham after the end of the season, and a raft of the big name stars were battering down the St Mary’s exit door on a stampede out of Southampton.

That started with Rickie Lambert, the club’s talisman, who got his dream move to Liverpool. Adam Lallana and Dejan Lovren followed him to Anfield with Luke Shaw switching to Manchester United and Calum Chambers heading for Arsenal.

Suddenly Saints looked like a rudderless ship.

However, the board remained calm, appointed Ronald Koeman as manager and went about the task of rebuilding a fresh, new and exciting squad.

It’s fair to say all those decisions look pretty astute now.

Few teams in the history of football can have gelled together as quickly as Koeman’s has done.

Given there were so many new faces Saints could have been forgiven for a stuttering start but they have flown away, even riding out a recent bad spell of five straight defeats to bounce back to fourth come the turn of 2015 Their success has been built on great consistency against the division’s also-rans, while the point they earned in the game with Chelsea suggests they are starting to be able to compete with the established elite as well.

It is that form against the best of the rest of the Premier League that gives such great hope for the rest of the season though.

Saints may have had a relatively easy start to life this season in terms of their fixture list, but they have had to hold on tight when things got considerably harder.

Back-to-back games against Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United, and now a second spell facing Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, are really testing.

However, we are now well through those efforts and Saints can still see themselves fourth in the table.

That gives great confidence and great hope.

Once Saints get beyond this latest run of games following the match at Old Trafford, their fixture list for the remainder of the season looks much kinder.

Put simply, if they can maintain their form against the also-rans then they have every chance of qualifying for Europe via the league, whether that be fourth, fifth, or even sixth if the cup competitions mean an extra spot is available via the league.

After the United game they have to play Chelsea away from home and Manchester City, but you can forget the latter fixture for now as it falls on the final day of the season.

Other than that it really doesn’t look too bad.

Everton away might be tricky but even those sides around Saints, or those who are expected to be, such as Liverpool, Tottenham, West Ham and Swansea, all have to come to St Mary’s with those sides having already been tackled away from home.

If Saints can just hang on in there for a couple more weeks, then they have given themselves a great launch pad.

Of course, there is much debate amongst the fans at the moment as to whether extra resources should be thrown at the squad in the January transfer window to try and take advantage of this opportunity.

The argument put forward by those who want further spending is that Saints do not get into this kind of position very often, so try and capitalise.

But while that is the more exciting and appealing option, it does rather miss the point of what the club as a whole are trying to achieve.

Everything they have done in terms of the investment in the magnificent new training ground, the emphasis on youth, the appointment of Koeman and the turnover of players was all with an eye to the future. It is a long term and sustainable plan, not the sort which requires knee jerk spending.

Saints have already brought in Eljero Elia for the remainder of the campaign, initially as cover for Sadio Mane as he departs for the Africa Cup of Nations and then as a useful extra squad member.

And while they remain a little thin on the ground in a couple of areas, fans shouldn’t expect any further business.

The rumblings coming out of St Mary’s are that Elia represents the business completed, in or out.

Of course, that will be kept under review throughout the January window, and if there is a crisis in one position Saints will surely move to plug that hole.

Likewise, they would surely consider an absolute bargain if such a player became available.

But, in a general sense, all their money is accounted for, either on players who were signed in the summer, making loan signings Ryan Bertrand and Toby Alderweireld permanent at the end of the season, paying for signings of the past and covering the cost of their revamped training ground.

Saints would have to financially stretch themselves this season, maybe even go cap in hand to owner Katharina Liebherr, something which should no longer happen, to get in extra bodies.

That is not a sustainable plan, even it is perfectly understandable as to why fans might want that.

Saints have proven to be incredibly strong and resilient this season with what they’ve got, and to disrupt that now might just be the biggest mistake of all.

They are on the verge of something very special.

There is no guarantee they will achieve it, there is still a long way to go, but rarely have they been in this kind of position at the turn of a year.

These are very exciting times ahead.