Saints have got it about right again.

The team that brought you £90m in sales, and in their place a squad that has fired Saints to fourth place in the Premier League with 15 matches remaining, have delivered another deadline day of consistency.

Not for St Mary’s are the panic buys, the frantic last ditch negotiations for major sales and the inevitable rush to replace them.

Things are much more measured.

Indeed, about the only thing that hasn’t really gone according to plan is Jack Cork’s decision to turn down a new deal and opt for a move to Swansea.

Saints recruited just the one new face on this deadline day in the shape of Filip Djuricic.

They tried to get an instant replacement for Cork as they pursued Feyenoord’s Tonny Vilhena, but that one didn’t happen.

They also made Ryan Bertrand’s loan move permanent, but that was always likely to happen in the summer anyway.

Added to that, of course, was that there were no major outgoings to worry about.

All things considered, it was another steady day for the club, and very much in keeping with the fashion in which they have conducted themselves in recent times.

Djuricic adds another attacking option for Ronald Koeman in the final part of the season.

We saw the need for some extra creativity quite clearly in the defeat to Swansea on sunday, and hopefully the Serbian midfielder can fill the void left by the injury to Shane Long.

Saints certainly have plenty of options up there now.

With Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama set to return to occupy the defensive midfield roles, Saints effectively have Eljero Elia, Sadio Mane, Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse, Dusan Tadic and Djuricic fighting for just three positions in the side.

The maths inevitably means Saints are going to be stronger.

Against Swansea they only had enough fit and senior enough players to name six subs. Very soon their bench is contain to contain a wealth of experience, genuine options and international caps.

Not landing Vilhena was clearly a slight disappointment for the club, but not one they will lose too much sleep over.

Koeman obviously knows the player well from their time together at Feyenoord and likes him.

But it always felt that deal was more of an opportunistic move than one the club desperately required.

You have to be flexible enough to adapt your plans if there is the chance of bringing in somebody you rate out of the blue for a decent price. That appeared to happen with Vilhena.

Cork went and Saints had an extra bit of cash and a space in the squad, and Vilehna’s representatives appeared to contact Koeman to let him know the player would like to work with him again.

All of a sudden it seemed to slot into place.

However, the reality of these situations can sometimes be that deals are hard to get over the line.

Feyenoord do not want to lose a member of their squad on the final day of the window without either a suitable replacement, or a massive fee.

If they cannot quickly work a deal elsewhere then it leaves Saints a simple option – make them an offer they cannot refuse and pay over the odds for a player, or just leave it for now.

They opted for the latter and clearly that was the right thing to do.

With Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Harrison Reed, Steven Davis, Ward-Prowse and Alderweireld all able to play the defensive midfield roles, they are not exactly short of options there.

Of course Vilhena would have strengthened the squad still further, but Saints had absolutely no need to pay an insane fee to land him now. If they retain their interest he will surely be available for his market value in the summer.

Most Saints fans will have been satisfied with this deadline day for their club.

The only area which has attracted a few gripes is the club’s decision not to bring in another striker.

Saints will be hoping that Graziano Pelle remains fit the rest of the season.

The big Italian is highly durable and it will take a lot to sideline him, but if he did get injured for a sustained period Saints would have a few problems, especially if it overlapped with Long’s absence due to his broken ribs.

Djuricic by all accounts can play through the middle. Sadio Mane can do likewise, as can Eljero Elia if needed. There is also Ryan Seager.

None of these are a target man type figure, though, and so Saints would have to adapt the way they play if they chose to go with one of these options.

However, Sam Gallagher is on the comeback trail and can fill that role, and that surely came into the reckoning.

Koeman and Reed will have discussed all this and weighed it up and made a decision that they are happy with what they have got.

The very fact that Saints did try to sign Vilhena proved that if the will was there to complete a deal then the resources, within reason, could be found.

It was obviously their reckoning that Saints have enough attacking options now that they could take a slight risk with Pelle, and that if a disaster struck and he was ruled out for months rather than days or weeks that they could cope.

For all the talk of Saints having got themselves into a wonderful position and needing to make the most of it by recruiting big players this month, if there is one thing we have all learned it’s the need for a cohesive and settled squad and a sustainable future for the club.

The club should never have to worry about administration again, or go cap in hand to owner Katharina Liebherr in every transfer window to ask for just one more player to supposedly make all the difference.

Saints are right to work within their means, to weigh up and analyse each position in depth and make judgement calls based on that.

It’s worked pretty well so far from what we’ve seen this season, and the club deserves the benefit of the doubt that they have done the right thing once more.