This week, Alex Ferguson celebrated 26 years in charge of Manchester United. But early on in his tenure with the club, it looked as though he wouldn’t last two to six years let alone 26! And counting. As manager of one of the biggest and most successful clubs in the world, it took him until his third full season to win a trophy, five to pose a serious threat to the title (they were runners-up in 1988, but were never in with a real shout) and six to win the bugger. And all this was tailored with a few finishes in the bottom half of the table. Not something anyone would expect in a club of that stature.

Nigel Adkins has been given a stay of execution by the Southampton hierarchy, but even if they lose to Swansea City this weekend, then they would do themselves a huge favour by taking note of the United board’s patience with Ferguson. The Saints are not one of the biggest clubs in the south of England let alone the world and do not have a divine right to be in the Premier League. In fact, if you were to take into consideration the system employed by statto.com in determining who is where in the league tables according to trophies won, league positions and number of seasons in particular divisions over the course of history then they are not in the top division. They are 27^th. They were in League One 18 months ago, and before Adkins guided them to where they are now, they had been out of the top-flight for seven years. And before they were finally relegated from the Premiership, how many times did they escape by the skin of their teeth? Here is a list of their final league positions in the Premier League era: