Southampton currently reside in England’s second tier having finished bottom of the Premier League last season.
Manager Russell Martin is looking to secure an instant return to the top flight, with a play-off place guaranteed ahead of the final game of the season.
Whilst a recent run of three consecutive defeats has ended any hopes of automatic promotion it has still been a largely positive season.
When Martin was brought in his mission statement was to overhaul the playing style to allow Southampton to become a more possession-focused team.
He has done that, whilst maintaining a realistic chance of promotion with a play-off finish.
To add to that, the Saints went on a record-breaking run of 25 games unbeaten in all competitions in the middle of the campaign.
That run was a club record, but Southampton also boast a Premier League record that will surely never be beaten.
Sadio Mane boasts Southampton Premier League record
Prior to their relegation last season, Southampton had spent over a decade in the Premier League.
That period comprised of managerial spells from the likes of Nigel Adkins, Mauricio Pochettino and Ralph Hasenhuttl.
The most successful spell in that time was that of Ronald Koeman.
The Dutch manager came in following Pochettino leaving to take charge of Tottenham and built on the work his predecessor had started.
Koeman guided Southampton to seventh and sixth-placed finishes in his two seasons at the helm and the aforementioned Premier League record was achieved under his reign.
The record came in a vintage 6-1 win over Aston Villa at St Mary’s in 2015.
Fan favourite Shane Long scored two on the day, with Graziano Pelle scoring the sixth, but it was a 23-year-old Sadio Mane that had put the Saints 3-0 up after 16 minutes.
What makes this more remarkable is the fact there were just two minutes and 56 seconds between Mane’s first and third strikes.
The quick-fire treble saw Mane break the record previously held by Robbie Fowler that had stood for just under 21 years.
Fowler’s hat-trick was scored in a total of four minutes 33 seconds in a 3-0 win over Arsenal in 1994, meaning Mane shaved over a minute and a half off the then-19-year-old Fowler’s record.
Why Mane quickest hat-trick will never be beaten
Everyone in St Mary’s that sunny May day in 2015 will have been scratching their eyes in disbelief.
The fact the Saints were 5-0 up after 26 minutes is evidence of just how good a side they had at the time, with a ruthless streak that has been sorely missing at St Mary’s at times this season.
It may well be that such an achievement will never have been beaten anyway given how much quicker Mane’s hat-trick was when compared to Fowler’s.
However, there is one factor that is different to 2015 that means the recored may well stand forever.
That is the introduction of VAR.
According to The Athletic, even without VAR reviews taken into account, there was an average of 75.9 seconds between a goal being scored and the game restarting in the 2022/23 season.
With that amount of time multiplied by three, it would equal just under four minutes.
This is already well over the time it took Mane to score his three goals against Villa and that is just taking into consideration the average time to celebrate a goal, not score it as well.
Speaking in February this year, Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes admitted VAR is taking too long and ruining fan enjoyment, as he said: “The VAR experience is poor, the in-stadium experience for the supporter. It’s nowhere near good enough. We know it’s not.
“It affects supporters’ enjoyment of the game, and we know it needs to change.”
He went on to add: “We’re doing too many checks. We’re taking too long in doing them as well.”
Whilst it is reassuring that the Premier League are looking to address the issues VAR presents, it is still unthinkable that they will be able to reduce the time checks take sufficiently enough to threaten Mane’s record in any way.
