Claude Puel took his side to Vicarage Road on March 4, 2017, for a seven-goal thriller that felt like a defining statement of intent.  

Just six days earlier, the club had suffered the heartbreak and disappointment of a narrow 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in the EFL Cup final at Wembley. 

Many expected there to be a hangover, yet what followed was a show of spine and attacking flair as Saints walked away with a 4-3 win.

The hero of the hour back then was undoubtedly the Italian striker Manolo Gabbiadini, a £14m signing from Napoli, made in January of that year. 

A poachers finish against the Hornets saw him become the first player in Saints history to score in each of his opening four games for the club, taking his tally to a remarkable six goals from those four games. 

Gabbiadini's knack of finding the net with such clinical regularity gave Saints the driving gulf they needed to move on from the Wembley disappointment.

But the game was not just about Gabbiadini. 

Nathan Redmond put in a display which Claude Puel...