It has been quite a six months at Southampton, hasn't it?

After a dismal start to the season under Mark Hughes which saw the club pick up just nine points from their opening fourteen fixtures, owner Katharina Liebherr decided enough was enough and sacked the Welshman.

With the Saints languishing in the bottom three of the Premier League, it was a daunting task for any manager to come in and transform their fortunes, let alone someone who had no previous experience of working in English football.

Yet in the form of Ralph Hasenhuttl, the club found a charismatic individual who has given the supporters real hope of survival this season, banishing the doom and gloom that had previously surrounded the St Mary's before his appointment in December.

Now 16 games into his Southampton reign, he has inspired his side to victories over the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur whilst also accumulating a total of 21 points. However, despite a promising start to life in charge on the south coast, the 51-year-old knows that his club are by no means out of the woods and face several crucial fixtures in the coming weeks to secure Premier League football next season.

In retrospect, Saints fans would probably have wanted Hasenhuttl to have taken over at the club at the start of the current campaign as based on the average points that he is recuperating per game (1.24), they would be on course for a total of 47, which would have seen them finish well clear of the bottom three.

When you combine this particular statistic with the clear improvement that players such as James Ward-Prowse and Yan Valery have made under the guidance of the Austrian then it becomes clear that Southampton should keep the faith in their manager regardless of how the season ends.

If they do end up being relegated to the Championship, they should follow the example set by Newcastle United who held fire on Rafael Benitez despite going down and later reaped the rewards by achieving promotion at the first attempt of asking.

What do you think Southampton fans? Should Hasenhuttl stay at St Mary's even if your side are relegated? Or is he not the right man to lead the club forward? Let us know below.