Gordon Strachan today celebrates two years in charge of Saints in which time he's taken them from relegation scrappers into Europe.

The transformation in the ambitions and expectations of the club, the players and the supporters has changed almost beyond recognition since October 2001.

Sometimes it's easy to lose focus on just how far Saints have come.

Cast your mind back just over two years ago when Saints took on Arsenal at St Mary's.

They lost 2-0 but the performance was one of the most abysmal in living memory.

Saints, under the leadership of Stuart Gray, looked condemned to the drop.

It seemed after years of battling, there might be no escape from relegation this time round.

But then along came Strachan with his fiery personality, dedicated determination and a point to prove after his Coventry sacking.

He turned round the side, kept them up with a midtable finish and then took them on a massive stage further - an eighth placed Premiership finish, a host of memorable wins, an FA Cup final and a first appearance in Europe for 19 years.

It just goes to show how quickly football can change - that awful defeat against Arsenal still sits in the memory, yet feels a million miles away from now.

That's why when people attack Saints, when they complain about a lack of goals or Strachan's rigid formation, they may have valid points. But they would do well to put things in perspective.

Of course it's the nature of football - everybody wants success and they want it now.

Nobody's to be criticised for that, it's just the way it is.

But in the rollercoaster world of modern Premiership football, there's something comforting about having a manager for two years, about having a manager continually improving his side over two years, about a team of players to whom roasting is still a cookery term.

There are issues that still need to be dealt with - the lack of goals from anybody who isn't James Beattie, the balance between defence and creativity and the absence of a genuine playmaker all give cause for concern.

However, it's also important sometimes to do something like this, to look back and reflect on what has been achieved.

It puts things into perspective and enables you to focus on what's next to achieve.

Without massive investment to buy a couple of world class players, it's hard to see Saints progressing far beyond the middle reaches of the top half no matter how good Strachan is as a manager and a coach.

But then consolidation at a certain level would provide a mark of sustained success and progress.

In two years Saints fans have gone from praying on the last day of the season to being disappointed if they don't beat Newcastle or Everton away. If you'd have said that two years ago most people would have laughed.

There's so much potential left to be got out of Saints.

But two years down the line from Strachan's appointment, it's impossible to hail him as anything other than a total success.

Let us know your thoughts on Strachan's two years. There's two tickets for a St Mary's home match on offer for the best letter. Or click on the link on the left to 'Postbag'

SPECIAL TWO PAGE FEATURE ON GORDON'S TWO YEARS IN TONIGHT'S DAILY ECHO