Ronald Koeman has overseen Saints’ finest start to any league season in almost a century.

Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Hull gave the team a total of 22 points from ten games – a run that has powered them to second place in the Premier League table and set a new club record.

This is Saints’ best ever start to a top-flight season, and their finest to a post-war league campaign at any level.

You have to go back to 1921/22, when the club were in Division Three (South), to find the last time they enjoyed a better opening ten games.

Unsurprisingly, Koeman has also made the greatest start by any Saints manager in top-flight history, surpassing the 15 points gained under both Ted Bates and Mauricio Pochettino during their first ten games in charge at the highest level.

Saints defender Nathaniel Clyne was full of praise for the club’s manager following the latest victory.

The full-back said: “He’s shown his experience onto us and we’re taking on board what he has to say to us, and how he wants us to play. It seems to be working.”

It certainly is.

To put into some context how good a start Saints have had, it was not until early March in the 2004/05 campaign – when they were relegated to the Premier League – that they surpassed 22 points.

In 2012/13, their first season back in the top-flight, they did not get there until mid-January.

In fact, only three times in their post-war history can Saints boast a start as impressive as this one.

In the 2011/12 season, when they were promoted from the Championship under Nigel Adkins, they also had 22 points after ten games, although, even then, their goal difference was not as good as it is now.

In the 1956/57 and 1953/54 campaigns, both in Division Three (South), they also began with seven wins, one draw and two losses – although, at that time, only two points were awarded for a victory, while their goal difference was again slightly poorer.

There have, however, been a handful of times when Saints have enjoyed a better first ten games.

In 1921/22 and 1920/21, their first two seasons in the Football League, they had earned the equivalent of 23 points by the same stage.

Going back to their Southern League days, there were six better starts, and two that were equal to this, the best of which was in 1896/97, when they won nine and drew one of their first ten fixtures.

Saints will have a chance to continue their incredible run when they host 17th-placed Leicester City this Saturday.