If you were feeling lucky pre-season, then you may have waltzed into your local bookmakers, seen Southampton priced at 6/1 to be relegated, and thought: 'Why not?'

They'd just been stripped of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Calum Chambers and Rickie Lambert. Nicola Cortese, their chairman, had resigned. Their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, had abandoned St Mary's in favour of a more likely European candidate in north London.

Yet your ill-wagered stake has been lost. For Southampton have passed the 40-point mark – the yardstick for Barclays Premier League survival – with 16 games to spare.

Eljero Elia celebrates with his manager Ronald Koeman during Southampton's win at Newcastle

Elia (left) ran straight to Southampton manager Koeman to share in the moment of his first goal for the club

Southampton have defied the odds this season to remain in contention for a top-four finish

TRANMERE 2-0 SOUTHAMPTON Jose Fonte (left) faced Tranmere four years ago Four years ago, Southampton lost 2-0 against Tranmere Rovers in League One at Prenton Park... with Rickie Lambert, Jose Fonte (pictured), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Morgan Schneiderlin involved Advertisement

The Champions League beckons, and it is hardly a case of your awkward cousin crashing the party. They’ve earned their invite to be among the pack chasing European football.

Queens Park Rangers, from 2007, were the focal point of a documentary by Mat Hodgson called The Four Year Plan.

The plot was to chronicle the debt-ridden club’s leap from the Championship to the Premier League, from Bovril to Champagne.

The west Londoners did it, under the tutelage of Formula One magnates Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, and fellow tycoons Alejandro Agag, Lakshmi Mittal and Amit Bhatia.

Southampton may not have had a fly on the wall but they’ve done it, too.

This weekend marks four years since Southampton, scrapping in League One, lost 2-0 against Tranmere Rovers, the Merseyside club now loitering some 88 positions below in the basement division.

A certain Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rickie Lambert, Jose Fonte and Morgan Schneiderlin played that day on January 22 to the tune of a 5,504 attendance.

Fonte is used to marking those such as Arsenal's Olivier Giroud these days in the Premier League

Morgan Schneiderlin (top) has gone from facing Tranmere in 2011 to Manchester United and Co in 2015

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CANDIDATES Southampton, Ronald Koeman Manchester United, Louis van Gaal Arsenal, Arsene Wenger Tottenham Hotspur, Mauricio Pochettino West Ham, Sam Allardyce Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers Advertisement

The latter two remain at Southampton, while Tranmere face dropping out of the Football League altogether this year.

There's something sentimental about going from Tranmere’s Prenton Park and the like to knocking on the door of Real Madrid’s Bernabeu, Barcelona’s Nou Camp, and Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena, among others.

What football supporter hasn’t dreamed of that?

Liverpool, following a five-year absence from the Champions League, were cordially invited to the Bernabeu in Group B on November 4, yet fielded a weakened team.

Were Southampton given the chance... you know the rest.

Yet 16 games are to be played between now and May 24, when they travel to the Etihad to play reigning champions Manchester City. That finale perhaps the ultimate test of their Champions League credentials.

Liverpool fielded a weakened side against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu this season... would Southampton?

Brendan Rodgers' men got back into the Champions League after a five-year absence but fielded a B team

THE TOP FOUR IN THE LAST 10 YEARS... AND THE CLUB THAT MISSED OUT SEASON 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH (PTS BEHIND 4TH) 2013-14 Man City Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal Everton (7 points) 2012-13 Man Utd Man City Chelsea Arsenal Tottenham (1 point) 2011-12 Man City Man Utd Arsenal Tottenham Newcastle (4 points) 2010-11 Man Utd Chelsea Man City Arsenal Tottenham (6 points) 2009-10 Chelsea Man Utd Arsenal Tottenham Man City (3 points) 2008-09 Man Utd Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal Everton (9 points) 2007-08 Man Utd Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool Everton (11 points) 2006-07 Man Utd Chelsea Liverpool Arsenal Tottenham (8 points ) 2005-06 Chelsea Man Utd Liverpool Arsenal Tottenham (2 points) 2004-05 Chelsea Arsenal Man Utd Everton Liverpool (3 points)

It is 10 years since Everton reached the Champions League only to lose in the qualifying rounds

The Premier League, you see, is a tight-knit group. Its status quo is rarely interrupted, as shown above.

In the past five years just six different teams have broken into the top four – those being Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs. Everton are the seventh club, if you stretch back a decade, though they lost in the qualifying rounds.

Compare that to Europe’s top divisions since 2009 – Spain’s La Liga (9), Germany’s Bundesliga (7), France’s Ligue 1 (9) and Italy’s Serie A (9) – and the Premier League (6) proves the most difficult to crack. All this, shown below.

THE TOP FOUR IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN SPAIN'S LA LIGA SEASON 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH Teams 2013-14 Atletico Madrid Barcelona Real Madrid Athletic Bilbao 20 2012-13 Barcelona Real Madrid Atletico Madrid Real Sociedad 20 2011-12 Real Madrid Barcelona Valencia Malaga 20 2010-11 Barcelona Real Madrid Valencia Villarreal 20 2009-10 Barcelona Real Madrid Valencia Sevilla 20

THE TOP FOUR IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN GERMANY'S BUNDESLIGA SEASON 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH Teams 2013-14 Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Schalke Bayer Leverkusen 18 2012-13 Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Bayer Leverkusen Schalke 18 2011-12 Borussia Dortmund Bayern Munich Schalke Borussia Monchengladbach 18 2010-11 Borussia Dortmund Bayer Leverkusen Bayern Munich Hannover 96 18 2009-10 Bayern Munich Schalke Werder Bremen Bayer Leverkusen 18

THE TOP FOUR IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN FRANCE'S LIGUE 1 SEASON 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH Teams 2013-14 PSG Monaco Lille Saint-Etienne 20 2012-13 PSG Marseille Lyon Nice 20 2011-12 Montpellier PSG Lille Lyon 20 2010-11 Lille Marseille Lyon PSG 20 2009-10 Marseille Lyon Auxerre Lille 20

THE TOP FOUR IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS IN ITALY'S SERIE A SEASON 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH Teams 2013-14 Juventus Roma Napoli Fiorentina 20 2012-13 Juventus Napoli AC Milan Fiorentina 20 2011-12 Juventus AC Milan Udinese Lazio 20 2010-11 AC Milan Inter Milan Napoli Udinese 20 2009-10 Inter Milan Roma AC Milan Sampdoria 20

Atletico Madrid stunned Europe by reaching the Champions League final in Lisbon last season

Atletico also beat giants Barcelona and Real Madrid to the La Liga crown in an extraordinary season

HOW MANY TEAMS HAVE BROKEN INTO TOP FOUR IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS? In the last five seasons... Premier League La Liga Bundesliga Serie A Ligue 1 No. of teams to win the title 3 3 2 3 4 No. of teams in top four 6 9 7 9 9

Southampton, it is well documented, traded their prized possessions for £94.5million during the summer’s transfer window. They made a mockery of the suggestion they would not cope without Shaw, Lallana, Lovren, Chambers, Lambert (and Cortese and Pochettino).

To think it was on December 20, 2014, when Southampton had Everton, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle ahead. It was the run that should unmask the pretenders, that would surely end all this silly nonsense.

Southampton took no notice. They have taken 16 points since beating Everton 3-0, the finest form in the Premier League. Liverpool – the club that exchanged £49m for Lovren, Lallana and Lambert – are behind with 14 points from their previous six. Then, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham (13).

THE PREMIER LEAGUE FORM GUIDE OF THE LAST SIX MATCHES (POINTS) Southampton – WWDWWW (16 points) Liverpool – DWWDWW (14) Arsenal – DWWLWW (13) Chelsea – WWDLWW (13) Tottenham Hotspur – WWDWLW (13) Manchester City – WWDWDL (11) Stoke City – LWWDLW (10) Manchester United – DWDDLW (9) Advertisement

Nathaniel Clyne has been an integral part of Southampton's watertight defence this season

Elia (left) gave Southampton the lead against Newcastle as they continue their quest for European football

LAST SIX LEAGUE RESULTS Dec 20, Southampton 3-0 Everton Dec 26, Crystal Palace 1-3 Southampton Dec 28, Southampton 1-1 Chelsea Jan 1, Southampton 2-0 Arsenal Jan 11, Man Utd 0-1 Southampton Jan 17, Newcastle 1-2 Southampton Advertisement

NEXT SIX LEAGUE FIXTURES Feb 1, Southampton vs Swansea City Feb 7, QPR vs Southampton Feb 11, Southampton vs West Ham Feb 22, Southampton vs Liverpool Feb 28, West Brom vs Southampton Mar 3, Southampton vs Crystal Palace Advertisement

Given their fixtures since before Christmas, you can only ask a) how many points did Southampton expect to get from those six matches? And b) how many points do they expect to get from their next six?

Swansea City, QPR, West Ham, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace to come. Maximum 18? Settle for another 16? Fifteen perhaps?

Southampton's defence will have a say in that.

In the Premier League, they’ve conceded the least goals (16), giving them the best average (0.73), and have made more tackles (512) than any other club. At the other end, they’ve scored the fourth most goals (37), and have had the fifth most shots (220), not including those blocked. Their percentage of goals to shots (16.82) is the third best in the Premier League.

SOUTHAMPTON'S STATISTICS THIS SEASON (AND WHERE IT RANKS) Category Southampton Premier League ranking Goals 37 4th Avg. goals per game 1.68 4th Shots (excl. blocked shots) 220 5th % goals to shots 16.82 3rd Average possession % 51.80 8th Total passes 10,361 9th Total crosses 540 2nd Cross completion % 21.7 1st Goals conceded 16 1st Avg. goals conceded 0.73 1st Tackles 512 1st

Southampton pulled off a stunning 1-0 victory at Old Trafford earlier this month to shock Manchester United

United have struggled under Dutchman Louis van Gaal, unlike Southampton under countryman Koeman

Van Gaal (left) and Koeman (right) went head to head but the Southampton manager won in the away fixture

Did you hear the one about the Dutchmen? No, not a joke.

It is Ronald Koeman and Louis van Gaal, the Southampton and Manchester United managers respectively, that occupy the coveted third and fourth positions. They are far from friends, despite being compatriots, yet made headlines for differing reasons during their first month in charge, namely because one brought in £94.5m while the other spent £153m.

Van Gaal has been questioned about his formations, tactics, substitutions, and the like. Why, for example, was Phil Jones taking corners? Why was Angel di Maria being used as a striker? Why will you not give up on 3-5-2? He’s playing all the right notes, just not necessarily in the right order – as the late, great Eric Morecambe might say.

Southampton are aiming to qualify for the Champions League this year in the Premier League

Koeman replaced Mauricio Pochettino last summer and has taken the club to new heights

Koeman, on the other hand, has cracked it. He orchestrated a win over Manchester United at Old Trafford. Then, another over Newcastle at St James’ Park, and had the gall to suggest the three points in the North East felt even sweeter.

There are no delusions of grandeur. While we’d all love to see Sam Allardyce, trench coat et al, command West Ham at the Bernabeu, it would be stirring to see a team that just four years ago were in League One earn their right to be in Europe next year. The Four Year Plan, indeed.

It would prove Champions League qualification in England is not reserved for those prepared to break the bank. Not just a rich boys club, after all.

We’ll know for certain come May 24. If Southampton can continue their unprecedented rise, then they could be coming to a Champions League evening near you. Here’s hoping.

Rickie Lambert (left), Adam Lallana (centre) and Dejan Lovren (right) left for Liverpool during the summer