Jamaal Lascelles will step back into the very dressing room that changed his career at Newcastle United this weekend.
For it was at St Mary’s Stadium 16 months ago that Rafa Benitez recognised Lascelles’ potential as both a battler and future leader.
With Newcastle trailing 2-0 at the break and staring relegation to the Championship in the face it was Lascelles who was told to get ready and show some passion.
A feeble display had resulted in Newcastle’s more senior men throwing the towel in that day and almost accepting their fate with Daryl Janmaat looking like a man who’d given up and Steven Taylor dragged off at the break after a display that effectively ended his career at United.
Before entering the field for the second half Lascelles then uttered a few home truths and told some of his more senior colleagues what he thought of their effort levels during a shocking first half.
Newcastle lost 3-1 that day but Lascelles had caught the eye of his new manager.
It was a moment that impressed Benitez so much that he decided to offer Lascelles the chance to be club captain the next season and as he returns to Southampton this weekend he does so having signed a new contract at the club until 2023 and will be one of the first names on the team sheet.
When asked if that was the day that changed the direction of both his and Benitez’s career on Tyneside, Lascelles told the Chronicle: “Pretty much, yeah. We went on an unbeaten run after that and the mentality changed.
“But unlike last time hopefully we can go there and get something this weekend.
“We’ve had a nice little break now but we have trained hard and are ready. We will be ready.”
Lascelles signed a new deal for United last week and has been one of the cornerstones during Benitez’s Newcastle rebuild.
Since that day at Southampton in 2016, he has watched on as Benitez transformed the club for an unorganised mess into a team capable of ruffling the feathers of the top sides in the Premier League.
Lascelles said: “This club is definitely on the up.
“I don’t want to get too carried away but since the manager has been in, he’s brought this city together again.
“The fans have connected with the players and all of the staff. It’s been really good.
“Now we just want to give everything back to the fans what they deserve.
“In the last couple of years simply haven’t been good enough. But times have changed now.”
A positive result at Southampton could see Newcastle clutch on to the coat-tails of the Premier League’s top six this weekend.