In the good old days the summer break from football lasted for about three months and players got around 6-7 weeks off to go on holiday, but times they have changed.

With the Premier league season finishing on Sunday 24th May, Saints players have got barely five weeks holiday before they have to report back for pre season training on 29th June.

Indeed those who are away on International duty will get less than tha, in fact it could be as little as three weeks, although Im sure the club will allow them a little longer given their fitness levels will still be high.

Even reporting back on this early date though will only give five weeks of pre season preparation before the Premier League season starts again on the 8th March and if Saints do qualify for the Europa League then the first competitive game for the club will be on Thursday 25th June only 9 weeks after the final game of this season at Manchester City.

That is modern football for you though and one player who it probably cant come quick enough for though is Jay Rodriguez who will have been out of Premier league for 16 months by the time next season kicks off.

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