THREE pre-Christmas cheers for Harry Redknapp - for not being afraid to tell it how it is.

Redknapp has been in charge at St Mary's for less than a fortnight yet has already identified major problems at the club.

Problems that have left Saints rooted in the relegation zone going into Christmas Day - just a year after they had been fourth after beating Redknapp's Pompey 3-0 at St Mary's.

Problems that have been painfully evident to the fans who have suffered so much in recent months.

In the wake of Saturday's thrashing at White Hart Lane, the new boss confessed that Saints are "desperately short" in some areas of the team. That's despite having one of the largest playing staffs in the Premiership.

"Somehow the club has accumulated a lot of players, but is short of quality," Redknapp also said.

That is a massive indictment of the situation he has inherited and of the club's transfer policy since that heady day at Cardiff.

Yes, Saints have signed a lot of players since reaching the FA Cup Final. But no, apart from Kevin Phillips none of them have instantly been an improvement on what the club had.

You reap what you sow, and that is how Saints have ended up in the position they have - a large squad top-heavy with players who are no better or no worse than many others. The fans have been crying out for quality instead of quantity for what seems an eternity.

No, they don't want Saints 'to do a Leeds' and ridiculously chuck money away like confetti; but yes, they do want to see certain areas addressed with proven quality. And that, I'm afraid Mr Lowe, does cost - in salary if not necessarily in a transfer fee. Just as Saints were desperately in need of a proven Premiership manager - and eventually got one in Redknapp - now the team needs similar surgery.

And that brings us onto more Redknapp quotes from Saturday.

He reckons finance "will be tight", that he will have to make do with "free transfers, loans" and "beg, borrow and steal a couple of players from somewhere".

Excuse me!

That sounds like the manager of a club like Kidderminster explaining his survival techniques.

Not that of a boss of a club that chairman Rupert Lowe has likened to Aston Villa in recent months - the same Villa that could be poised to make a £6m-plus bid for James Beattie.

Nor that of a boss of a club like Charlton who Lowe believes Saints are bigger and better than.

If the only way that Saints can raise a decent amount of money for Redknapp to plot his escape route with is to sell crown jewels like Beattie or Antti Niemi, then serious questions must be asked of Lowe's ambition for Saints.

I have no wish to see Saints bankrupt themselves, but surely there has to be some millions already available.

Surely?

Redknapp has already said selling the likes of Beattie would be "a recipe for disaster."

And it is already clearly evident to Redknapp that he needs several "characters" in the dressing room if he is to haul Saints out of the mess he has inherited.

For Peter Crouch to admit that Saturday's beating "was the wake-up call we needed" .... well, excuse me again!

Surely the time for "wake-up calls" had come and gone.

Surely Watford was a "wake-up call", surely two wins in 17 league matches was a "wake-up call", surely two points from 24 away from home was a "wake-up call", surely Steve Wigley, a man we're told was liked and respected by all the players, being relieved of his duties was "a wake-up call."

Redknapp hopes trusted sidekick Jim Smith will "wake a few up" - Smith might need to bring the world's biggest gong with him at this rate.