THE prospect of Harry Redknapp coming to St Mary's was first mooted last week.

Football speculation can admittedly take a life of its own, but this really did seem too fanciful for words.

Harry? Working with Rupert?

The cockney man of the people alongside the public schoolboy?

The Iron Chairman coping with a man legendary for his ability to work the transfer market?

The man with the controlling reputation alongside a manager who is, well, not easily controlled?

Never. Not in a million years. Surely.

Okay, can we make that seven days?

As Lowe and Redknapp strode into St Mary's yesterday together to meet the press, you still had to do a double-take to believe what your eyes were telling you.

Gordon Strachan and Lowe were sometimes called the 'odd couple'. But this, in theory, seems odder.

And yet, as the afternoon unfolded, the belief grew that Harry Redknapp might just be the perfect man to rescue Saints from the precarious position they now find themselves.

Forget coaching badges, what Saints desperately wanted and needed was someone to inspire the club from its current slump.

Charisma, personality, plus a certain flamboyance.

Redknapp possesses them all in abundance, as well as the experience of 900 games as a league manager in successful spells with Bournemouth, West Ham and Portsmouth.

He has a certain star quality about him - something which was reflected by the vast number of journalists who descended on St Mary's to welcome the new manager.

Redknapp was generally relaxed and enthusiastic about his new role.

"Being a manager is all I have ever done," he said.

But he was well aware of the task ahead. "We're not sitting third from bottom because we are playing well. It's a big challenge to keep the team up.

"I've just done 900 games and I want to make it through to 1,000. The Premier League is where this team belongs."

Only once did Redknapp's body language change and, predictably, that was when discussing Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric.

His face turned red and he began moving in his seat.

"Don't believe everything Mr Mandaric says, okay?" he simply said.

Outside the ground, dozens of fans were congregating for a glimpse of their new messiah and it was immediately clear that the feel-good factor could return amid a genuine feeling of hope.

People rightly felt sorry for Steve Wigley, but the general view on the streets was that a change had become necessary following a poor sequence of results.

As unlikely a marriage as it seems, it is easy to see the mutual attraction for Lowe and Redknapp.

For the new manager, Saints offer the perfect chance to get back into football with minimal upheaval.

He was almost certainly the preferred option of Wolves but - at 57 years of age - the opportunity to work in the Premiership at a club which allows him to remain at his Poole home was too much to turn down.

He certainly has the credentials to resurrect the season.

For Saints, Lowe seems to have fully accepted the need for the manager to be the most important single person at the club.

Indeed, it is the first time he has brought in such an experienced boss who is right at the top of his game.

Dave Jones, Stuart Gray, Paul Sturrock and Steve Wigley were little known and very much all on their way up, while both Glenn Hoddle and Gordon Strachan (despite their obvious credentials) were both brought in on the back of big personal disappointments.

For different reasons, all might have felt a little lucky to get the job.

This time, however, there will be a feeling that Saints are the lucky ones to get a manger of Redknapp's quality, pedigree and longevity.

This is a man who has been in management and coaching for some 22 years.

All of this doesn't guarantee success, but it certainly represents a subtle change in the type of personality Lowe has opted to work with. And you would expect a change in what has been the usual chairman/manager relationship at Saints in recent years.

The balance of power seems to have swung and the change of job description back from 'head coach' to 'team manager' should not be underestimated.

Lowe, himself, came under the spotlight yesterday and understandably so. Any football club that goes through four managers (or head coaches) in ten months deserves serious questions asked of its management.

Indeed, if you accept stability to be a key requirement of any chairman, Lowe has failed in the past year.

Yet he handled the questioning with his usual confidence and put forward the argument that it is now time for everyone to move forward together.

He seems to have decided that a strong managerial figure, who is left to run the club how he sees fit, is desirable for any team in the Premiership.

Now the hope will be that Redknapp does what he has done throughout his career.

Deliver.