Portsmouth - 4 Southampton - 1:  The sole mercy from Portsmouth was to put Southampton out of their misery quickly. With an opener in the fourth minute and two goals from Lomana LuaLua to sweep them to a 4-1 lead by the interval, they have also gone a long way towards ejecting the visitors from the Premiership. They are a point adrift at the foot of the table. Southampton's one effective contribution was to perform so badly as to draw some of the poison from the occasion.

The remark from Portsmouth's new manager, Alain Perrin, that he had been nervous before the match but not during it gave the losers further cause to wince. While Portsmouth fans hate Harry Redknapp for going to St Mary's a fortnight after quitting Fratton Park, a win which all but ensures Premiership survival was so relaxing that malice veered off into comedy. "Judas, Judas, give us a wave," they chanted.

"I can understand the fans being upset at me," Redknapp said, largely indifferent to the topic. He will have been more unsettled by the sight of the superior side he created and left behind.

He gave a thumbs-up sign to the Fratton Park directors at full-time. Redknapp is proud of the team, despite this pain. He will be keenly aware that he rebuilt the career of LuaLua, a discard from Newcastle United.

"I know what I did here and no one can take that away from me," he said. "I signed every one of their players."

There was, from Southampton's viewpoint, a disturbingly wistful tone to the statement. Nostalgia, though, cannot fog his mind for long. Redknapp was never under any illusions about the task at St Mary's. He recalled yesterday that a member of the coaching staff had virtually greeted him with the words, "You've got no chance here".

The manager cannot accept that, despite a feeble total of three Premiership wins in his tenure. He watches a defence in continual collapse and recognises that a demoralised team is so "quiet" that he dare not harangue it. His faith lies in the fact that the next two fixtures are against other members of the relegation zone, with a home match against Norwich and a trip to Crystal Palace.

With productive results, Southampton would then whip themselves up for a fevered effort when Manchester United arrive at St Mary's at the close of the programme. It is a fantasy rather than a plan if the defeat here is the truest guide.

This is a club ripe for relegation, dumbly awaiting the expiry of a 27-year tenancy in the top flight.

Redknapp secured no leader for his back four during the transfer window. Claus Lundekvam and Andreas Jakobsson are internationals but they also have in common a shy and retiring disposition.

Portsmouth's strikers and, for that matter, midfielders were wide-eyed at the opportunity afforded them. Arjan de Zeeuw admitted that Redknapp's presence had also been a stimulus. "It just made it more of a big game," the captain said. "The players have a lot of respect for him but going to Southampton put another coal on the fire."

In his previous confidence that his new side would stay in the Premiership, Redknapp underestimated the haplessness of that back four and its devastating effect on the whole side.

No one seems equipped to save Southampton from terrible harm.