Redknapp lauds Chelsea 'good guy'

Southampton 1 Chelsea 3

If Jose Mourinho has felt isolated of late within the hierarchy of his own club then on Saturday he at least found acceptance from a man who has come to define the institution of traditional English football management.

As they disappeared down the tunnel at St Mary's at full-time, Harry Redknapp threw an arm around the shoulders of the Chelsea coach and, for a moment, all the studied aloofness and proud resistance that has characterised Mourinho melted away. With the Champions' League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, his touchline ban and the tensions within Chelsea, life is about to get even more fraught for Mourinho so, for once, it was refreshing to see him making friends.

After 22 years as a football manager of four different clubs, there are few better placed to judge the impact of Mourinho on the Premiership than Redknapp. He began his appraisal of the Chelsea coach with a telling tactical detail that is typical of Mourinho: the switch that saw Ricardo Carvalho dropped in favour of the taller Robert Huth to deal with the aerial threat of Peter Crouch.

"Carvalho is a fantastic player but he's only 6ft and I was looking for Crouch to be playing on to him all game but he brought in Huth who is 6ft 4in," Redknapp said. "That was a clever move. I saw Mourinho before the game and I like him very much. He's a good guy. He's got something about him. He said 'I hope you win your championship and I hope we win ours'. We've got to make sure we win ours."

As another habitual prowler of the technical area, Redknapp also defended Mourinho against the far-ranging Uefa touchline ban that will prevent him from even communicating with his team during Wednesday's match. "They feel more confident if he's there because they know he can put things right," Redknapp said. "No disrespect but they haven't got anybody else who is very vocal. He's a bit of a one-man band, isn't he?"

It is Redknapp who Mourinho can thank for nurturing the precious talent of Frank Lampard at West Ham and it was the England midfielder who opened the scoring with a deflected free-kick on 22 minutes. However, the Southampton manager will have taken quiet pleasure in an excellent performance from his son, Jamie, who, for much of the game, outshone his celebrated younger cousin, Lampard.

"I knew Frank was always going to be a top player because of his attitude and the way he worked at his game but I didn't know how good he would become," Redknapp said. "I've never seen anybody work so hard on the training ground as Frank - except for his dad. His dad has instilled that in him. I get real pleasure out of seeing him play because I've seen him grow up since he was a baby."

With six minutes to play before half-time, a run from Glen Johnson at right-back took him past four players and he cut the ball back for Eidur Gudjohnsen to slot home Chelsea's second. The introduction of Kevin Phillips invigorated Southampton's attack and Petr Cech did well to tip his header over on 69 minutes. The corner was taken short to Paul Telfer and his cross was turned in by Phillips.

Mateja Kezman's ineffectual contribution was ended on 64 minutes when Didier Drogba came on and he was part of a sweet four-pass move that found Gudjohnsen in the box to add the third. As if in preparation for his Uefa ban, Mourinho had nothing to say after the match.

Goals: Lampard (22) 0-1, Gudjohnsen (39) 0-2, Phillips (69) 1-2, Gudjohnsen (83) 1-3.

Southampton (4-4-2): Niemi; Delap, Lundekvam, Jakobsson, Bernard; Telfer, Redknapp, Quashie, Le Saux (Svensson, 63); Crouch, Camara (Phillips, 63). Substitutes not used: Smith (gk), Higginbotham, Davenport.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cech; Johnson, Huth, Terry, Gallas; Makelele; Cole (Tiago, h-t), Lampard, Gudjohnsen, Duff (Jarosik, 80); Kezman (Drogba, 64). Substitutes not used: Cudicini (gk), Carvalho.

Referee: M Halsey (Lancashire).

Booked: Chelsea Kezman, Tiago.

Man of the match: Gudjohnsen.

Attendance: 31,949.