It'll be just like watching Brazil

He has also been involved with players at the height of the game, having taught new skills to the likes of Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney and was even asked by Jermaine Jenas to become his personal coach.

His overriding ambition is to transform football in this country. Take for example his goals for Garforth Town. Using a team made up solely of players from his soccer schools he aims to win the Conference in 2013, reach the Premiership in 2020 and win it in 2028.

And he doesn’t plan to stop there with the goal of staffing the England team with graduates from his soccer schools: “In the future I will own the England team. In the last decade no one has done as much as me for the grassroots game in this country. People will be shocked with what I achieve.”

So where do Saints fit in with his master plan? Saints fans will hope he adds a shorter term goal of helping us reach the Premiership in 2006.

His arrival has Sir Clive Woodward written all over it. This is the model he followed so successfully with the England rugby team and not so successfully on the British Lions tour. Sir Clive is a big believer in bringing in a team of the very best coaches to control every detail of player preparation and motivation and Simon Clifford fits the bill.

He talked about him in glowing terms in his autobiography Winning: “I have met many great people in sport but one who stands out as truly inspirational is Simon Clifford. Simon has redefined terms such as 'passion', 'drive', 'energy' and 'winning' in sport.”

So what of Harry’s reaction? When Sir Clive Woodward joined, Saints were careful to present a united front of manager, coach and Chairman all singing from the same hymn sheet. Harry’s quotes are notably absent from the press release, although he did comment in the Guardian about his appointment: “I don't really know about it. It's not to do with me - Clive Woodward and the chairman are bringing him in I think. He wouldn't be working with the first team, but with the youth team."

Hardly a ringing endorsement, although Simon Clifford claims he spoke with Harry at the end of last season and is looking forward to working with him and learning from him. Given the fact that Clifford has worked with those at the very top of the game as well as the toddlers at the bottom, it does seem strange that his role would be limited to the academy. The release claims his role will be “all aspects of performance and skill acquisition of individual players.”

A youth team role certainly fits with Lowe’s ambition to create the top academy in the UK. However, Saints have much more pressing concerns at the sharp end with the first team. Saint fans are understandably anxious that emphasis should be placed on finding new faces for the first team to turn around our poor start to the season.

Saints have also now collected some of the biggest characters in the game, with Harry, Lowe, Woodward, Clifford and even Dennis Wise on board. Just how will the club be able to accommodate so many controlling personalities? While limiting Clifford and Woodward’s main roles to the academy may be a way of managing the situation, Lowe’s long term vision has been clearly demonstrated by their appointments.

The real question is how the proven and well established methodology of Harry Rednapp will work alongside them. If he is not allowed to get in the quality he requires in the transfer market and feels undermined, he will walk. After the failed experiments with Stuart Gray and Steve Wigley, the last thing the club needs is managerial instability. Whatever the grand vision, the first team has to come first.

So, don’t expect to see any Ronaldo stopovers from Claus Lundekvam anytime soon.