Tottenham - 5 Southampton - 1: Martin Jol sends his Tottenham players out with the command "let's do the business" - and Jermain Defoe and Co certainly did that on Saturday. For Harry Redknapp the slogan is taking on a more literal meaning as he considers the reconstruction swiftly required to save Southampton.

Not so long ago James Beattie's departure from the Saints would have been unthinkable. But times - and managers, as Southampton fans well know - change. Now, as the transfer window approaches and with Redknapp conceding that "finance is going to be tight", Beattie could be the price that Southampton pay for survival.

Asked directly about Beattie's future, Redknapp said: "In an ideal world I'd like to keep him and build a few around him. I would like to keep him if I can, but, if I've got to buy a couple of players and I haven't got any money, I might have to do something like that.

"If it means getting three or four in, for the sake of selling one, that might be the way to go."

Redknapp's words will interest several clubs, among them Tottenham, who are long-standing admirers of the 26-year-old striker. Spurs may balk at the £8 million price Southampton are understood to want, although Everton are prepared to go close to that valuation. Aston Villa will also be checking the figures.

Right now Beattie would seem an extravagance at Spurs. After all, Jol is juggling with three strikers, and on this evidence Defoe - "maybe the best finisher in the game", according to his manager - is surely untouchable.

And here Frederic Kanoute, giving a masterful performance as target man, seemed his perfect partner. Robbie Keane was restricted to seven minutes, even if they did yield a goal.

Jol, who has drawn a fine response from Kanoute since dropping him after his blunders against Liverpool in the League Cup, is enjoying an inspired spell as selector of strikers.

Beattie, recovering from a calf strain, remained on the bench, depriving the watching Sven-Goran Eriksson of an opportunity to compare and contrast the Southampton player with the Tottenham striker, who exuberantly restated his claim for an England place.

Defoe, in scoring his hat-trick, exuded the confidence suddenly sweeping through Tottenham, underpinning the sequence of four successive Premiership wins that is their best since 1995. Goals, that rarity under the cautious Jacques Santini, are no longer a problem, and that will remain the case against better defences than Southampton's ramshackle collection.

Michael Carrick, too, is benefiting from Jol's faith. He has started every game under the Dutchman and, as the controlling midfielder says, he has "a lot more responsibility than I've had before. Hopefully I can thrive on that."

Tottenham certainly thrived on Carrick's vision and range of distribution. For his side's first goal, from a deep position where most players would have been happy merely to clear, Carrick delivered a long, curling pass that sent Kanoute sprinting away past two faltering defenders for the eventual pull-back that Defoe, cleverly finding space, crashed home. A lofted ball from Carrick, beautifully controlled by Kanoute, brought the third.

Defoe took his other goals with nonchalance and was not to be denied in the creative department either. His chipped pass, from a standing start, made a difficult skill look easy and deserved a better finish than Keane's weak half-volley that deceived the embarrassed Antti Niemi.

Redknapp's first away trip with Southampton started with his central defenders immediately ignoring his marking instructions, resulting in gross physical mismatches.

"I brought (Darren) Kenton, who is about 5ft 7in, in to mark Defoe and put (Claus) Lundekvam on Kanoute," he said. "For some reason they thought it would be better to do it the other way round."

And for most of the match, his side allowed Spurs the freedom of the midfield. Peter Crouch's headed goal was scant consolation on a traumatic afternoon.

"I've got to pull rabbits out of the hat in January," said Redknapp. "You have to look at why we've been losing since last Christmas, when they were fourth, and went into rapid decline. It's no good saying 'they're good players' when we keep on losing.

"It's a tough one. They're a lot of quiet lads. We need a few in who've got something about them. If we can do that, I think we'll be all right."

How does his task compare with the one at his previous south coast club?

"It's going to be harder."