Ivan Juric leaves Southampton after Premier League relegation confirmed

Ivan Juric has left Southampton after the membership’s Premier League’s relegation was confirmed.

The Saints grew to become the earliest crew ever to be relegated from England’s high flight, with their 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur seeing their demotion confirmed with seven video games to go.

Simon Rusk will take the crew till the top of the season. Rusk took cost briefly when Russell Martin, Juric’s predecessor left St Mary’s. Adam Lallana may also be concerned within the new setup.

Lately appointed Saints technical director Johannes Spors is main the seek for Juric’s successor.

Nonetheless, the membership usually are not shut to creating an appointment at current and Juric leaving now offers them the utmost period of time to search out the best candidate forward of subsequent season.

Spors needs to nominate a coach who has expertise of managing in England and performs a high-intensity fashion of soccer.

The precedence is to win promotion once more, so Championship expertise is desired. Former Huddersfield and Norwich boss David Wagner is among the many names on a prolonged shortlist.

The Southampton gamers have been advised about Juric’s departure on Monday morning, together with his backroom workers additionally leaving the membership.

Juric’s time on the south coast membership lasted simply 108 days. He was appointed within the week earlier than Christmas and was handed an 18-month contract, with a break clause which might be reviewed on the finish of the season.

The Croatian boss, who was dismissed by Roma after a dismal six-week spell final November, received only one out of his 14 Premier League video games in cost – a 2-1 win over Ipswich initially of February.

He misplaced 12 out of these 14 matches, with the Saints averaging 2.7 Premier League objectives conceded below him.

“Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation,” mentioned a press release from the membership.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t seen performances progress the way we had hoped, but we would like to thank Ivan and his staff for their honesty and hard work as they fought against the odds to try and keep us up.

“With relegation to the Championship now confirmed, we imagine it is very important give followers, gamers and workers some readability on the longer term as we head into a vital summer season.

“The process of finding a new manager to lead us as we look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League has now begun and is being led by Group Technical Director Johannes Spors.

“In the meantime, Simon Rusk has agreed to take charge of the team as Interim Manager for the remaining seven fixtures of this season and will be assisted by Adam Lallana.

“We stay extremely grateful for the continuing help of our followers. Their continued dedication and fervour, regardless of what has been a really robust season, is exceptional and is appreciated by everybody on the membership.

“Despite the challenges that relegation will bring, our goal is to restore a sense of pride for them in their team and club once again.”

‘After simply 108 days in cost and two wins, the inevitable has occurred’

Sky Sports activities Information’ Paul Gilmour at St Mary’s:

“After 108 days and 16 matches in charge in all competitions and just two wins – and one of those was in the FA Cup – and 13 defeats, we have learned the inevitable that Ivan Juric and his staff have left Southampton with immediate effect.

“We perceive Simon Rusk will are available till the top of the season, simply as he did briefly when Russell Martin left his position, with Adam Lallana additionally concerned in a roundabout way on this non permanent setup to take Southampton via to the top of the season as they give the impression of being to keep away from Derby’s undesirable lowest Premier League factors complete report and one win will take them previous that.

“And then Southampton will turn to what happens next season in the Championship. They knew all along that Juric had signed this 18-month contract with a break clause to review his position in the summer, but in the end, they did not need to do that.”

‘Southampton’s issues run deeper than Juric’

Sky Sports activities’ Laura Hunter:

A lot has been product of Derby County’s record-low factors haul in current weeks and right here Southampton are, teetering on the sting of eclipsing it. Such a risk feels a tragic indictment of the apparent hole between the Championship and Premier League, which is just rising not shrinking. However nonetheless, to be relegated with seven video games to play is woeful and a horrible reflection on Ivan Juric’s time within the sizzling seat.

He now holds the report for the bottom points-per-game common of any supervisor to take cost of not less than 10 video games. This was a nasty, knee-jerk appointment. Absolutely the Croat’s dreadful stint at Roma was sufficient of a pink flag?

However zooming out to analyse the broader image, Juric merely represents one in all numerous poor selections taken by the membership’s possession group Sport Republic since their takeover in 2022. A lot of sq. pegs in spherical holes with little or no coherent considering. There’s lengthy been a way of resignation from the fanbase over the membership’s course.

Even when Saints do handle to surpass Derby’s factors complete there’s a lot to sentence this facet as one of many worst the top-flight has ever seen – unhealthy recruitment has performed its half too. Time for an additional reset. Hopefully this newest action-plan is geared in direction of breaking a transparent cycle of incompetency for good.

Juric’s final phrases as Saints boss

Ivan Juric after the 3-1 defeat to Spurs:

“What I noticed we missed the most in these three or four months that I’m here, [it’s a] completely different physicality between us and the other teams in the Premier League.

“I feel the identical factor has occurred to Leicester and Ipswich.

“The difference between physicality in the Championship and the Premier League… the gap is huge.

“However you need to discover, from now, from this second, the gamers that may develop up, that may enhance. Not simply fascinated by successful the Championship, however create the gamers that will likely be prepared within the Premier League.

“I mentioned to the gamers they need to be actually grateful that they’d followers like this, it was one thing unbelievable how they love their crew.

“I think they really deserve much more. Every person that works at Southampton has to do it better and create something much more stronger than we did this year.

“It’s a completely different tradition and even for my mentality, it’s one thing unbelievable and to indicate loving in these moments is the nice English and Southampton tradition, unbelievable.

“Now is a really important moment to understand all the mistakes the club has made the past three or four years and for the club to start to create something really good.”

The undesirable information Saints can break

Southampton’s depressing return to the Premier League has come to its inevitable conclusion.

The writing was on the wall for Southampton – and had been for a while. They’re the primary crew in Premier League historical past to be relegated with as many as seven video games of the season remaining.

Southampton’s relegation again to the Championship was confirmed following their 3-1 defeat at Tottenham, their twenty fifth league defeat.

The Saints are the third crew to lose as many as 25 of their first 31 video games of a top-flight marketing campaign, after Sunderland in 2005-06 and Sheffield United in 2020-21 (each additionally 25).

It has been fairly the distinction to final season, when a 22-match unbeaten run within the Championship helped assist their profitable bid for promotion to the Premier League by way of a play-off remaining win over Leeds at Wembley.

The tough actuality is that many at the moment are speaking about Southampton as one of many worst groups in Premier League historical past.