Ivan Juric leaves Southampton following Premier League relegation

Ivan Juric has stepped down as Southampton manager after the club were officially relegated from the Premier League.

Tasked with preserving the Saints' top-flight status when appointed Russell Martin's successor on an 18-month contract in December, Juric endured a miserly spell on the Hampshire coast where he accrued four points from 14 matches.

Southampton supporters have been braced for relegation for weeks, if not months and Sunday's 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur ultimately sealed their fate with seven games to spare.

It's the earliest a team in the Premier League has suffered relegation and Southampton now face the ignominy of attempting to avoid Derby County's harrowing record low points total of 11 from 2007/08.

Points have proved extremely scarce for the Saints, who are the third team to lose 25 of their first 31 matches in a Premier League campaign after Sunderland in 2005/06 and Sheffield United in 2021/22.

Juric's stint at St Mary's lasted 108 days, which is ironically longer than the duration of the Croatian's managerial reign at Roma at the end of 2024.

When assessing Southampton's shortcomings following confirmation of their relegation, Juric said in his post-match press conference: "The fans deserve more. Every person that works at Southampton has to do better and create something stronger.

"We have a lot of talented young players, but with not many games in the Premier League. What I noticed most in three or four months here is the completely different physicality between us and the other teams in the league.

"Now is the moment to understand the mistakes the club made in the last three or four years and start to create something really good."

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Jaquob Crooke

• Southampton F.C.
• Premier League
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