Southampton sack manager Juric after Premier League relegation

LONDON: Southampton have sacked manager Ivan Juric following their relegation from the Premier League, the club announced Monday.

Southampton were condemned to relegation in record time after a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday. Juric´s bottom of the table side have lost 25 of their 31 top-flight games in a wretched campaign.

Relegation with seven fixtures left gives Southampton, last season´s Championship play-off winners, an unwanted Premier League record, surpassing Derby and Huddersfield´s relegations with six games left in 2008 and 2019 respectively.

Juric took over from Russell Martin in December, with Southampton already deep in trouble, but the 49-year-old won only one league match, at Ipswich in February. Saints have lost seven of their past eight league matches.

Simon Rusk will take charge of the team as interim manager for the remainder of the season and will be assisted by Adam Lallana. “We can confirm that we have today reached an agreement with our men´s first-team manager, Ivan Juric, to end his spell at the club,” said a Southampton statement.

“Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation. “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.”

The Saints statement added: “With relegation to the Championship now confirmed, we believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer.

“We remain incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of our fans. Their continued dedication and passion, despite what has been a very tough season, is remarkable and is appreciated by everyone at the club. “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.”