Ivan Juric has been sacked as Southampton manager less than 24 hours after their Premier League relegation was confirmed.
On Sunday, Saints’ 3-1 defeat at Tottenham condemned them to the Championship next season.
And on Monday, the south coast club made the decision to part with Juric, who only came in December following Russell Martin’s dismissal, as they look to rebuild.
Ivan Rusk will take the reins as interim manager for the remaining seven matches of the campaign, with playmaker Adam Lallana his assistant. Their first game will be at home to Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
Southampton statement on Ivan Juric
‘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.
‘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.
‘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 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.’
Southampton’s shocking stats
Defeat at Tottenham saw Southampton collect an unwanted record – as they became the first team to be relegated with seven games still to play.
Their relegation in matchweek 31 means they beat the record previously jointly held by Ipswich Town (1994-95) and Derby County (2007-08) – who dropped down to the second tier with six fixtures remaining. Their relegations were confirmed with six fixtures remaining in 1994-95 and 2007-08 respectively.
They are also trying to avoid the record of having the lowest-ever points tally in a Premier League season which currently belongs to Derby (11). Southampton have 10 points.
