Southampton manager Juric leaves after relegation

Ivan Juric picked up just four wins during a troubled 12-game managerial spell at Roma earlier this season

Southampton have reached an agreement with manager Ivan Juric to leave following relegation from the Premier League on Sunday.

Juric was appointed as Russell Martin's successor on an 18-month deal in December but has won just two of his 16 matches.

Sunday's 3-1 defeat at Tottenham consigned the rock-bottom Saints to the earliest relegation in Premier League history with eight games still to play.

The loss against Spurs was Southampton's 25th of the season in the league.

"Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation," Southampton said.

"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."

Simon Rusk is expected to step in as interim manager with Adam Lallana acting as his assistant.

Southampton and Leeds were the last two clubs to have parted company with two permanent managers during the same campaign - both doing so in 2022-23.

Juric lasted just 107 days at St Mary's and oversaw only one victory in the Premier League - a 2-1 triumph at Ipswich.

His spell in charge is the ninth-shortest reign as a manager in Premier League history.

Rooted to the bottom of the standings on 10 points, Southampton require two further points to avoid beating Derby County's record-low tally of 11, achieved in 2007-08.

Juric arrived at Southampton having been sacked by Roma in November after only 12 games in charge of the Serie A club.

The 49-year-old has previously held roles in Italy with Torino, Hellas Verona, Genoa, Crotone and Mantova.

Southampton's Premier League struggles

Southampton won promotion to the Premier League last summer after beating Leeds in the play-offs, however, their campaign in the top flight has been troubled from the outset.

Saints lost eight of their opening nine games, and their 1-0 win against Everton on 2 November was their only victory in their opening 23 league fixtures.

Juric, who had no previous experience in English football, was unable to inspire the squad after replacing Martin in the dugout, losing each of his first six games.

Southampton sat nine points adrift of safety when Juric walked through the doors, but Sunday's loss against Spurs left them 22 points shy of 17th-placed Wolves.

They are only the third team to lose as many as 25 of their first 31 games of a top-flight campaign, after Sunderland in 2005-06 and Sheffield United in 2020-21 (both also 25).

Southampton have conceded the most goals in the league (74) by far, and are the lowest scorers in the top four divisions of English football (23 goals in 31 games).

No team has ever had fewer points in the Premier League after 31 games (10), although Sunderland in 2005-06 & Derby in 2007-08 had the same tally too.

'Weaker squad than in the Championship' - analysis

The die was cast in the summer, months before Ivan Juric even stepped into St Mary's.

Many around the club felt Southampton were returning to the Premier League with a weaker squad than the one which took them up from the Championship.

Returning to the Premier League without an experienced sporting director was viewed as a massive error by the ownership, after technical director Jason Wilcox's departure to Manchester United in May.

It left a huge question mark over their structure and the ownership's direction - which has only grown after the decision to hire and fire Juric.

The fall-out to the summer continued with head of recruitment Darren Mowbray leaving St Mary's in April, although sources told BBC Sport there was no issue with the players he was recommending.

Playing catch up after a poor summer left previous boss Russell Martin fighting an uphill battle, even with criticisms of his style, and he was ultimately sacked in December with the club bottom and nine points from safety.

Yet it only got worse under Juric who has won just two of his 16 games, including a 3-0 win over Swansea in the FA Cup, with Southampton suffering the Premier League's quickest relegation.