Southampton

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport journalist

Southampton boss Ivan Juric has been speaking to the media before day's Premier League game against West Ham (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Juric revealed that he was first contacted by Southampton two years ago: "It was the first time I started to think about Southampton. I was the coach at Torino at the time and stayed there, but I always liked thinking about Southampton. I know lots of players because of that. It was my wish to come here."

• He gave his thoughts on the current squad: "I saw some good things and some bad things. The team has potential and can do much better than they are doing. I'm very optimistic we can do better and start to get points."

• He was asked what style he wants to bring: "It's a high-pressure style, and I want our team to be competitive and solid. With time, I want to get better in possession and attacking - but the first thing is that we are competitive in every game."

• Juric added: ""What I really like to do is improve players. I am obsessed. If you give me the player whose value is five, after one year it's eight. I like to work and analyse. My satisfaction is individual players getting better and the team getting better."

• Juric said the Premier League is the "best league in the world" and one of his inspirations from the competition is former Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa: "I was watching a lot of games from him. His style of football is not the same [as mine], but I like the way he thinks about football."

• He was asked about potential activity in January's transfer window: "We have time to understand the team and what we need. If it's possible to change something, then we will change."

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BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore spoke to the Goin' Home With Adam And Jo podcast about Sunday's draw with Fulham:

"It is the perfect platform for Ivan Juric to take over from; a clean sheet and a point. It's something to build on.

"Against a Fulham side who have scored in their past 15 Premier League games, to keep them to nil is a great effort."

On Juric's possible tactics, former Saints player Jo Tessem added: "Could we play with two up front? I think we would be more of a threat if we played 3-5-2. We have to score goals to stay up.

"We have got to get forward and cross the ball, which Juric has been quite good at in the teams that he has managed. We have got to learn how to cross it and learn to get people in the box.

"If we play with Paul [Onuachu], we need a quick one beside him. We have a lot of pace in the team but [Cameron] Archer seems to be the only one who has used his pace in the right way."

Listen to the full discussion here

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BBC Chief Football writer Phil McNulty has been answering your questions on all things Premier League.

Sienna asked: Do you think all three promoted sides will once again go straight back down again this season? If not, which of the non-promoted sides do you think could be relegated?

Phil Answered: I did predict before the start of the season that the three promoted sides would go back down and I still fear that will be the case.

Southampton have surely gone. Six points at Christmas is almost impossible to escape from, while Leicester City look a real concern defensively to me, as proved by losing so heavily to Wolves on Sunday.

I think Wolves have the quality to get themselves into a safe position under new coach Vitor Pereira while Everton and Crystal Palace also have enough to steer clear of the bottom three.

Strange as it may seem, Ipswich have looked OK to me at times this season but then you see results like Saturday's against Newcastle and it puts it all into perspective.

So, the three who came up will go back down in my opinion.

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

The Ivan Juric era has officially started at Southampton.

The Croatian will be tasked with keeping the Saints in the top flight from a position where it has never been done before in Premier League history. Is he the right man for the job?

After finishing his playing career at Genoa, Juric has spent all his time as a manager so far in Italy. He has managed six clubs across Italy's top three divisions, including Hellas Verona, Torino and, most recently, Roma.

Saints fans may be concerned about Juric's capabilities based off his time at Roma. The 49 year-old was dismissed last month after picking up just four wins from 12 matches in the capital - though Roma's ownership have sacked three managers in 2024 alone and it could be argued that Juric was not given a fair chance to make an impact.

Juric has a knack for improving teams towards the bottom end of the table - which will be music to the ears of many Southampton fans. In 2019, he took over at newly promoted Hellas Verona and guided them to back-to-back top-half finishes in Serie A.

Following his time in Verona, Juric made the switch to Torino. After finishing 16th and 17th in the two previous seasons, the club then ended in the top half in three consecutive seasons under his leadership.

So, despite the difficulties at Roma, guiding teams who are near the bottom of the table to mid-table security has been Juric's bread and butter over the past few seasons.

However, the task at St Mary's could very well be the most difficult he will face.

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your thoughts after Sunday's Premier League game between Fulham and Southampton.

Here are some of your comments:

Fulham fans

Gabriel: A very strange game. We have to be more clinical if we are to have any chance of competing for a European football place. However, it was fantastic to see Josh King make his debut and, considering our growing and concerning injury list, we just have to move on.

Ben: It wasn't awful, but it was ultimately two points dropped. They were stubborn and we didn't have the final ball to produce the goal we needed. Adama's aside, there was no clear chance for us.

Robert: We weren't hungry enough. We didn't put the Saints' defence under enough pressure when they had the ball. Iwobi was wasteful. The manager was too slow to bring his substitutes on. Two points dropped against the worst team in the league. So frustrating.

Southampton fans

Richard: A definite improvement. Hard work, well-organised, but still toothless in attack. Any recovery must be based on a tighter defence, which seems to be recognised. Thank heavens for the lack of short passing in our own area. A few green shoots!

David: Better from Saints. We seemed a bit more confident going forward and we look prepared to ditch Russ-ball 'pass it out from the back' when needed. We would have lost this game, but for Ramsdale, with two fine stops.

Mike: This was not the usual defensive-error-strewn Saints performance, so we should be grateful for that at least. But where on earth is a goal going to come from and why is Adam Armstrong starting games when he can't buy a goal in the Premier League? I'm hoping the new manager is going to shake things up and select players who were left out in the cold under Russell Martin. Sulemana, Onuachu and Bella-Kotchap should get some game time.

Noah: That is one of the best games Southampton have had this season. I thought we were brilliant playing it out from the back and we were fantastic down the wing. I'm just waiting to see what we will be like when Ivan Juric trains the team, and to see our performance against West Ham on Boxing Day.

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's five Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from the rest of the weekend.

If you missed Match of the Day 2, catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

And you can watch Saturday's Match of the Day here.

Listen back to Sunday's full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Everton 0-0 Chelsea

• Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth

• Tottenham 3-6 Liverpool

Michael Emons
BBC Sport journalist at Craven Cottage

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As Ivan Juric watched on from the press seats one day after he had become Southampton's new manager, one thing that would have pleased him was the return to action of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

The goalkeeper had missed six weeks of the campaign with a finger injury, but played a massive part as the Saints picked up only their sixth point of the season, frustrating in-form hosts Fulham in a goalless draw.

Ramsdale, who joined in the summer from Arsenal, made a fine save after only three minutes to keep out a superb curling effort from the dangerous Alex Iwobi.

But that save was later eclipsed by a wonderful reaction stop from the England international to keep out Harry Wilson's half-volley after he had been found at the back post by a cross from substitute Adama Traore.

If Southampton are to have any chance of clawing back their season and avoid an instant return to the Championship then they will need Ramsdale fit and on his best form.

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Southampton recorded a goalless draw in the Premier League for the first time since doing so at Old Trafford against Manchester United in March 2023.

In addition, only Everton (9) have failed to score in more English top-flight games this season than the Saints (8).

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Southampton interim manager Simon Rusk has been speaking to BBC Sport: "We wanted to build on solidity for the group and find that balance. We are the first team to deliver a clean sheet here [Craven Cottage] this season. We are delighted with that, hopefully this can be a catalyst for the players to build on and move forwards.

"They are an honest group. They are focused as professionals and focused on the job at hand. They gave everything in these last two games. They can take confidence into whatever comes next."

On goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale returning to the side: "Outstanding. He brings great energy and focus to the group. Aaron was part of a great squad performance today."

On his future following the appointment of Ivan Juric as permanent manager: "Ultimately, the role of an interim head coach is less about your vision of football and more about the immediacy of what the club and team needs.

"I've drawn on my experiences and worked as hard as I can to help the players over these two games. My task was to take responsibility for the two games, focus on that and nothing else.

"I'm sure there will be fallout from that, but tonight I'm just going to have a rest. I had a brief chat with Ivan. I'm sure over the coming weeks his identity and ideas will become clear."

Image source, Getty Images

Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has been speaking to Sky Sports about incoming manager Ivan Juric: "We met him and, from what came across, he wants to be high pressing, a little more aggressive, hard to beat, crushing spaces and playing in the right areas.

"We probably kicked more today than he would like to, so it's about finding that balance between kicking when we can and letting our boys in attack enjoy themselves."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on Fulham's performance

What did you make of Southampton's display?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies

There are five matches in the Premier League on Sunday.

• Everton v Chelsea - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Fulham v Southampton

• Leicester v Wolves

• Man Utd v Bournemouth - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Tottenham v Liverpool (16:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

All kick-off times 14:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all the action and reaction here

Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League games this season, against a variety of guests.

For week 17, he takes on Reverend & the Makers singer Jon McClure.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

I saw Fulham first-hand at Anfield last week and they have a lovely balance to their team, with some decent options in their squad too.

Antonee Robinson is making a strong case for being the best left-back in the league this season, and racked up a couple of assists against Liverpool.

There's only one winner here. Southampton have not got a new manager yet after sacking Russell Martin, and I can't see much changing for them.

I have some sympathy for Martin because, had he lost last season's play-off final, there is a good chance he would still be in his job.

But Southampton's players are already low on confidence, and they were beaten again by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup in midweek.

Let's face it, Saints are down already and I hope they are planning for next season in the Championship.

It will be interesting to see what brand of football their next manager plays, but I hope they get some points somewhere.

At the moment they have got even fewer points than Robbie Savage's Derby County team of 2007-08 had managed at this stage.

It would be nice for Saints to end up with one more point than Derby did when they eventually finished on 11, just so Robbie can keep that record of being part of the worst Premier League team ever - it's how he is best known.

McClure's prediction: 2-0

Marco Silva is doing a great job at Fulham. They play really tidy football and it is nice to see Raul Jimenez back doing the business after his serious injury, because he is a class player.

Read the full predictions and have your say

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BBC Radio Solent sports editor Adam Blackmore believes Southampton would need "a miracle" to stay up in the Premier League this season, but has urged supporters to give Ivan Juric "a chance" following his appointment.

On a special podcast episode, Blackmore said: "There is so much negativity. It almost feels like, especially on social media, people are just waiting to give an opposite view or say something before they even have the facts in front of them.

"People will want to quote his bad spell at AS Roma or say that he hasn't managed in England before, but we didn't know much about Mauricio Pochettino when he turned up all those years ago. He shocked everybody with his football and impressed everyone.

"Juric is a much more well-known quantity, having had good success at Hellas Verona and Torino. You are no mug if you have managed in Serie A for a few years.

"So I think we have to give him a chance to see what he can do. The results cannot be any worse than they already are, for goodness sake.

"I'm not sure how we should judge him. I don't think people should be expecting the club to stay up from this position. I think we should be positively hoping they could have a miracle, but it literally would be that because no club has stayed up from the situation they are in.

"Having said that, the clubs above them are catchable but they have to string together two or three wins - and I think this week would be a good week to do it - to breathe life back into this season.

"If the worst he does is make this side harder to beat, then I think that is a start."

Listen to the full podcast on BBC Sounds

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Southampton boss Ivan Juric is aware the club is in "a really bad situation", with the Saints sitting nine points adrift from safety at the bottom of the Premier League table, but he hopes to do "great work" at St Mary's Stadium.

Speaking to the club's media, external after signing an 18-month contract, the Croatian manager said: "I'm very pleased. I think it is a really big challenge for me and my staff. I think we can do great work here.

"I have watched lots of Southampton games over the past few days - to see what problems there are and to try to understand the situation.

"I'm really happy [to be here] and I'm sure I will enjoy this work.

"It is a really bad situation at the moment, but I'm very optimistic because I have seen the team. They can do better [than they are] and I will try to improve them."

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Ivan Juric, who is set to be appointed the new Southampton boss.

Here are some of your comments:

Ian: What a shambles. Very little success anywhere. Never worked in England. A summer get out clause. They employ someone they are not sure of and he accepts. A really poor decision all round. Nonetheless let's hope he proves me wrong.

Matt: Time will tell. His record at Roma was appalling but these things happen. Looks like an initial six-month deal and for me it depends on how he gets the team playing. Can't see anyone saving us but if he makes a good go at it then he may be the man to bring us back up. The risk here is the January transfer window. Do we stick or twist? Last time we wasted over £50m. Need to improve recruitment radically at the club. Major overhaul needed in that department.

Rob: Concerned about the contrast in style for the players from the Russell Martin approach. However he looks like a good manager and the deal, if as reported, looks like it makes sense. Could be the ideal solution.

Kevin: This is exactly what we were dreading. An unknown without Premier League experience. They understood what we needed to get back into the Premier League. It doesn't seem like they know how to keep us in it.

Andy: Who? Disappointed that it is not someone with Premier League experience but not surprised. Pleased if it is a short term contact for now and hope he has a magic wand as part of his skill set. I wish him luck.