Southampton have parted ways with manager Ivan Juric following the club’s relegation from the Premier League, the team announced on Monday.
The decision came after Southampton’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday condemned them to relegation in record time.
Juric, who took charge in December after Russell Martin’s dismissal, faced an uphill battle as the team was already in deep trouble.
However, the 49-year-old won just one league match—against Ipswich in February—during his tenure, with Southampton losing 25 of their 31 top-flight games.
The club’s relegation with seven matches still remaining is a new Premier League record, surpassing the previous early demotions of Derby and Huddersfield, who were relegated with six games left in 2008 and 2019, respectively.
In the wake of Juric’s departure, Simon Rusk will take over as interim manager for the remainder of the season, with former player Adam Lallana assisting him.
Southampton expressed gratitude to Juric and his staff for their efforts despite the team’s struggles.
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A club statement read, “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.
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 statement continued, “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.”