Southampton manager Ivan Juric has left the club by mutual agreement, the club announced on Monday, April 7th, just a day after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed. The departure follows Southampton’s 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, which sealed their fate as the earliest relegation in Premier League history, occurring with seven matches still to play.
Juric, a former Croatia international, was appointed in December 2024, replacing Russell Martin with the club already in a difficult position. However, he was unable to engineer a turnaround, winning only two of his 16 matches in charge across all competitions and collecting just four league points.
“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,” Southampton said in a 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.”
The club thanked Juric and his staff for their “honesty and hard work as they fought against the odds to try and keep us up.”
First-team coach Simon Rusk will take over as interim manager, assisted by midfielder Adam Lallana. Rusk previously served as caretaker manager following Martin’s dismissal in December. Southampton confirmed the process to find a new permanent manager is already underway, stating the aim is to provide “clarity on the future” and “restore pride” despite the challenges of relegation.
Speaking after the defeat on Sunday, Juric had indicated a willingness to help the club fight for promotion back to the Premier League, stating he was “ready” but needed to discuss the club’s ideas. His departure, however, comes swiftly after relegation was mathematically confirmed. Southampton currently sit bottom of the Premier League with 10 points.
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