Looking back on Ivan Juric’s disastrous season after Southampton exit

Southampton goes down to the Championship and Ivan Juric is sacked. The Saints brought the former Roma and Torino manager in December to save them from relegation but he failed to live up to the expectations.

La Gazzetta dello Sport looks back on the numbers of Juric’s turbulent season with Southampton this season as the Southcoast side was consigned the earliest exit in Premier League history, with eight games still to go.

Juric was appointed as the head coach of Southampton on an 18-month contract after Russell Martin’s sacking last year. However, the Croatian just won two of the 16 matches he was in charge of. The 3-1 loss to Tottenham yesterday sealed the fate of the rock-bottom team as they are now set to make their appearance in the Championship next campaign.

This was Juric’s first experience in the English top-flight and he could not make it work as intended, ultimately falling prey to the dynamic and competitive nature of the league. 

Juric’s first of the two wins came in the FA Cup against Swansea City, who are having a mediocre season in the second flight and the second one came against dropzone dwellers Ipswich Town in February. Southampton never looked competent enough to mastermind a late survival, and they are now on course to become the worst Premier League team ever with just ten points on the board. 

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN