London, April 7: Ivan Juric was fired by Southampton on Monday after the last-placed Premier League club was relegated – marking his second sacking of the season.
Simon Rusk was named Southampton’s interim manager and will be assisted by Adam Lallana.
In November Juric was also fired by Roma after being in charge of the Italian side for under two months, then hired by Southampton in December to replace Russell Martin. He had signed an 18-month contract with Southampton.
With just 10 points from 31 games, Southampton’s fate was sealed with a 3-1 loss to Tottenham on Sunday.
“We can confirm that we have today reached an agreement with our men’s first team anager, 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,” the club added. “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.” Southampton won only one of 14 Premier League matches under Juric and only two overall, with the other victory coming in the FA Cup.
It is the fourth-earliest relegation in the Premier League era, according to the league’s statistician Opta.
Juric, a Croatian, was coaching outside of Italy for the first time. He has also managed Mantova, Crotone, Genoa, Hellas Verona and Torino. (AP)
