Southampton terminated manager Ivan Juric following their relegation from the Premier League, the club announced on Monday.
Southampton were relegated in record time after losing 3-1 at Tottenham on Sunday.
Juric’s bottom-of-the-table squad has lost 25 of their 31 top-flight games in a disastrous season.
Southampton, last season’s Championship play-off winners, now have an unwanted Premier League record, surpassing Derby and Huddersfield’s relegations with six games left in 2008 and 2019, respectively.
Juric took over from Russell Martin in December, when Southampton was already in difficulty, but the 49-year-old won only one league game, against Ipswich in February.
Saints have lost seven of their last eight league games.
Simon Rusk will take over as temporary manager for the balance of the season, with Adam Lallana assisting him.
“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,” according to a statement from Southampton.
“Ivan joined Southampton during a difficult period and was tasked with trying to strengthen a struggling squad.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t seen performances grow as we had
hoped, but we’d want to thank Ivan and his colleagues for their honesty and hard work in fighting against the odds to keep us going.”
The Saints statement went on to say, “With relegation to the Championship now guaranteed, we believe it is imperative to provide fans, players, and staff with some certainty on the future as we enter a critical summer.
“We are tremendously appreciative for our fans’ continuing support. Their sustained dedication and passion, despite a difficult season, is admirable and appreciated by everyone at the club.
“Despite the challenges that relegation will bring, our goal is to restore a sense of pride for them in their team and club once again.”
Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl, who previously worked at Southampton as assistant to Ralph Hasenhuttl, has been tipped to succeed Juric. German boss Rohl was a Saints target before the Croatian’s appointment at St Mary’s, while former Hull manager Liam Rosenior has been linked to the vacancy at Southampton following an impressive first season with French Ligue 1 club Strasbourg. Basement club Southampton are next in action at home to in-form Aston Villa on Saturday.
