Premier League strugglers Southampton have appointed former Roma manager Ivan Juric as Russell Martin’s permanent successor.
The Saints parted ways with Martà in the immediate hours after suffering a 5-0 humiliation by Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s last Sunday. Interim manager Simon Rusk saw Southampton come up just short defeated 2-1 by Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup in midweek, but a new manager has now been announced.
“I’m very happy,” Juric told Southampton’s official website after his appointment. “I think it’s a very big challenge, but I’m very optimistic because I saw a team that can do better.”
The 49-year-old Croatian has spent his entire senior coaching career in Italy. After a highly successful two-year spell in charge of a cash-strapped Hellas Verona, Juric led Torino to three consecutive mid-table finishes. After parting ways with the Torino side in the summer, Juric lasted just eight league games in charge of Rome before being replaced by Claudio Ranieri in November.
A heavy metal enthusiast who tries to reproduce that intensity in his players, Juric will have a lot of work to do on the South Coast. “It’s important to be immediately connected to the fans,” he said. “I want an aggressive team and I think the Southampton fans will like that.”
Expanding on his preferred style of play, Juric explained: “I want us to be more aggressive, to press a lot more and we have to be quick to change our mentality because that’s my idea of ​​football.”
Interim Chief Rusk is expected to remain in charge SouthamptonPremier League meeting with Fulham on Sunday lunchtime. Regardless of the weekend’s outcome, Juric will inherit an outfit rooted at the feet of the Premier League table.
