Southampton’s New Manager Ivan Juric Expresses Confidence in Team’s Relegation Battle

Southampton’s newly appointed manager, Ivan Juric, has stated his belief that his squad possesses the capability to achieve “something exceptional” in their struggle to avoid relegation from the Premier League. As Christmas approaches, the Saints find themselves at the bottom of the league standings with six points, trailing Ipswich in 19th place by six points and sitting eight points away from a safe position. Historically, across 32 seasons of the Premier League, only four teams have managed to avoid relegation after being in the last place on December 25 – these were West Brom (2004-05), Sunderland (2013-14), Leicester (2014-15), and Wolves (2022-23), all of whom had accumulated 10 points by that stage. Juric commented on the challenge, saying, “It will be a very tough job and I know that in the history nobody stayed in the Premiership with this situation, but I think there are a lot of good players, and we have [to be] much better in some moments of the game.” He further expressed his optimism: “I am optimistic. I’m really optimistic. Even the other day, I saw their mentality and it’s the first step to doing better. I think we can do something exceptional. The guys have to be very motivated to do something that never, nobody did.” The Croatian coach, aged 49, who previously managed Genoa, Verona, and Roma for less than two months earlier this season, has signed an 18-month contract at St Mary’s. He observed Sunday’s goalless draw against Fulham from the stands while awaiting his work permit. Juric is scheduled to officially take charge of the team for the first time when Southampton hosts West Ham on Boxing Day. Reflecting on his new role, Juric remarked, “It was a little bit of a dream, the Southampton opportunity. I was thinking that life is short, I want to try new things and I want to travel to the other way of working, put myself in a difficult situation, and that’s it.” He conveyed his confidence in the players, stating, “They [the players] don’t know me but I know them. I said that I believe in them, they have quality, they can do it. Be positive, work hard, and everything is possible.” When questioned about reports linking his managerial style to his alleged preference for heavy metal music, Juric responded, “When I was young I liked death metal music a lot, and that’s something I think my style of football is like. Work hard, press hard, play good, be intense, all this stuff. I think (the players) can do it. They are young, they are positive, they want to work hard. It’s not easy to change the style immediately, but we have to be clever.”