Southampton Football Club has confirmed the departure of their Men's First Team Manager, Ivan Juric, following the club's relegation from the Premier League. The announcement marks the end of a brief and challenging tenure for the Croatian manager, who took charge at St Mary's in December.

"We can confirm that we have today reached an agreement with our Men's First Team Manager, Ivan Jurić, to end his spell at the club," the club stated on its website. "Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation."

Juric's appointment followed the sacking of Russell Martin, with the hope that he could steer the team away from the relegation zone. However, the team's performances did not improve as anticipated, and their fate was sealed with a 3-1 away loss to Tottenham. This defeat confirmed Southampton's relegation with seven games still to play, making them the earliest team ever to be relegated from the Premier League.

"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," the club added.

Juric's tenure lasted just 108 days, during which he managed only one win in 14 games, a 2-1 victory over fellow strugglers Ipswich on 1 February. The team remained at the bottom of the Premier League table throughout his time in charge.

The club has announced that Simon Rusk will take charge of the team as Interim Manager for the remaining seven fixtures of the season, assisted by Adam Lallana. The search for a permanent replacement is being led by Group Technical Director Johannes Spors.

"The process of finding a new manager to lead us as we look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League has now begun and is being led by Group Technical Director Johannes Spors," the club confirmed.

Sky Sports News' Paul Gilmour noted, "After 108 days and 16 matches in charge in all competitions and just two wins - and one of those was in the FA Cup - and 13 defeats, we have learned the inevitable that Ivan Juric and his staff have left Southampton with immediate effect."

Laura Hunter of Sky Sports commented on the broader issues at the club, stating, "Juric simply represents one of a number of poor decisions taken by the club's ownership group Sport Republic since their takeover in 2022. Lots of square pegs in round holes with very little coherent thinking."

Despite the disappointing season, Juric expressed his gratitude to Southampton's fans following the defeat at Spurs. "I said to the players they have to be really thankful that they had fans like this, it was something incredible how they love their team," he said.

Looking ahead, Southampton faces a challenging run of fixtures, including matches against Aston Villa, West Ham, Fulham, Leicester, Manchester City, Everton, and Arsenal, before dropping back into the Championship.