Southampton confirm appointment of Russell Martin replacement

Premier League strugglers Southampton have appointed former Roma boss Ivan Juric as Russell Martin’s permanent successor.

The Saints parted company with Martin in the immediate hours after suffering a 5-0 humiliation inflicted by Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s last Sunday. Interim manager Simon Rusk watched on as Southampton were only narrowly beaten 2-1 by Liverpool in the midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final, but a new head coach has now been unveiled.

“I’m very pleased,” Juric told Southampton’s official website upon his appointment. “I think it’s a really big challenge but I’m very optimistic because I saw a team that can do better.”

The 49-year-old Croatian has spent the entirety of his senior coaching career in Italy. After a very successful two-years spell at the helm of an under-funded Hellas Verona, Juric led Torino to three consecutive mid-table finishes. After parting ways with the Turin outfit over the summer, Juric lasted just eight league games in charge of Roma before he was replaced by Claudio Ranieri in November.

A heavy metal enthusiast who tries to replicate that intensity in his players, Juric will have plenty of work to do on the south coast. “It’s important to immediately be connected with the fans,” he said. “I want an aggressive team and I think that fans of Southampton will like that.”

Expanding on his preferred style of play, Juric explained: “I want us to be more aggressive, to do much more pressing and we have to be quick to change mentality because this is my idea of football.”

Interim boss Rusk is expected to remain at the helm for Southampton’s Premier League meeting with Fulham on Sunday lunchtime. Regardless of the weekend’s result, Juric will inherit an outfit rooted to the foot of the Premier League table.