Premier League strugglers Southampton have appointed former Roma boss Ivan Juric as Russell Martin's permanent successor.
Saints shared 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 looked on as Southampton narrowly missed out beaten 2-1 by Liverpool in the midweek Carabao Cup quarter-finals, but now a new manager has been revealed.
“I am very pleased,” Juric told Southampton's official website after 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 his entire career as a coach in Italy. After a highly successful two-year spell in charge of a cash-strapped Hellas Verona, Juric guided 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 ROMA before being replaced by Claudio Ranieri in November.
A heavy metal enthusiast who strives to replicate that intensity in his players, Juric will have plenty of work to do on the south coast. “It is important to immediately connect with 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, press a lot more and we have to be quick to change mentality because that's my idea of football.”
Interim Chief Rusk is expected to remain in charge for a long time SouthamptonPremier League clash with Fulham on Sunday lunchtime. Regardless of the weekend's result, Juric will inherit an outfit rooted at his feet Premier League table.