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Ivan Juric speaks out on his time at Southampton as he quickly finds a new club to manage

Ivan Juric speaks out on his time at relegated Premier League side Southampton as he quickly finds a new club to manage.

In April, Southampton issued a statement to say that Juric has left the club following the team’s relegation from the Premier League.

The club’s parting with the Croatian came after Saints’ relegation following their 3-1 defeat to Tottenham, a return to the Championship being the earliest in history with seven games of the season still remaining.

Juric’s time in charge saw him pick up only one win in 14 league games. Now he’s in charge at Serie A side Atalanta.

A Southampton statement on Ivan Juric’s departure read: “Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation.

“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.

“With relegation to the Championship now confirmed, we believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer.”

Ivan Juric described Southampton’s relegation as a “difficult day”.

Should he depart today as expected, this interview will have been his last to the BBC as Southampton’s head coach.

Speaking to MOTD2, he added: “It’s a difficult day, a tough day but I see the fans, how they love their players and their team. It’s something incredible. This experience has to serve to create something stronger than this.

“We played better in the second half and I want to see that second-half performance in the next seven games.”

On what progress he is looking to see: “Now it is important to think about the next game and then we will see everything.”

During in his first press conference when unveiled at Atalanta, Juric said: “(It was) a negative year on a sporting level, but a fantastic one in terms of learning experience. I feel much stronger than I was a year ago.

“I worked with great players at Roma, appreciated the Premier League at Southampton, so they were positive for my growth as a coach.

“People who are in the club, who know how to work. I saw really beautiful things. In the Premier League, I also remember the level of the players, (it’s) very high.

“I think two negative experiences on the one hand, and on the other, (it was) very positive for me and my growth.”

“These were two situations where I took over with the season already started under very different coaching methods. It is fundamental for my work to start from pre-season.

“I will say that Southampton used statistics and work on set plays far more than I was accustomed to, so I want to do more in that area.”

He said after relegation: “We know it’s a tough moment, a bad moment,. “But in another way I think the future of Southampton will be great, with the fans.

“We are relegated but they have showed a lot to their club, to the players they have, and I think it has to be really motivating for everybody to create something really good – much stronger than we created this year.

“I arrived from another world – Italy, Spain, Croatia – it’s completely the other mentality. It’s something great, respect. Our fans, all this season, a bad season, they were exceptional.

“We are disappointed. It has to be a big school for everything – for us, for me, for the players, for the club – to see what we did wrong.

“What went wrong? Did we give everything that we can in this one year, or can we do some things better? It has to be a big school for everybody.”

“In the first half when we played more of a low block then you have other types of problem,” he said. “They (Spurs) cannot create big chances but they create lots of situations, like set-pieces, and if you are physically not strong you suffer.

“Second half was the football I like. We pressed much more, we controlled the game, created chances, scored the goal. Second half I think was really good.

“I don’t want to be the worst team in Premier League history. This is our goal; from the next match, we have to prepare this.”

‘Recruitment is everything in football,’ said Juric.

‘We have a lot of talented young players, but with not many games in the Premier League. What I noticed most in three or four months here is the completely different physicality between us and the other teams in the league.

On Saints fans: ‘The fans deserve more. Every person that works at Southampton has to do better and create something stronger.

‘The love they show is incredible.

‘They deserve more. Every person that works at Southampton has to do better and create something stronger.’

After Southampton’s relegation was confirmed, Ivan Juric said: “The goal has to be that, to avoid being the worst team in Premier League history.

“I am manager of Southampton and it is easy to say, ‘now I want to go’ – we have to keep working. We owe that to our fans and this is our goal.

“It is really good to be a coach in the Premier League and if I took the long way to come back here, I am ready.”

“I think it’s a really big challenge but I’m very optimistic because I saw a team that can do better,” said Juric when he was appointed.

“It’s important to immediately be connected with the fans. I want an aggressive team and I think that fans of Southampton will like that.”

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