Southampton have made it official — Ivan Juric is the new manager tasked with leading Saints out of the relegation picture.
Juric, 49, takes over for Russell Martin following the admired manager’s free-flowing but mistake-prone possession era following promotion from the Championship.
Saints U21 manager Simon Rusk is expected to be in the dugout on Sunday when Southampton meet Fulham. The Saints then will tangle with face West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brentford over the busy festive period.
WATCH —Fulham vs Southampton at 9am ET Sunday
This has to be where Saints get a foothold. They are nine points off 17th-place Leicester City at the moment, holding a Premier League-worst minus-25 goal differential.
That doesn’t mean safety in defense, however, as Juric wants to defend from the front.
“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,” Juric said.
Juric earned five caps for Croatia as a player in a career that took him for Hajduk Split and Sevilla to Italy.
He’s since managed six Italian teams including three stops at Genoa, three seasons at Torino, and most recently a very short 12-match stop at AS Roma.
Ivan Juric excited to take reins at St. Mary’s
Juric will be expecting a longer stay on the South Coast than his last stop, and the former Croatia international has penned an 18-month deal at St. Mary’s.
“I’m very pleased,” Juric said, via Saints’ official site. “I think it’s a really big challenge but I’m very optimistic because I saw a team that can do better.
“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.”
Southampton fans would take just about anything that provides some hope to their table status, and Juric is tasked with cleaning up a 20th-place campaign that led Saints to say, “The reality of our situation in clear” when they announced the removal of Martin last week.