Saints Possess Potential for ‘Exceptional Turnaround’ in Relegation Battle
In a determined assertion, Southampton‘s recently appointed manager, Ivan Juric, boldly claims that his squad possesses the potential for “something exceptional” as they embark on a crucial battle against relegation from the Premier League.
With the Saints languishing at the foot of the table as Christmas approaches—clinging to a meager six points—Juric faces a daunting challenge to steer his team away from the abyss, sitting a sobering six points behind Ipswich in 19th and a daunting eight points adrift of safety.
To compound matters, history weighs heavily on Southampton’s shoulders; in the annals of Premier League lore, only four teams have ever escaped from such a precarious position on December 25 over the past 32 seasons. West Brom (2004-05), Sunderland (2013-14), Leicester (2014-15), and Wolves (2022-23) were all better off with 10 points at the same juncture.
Juric candidly acknowledges the challenge ahead: “It will be a very tough job and I know that in the history nobody stayed in the Premiership with this situation, but I think there are a lot of good players, and we have [to be] much better in some moments of the game.”
However, there’s no room for despair in his mindset; “I am optimistic. I’m really optimistic. Even the other day, I saw their mentality and it’s the first step to doing better. I think we can do something exceptional. The guys have to be very motivated to do something that never, nobody did.”
Having penned an 18-month contract at St Mary’s, Juric, who has previously left his mark at Genoa, Verona, and Roma, sat in the stands to observe the goalless draw with Fulham, patiently awaiting the paperwork to finalize his work permit.
He will take the reins for the first time in a high-stakes encounter against West Ham on Boxing Day. “It was a little bit of a dream, the Southampton opportunity,” he reflected. “I was thinking that life is short, I want to try new things and I want to travel to the other way of working, put myself in a difficult situation, and that’s it.”
Confident in his squad, Juric asserts: “They [the players] don’t know me but I know them. I said that I believe in them, they have quality, they can do it. Be positive, work hard, and everything is possible.”
When asked if his fondness for heavy metal music parallels his tactical philosophy, Juric replied with a smile: “When I was young I liked death metal music a lot, and that’s something I think my style of football is like.”
He elaborated: “Work hard, press hard, play good, be intense, all this stuff. I think (the players) can do it. They are young, they are positive, they want to work hard. It’s not easy to change the style immediately, but we have to be clever.”
