Ivan Juric hails ‘incredible’ Southampton fans after record-breaking relegation

Ivan Juric paid tribute to Southampton’s “incredible” fan base for the love they showed after relegation from the Premier League in record-breaking fashion was confirmed at Tottenham.

Saints’ fate had felt inevitable for months, but a 2-1 victory for Wolves at Ipswich on Saturday opened up a 22-point gap to safety for the south coast club.

It meant Juric’s team required a draw or win in north London to delay the inevitable for at least another week, but Brennan Johnson’s first-half brace was followed by a stoppage-time penalty from Mathys Tel to ensure Mateus Fernandes’ late effort was a mere consolation.

Relegation with seven fixtures left gives Southampton an unwanted Premier League record as whilst Derby and Huddersfield – in 2008 and 2019 respectively – lost their survival battle in March, both had only six matches to go.

The Saints supporters at Spurs gave their relegated team plenty of applause at full-time in a show of defiance which left its mark on Juric.

“A new experience. I said to the players, they have to be really thankful they have fans like this. It was something incredible the way they love their team, their squad, even the players that we are relegated (with), incredible for me,” Juric explained.

“This one I can say is something incredible. They show love in this moment, it is great English culture, great Southampton culture, it is incredible.

“It is clear if your last two years in the Premier League, you don’t compete and are relegated too easy then it means there are huge problems in lots of situations.

“I think now is a really important moment to understand all the mistakes the club (made) in the last three or four years and start to create something really good because these fans deserve it.”

Juric