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(Reuters) -Manager Ivan Juric has left Southampton a day after the team's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed in a 3-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur, the club said on Monday.
Former Croatia international Juric was appointed in December after Southampton's poor start to the season, but failed to turn things around as the club suffered the earliest relegation in Premier League history with seven matches to spare.
"We can confirm that we have today reached an agreement with our men's first team manager, Ivan Juric, to end his spell at the club," Southampton said in a statement.
"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."
Juric won only two of his 16 matches in charge in all competitions and picked up four points in the league as Southampton sit bottom of the standings with 10 points.
First team coach Simon Rusk will take over as interim manager, Southampton said. Rusk had also been the caretaker manager after former boss Russell Martin was sacked on December 15 following a 5-0 thrashing by Spurs at home.
Rusk will be assisted by midfielder Adam Lallana, with the process to find a new manager already underway, the club added.
Juric, who was appointed on an 18-month contract, told reporters on Sunday he was ready to help the club find their way back to the top flight if possible.
"It's really good to be a coach in the Premier League and if I took the long way to come back here, I am ready," he said.
"Then I have to see with the club, with the ideas, with everything, and what they think, what I think and whether we can do it or not."
Southampton said their aim was to restore pride to the club despite the challenges relegation will bring.
"We believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer," they added.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra and Christian Radnedge)
