Saints can achieve 'something exceptional' in relegation battle, says Juric
Southampton's new boss Ivan Juric is relishing the chance of managing in the Premier League, and believes he can pull off a great escape.
Ivan Juric insists Southampton can survive Premier League relegation after he replaced Russell Martin as the club's manager earlier this week.
Juric started the campaign in charge of Serie A side Roma, but was sacked after just 12 games in charge, having won just four games in all competitions (D3 L5).
The Croatian, who has signed an 18-month contract at St Mary's, was in the stands for Sunday's goalless draw with Fulham while awaiting a work permit.
That point kept Saints bottom of the Premier League with just six points from their opening 17 fixtures, winning just once this season against Everton at the start of November.
Southampton have also failed to score in any of their last three Premier League games, though they did record just their second clean sheet of the season against Fulham.
Saints haven’t had a longer run without a league goal since a run of five games between September and October 2018, with West Ham Juric's first assignment on Boxing Day.
However, he remains optimistic about keeping Southampton in the top-flight this season, but acknowledged the task that lies ahead of him.
"It will be a very tough job and I know that nobody in history has stayed in the league in this situation, but I am optimistic," he said at today's unveiling.
"Even the other day, I saw the mentality and this is the first step to doing better. I think we can do something exceptional, but the players have to be very motivated to do something that has never been done before.
"I use a high pressure style and what I want from my team is to be very competitive and solid, but the first thing I want is to be competitive every game."