Exclusive: Southampton eye former Roma boss as Russell Martin replacement, he plays 'death metal' football
Martin was sacked on Sunday...
Former Roma coach Ivan Juric is a candidate to take over at Premier League strugglers Southampton but Erol Bulut is not an option following Russell Martin’s sacking.
- Exclusive from Graeme Bailey
As Russell Martin headed down the St Mary’s tunnel for the penultimate time on Sunday – mere moments before Tottenham Hotspur extended their first-half lead to 5-0 – there was a sense of inevitability about what would come next.
Southampton sacked Martin later that afternoon.
And while the former Swansea City coach will forever retain a place in the hearts of many supporters – it was he who masterminded that play-off final victory over Leeds United – Martin, wedded to his principles, appeared unwilling or unable to change a losing formula in the Premier League.
Southampton’s 13th defeat in 16 matches, Spurs running riot on the banks of the Solent, was another error-strewn performance beset with oh-so familiar failings.
The task now facing Sport Republic is to find a manager willing to take over a club already nine points adrift of safety.
Southampton eye Ivan Juric as potential Russell Martin replacement
Southampton is reportedly in talks with Danny Rohl, the Sheffield Wednesday boss. There have been surprising links with Erol Bulut back in his native Turkey.
Sources close to Southampton have told TBR, however, that a man sacked by Cardiff City in September is not a target.
The same cannot be said of Kasper Hjulmand or Ivan Juric, however.
TBR understands that Southampton would rather hire a coach currently out of work than risk paying a substantial fee – or waste weeks negotiating – for one already under contract elsewhere.
Hjulmand took Denmark to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 but left his post over the summer. Juric, meanwhile, lasted only 12 games in charge of Roma – winning four – before being replaced by a 73-year-old Claudio Ranieri.
In truth, Juric was on a hiding to nothing at the Stadio Olimpico. The Roma fans were already furious with the club’s owners for sacking Giallorossi legend Daniele de Rossi, and that frustration spilled over onto Juric following a poor start.
The 49-year-old Croatian is, however, a manager with plenty of admirers over in Italy. Juric has a reputation for creating teams greater than the sum of their parts. He led Hellas Verona to successive top-half finishes in 2020 and 2021 despite operating on one of Serie A’s smallest budgets. Hellas have consistently battled against relegation since he departed.
Juric’s Torino outfit also largely overachieved between 2021 and 2024. In fact, across Juric’s last five seasons in a Serie A dugout, he has not finished lower than tenth.
“For me, someone who coaches Torino, taking them from the relegation zone and bringing them close to the Europe, can coach anywhere,” Beppe Ursino, the former director who knows Juric from his time at Crotone, told Tuttomercatoweb.
“Juric is an exceptional person who cares about the team, the club and its players. Then, on the field, they have to do what he says. The same thing (Gian Piero) Gasperini.”
Ivan Juric has been compared to Atlanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini
Interestingly, Juric was linked with Southampton last year too, following Nathan Jones’ ill-judged tenure.
Often likened to Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini, Juric plays what The Guardian described back in 2022 as ‘death metal’ football. Highly aggressive, reliant upon serious energy levels and running power, with an extra emphasis placed on winning individual duels.
In that sense, Juric could potentially bring back to Southampton the crash-and-bang style they enjoyed early in the Ralph Hasenhuttl era.
“If you play in your role you can express yourself for who you are. The coach told me that, in Milan, it was not clear what I really was, despite my best efforts,” Fabio Borini once said, the former Liverpool, Chelsea and Hellas Verona forward one of many to play the best football of their carers under Juric, via TMW.
“[Juric] manages to give you the right spirit.”
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