•Southampton boss Ivan Juric
Southampton manager Ivan Juric has challenged his beleaguered players to prove they are not the worst team in Premier League history as they brace for an immediate return to the Championship.
Saints, who host FA Cup semi-finalists Crystal Palace on Wednesday, have collected a miserable nine points from their 29 games so far, reports AFP.
Rock bottom of the table, they are a whopping 17 points from safety, with just two wins all season.
The south-coast side are in danger of mustering fewer points than Derby’s total of 11 in 2007/08.
Relegation to the second tier looms but Juric, who replaced Russell Martin as manager in December, expects total commitment over the Saints’ final nine games.
“The team has to be competing and try to do our best. We have to be really motivated,” the 49-year-old Croatian said today.
“I don’t want it to be that we are the worst team in the history of Premier League. If we can be not the last on the table, we have to do our best, so in this moment, this is our goal.”
Juric’s own future remains uncertain even though he was given an 18-month deal.
The former Torino and Roma boss said he was focused on immediate challenges.
“I think if you want to create something, you have to have people with a strong idea, knowing what they want and start to build up something, start to create something,” he said.
“Sometimes, though, you come to try to do it best with the players you have.”
Barring a major surprise, Leicester and Ipswich, who were also promoted last year, are also heading straight back down to the Championship.
