Juric must now finally ditch Southampton dud who Martin said was a “leader”

Southampton supporters will be praying that the appointment of Ivan Juric turns out to be an inspired one after the awful end to Russell Martin’s reign at St. Mary’s.

The sorry Saints are sat rock bottom of the Premier League on just six points, having leaked a disastrous 36 goals along the way, but there were plenty of positives to take away from their goalless outing to Fulham last match in the division.

Whilst Juric watched on from the stands at Craven Cottage, his new side battled well to pick up a share of the points, with a large portion of the Saints defenders presumably impressing the Croat.

Standout Southampton defenders vs Fulham

Interim Southampton boss Simon Rusk would have been overjoyed to have Aaron Ramsdale back at his disposal against the Cottagers, with the ex-Arsenal goalkeeper having to stay alert throughout to pick up a clean sheet.

By the close of the 90 minutes, Ramsdale had impressively made five saves, all while still recovering from a broken finger, which no doubt helped the defenders in front of him feel more secure about grinding out a point.

Still, the likes of Jan Bednarek and Nathan Wood deserve credit too for the game finishing goalless, as both centre-backs on the day combined to win ten total duels, with Wood’s performance notably impressive considering this was only his third start in the top-flight.

Juric will believe he can get a tune out of his new troops based on their valiant showing in West London, therefore, but there will also be a handful of players he will be less inclined to give opportunities to when properly introduced into the Saints hot-seat, which must include a suspended Jack Stephens.

Jack Stephens’ future under Juric

With his contract expiring next summer, Stephens will be very anxious about whether he will be kept around at St. Mary’s or not, with Wood and Co far more likely to make Juric’s early lineups in defence than the ropey 30-year-old.

Worryingly, Stephens has managed to pick up two red cards this season in the top flight but has zero clean sheets next to his name, as the Southampton captain looks way out of his depth attempting to acclimatise back to the harsh demands of the Premier League.

Unfortunately for the loyal Saints servant, Juric’s fresh ideas coming into the building – alongside the impressive defensive performance away at Fulham – could mean he’s let go of very soon, despite tallying up 191 games for the club since joining in 2011.

Russell Martin was rather fond of Stephens, labelling him as a “leader” figure for his camp last summer when signing a new deal at the club.

“I love Jack as a character and as a player. An incredible character, a real leader and brave. Really brave. To take the ball, to want the ball, to set the team up, a platform to build off, but also brave in the way he defends and he’s just himself. I really like him and am loving working with him.”

That said, Juric will know he has to make the right decisions for his team in the here and now as the South Coast side somehow attempts to fend off relegation.

Whilst his passing numbers above will also have suited Martin’s regimented philosophy of always playing out from the back, the new Southampton boss will want his defenders to be far as imposing and resolute as they were against Fulham for the rest of the challenging campaign, with Stephens winning a lacklustre 2.2 duels on average this season in the league not quite cutting it.

It will be a sad severing of the ties if the 30-year-old is let go next year, but if the likes of Wood, Bednarek and Harwood-Bellis continue to pick up clean sheets, the experienced head of Stephens hasn’t really got a spot to call his own anymore in the centre-back spaces.