“We need to steer clear of that record” – how things went south for the relegated Saints.
The inevitable has been confirmed.
Southampton’s 3-1 loss to Tottenham sealed what had been expected for some time: they will be relegated to the Championship next season.
Ivan Juric’s side has become the first Premier League team to go down with seven matches still to play.
With only two more points needed to avoid setting the record for the worst-ever Premier League team (currently held by Derby County’s 2007-08 squad), Southampton faces an uphill battle. Fourth-bottom Wolves are now 12 points clear, and the Saints look set to be joined in the second tier by Leicester and Ipswich. These three teams will need to gain 19 more points to avoid having the worst bottom three in Premier League history.
While their relegation is confirmed, what happens next is still up in the air—most notably the future of manager Juric, whose 18-month contract reportedly includes a break clause.
“We will see everything now,” Juric said when asked about talks regarding his future. “We are focused only on the games. We’ll see what everyone thinks, what I think. The fans deserve much more, and we need to acknowledge our mistakes and build something stronger from this.”
How Bad Has This Season Been?
Southampton’s season has been a disaster from the start. They lost eight of their opening nine games and, after 23 matches, had just one win to show for their efforts.
Juric replaced Russell Martin in December but could only oversee six consecutive losses and just one win in his first 14 games in charge.
When Juric took over, the Saints were nine points adrift of safety. Now, with just 10 points, they are 22 points behind Wolves, who defeated third-bottom Ipswich on Saturday.
In total, Southampton has collected just five points under Martin, one under interim boss Simon Rusk, and four during Juric’s tenure.
With 25 losses in their first 31 games, Southampton has joined Sunderland (2005-06) and Sheffield United (2020-21) as the only teams to suffer such a fate. They have also conceded the most goals in the league (74) and scored the fewest (23) in all four divisions of English football.
They have matched Derby County’s 10 points after 31 games in the 2007-08 season—still the worst record in Premier League history—but with just seven games left, Southampton could still break that mark.
“We have to avoid that record,” Juric said. “We will do our best. It cannot happen.”
Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale echoed those sentiments, adding, “We want to get as many points as possible before the season ends. No one wants that record, and we’ll fight to get more points on the board.”
This marks Ramsdale’s third relegation in his career, having gone down with Bournemouth in 2019-20 and Sheffield United in 2020-21.
“Some players are experiencing relegation for the first time, so there will be a lot of emotions for them in the coming days,” he said. “For those of us who’ve been through it before, we’ve got to help the younger lads. This group did amazing things last season. Nobody’s going to jump ship with seven games left. We’re tight, and we’ve just got to pull each other through now.”
Saints captain Jan Bednarek was also candid about the situation: “We can’t change the past. The only thing we can do in the last seven games is enjoy being in the Premier League. We need to improve as players and as a club. Hopefully, we will build something strong. The best part is that we can learn, work hard, and improve.”
The Fall Began Long Before Relegation
Many at St Mary’s felt the writing was on the wall in the summer. The squad was weaker than the one that secured promotion via the Championship play-offs, and frustrations mounted with the club’s ownership.
Chief Executive Phil Parsons, who joined in July 2023 from Dyson, lacked experience in football, and the club struggled to act swiftly in the transfer market. The absence of an experienced sporting director following Jason Wilcox’s departure to Manchester United left a gaping hole in the club’s structure and decision-making process.
Despite renewed interest in Fabio Carvalho, having missed out on him to Hull the previous season, Southampton failed to secure key targets like Liam Delap, Jack Clarke, Flynn Downes, and Matt O’Riley—all of whom were snapped up by other clubs, while the Saints were left scrambling.
In came Ben Brereton-Diaz, Ronnie Edwards, Nathan Wood, Charlie Taylor, Cameron Archer, and Ryan Fraser, but by January, some of these signings were already being circulated to Championship clubs for loan. Edwards and Brereton-Diaz went to QPR and Sheffield United, respectively, while Taylor, signed on a free transfer from Burnley, has played just 56 minutes since October. Maxwel Cornet was loaned from West Ham but only managed 71 minutes in the league before returning to London in January.
The club also triggered Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ £20m transfer from Manchester City but is expected to part ways with him in the summer.
As if the season hadn’t been difficult enough, Southampton’s head of recruitment, Darren Mowbray, left the club in April. However, sources have confirmed that there were no issues with the players he had recommended.
It’s been a chaotic year for Southampton, and though relegation is now confirmed, the club has much work to do to rebuild for the future.
