According to one of the national journalists who are close to Southampton Football Club, the first steps have been taken towards reversing the appointment of Ivan Juric, this will please many Saints supporters.

footballfancast.com is reporting the words of TalkSport's Alex Crook, a man who has worked on the South Coast and has close connections to both Southampton & Portsmouth.

Crook is quoted as saying:

"I would be amazed if he's still the Southampton manager for the start of next season. They've already appointed Simon Rusk as a more senior member of management. I think that could be the first step towards Ivan Juric being forced out of the club. And I think it's a disastrous appointment.

"He's playing an attacking midfielder in Joe Aribo as centre-half when he's got better centre-backs on the bench. Tyler Dibling is clearly their most talented outfield player.

"His confidence has absolutely gone through the floor since Juric - who is a bit of an old school disciplinarian manager - came in. I think Sport Republic have made a right shambles of it, to be honest."

Interesting words and ones reflecting the opinion of many Southampton supporters, who feel that Juric has not got the best of the squad, has upset key players and perhaps more worryingly seems to think it can be solved by shuffling players into positions that they don't normally play in.

The appointment of Rusk to the first team coaching staff, can be seen as as a step forward, in that it is preparing the ground for the departure of Juric, when it will also see the coaches that he brought to the club also leaving.

Rusk is not going to be seen as his replacement, but should Saints make the decision sooner than later, ie before the end of the season, then they will still have coaches in place to keep the training sessions going.

It would be highly surprising if Juric survives to the end of the season, the likelihood is that he will be put on gardening leave until Saints can instigate the break clause in place.

The hope is that the arrival of Johannes Sporrs to the club will bring the leadership that the club has lacked since Jason Wilcox left almost a year ago and that now we can move forward again.

All Photos Via Reuters

allsaint54 added 21:13 - Feb 27 Please no rumours, just say he's been sacked
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Bowlercow added 21:48 - Feb 27 He's the worst appointment since Nathan Jones Was Kraft responsible for his appointment ? Was Kraft responsible for Spors appointment?
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saintmark1976 added 22:18 - Feb 27 So, if he goes it’s because exactly the same as Russell Martin, he was asked by Sports Republic to do the impossible and keep a team of Championship players and football journeymen in the toughest league in the world. How long is it going to take for supporters to realise where the blame truly lies ? It rests full square with our owners choice in appointing employees at all levels who haven’t the faintest idea of how to run a bath or get home on a dark night,let alone manage a professional football club.

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Colburn added 22:19 - Feb 27 I didn’t blame Juric, just the wrong time to bring someone with his style in. He may well be a good manager with the right players but as with Amorim at Utd, who’s team in Lisbon was on fire using virtually the same set up as Juric, he has struggled to be able to implement his style without a couple of windows to change players. Again I blame the inept board for bringing him in when they haven’t got the players for his style and haven’t backed him in the window whatsoever. This guy Crook is just giving his opinion which means little so the ball hasn’t started rolling. The announcement of Rusks new role could have been done a month ago as he has already been working in this position for a while so this is a clutch at a weak straw to link it to the Juric sack. That said it wouldn’t surprise me if he does go irrespective of the Rusk announcement. We are the filling in a PSG sandwich for Liverpool next week followed by the cup final so Liverpool might rest a few against us which will help Juric in his next match but if we get stuffed up there by their second string then I can see damage to season ticket sales if he remains.

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Block8 added 10:07 - Feb 28 We've shipped 29 goals in 10 games it's time for him to go. We need to get someone in to prepare for next season now, start looking at who is staying and build a team around them. Our current tactics and deployment of players is dragging confidence, both on and off the pitch, to an all time low. Come on SR, it's difficult to admit to mistakes but surely it is not in your interests to fail as badly as you are and if things remain like this we are league one bound!

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StillaSaint added 10:22 - Feb 28 We need a change in manager now . As said above to build some confidence back up and prepare for the championship . I don't agree that all we have is championship players . We do have a few but most are capable of prem football . Just the confidence has been knocked out of them . Remember these are young men still . A good manager would build them up . They would perform better . Its now the system the manager is using . Everyone looks confused . I'm confused as to why he is here in the first place. As said above his style doesn't suit the players we have . I am in pain watching my beloved team these days . We need change NOW

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underweststand added 11:34 - Feb 28 Is it really all Juric's fault . He inherited a squad, weaned on slow-motion "Russ ball" and a squad that isn't able to compete at the highest level, and which we all saw that early on. Yet the same might also be said of the other two promoted sides who we will compete against next season - back down in the Championship. The "skill gap" between the two leagues has widened in the last 4-5 years, and both with hindsight both Bournemouth and Forest can count themselves lucky that they survived their first seasons back up and have seemingly weathered the storm. With less than a dozen games left, perhaps the recent promotion of Simon Rush (?) to the first team group is a signal that he might try for the rest of the season and we give Juric gardening leave?. Time will tell, but there isn't much of that left.

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mascott514 added 12:10 - Feb 28 Not worth wasting time and effort sacking him. All efforts on next seasons boss and approach.
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saint901 added 14:12 - Feb 28 Almost certainly P45 material as soon as we're mathematically relegated. We then need a close working relationship between whomever can spot Champ talent; money; manager.
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