Southampton currently find themselves rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with just six points from the 18 matches they’ve played so far this season.
Ivan Jurić was recently brought in with the very big ask of trying to save the club from relegation to the Championship, although there are many who feel that is an impossible task given the situation the Saints find themselves in.
Ivan Golac had two spells at Southampton.
Initially, he played for the club from 1978 to 1983 and then was briefly permanently transferred to Belasica before returning and staying until 1986.
Ahead of Southampton’s match against Crystal Palace on Sunday, Golac has been speaking to Croatian newspaper Večernji List and shared the big concerns he has for his former club.
Golac believes Southampton have been somewhat run into the ground and it’s off the field decisions which have hampered the club and seen the situation the Saints currently face develop.
Večernji list quote the 74-year-old as saying: “Southampton has been managed quite poorly in recent years, and has always been known as one of the most stable and high-quality clubs in England.
“I don’t see where they can take a point in the next games. Southampton has completed its Premier League mission. This is a club that used to have a wonderful family atmosphere and traditionally played beautiful football. We used to be the most influential team in the league, we beat the strongest opponents. However, due to poor professional leadership, the club has found itself in a truly unprecedented and terrifying situation. And I have been following English football for fifty years.”
Golac didn’t hold back with his criticism of how the club has been run recently, and went on to say: “It is unbelievable to me that they kept a coach who lost so many games for so long. According to common sense, they should have sacked him sooner and tried someone else. I don’t know Jurić – although I know who he is – just as I don’t personally know the owner of Southampton. I only know that he is from Kragujevac. And now, those who understand football a little better – it is clear to them that Southampton is heading towards the abyss and that there is no escape. I, for one, don’t see where they can take a point in the next games.
“Southampton finished their Premier League mission a few months ago and Jurić really has a very difficult job. These are situations in which you can only be embarrassed as a coach. Nothing can be done with such a sports policy.”
