ADAM LALLANA has been given the unusual role of player-assistant coach after Ivan Juric’s Southampton axe.
The Saints fired the Croatian on Monday following relegation from the Premier League.
Adam Lallana will be Southampton’s player-assistant for the rest of the season[/caption]
The 36-year-old made an emotional return to St Mary’s last summer[/caption]
Southampton came up through last season’s Championship playoffs, beating Leeds in the final.
But they have endured a miserable return to the top flight, sacking Russell Martin in December.
Juric was brought in to steady the ship, but Southampton have mustered a pitiful 10 points from 31 games.
Following Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Tottenham, they became the earliest team ever to be relegated from England’s top flight.
Assistant coach Simon Rusk will now take charge of the team until the end of the season.
And former England midfielder Lallana has bagged a role as his No2.
Lallana returned to St Mary’s on a one-year contract as a free agent last summer.
The 36-year-old came through the academy at Saints and played over 260 times between 2006 and 2014.
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He has featured in 18 games across all competitions this season.
Rusk and Lallana will be in the dugout for this weekend’s visit of Aston Villa.
Juric leaves the Saints after just 2 wins from his 16 games in charge.
He goes down as statistically the worst boss ever in the Premier League.
A statement from the club read: “Ivan came to Southampton at a tough time and was tasked with trying to improve a squad in a difficult situation.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t seen performances progress the way we had hoped, but we would like to thank Ivan and his staff for their honesty and hard work as they fought against the odds to try and keep us up.
“With relegation now confirmed, we believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer.
“The process of finding a new manager to lead us as we look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League has now begun and is being led by Group Technical Director Johannes Spors.
“We remain incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of our fans.
“Their continued dedication and passion, despite what has been a very tough season, is remarkable and is appreciated by everyone at the club.”
