- Southampton suffered defeat by Tottenham which sealed their relegation
- No team, until the Saints, had been relegated from the league after 31 games
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Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League after just 31 games – a new record.
Tottenham hammered the nail into the coffin with a 3-1 win over the Saints in north London on Sunday afternoon – thanks to a brace from Brennan Johnson.
It means the Saints make an immediate and abject return to the Championship less than 11 months after they sealed promotion via the play-offs over Leeds at Wembley.
In truth Southampton have never looked like staying up – they only collected one point in their first nine games and have won just two Premier League matches all season.
They have conceded the most and scored the fewest of any team in the division, and could yet record the worst season in Premier League history unless they surpass Derby County‘s total of 11 points from 2007-08.
Derby and Huddersfield hold the joint record for the quickest relegation after 32 games each.
Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League at the first time of asking
The Saints have set a new record for the earliest relegation after just 31 matches
Their 2-0 defeat by Tottenham on Sunday confirmed the Saints’ return to the Championship
After Russell Martin failed to eek any productivity out of his passing style, Southampton appointed Ivan Juric in December, but the old hand from Serie A has failed to inspire a turnaround.
Juric has managed an abysmal four points from 14 games, with their only win under him being a 2-1 smash-and-grab at Ipswich Town in February – when top league scorer Paul Onuachu bagged one of his four goals this campaign.
It looks increasingly likely that Leicester City and Ipswich will join them.
That would mean all three promoted sides will be relegated for the second successive season, but only for the third time in Premier League history.
Like Burnley and Norwich before them, Southampton have been dealt a sobering lesson of the perils of sticking to a style that worked in the Championship.
Many observers would give the Saints credit for playing some attractive football this season – and they have been desperately unlucky at times – but failure to adapt has cost them dearly.
Since December, the south coast side have been on the receiving end of some absolute tonkings.
In the space of one month they lost 5-1 to Chelsea, 5-0 to Tottenham, and 5-0 to Brentford – all at home, and not exactly the festive gift fans wanted.
Russell Martin tried to impose his passing style on the Premier League but it didn’t work
Ivan Juric has tried to inspire a turnaround but has fared just as badly as the man he replaced
They have since suffered 4-0 batterings by Brighton and Chelsea.
Southampton have spent big – in excess of £100million – in a bid to stay up, but while some signings such as Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Mateus Fernandes have showed promise, few have paid off.
And so they are left scratching their heads once again at a failed Premier League campaign.
Go back a decade and Southampton were one of the league’s trendy clubs, recruiting boldly and selling high – not unlike Brighton.
However, this will be the seventh Premier League season in a row (barring 2023-24 in the Championship) that they have finished in the bottom half, with most of them involving a relegation struggle.
