Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat against Fulham.
Ruben Selles' side needed to win to keep their hopes of staying in the top-flight alive as they dreamed of a 'great escape'. However, Fulham cruised to a comfortable victory at St Mary's Stadium on Saturday, courtesy of second-half goals from Carlos Vinicius and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
This means Saints will now play their football in the Championship next season for the first time in 11 years. Southampton have won just six of their 36 top-flight fixtures so far this term and are winless in 11 games since their 1-0 win over Leicester on March 4, losing nine of those matches.
They sit eight points behind 17th-place Everton with two matches to go and Southampton cannot claw their way back above the dreaded drop zone. Saints have been in the Premier League since 2012 but will return to the second-tier alongside two of Leicester, Leeds, Everton, Nottingham Forest or West Ham.
Southampton have enjoyed a memorable time in the top-tier since promotion, finishing as high as sixth on one occasion in 2015/16. They also competed in the Europa League in the following season, playing against Inter Milan in the process. But that is as good as it got for Southampton as slumped to five consecutive bottom-half finishes before the 2022/23 campaign.
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After Southampton's relegation was confirmed, Selles said: "I take all the responsibility for the last three months. I should be able win more football matches and win more games. I think I could have done differently, rather than doing more. I made mistakes like any other and it wasn't good enough."
“It is a dark day for everybody, the performance was not what we expected," added Selles. "It's very difficult. It's hard and tough. For some of the players this is the first time they've experienced it."
Captain James Ward-Prowse, who has been linked with a move away from Southampton this summer, also reflected on his side's relegation. He said: "Have decisions been right? Have we done everything we could on a pitch? I think we should perform at a better level than we have done. From the first day of the season until now you can tell the standards have slipped."
Southampton travel to Brighton and host Liverpool in their final two Premier League matches of the campaign. Meanwhile, Selles is expected to leave after the game against Liverpool with a new manager set to be appointed. Graham Potter and Brendan Rodgers have both been linked with the vacant role.
