It’s fair to say that the last few months have been pretty tumultuous for Sheffield United. After losing the playoff final at the end of last season, the club decided that Chris Wilder wasn’t the man to take them forward.
Ruben Selles Time Is Up
Ruben Selles was chosen as his replacement, and it didn’t go to plan at all. After five league games and one Carabao Cup game, the Spaniard’s time is up, and Wilder has already been brought back in.
This might sound harsh but when you look at the clubs’ record under Selles’s stewardship, it really couldn’t have gone much worse. They lost all six games, only scoring twice and conceding fourteen times.
Even fierce rivals Sheffield Wednesday, who are still in the midst of a crisis, have one point to their name and will soon be playing in the third round of the Carabao Cup. Selles is far from blameless in this situation, but he is certainly not solely to blame.
How Things Have Changed At Bramall Lane
The decision to sack Wilder was a contentious one, so to a certain extent Selles was fighting an uphill battle right from the start. Secondly, Selles oversaw a lot of change in the transfer window, particularly in defensive areas.
Vini Souza and Anel Ahmedhodzic were the most notable departures, whilst defenders Jack Robinson and Rhys Norrington-Davies were sold to Birmingham City and loaned out to Queens Park Rangers, respectively. Several players including seven defenders were brought into the club, but it wasn’t enough to turn the clubs’ fortunes around.
One reason for this could be the fact that several of the players were brought in towards the end of the window i.e. they haven’t had the time to acclimatise yet. However, as mentioned earlier, Ruben Selles is not blameless in this.
He drew a lot of criticism for his team selection ahead of his final game in charge as he didn’t select Gustavo Hamer, the clubs’ best player and last seasons Championship Player of the Season. Any issues between the two, if there are any, haven’t become known.
Reading’s Poor Start
One of Ruben Selles’ former clubs have also made a particularly poor start to the season. If the last few months at Sheffield United have been tumultuous, the last few years for Reading have been absolutely hellish.
Chinese businessman Dai Yongge took over the club in 2017 and for the first few years at least things were perfectly fine. In fact, the Royals finished seventh in the Championship during the 2020/21 season, but it was all downhill from there.
In November 2021, the club were handed a six-point deduction for breaching PSR rules, but they just about managed to stay up, finishing in 21st place. Unfortunately, the next season they wouldn’t be so lucky as another six point deduction in April 2023 would contribute to their relegation from the Championship.
This is when Ruben Selles came in. Reading may have found themselves in a new division but that didn’t mean an end to the chaos, as they were handed a six-point deduction for the third season in a row.
The club was finally put up for sale in March following several protests by fans.
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They would finish the season in 17th place. Last season would be Selles’s last at the football club, but not because he underperformed.
Hunt Takes Over
Despite the issues off the pitch, Reading were performing incredibly well. So well in fact that Championship Hull City set their sights on Selles and he would join the Tigers in December.
Under 21’s manager Noel Hunt would replace him, with some expecting everything to fall apart. But it didn’t.
Reading were still in the hunt for a playoff place going into the final day of the season. Their opponents, Barnsley, had nothing to play for and had only won one of their last eleven games.
Things got even better for Reading before kick-off, as it was announced that former Wycombe Wanderers owner Rob Couhig had finalised an agreement to buy the club, finally bringing the reign of Dai Yongge to an end. Reading finally had their club back.
Despite everything seemingly being in their favour, Reading would lose 4-2 to Barnsley, narrowly missing out on a playoff place. Despite defying virtually all the odds last season, Reading haven’t started this season much better than Sheffield United have.
They’ve only taken five points from their first seven league games, bringing pressure onto Hunt. In his defence, the transfer window did see the departure of key players Harvey Knibbs, Amadou Salif Mbengue and Tyler Bindon.
If Reading do decide to replace Hunt, they could certainly do worse than Selles, especially given his history with the club. Considering how well he did when the club was in crisis, imagine what he could do with the club as it is now.
