Selles confimred

[Winston Biscuit]

Fully confimred now.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2023/july/14/ruben-selles-completes-move-to-reading-fc/

[Hound]

Cool, an another thing ticked off. Welcome Ruben

[Silver Fox]

Another proof of life statement from Bowen too, looks like he might still be here

Onwards and Upwards

[WestYorksRoyal]

Solid words from Bowen. With stability, secure funding etc., above his head I would back him to turn the oil tanker around and get us going in the right direction. And that is why this summer has been so infuriating, and it'll take a year or 2 without drama for me to regain the faith.

We'll never know re: Wilder whether the chaos undid the appointment, or whether actually Bowen reached the conclusion that he wasn't the right fit for us.

[Stranded]

At last!

Very positive words from Bowen and am enthused about the fact that they have defined a philosophy for the club and have hired a manager (Yes Ian, I said manager ) who they feel fits and is ambitious.

The players we are starting to be linked seem to fit what we are looking for - so whilst the club remains an absolute shitshow, it feels like the footballing side is slowing getting its act together.

[Hound]

Extensive comments from Bowen as well

As I said early on if this is Bowen’s choice with a clear policy and structure in mind I’m in. And that seems to be the case

[Stranded]

Solid words from Bowen. With stability, secure funding etc., above his head I would back him to turn the oil tanker around and get us going in the right direction. And that is why this summer has been so infuriating, and it'll take a year or 2 without drama for me to regain the faith.

We'll never know re: Wilder whether the chaos undid the appointment, or whether actually Bowen reached the conclusion that he wasn't the right fit for us.

I would say re:Wilder a little of both.

It felt like an opportunity that had to be explored but the financial side probably wasn't right for both parties and I doubt Wilder fancied not being able to build a squad until mid-July.

[Stranded]

Also with getting the manager announcement out early today, reckon we may get some more news on the playing front before the end of the day.

[Hound]

At last!

Very positive words from Bowen and am enthused about the fact that they have defined a philosophy for the club and have hired a manager (Yes Ian, I said manager ) who they feel fits and is ambitious.

The players we are starting to be linked seem to fit what we are looking for - so whilst the club remains an absolute shitshow, it feels like the footballing side is slowing getting its act together.

Do wonder if it’s such a shitshow. It’s not been great and the comms has been dreadful (do wonder why -
maybe a legal element to it) but get a few solid signings in again and we’re back to having an ok squad, cat 1 academy and a solid structure in place again. I think the need info now nature of Twitter etc is partly to blame

The stupid financial mistakes are almost all in the past (once Ejaria goes end of season at the latest) I hope and we can move forward.

[WestYorksRoyal]

At last!

Very positive words from Bowen and am enthused about the fact that they have defined a philosophy for the club and have hired a manager (Yes Ian, I said manager ) who they feel fits and is ambitious.

The players we are starting to be linked seem to fit what we are looking for - so whilst the club remains an absolute shitshow, it feels like the footballing side is slowing getting its act together.

Do wonder if it’s such a shitshow. It’s not been great and the comms has been dreadful (do wonder why -
maybe a legal element to it) but get a few solid signings in again and we’re back to having an ok squad, cat 1 academy and a solid structure in place again. I think the need info now nature of Twitter etc is partly to blame

The stupid financial mistakes are almost all in the past (once Ejaria goes end of season at the latest) I hope and we can move forward.

Twitter and social media are part of our world now. Say nothing and rumours, speculation and simple untruths will fill the void. Businesses need to adapt, and that includes football clubs.

[Hound]

Fair comment

[RG30]

Published just now

Ruben Selles: How a year of struggle at Southampton turned him into a manager

Stepping onto centre stage after 15 years coaching in the background, Ruben Selles’ first few months in management have been spent largely repairing cracks. Creating unity must have felt a constant strain when the storms were blowing in the opposite direction.

His only season at Southampton can be split into three stages. Assistant to Ralph Hasenhuttl at the start — tasked with leading training and re-energising a backroom team. Second, a diminished role under Nathan Jones. And third, becoming the manager himself, where galvanising a wounded group required differing methods.

“We sent presents to the players’ families,” says Selles. “We sent them letters and restaurant vouchers, so they could take their wives or husbands for dinner. We just wanted to show we cared for our people.”

Selles is speaking to The Athletic from his home in Spain. After a fortnight waiting for Reading to make payments to lift an EFL embargo on them and for the UK government to approve his visa, he has been appointed their manager.

It is his fifth coaching role in as many years, but the first of real managerial permanency, albeit at a club in an uncertain state.

“The last few weeks have been really strange,” smiles the 40-year-old. “Hopefully both situations — because the visa took longer than expected — have gone through and we can start a normal season.

“The club has an infrastructure, it has just been relegated. When we spoke at the beginning, the idea they offered was a good one and to come back quickly to the Championship. The situation with the embargo was over but then it came back and we didn’t expect that. It’s great everything has been agreed.”

It was just over a year ago Selles made the move to England. A coaching nomad had arrived in the Premier League, affirmation of the long and transcontinental road he had made to reach the top.

“Southampton’s plan was to bring in somebody to lead the team behind Ralph,” says Selles. “My name came up because I had connections with the Danish part of the ownership (Sport Republic) and even had interviews for some jobs with them before. I got the call from Matt Crocker (then director of football) and did all the interviews.”

As The Athletic reported at the time, the initial plan was for Selles to be the authoritative figure on the training pitch with Hasenhuttl, in need of fresh impetus, opting for more of a backseat governing role.

“The thinking from the beginning was for Ralph to take a step above us and see the bigger picture,” Selles says. “It would take out the stress of the daily routine and be more of a manager in the English way, where he was a little bit less involved. Pre-season was easier because it’s not stressful in terms of results. He became more active when the season started.”

Hasenhuttl, according to Selles, is “one of the best in the world” for coaching out-of-possession work and choreographing concerted pressing techniques. Yet the inescapable elephant in the room was the feeling that the Austrian’s time at Southampton, for better or for worse, was coming to an end.

With Selles being a club hire, approved by the manager once they had met early in the summer of 2022, he stayed on the coaching staff when Nathan Jones replaced Hasenhuttl on the eve of the World Cup break.

Jones arrived with his two closest coaching confidantes, Alan Sheehan and Chris Cohen from Luton Town. Cohen was inserted as Jones’ No 2 and took over Selles’ remit, while Sheehan was in charge of set pieces.

It shifted the dynamic again and led to Jones, inherently a hard-headed character, opting to close his coaching circles when results continued to nosedive. There had also been friction with Selles, resulting in Jones further reducing the autonomy the Spaniard previously had.

“My role at the beginning was as lead assistant coach,” explains Selles. “Then when Alex Clapham (first-team coach) went, I was in charge of set pieces; in the end, there was too much confusion. When Ralph went, my role with Nathan changed because he brought Chris and Alan with him. I tried to give my support as much as I could — the role was completely different. Chris was the person Nathan decided on, which was correct because any coach should get people you trust and Nathan trusted Chris.”

By now, instability was the overarching theme of Southampton’s season. Rooted to the bottom of the league after seven defeats in eight games, Jones was sacked in February. A frayed first-team environment that had been creaking in Hasenhuttl’s final year was now fractured.

When Selles, whether through default or design, was left to take caretaker charge for the next game against Chelsea, the first objective was to convey a team spirit. Even though the immediate response was a resounding success — winning 1-0 at Stamford Bridge — preaching unity jarred when the walls of “the house”, as Selles called it, were falling down.

“It was really difficult for the board to give the job to somebody else (after Chelsea),” he says. “When you are in my position, people think ‘he hasn’t got any experience as a manager’ despite having coached for 15 years. People just evaluate you as an assistant coach when, for example, a former player takes over a team without any experience — people don’t think about that. But for some reason when you have been working as long as I have in professional football and you get the chance to be a manager, they say you don’t have experience.”

What arose was slow-burning optimism with Selles. His first managerial job naturally heightened scrutiny, but form and feeling around the club initially improved.

A 1-0 victory over Leicester City was followed by draws against Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in March. The definitive nail in the season, Selles recalls, came following the international break that month — Southampton would not win again in the final 10 fixtures.

The Athletic revealed players had started getting changed in two separate dressing rooms under the previous regime. There were two aspects to this, however: too many players meant not enough space, but division in the dressing room was growing. Selles quickly rectified the issue of space and tightened a bloated squad, sending several players to train with the B team on a weekly basis.

“We had a great example in Adam Armstrong,” says Selles. “A great professional. The week before the match with Arsenal, he was not in the squad so I told him he needed to play for the B team. He did and I was there watching. Then, the week after, he started at the Emirates.

“But the problem now is that everybody wants to be the star of the show. Nobody wants to prepare backstage, write the script — not everyone can shine. You need to do a lot of things to shine and when you have a big squad, it’s even more difficult.”

Team selection proved an increasing bone of contention among supporters. The same faces would be picked, despite the obvious drawbacks showcased on the pitch each week. Selles reasoned he needed a core nucleus of players he trusted and more tellingly, felt had the right attitude.

“Unfortunately, from the outside, it looks like a PlayStation game where you can pick whatever players you want, make what substitutions you want and base it on pace, skill, and strength stats,” says Selles.

“But this is real life and you work with relationships. If you don’t have relations on and off the pitch, you cannot win. We tried to put out a team which wanted to play together. We made mistakes but getting that was always our intention.”

Selles intended to hold a performance review at the end of the season, irrespective of whether he remained as manager. In a short-term job — hired on a three-month deal, forgoing his contract as an assistant coach in the process and tasked with troubleshooting Southampton out of relegation — Selles was insistent on putting longer-term plans in place.

The Athletic asks if the review has been read by new manager Russell Martin and incoming staff.

“Honestly, I don’t care,” says Selles. “I did what I felt was correct. I navigated and tried to be the face of the club. Basically, it was only me talking to the outside. I tried to work as if I would be there for the next 10 years and to prepare everything for the next manager. I prepared pre-season and provided all the statistics and game plans, so the information was there. What the club did with that is not my business anymore.”

The initial idea was to hold the performance review with coaches and technical staff two days after the final game against Liverpool. But once relegation was confirmed two weeks prior, the dial shifted. Reports of Martin taking over emerged, unbeknown to the manager. Selles was later informed by Sport Republic he would not remain in the job beyond the season.

“I don’t know if it (reports about Martin) is normal but I felt I was the only representative from the club giving explanations. If the club has that strategy, then it’s not for me. But I thought ‘OK if nobody else is communicating, I will do it’. As I have always done in my life, I will take it (the criticism), no problem. A lot wasn’t pretty.

“When the links about the manager came, my technical staff didn’t tell me. I didn’t see anything at all. In some ways, my technical staff protected me so I could be focused on the next game with Brighton. I was trying to beat Roberto (De Zerbi). That’s why we prepared during the week, even if some people didn’t understand that. My technical staff knew I wanted to win, so they kept back the information leak. It was only after they told me so that I was ready for questions.”

After leaving Southampton, Selles spent the first few weeks in a state of self-reflection. He went on holiday with his family but emotions remained raw; it had been a year of different roles, consequences and pressure. The rather large fly in the ointment was relegation and losing his job, but Selles now looks back with fondness.

“I just let my emotions go out for a little while,” he says. “When you’re in the bubble and trying to do your best, you don’t have that mental space. I used the time to analyse everything. The word isn’t happy, but I always stayed in line with my philosophy, despite the situation. I will take a lot of lessons with me and of course, now, I have experience.”

https://theathletic.com/4682903/2023/07/14/ruben-selles-southampton-reading-manager/

[Stranded]

Good read and makes me think that we could have someone very good on our hands here.

Watch him get fired before Xmas now following a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln.

[Clyde1998]

At last!

Very positive words from Bowen and am enthused about the fact that they have defined a philosophy for the club and have hired a manager (Yes Ian, I said manager ) who they feel fits and is ambitious.

The players we are starting to be linked seem to fit what we are looking for - so whilst the club remains an absolute shitshow, it feels like the footballing side is slowing getting its act together.

Do wonder if it’s such a shitshow. It’s not been great and the comms has been dreadful (do wonder why -
maybe a legal element to it) but get a few solid signings in again and we’re back to having an ok squad, cat 1 academy and a solid structure in place again. I think the need info now nature of Twitter etc is partly to blame

The stupid financial mistakes are almost all in the past (once Ejaria goes end of season at the latest) I hope and we can move forward.

Twitter and social media are part of our world now. Say nothing and rumours, speculation and simple untruths will fill the void. Businesses need to adapt, and that includes football clubs.

The problem becomes when there's things the club can't legally make public or it would impact on the club's ability to trade players. Especially in the off-season, there's little actual news anyway. It's noticeable the increase in news stories on the club website/social media since the players have returned for pre-season - simply because something the club can report is happening.

[Sutekh]

Fully confimred now.

https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2023/july/14/ruben-selles-completes-move-to-reading-fc/

Despite the title he's not a manager he's one of those glorified head coach things that have been oh so successful previously in RG2.

Can you imagine though if Sutton comfortably canter to a win against your standard shot-shy Readingnil on Saturday?

[Sutekh]

Do wonder if it’s such a shitshow. It’s not been great and the comms has been dreadful (do wonder why -
maybe a legal element to it) but get a few solid signings in again and we’re back to having an ok squad, cat 1 academy and a solid structure in place again. I think the need info now nature of Twitter etc is partly to blame

The stupid financial mistakes are almost all in the past (once Ejaria goes end of season at the latest) I hope and we can move forward.

Twitter and social media are part of our world now. Say nothing and rumours, speculation and simple untruths will fill the void. Businesses need to adapt, and that includes football clubs.

The problem becomes when there's things the club can't legally make public or it would impact on the club's ability to trade players. Especially in the off-season, there's little actual news anyway. It's noticeable the increase in news stories on the club website/social media since the players have returned for pre-season - simply because something the club can report is happening.

Other clubs manage OK over the quiet periods, it's only because of the seeming ineptitude that the club appears to operate under that's exaggerated this mess in the first place.

[Royal_jimmy]

Meh, at least we have a manager now. Let's hope his career continues to lift off whilst being at the club and he surprises us.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Anyway, look objectively at the past week. Cat 1 academy back, manager appointed, embargo lifted, 1st signing. Hope there if you want to see it.

[South Coast Royal]

Good read and makes me think that we could have someone very good on our hands here.

Watch him get fired before Xmas now following a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln.

Lots of words, just like Bowen.
It sounds like so many of the other managers we have had pre-Ince who have been all over the world with smallish time clubs .

We fans wanted somebody seasoned in the lower echelons of English football but we have now got another version of so many others before.
One day we may get a "brave" appointment right, hopefully this is it although sending restaurant vouchers to millionaire footballers sounds a bit desperate to me.

[Orion1871]

I did what I felt was correct. I navigated and tried to be the face of the club. Basically, it was only me talking to the outside.

I don’t know if it (reports about Martin) is normal but I felt I was the only representative from the club giving explanations. If the club has that strategy, then it’s not for me.

Then why has he come here?