CONFIRMED Rubén Sellés - Three year deal

[blade too long]

it is a massive gamble

and lady luck has never graced us with her presence

from tweeking a good side with a few additions, theres a new method of play , new whiteboards
and laying foundations instead of a snagging list

I can hardly contain my indifference to our chosen one

 

[Dkc]

An innovative appointment that fits with my preferred option of an operational model that has a head coach and DOF.

The DOF appointment will be key. Preferably someone who has experience of the foreign recruitment market and can work closely with Selles. Whether that is Des Taylor remains to be seen but significant challenges will be faced in the coming weeks over incomings and outgoings. We can't let this appointment drift as there is a need to hit the ground running.

Selles background in data analysis and sports science will be valuable. Two areas we were found wanting under CW. The coaching appointments will be interesting. At Hull and Reading he had Tobias Loveland as his assistant head coach who has a data analysis back ground and James Oliver Pearce. The suggestion another experienced coach is coming in adds to the intrigue as does the reference to AI playing a role in physical conditioning. Again a key appointment in this area as our poor injury record and post injury recovery impacted significantly on us over last season. What this means for Tom Little now Prestridge has gone will be interesting.

The sound bites coming out from the owners and new manager are encouraging;

High intensity in execution and an attacking style of play

Front foot football

unlocking potential and growing it

I want us back to being the fittest team in the league utilising pace and speed of movement with the ball. It won't happen overnight but I'm on board with the project and new direction the club is going in.

All sounds good on paper, but how many times have we seen new managers who have different philosophies and like to play 'front foot' football flop?

It happens all the time. Every month in England a couple of managers who were 'highly rated' get the sack. Occasionally they succeed. More often they fail.

What Wilder had, what Slav didn't have and Selles won't have, is something intangible. A strong connection with the fans and the club that he'd developed through his life. Even when he was managing elsewhere, he'd look for our results and watch us when he coud.

We didn't always like his tactics or actions, but his force of personality made his players love the club too, and made them willing to bust a gut for him.

We may have been poor in some games but we never stopped trying, and you could see that the players and coaching staff were devastated when we lost.

You can't buy that. Even if you get a tactical and conditioning genius in, there's an X factor in football that means that mavericks like CW will achieve success ahead of university-educated students of the game. The remarkable team spirit that Wilder brought to the club should not be dismissed as something negative or outdated.

 

[blade too long]

I can only hope he performs as well as he did in the Pink Panther films he made

 

[Bladey_blade]

All sounds good on paper, but how many times have we seen new managers who have different philosophies and like to play 'front foot' football flop?

It happens all the time. Every month in England a couple of managers who were 'highly rated' get the sack. Occasionally they succeed. More often they fail.

What Wilder had, what Slav didn't have and Selles won't have, is something intangible. A strong connection with the fans and the club that he'd developed through his life. Even when he was managing elsewhere, he'd look for our results and watch us when he coud.

We didn't always like his tactics or actions, but his force of personality made his players love the club too, and made them willing to bust a gut for him.

We may have been poor in some games but we never stopped trying, and you could see that the players and coaching staff were devastated when we lost.

You can't buy that. Even if you get a tactical and conditioning genius in, there's an X factor in football that means that mavericks like CW will achieve success ahead of university-educated students of the game. The remarkable team spirit that Wilder brought to the club should not be dismissed as something negative or outdated.

The thing Slav didn't have, that you'd hope Selles does is the backing to implement his philosophy

 

[Bladesman]

 

[Danetheblade]

Some nice patterns of play against Liverpool. Emphasis of fast build up and pressing from the front.

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

it is a massive gamble

and lady luck has never graced us with her presence

Wilder was a gamble back in 2016. Heckingbottom was a gamble and most fans didn’t want him. This appointment is forward thinking imo. Selles has the potential to be a premier league level coach. Back him.

 

[blade too long]

Wilder was a gamble back in 2016. Heckingbottom was a gamble and most fans didn’t want him. This appointment is forward thinking imo. Selles has the potential to be a premier league level coach. Back him.

wilder had 2 promotions on his cv when he came , soon to become 3

 

[DI36O]

Chucking in my 2 penneth as I've not had a chance to until now.

This is a brave move to say the least. He did alright at Hull and Reading, both joke sides at the time. I'd be confident if we were a joke side trying to avoid relegation. I have no idea how his c.v. fits a club aiming for automatic promotion though. Putting a bit of faith in the board having better judgement, I give him maybe a 10% chance of beating 90 points this coming season. With Wilder I'd have said at least 50% and higher if the squad doesn't get ripped apart this summer.

Which makes me think they're thinking long term, not expecting automatic, happy to let the final year of parachute money be invested one way or another and operate on a smaller budget from there onwards until promotion. To me that seems a far more difficult pathway judging by the profile of teams who get promoted most often.

Clearly they're interested in changing the club as a whole rather than riding the yoyo of promotion/relegation and finding a way to tread water and survive until you build strong enough to establish yourself, which is fair enough. But there's a big risk of sliding into Stoke/Swansea/Cardiff territory if there are hiccups and it doesn't take long until you're one of those forgotten ex prem clubs with zero pull. I really hope they know what they're doing and this isn't putting blind faith in an untested system for running the club.

Regardless, Selles is going in with a clean slate in August and I'm begging to be proven wrong. I disagree with the decision but I'll give my backing from the get go because I have to. More with hope than faith. Please fucking work.

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

wilder had 2 promotions on his cv when he came , soon to become 3

Perhaps you’ve received trauma induced amnesia from Tommy Watson, but we lost the play off final a number of weeks ago. There’s no promotion soon. And wilder had never managed at league one level before us either- it was definitely a gamble.

 

[Bladesman]

Some nice patterns of play against Liverpool. Emphasis of fast build up and pressing from the front.

Fast build up? pressing?

JUST HOOF IT!!!

 

[Th!stledo]

Wilder was a gamble back in 2016. Heckingbottom was a gamble and most fans didn’t want him. This appointment is forward thinking imo. Selles has the potential to be a premier league level coach. Back him.

The owners have a vision of what they want and how they want it done.
Ruben Selles is completely on the same page.
He's the manager that is the round peg aligned with the round hole.
UTB!!!

 

[Hartley Hare]

All a bit underwhelmed.

What little I know - just doesn't seem like an appointment that fits our identity at all.

When you are ugly, no matter how you comb your hair you are still ugly.

HH

 

[Houston_Blade]

it is a massive gamble

and lady luck has never graced us with her presence

from tweeking a good side with a few additions, theres a new method of play , new whiteboards
and laying foundations instead of a snagging list

I can hardly contain my indifference to our chosen one

Luck has nothing to do with it. We just make bad decisions.

 

[Dkc]

Wilder was a gamble back in 2016. Heckingbottom was a gamble and most fans didn’t want him. This appointment is forward thinking imo. Selles has the potential to be a premier league level coach. Back him.

If sacking Wilder for Selles is 'forward thinking' would honouring Wilder's contract be 'backward thinking'?

Being critical of the way our new owners ditched Wilder doesn't imply people are not backing Selles. Me and virtually every other fan support the Blades, not the manager. Of course we're backing him.

 

[Youngand70]

Shocking appointment

Many people in football not just at Arsenal said similar when Arsene Wenger was appointed in 1996, how did that work out?

 

[jt64]

Many people in football not just at Arsenal said similar when Arsene Wenger was appointed in 1996, how did that work out?

I'm not sure, I didn't see the incident

 

[Kev Gee]

Perhaps you’ve received trauma induced amnesia from Tommy Watson, but we lost the play off final a number of weeks ago. There’s no promotion soon. And wilder had never managed at league one level before us either- it was definitely a gamble.

And we all remember how things started right?

And quite few on here were wanting him gone before he took the team coach to the offy.

Let's remember that if things don't go to plan straight away.

 

[blade too long]

Luck has nothing to do with it. We just make bad decisions.

None as bad as the VAR

 

[VwBlade]

I've lurked around since the news of wilders departure without really expressing my thoughts until now. I agree with the sentiments of many on here that too many of our fans see us as "Chris Wilder FC." This club was here before Wilder and it will continue to be here now he has left. His contribution to this club and the legacy he has left behind is undoubtedly legendary and he deserves all the plaudits for his achievements. In my honest opinion, I reckon even if the biggest CW fans looked at last season overall, they would have to admit that more often than not the football was crap, we bottled those games against lower opposition towards to end of the season, and we were too cautious and defensive at Wembley when the game was there for the taking. The board sanctioned a transfer for an FA cup winner with PL experience in Rob Holding, yet Wilder continued to play Brain Fart Robinson. Andre Brooks, a sheffield lad, more than proved his ability as a match winner and a nightmare for opposition defenders, yet CW insisted on playing either Brewster or BBD out of position on the right. This stubbornness and obsession with handing a start to his favourites ultimately cost us promotion. Is Selles the answer? I'm not convinced, but I do believe the change was necessary in order for the club to move forward long term

 

[100% part time blade]

I tried to have a look back at the last 15 or 18 managers who got promoted from the championship but got a bit lost …
I reckon about half fall into the category of arriving with a ‘proven track record’ but they tended to land at the biggest, richest club in the division and went back up. The other half are ‘unknowns’ or ‘shown talent and promise but no record’ and won promotion. One or two are both . Farke’s 1st promotion he arrived with no credentials at all really and no track record: his last promotion he arrived with very much a proven record behind him. There seems little to suggest a proven track record is a better bet than someone with no record who you think has potential though.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

I guess at some point we'll have to reinterpret Egan's Allez, allez, allez song and change it to Ole, ole, ole!

 

[robbiez666]

And we all remember how things started right?

And quite few on here were wanting him gone before he took the team coach to the offy.

Let's remember that if things don't go to plan straight away.

I remember having Micky Adams flashbacks. I think most fans were petrified we were going there again!

 

[robbiez666]

I tried to have a look back at the last 15 or 18 managers who got promoted from the championship but got a bit lost …
I reckon about half fall into the category of arriving with a ‘proven track record’ but they tended to land at the biggest, richest club in the division and went back up. The other half are ‘unknowns’ or ‘shown talent and promise but no record’ and won promotion. One or two are both . Farke’s 1st promotion he arrived with no credentials at all really and no track record: his last promotion he arrived with very much a proven record behind him. There seems little to suggest a proven track record is a better bet than someone with no record who you think has potential though.

You're probably more likely to get a top job and so I guess more likely to get promoted as you have the best players.

 

[Dkc]

Many people in football not just at Arsenal said similar when Arsene Wenger was appointed in 1996, how did that work out?

Wenger and Arsenal worked out very well.

It doesn't alter the fact that far more new managers are sacked than achieve promotion or win a trophy, For every one Wenger there are many more Xiscos or Luhukays.

 

[Zeblades34]

I asked our AI overlords to compare Selles and Wilder:

Here’s the brief summary:

Tactical Category​	Chris Wilder​	Rubén Sellés​
Style	Structured, pragmatic	Modern, fluid, high-tempo
Defence	Deep block, compact	Pressing, quick regain
Attack	Wing-based, physical	Central combinations, speed
Flexibility	Low	High
Build-up	Direct, wide overloads	Short, controlled, vertical
Formation	Consistent (3-5-2)	Flexible (3-4-2-1, 4-2-3-1, etc.)

It went far more in depth which made some interesting reading.

Shit! AI has now reached the fans! It's taking over

 

[blade too long]

are the usual moaners backing this appointment expecting fast flowing ball to feet sexy football
from a coach whos only ever known escaping relegation tactics, hail mary football


why all the optimism now when you never offered wilder any

the knives were out from the day he was re appointed

if we get relegated next season I will recall all the bile put his way and apportion the blame without fear or favour

all the negative nellies will be outed

ill put it on record this is the worst appointment since martin peters, and he had some stature

 

[Youngand70]

Wenger and Arsenal worked out very well.

It doesn't alter the fact that far more new managers are sacked than achieve promotion or win a trophy, For every one Wenger there are many more Xiscos or Luhukays.

Couldn't agree more and you have stated the obvious regarding new managers getting sacked. Not having a crystal ball I do not know how Selles is going to pan out. I am a Blade of 63 years and once a big fan of Chris Wilder, I also am very grateful for his past achievements and thank him, I am sure like many others I do not "hate" him or publicly slag him off. With years of life experience and football supporting, I feel the club needed a change to attempt to make up the gap that is growing every year between many clubs like us in the kitchen and those at the top of the table. As Blades we all have our opinions and I respect those opinions which ever side they come down on. New owners hopefully with the available funds to progress instead of the previous semi-skint "wannabee" and a new manager/coach who hopefully can bring a more modern, sustainable approach, only time will tell, not the crystal ball. Selles and the team will get my support and we will all see where the journey takes us, that's good old football!!!

 

[Dkc]

Couldn't agree more and you have stated the obvious regarding new managers getting sacked. Not having a crystal ball I do not know how Selles is going to pan out. I am a Blade of 63 years and once a big fan of Chris Wilder, I also am very grateful for his past achievements and thank him, I am sure like many others I do not "hate" him or publicly slag him off. With years of life experience and football supporting, I feel the club needed a change to attempt to make up the gap that is growing every year between many clubs like us in the kitchen and those at the top of the table. As Blades we all have our opinions and I respect those opinions which ever side they come down on. New owners hopefully with the available funds to progress instead of the previous semi-skint "wannabee" and a new manager/coach who hopefully can bring a more modern, sustainable approach, only time will tell, not the crystal ball. Selles and the team will get my support and we will all see where the journey takes us, that's good old football!!!

Selles gets my support too. I think Wilder was the best man to mount a promotion challenge next season but I hope I am proven wrong by the new boss.

If we got promoted next season under Wilder I would have been okay with someone taking over next summer. I agree that he may not have been the best man to kick us on after promotion.

But after all his work I think it's poor that he wasn't given next season to finish the job and potentially leave on a high - especially given that he has been replaced by someone who has no promotions to his name and has no bond with the club and its fans.

 

[Nick Jansky]

if we get relegated next season I will recall all the bile put his way and apportion the blame without fear or favour

all the negative nellies will be outed

ill put it on record this is the worst appointment since martin peters, and he had some stature

Ok. But it will be you doing it so nobody will take it seriously.