Should we sack Selles? (Poll)

[Belvedere Blade]

 

[programmechap]

Good post.

I wonder if Selles actually picks the formation entirely. I'm absolutely certain ai is being used to influence it, and he's under a degree of pressure to follow that.

My theory is that the whole sorry situation is fundamentally caused by American tech bros who think they have a great theory of how to "hack" English football and are too pig headed to accept its a loaf of bollocks

 

[Blade56]

My theory is that the whole sorry situation is fundamentally caused by American tech bros who think they have a great theory of how to "hack" English football and are too pig headed to accept its a loaf of bollocks

Bollox loaf, is that on Tesco’s shelves yet?

 

[Lane Ender]

As many as it takes. My issue isn’t the manager (he takes a share of the blame) but my real issue is the players are selling him down the river.

Yes I sense a bit of player power here he may have his own ideas how to play football but he is not a leader and never will be

 

[hull-Blade]

I still do wonder why Hull let him go .

They must have seen something to suggest that even though he luckily kept them up , he couldn’t move them forwards.

One Hull fan at work was told that some of their players were not fully understanding his systems and tactics .

 

[Constantly Optimistic...]

I was all for Selles, but picking Cannon at right wing and resorting back to the same formation that was woeful v Brizzle did it for me. No excuses, I think anyone who saw that teamsheet and Peck on his own in midfield must have felt the same. Millwall are tough, but not a great footballing team. They had us on the rack for the full first half. Where was Soumare? Had the Selles gang not studied Millwall ? This shows a complete lack of understanding imo. You could see that the rest of the team would not pass to Cannon, except Mee, knowing the attack would end there. It was like having their right arm cut off. So we had an even worse scenatio than Brzzle, 4 games ago. He has learnt nothing. If Millwall could finish, the result would have been the same if not worse. Selles has to go in my opinion, and immediately or this crisis will deepen. It may be too late already for this transfer window. If we lose Hamer and Campbell we are knackered, and I'm sure their agents are shouting get out now!

I liked the idea of free flowing attacking football. So what if we let in 3 as long as we score 5. But we haven't got that. We have a nervous, shell shocked and now unmotivated team who are questioning the manager and his tactics.

Im not one for bed wetting or begging Chris to come back. I just think we have a serious problem here that needs resolving before it gets worse. Im sure many are like me in not quite understanding Selles in his interviews. He is drab, uninspiring, unclear and pretty depressing to listen to. I rarely get to the end of an interview before I turn it off. Think how you would feel if he was your boss?

So, to COH, you've tried the American tech bro method at SUFC. Its not working. This is a blood and guts football club. The original home of football, not an AI inspired video game. Wipe the slate clean, and quickly, or your investments will fail miserably.

Sack Selles immediately, bring in an immediate caretaker manager to steady the ship. Think long and hard before your next appointment.
Personally id go for Michael Carrick as caretaker with a view to a longer term contract if he does well. Why do we give long contracts all the time?
I think he could be a good fit for us and possibly premier league standard given the tools. Boro always pulled the rug on him imo.

 

[Mattblade68]

If we were to bring another manager, then why not keep Selles on rather than pay him to do nothing.

I was all for Selles, but picking Cannon at right wing and resorting back to the same formation that was woeful v Brizzle did it for me. No excuses, I think anyone who saw that teamsheet and Peck on his own in midfield must have felt the same. Millwall are tough, but not a great footballing team. They had us on the rack for the full first half. Where was Soumare? Had the Selles gang not studied Millwall ? This shows a complete lack of understanding imo. You could see that the rest of the team would not pass to Cannon, except Mee, knowing the attack would end there. It was like having their right arm cut off. So we had an even worse scenatio than Brzzle, 4 games ago. He has learnt nothing. If Millwall could finish, the result would have been the same if not worse. Selles has to go in my opinion, and immediately or this crisis will deepen. It may be too late already for this transfer window. If we lose Hamer and Campbell we are knackered, and I'm sure their agents are shouting get out now!

I liked the idea of free flowing attacking football. So what if we let in 3 as long as we score 5. But we haven't got that. We have a nervous, shell shocked and now unmotivated team who are questioning the manager and his tactics.

Im not one for bed wetting or begging Chris to come back. I just think we have a serious problem here that needs resolving before it gets worse. Im sure many are like me in not quite understanding Selles in his interviews. He is drab, uninspiring, unclear and pretty depressing to listen to. I rarely get to the end of an interview before I turn it off. Think how you would feel if he was your boss?

So, to COH, you've tried the American tech bro method at SUFC. Its not working. This is a blood and guts football club. The original home of football, not an AI inspired video game. Wipe the slate clean, and quickly, or your investments will fail miserably.

Sack Selles immediately, bring in an immediate caretaker manager to steady the ship. Think long and hard before your next appointment.
Personally id go for Michael Carrick as caretaker with a view to a longer term contract if he does well. Why do we give long contracts all the time?
I think he could be a good fit for us and possibly premier league standard given the tools. Boro always pulled the rug on him imo.

And to go from a 1-0 team to a 5-3 team is a huge ask

 

[alcoblade]

I don't think that is the case

It was under Wilder so I'd be amazed if it's changed direction.

 

[SwissBlade]

It was under Wilder so I'd be amazed if it's changed direction.

For selecting the formation? That’s a new one for me to be fair

 

[alcoblade]

For selecting the formation? That’s a new one for me to be fair

To some degree, definitely yes.

Wilder ignored the advice, which no doubt contributed to his sacking.

 

[Bartleby]

I personally got on board with Selles, but I can now see how taking over a reasonably successful team can be much harder for a new manager to put his stamp on things.

Give him 44 days.

 

[Youngand70]

We ‘had’ an excellent Championship team and manager. We’ve traded down on both. Weaker team, weaker management. We’ve lost an 92 point winning manager and taken a punt on a relative unknown. Then hung him out to dry with a weakened squad. Appalling stewardship from the CEO and owners.

How dare you critisize our CEO who in some people's eyes can do no wrong.

 

[Youngand70]

Can't put effort in, find a pass, keep possession, find space at throw ins, think for themselves

They've sh*t the bed.

They're better than that IF they want to be

But they'll get a free pass as its Selles' fault they can't even do the basics, apparently

Not having it. They don't fancy it as they're buddy manager got the push

Like alot of footballers they are over paid premadonas who carnt think for themselves, have no communication or leadership skills. I'm not defending Selles but in football in general players tend to get a free ride when the shit hits the fan then move on with another nice pay off or signing on fee. We see comments about badge thumping but the majority of players do it or kiss the badge then move on to another club with a larger wallet in their pocket and then start badge thumping/kissing all over again, basically no true loyalty just greedy mercenary tossers.

 

[Davalon]

As much as i believe any new manager should be shown patience, reality suggests that if you have parachute payments, no financial problems, and are expecting to challenge at the right end of the table, if you continue losing matches, especially after your transfer business concludes, you're likely to be out sooner rather than later.

I've got an element of sympathy with Selles because he's not yet had time to work with a full strength squad.

However, yesterday surprised me with how he set up from the off based on the glaring issues previously.

By all means have your preferred set up but don't play it with players not suited.

Peck in the middle on his own and Cannon playing on the right and being expected to chase back beyond the full back, baffled me to be polite.

I want to support him and it's frustrated me how many haven't been willing to give him a chance before a ball was kicked, but you've got to start seeing signs of improvement pretty sharpish.

It's one thing not getting results, but when the performances are poor too and the squad is effectively under-achieving, common sense dictates that can't continue for long.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Give him 44 days.

Yes, that seems a good measuring stick…What day are we on now?

 

[SwissBlade]

To some degree, definitely yes.

Wilder ignored the advice, which no doubt contributed to his sacking.

The only thing that i saw was that we were utilising 'AI' as part of our scouting and ultimately recruitment strategy, but this effectively means using data to scour previously untapped markets or where our scouting network doesnt reach or would be too costly to reach for the potential reward, but as i understood it, it was part of recruitment only.

I didn't see anything about using AI to influence formations or in game strategy and i certainly didn't see anything about Wilder ignoring advice.

I had some feedback from some people that i know with close ties to the club and Wilder and i certainly didn't get the impression that Wilder was onboard with some of the new owner approaches, but ignoring the advice wasn't something which came up.

On the contrary, Wilder has been using Data within the squad since as far back as his first season, so by default there will have been some degree of 'AI' used back then, even before it was cool. He wasn't using AI to pick his teams or set up his formation, he used AK for that (Alan Knill)

There were a number of factors to Wilder being replaced, some of which were completely baffling and have been publically stated when Selles was appointed, which says more about the owners than Wilder

 

[Blades1971]

What happened to this "High Press"? he spoke about. Looks to me like long ball.. That is dinosaur football.
Feel sorry for Selles. But completely out of is depth

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

237 votes ....Not yet....i'm unsure..maybe later.

​

 

[Blade59]

I don't think we should change just yet. It would be a knee jerk reaction and we would probably end up with something similar as a replacement. Having said that the signs are not good and if there is no significant improvement after the next 4 - 5 games (expect nothing from the next 2) then unfortunately for him he will have to go. By that point we would be in a full scale relegation fight. Getting rid will be the easy part however, the choice of replacement much more tricky. I can see it being a short term appointment to the end of the season to try to ensure survival. People are talking of acting now before the gap to the top becomes to big but it is the other end of the table we will need to be concerned about. We have a history of sleep walking into relegations when we least expect it. However whether our non football savvy board will realise this and what is required in the short term is a concern.

 

[Aeres]

It's been grim of course, but I think it's worth remembering that in 2016 Wilder's record by the same date was:

6th August - Bolton 1-0 Sheffield United
9th August - Sheffield United 1-2 Crewe (EFL Cup)
13th August - Sheffield United 1-1 Rochdale
16th August - Sheffield United 0-3 Southend
20th August - Millwall (ironically) 2-1 Sheffield United

Yes, I know that we're unlikely to win 11 out of the next 14 and get to 100 points to repeat history - but to me personally it seems like we should be judging this more by November/December time.

Also...if we sack him now, what happens if the new manager loses his first 3 or 4 games as well? Do we sack them as well?

 

[Keen Blade]

Bollox loaf, is that on Tesco’s shelves yet?

In the extra protein aisle

 

[Keen Blade]

I put the entire blame on the owners and unfortunately they MUST now immediately sack their umpteenth mistake or the club is going down.
They are totally ignorant and naive in this business called English football.

They sanctioned £10m & 4 years wages for a completely dud striker.

They took ages twiddling their thumbs , wasting valuable close season preparation time before finally sacking Wilder.
I don't comment on whether that was correct - it's the slow progress that grinds my gears.

Having sacked a man who literally "ran" the club , not just coaching but also recruitment & contracts and got 92 points from a standing start in summer 2024 ,
They then appointed a head coach ,

Failing to recognise that half the functions previously performed by Wilder were now not being done by anyone , especially not the FD Bettis.

Did they think that Bettis would suddenly morph into a DoF , without ever having been a "football man" ?

So where was the guidance coming from about recruitment ?
Is there any feckin wonder that literally nothing happened in terms of recruitment to strengthen the squad , EVEN THOUGH by the time Selles arrived , a lot of the close season (which started late due to POs) had GONE.

You can suddenly "magic up" all the contacts & conversations that Wilder would have been having , had he stayed in place - and don't get me wrong - I was an advocate for removing him and changing things ,
BUT YOU OBVIOUSLY HAD TO GET A WISE OLD FOOTBALL MAN IN TO BE a DoF.
Selles is just not able to do it alone.

But having appointed him , the owners then SAT ON THEIR HANDS the whole summer ,
somehow swallowing the Bettis line that "we won't have a DoF".

Couldn't the owners see that either Bettis (now a Director) was protecting his position as top dog at the Lane or genuinely thought that he could do recruitment & contracts "in his spare time" ?

Then they sanction the simultaneous sale of the spine of the team (Anel Souza & Moore).

What a shower of utter ineptitude these new owners are.
They actually deserve to lose all their investment , because they have not one clue how to operate a football business.

That would be justice upon them.

The trouble is , it would mean relegation and devastation for me as a lifelong fan.

The only way they can pull this out of the fire is to get rid of Selles NOW - he isn't going to turn this round from here - and get Cooper or Dyche or some manger who knows this league , to save us from relegation.

It is that stark.

They have created a crisis by their incompetence and it's firefighting now I'm afraid.

If they can't bring themselves to admit their crap managerial appointment , they at least need to acknowledge his shortcomings and get a DoF in , over his head , to guide him.

Otherwise we are properly fucked - what player is daft enough now , this week , to join a club that looks so dysfunctional ?
About to change the manager who recruits him ?
They would have to be crazy or stupid.

Mind you .... Footballers ....

 

[T-Blade]

T-Blade come on then mate.. is he getting the sack?

Doubt it yet. Another couple of loses though and surely he will be gone. Really wanted it to work but I think it’s clear it’s not going to.

 

[Dkc]

It's been grim of course, but I think it's worth remembering that in 2016 Wilder's record by the same date was:

6th August - Bolton 1-0 Sheffield United
9th August - Sheffield United 1-2 Crewe (EFL Cup)
13th August - Sheffield United 1-1 Rochdale
16th August - Sheffield United 0-3 Southend
20th August - Millwall (ironically) 2-1 Sheffield United

Yes, I know that we're unlikely to win 11 out of the next 14 and get to 100 points to repeat history - but to me personally it seems like we should be judging this more by November/December time.

Also...if we sack him now, what happens if the new manager loses his first 3 or 4 games as well? Do we sack them as well?

Famously Alex Ferguson won just one of his first six league games in charge of Aberdeen and was knocked out of the league cup. I'm as concerned as anyone else about results and performances but you can't write Selles off after such a short time in charge.

 

[KMC-1889]

Cooper was the man for the job, experienced in the champ and surging the prem, he’s still available - go get him!

This cannot continue.

He wants a premier league job, he’s been asked a few times now.

 

[john Mathison]

I am semi retired now, do a little part time job delivering prescription's for Sheffield Children's Hospital. Having worked 52 years full time, I have had , British, American, European management teams. They all have the same core value, will never, never, admit they got it wrong. To be fair the British were by far the worse, arrogant and incompetent. The Americans were just wired up different, after some time, they "revaluated the working business model", which meant reverting to the original English system which worked!!!!!! I think that will happen here, hopefully, sooner rather than later, as they watch the value of their asset plumet in value, god forbid , should relegation appear on the horizon.

 

[Not_a_Cheat]

Can't put effort in, find a pass, keep possession, find space at throw ins, think for themselves

They've sh*t the bed.

They're better than that IF they want to be

But they'll get a free pass as its Selles' fault they can't even do the basics, apparently

Not having it. They don't fancy it as they're buddy manager got the push

So what's the solution?

 

[alcoblade]

The only thing that i saw was that we were utilising 'AI' as part of our scouting and ultimately recruitment strategy, but this effectively means using data to scour previously untapped markets or where our scouting network doesnt reach or would be too costly to reach for the potential reward, but as i understood it, it was part of recruitment only.

I didn't see anything about using AI to influence formations or in game strategy and i certainly didn't see anything about Wilder ignoring advice.

I had some feedback from some people that i know with close ties to the club and Wilder and i certainly didn't get the impression that Wilder was onboard with some of the new owner approaches, but ignoring the advice wasn't something which came up.

On the contrary, Wilder has been using Data within the squad since as far back as his first season, so by default there will have been some degree of 'AI' used back then, even before it was cool. He wasn't using AI to pick his teams or set up his formation, he used AK for that (Alan Knill)

There were a number of factors to Wilder being replaced, some of which were completely baffling and have been publically stated when Selles was appointed, which says more about the owners than Wilder

I'm 99.9% certain of what I'm saying.

 

[SwissBlade]

I'm 99.9% certain of what I'm saying.

If that is the case, then the new owners are far worse than we could ever imagine

 

[programmechap]

I'm 99.9% certain of what I'm saying.

Frankly that's the only explanation that makes any sense. Why would anyone sack a manager who just finished 3rd and replace with a manager who finished 21st and had been sacked for that underwhelming performance?

The owners had some "great ideas" via AI and wanted a manager who would implement them. For that you need a manager with no bargaining power because you've given them a job the level of which they couldn't hope to get elsewhere.

Cue Selles.