Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles insists he has held positive talks with the club over the international break, despite their disastrous start to the season.
The Blades were beaten to automatic promotion last season by Leeds United and Burnley before falling to defeat in the play-off final to Sunderland. This led to the club opting to part company with Chris Wilder before immediately appointing Selles on a three-year deal.
The Spaniard had found himself out of a job after Hull City decided to follow the same route as their Championship rivals. This came in spite of Selles guiding the Tigers to Championship safety.
It’s fair to say that Selles has endured a nightmare start to his tenure. They opened the campaign with a 4-1 defeat against Bristol City at Bramall Lane and have followed that with four further losses in all competitions. As a result, they currently sit bottom of the table.
Selles Eager To Kickstart Campaign
In dire need of points to kickstart their promotion bid, they face arguably the toughest fixture of their season so far on Friday night when they travel to Portman Road to face Ipswich Town. There were question marks before the international break as to whether Selles would be in the dugout, but it appears as if he has the club’s full backing. Speaking to the media, the ex-Reading boss revealed that talks have taken place over the past couple of weeks:
“No, they have been supportive in the way that we do things and the way they want to do things. Obviously, we just use those periods just to make a meeting where we can talk with them and explain what we are doing and how we are doing, and then answering some questions as everyone will do it in any football club or any company. I just felt the support from them.”
Continuing, Selles insisted it may take time to spark an upturn in results but it is important to start putting in good performances:
“Well, I think we need to go step by step. think the squad is capable to go on Friday and try to beat our opponent.
“To make a good performance and then go from there. I think we managed to have a good group of players and now, we know our challenge is to become a team.”
Writer’s View
This already feels as if Ruben Selles is on borrowed time. Four successive league defeats as well as an early Carabao Cup exit means that supporters are already starting to turn and results will need an immediate upturn. It will be tough to get anything out of the game at Ipswich and with the next international break only one month away, the Spaniard will sure find himself out of a job if their fortunes don’t improve by then.
