Ruben Selles Appointed New Reading Manager
Reading Football Club have appointed former Southampton head coach Ruben Selles as their new manager. The 40-year-old Spaniard will take over subject to him obtaining a visa, which the club applied for last week.
Background of Ruben Selles
Ruben Selles has not had a career as a player, but instead took his Uefa Pro Licence aged 25 and became a youth coach at Villarreal before taking on roles in Greece, Russia and Azerbaijan – where he was assistant manager at Qarabag. In the summer of 2018 he moved to a similar role at Danish club Aarhus, then became Valencia’s youth manager before returning to Denmark as assistant manager at FC Copenhagen. Last June he left to become Ralf Hasenhuttl’s number two at Southampton and was placed in temporary charge in November when the Austrian was sacked. He stayed on when Nathan Jones took over at St Mary’s and then took the reins when the Welshman left. Selles left Saints last month after being told his contract would not be renewed following the club’s relegation.
Reading’s Situation
He joins Reading at a difficult time in their history – they have financial problems and a number of fan groups are demanding owner Dai Yongge sells the club as soon as possible. The Royals have sold a number of their higher-earning players in recent weeks as they try and get ready for life in the third tier. Should the club remain under an embargo Selles will be forced to use free transfers and have restrictions placed on the amount of money the club can spend on wages.
Selles’ Tenure at Southampton
Selles took charge of Southampton following Nathan Jones’ departure in February but only won two of his 17 matches at the helm as Saints finished bottom of the Premier League. He succeeds Paul Ince, who was sacked by Reading in April. The club are currently under a transfer embargo from the English Football League resulting from that breach, the non-payment of loan wages and non-payment of tax. Selles’ first competitive game in charge – Reading’s first in the third tier since 2002 – will be at home to beaten play-off semi-finalists Peterborough United.
Awaiting Visa Decision
“We now await a decision on his work visa before he is able to get to work on revitalising this Royals squad and recruiting players to be part of the rebuild at Reading,” a short statement on the Reading website said. Reading’s final five games of last season were under interim manager Noel Hunt, who stepped up from his role as under-21’s head coach, but he was unable to prevent relegation to League One. The club have not yet released details about the length of Selles’ contract or any coaching staff he will bring with him.
Conclusion
Ruben Selles is set to take over as Reading’s new manager, subject to him obtaining a visa. He has had an impressive career in coaching so far, having worked in various countries such as Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, and Spain. He joins Reading at a difficult time in their history, with financial problems and fan groups demanding owner Dai Yongge sells the club as soon as possible. Selles will be forced to use free transfers and have restrictions placed on the amount of money the club can spend on wages if the club remain under an embargo. We now await a decision on his work visa before he is able to get to work on revitalising this Royals squad and recruiting players to be part of the rebuild at Reading.