Chris Wilder chants show Sheffield United patience running out as Ruben Selles makes future admission
Chris Wilder chants show Sheffield United patience running out as Ruben Selles answers big future question
Ruben Selles has admitted that his future at Sheffield United is out of his hands after a fifth defeat in his five games in charge at Bramall Lane intensified pressure on his position. The Blades were again second best this afternoon at Middlesbrough, whose 1-0 win sent them clear at the top and kept United rooted to the bottom.
Things could have gone differently had Tyrese Campbell converted a first-half chance and Sam McCallum kept an even simpler opportunity down in the dying minutes, but neither were converted and Boro took the three points after cutting open United’s defence with three simple passes before Bobby Conway finished past Michael Cooper.
The patience of many Unitedites finally seemed to run out in the second half, with chants of former manager Chris Wilder’s name - and that of his ex-assistant Alan Knill - eminating from the away end. Selles was jeered vociferously at full-time after fronting up to supporters who failed to see their side register a shot on target once again.
There is now a long international break gap of almost two weeks for United to take stock and reflect on the direction of the club, with Selles’ future expected to dominate the agenda once again ahead of United’s next outing at recently-relegated Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
Chris Wilder chants show Sheffield United patience running out as Ruben Selles answers big future question
Asked if he still expects to be in the Blades dugout for that game, Selles admitted: “Well, listen, I cannot control the situation. I will expect to go to my house tonight and then tomorrow go to work and then continue as normal. It's not in my hands to make a decision.
“And until the very last moment, I will just do my best and try to do my things. When the situation is not in my control, I don't think too much about what is going to happen in the future. Because realistically, I do as much as I can.
“At least if I go out, whether that’s tomorrow or if it's in three years, I will always go out with the feeling that I made the decisions that I want to make. Obviously that includes my mistakes, but my decisions were honest and what I thought was the correct thing to do in every single moment.”
From the outside it would be tempting to suggest that United’s current predicament would be the toughest period of Selles’ spell in management but he has been in tough spots before, including his time at Reading when the Royals battled points deductions, transfer embargoes and missed wage payments.
“I have been in worse situations and I end up just making the things happen and changing totally around the dynamics,” said Selles, when asked if he still believes he can make a success of things at Bramall Lane.
“So I don't have a doubt about it. I've been in situations where I haven't been paid on time, situations when they get points deduction, situations where we didn't know if we would be able to train the next day at the training ground.
“And the reality is that we turned things around at the moment of connection. But you need to work hard to go to that moment and you need to go through a couple of critical moments on that journey. That's what I learned. I understand and accept that this is football, but I also know that this team is going to do great things.”
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On his reception from his own fans at the end, after going over to them and fronting up for his side’s tough predicament, and the chants for his predecessor Wilder, Selles added: “I just had the feeling that it was the correct thing to do. I'm always going to be in front of what I do and I know the name that is on the door is my name.
“So I will accept every critic and I'm not going to hide behind my players or behind anyone. I also don't want to make any excuses. If they are asking for me then sometimes, when you do the things properly, it is for good reasons and you are very happy to go there and clap and chant and everything.
“But when the things are not going your way, you need to study and understand what they are doing. Be polite and as long as everyone is civilized and does it in a normal way, I have no problem to accept my responsibility.”