Ruben Selles confirms first arrivals of his Sheffield United era after “fundamental for success" verdict
Ruben Selles confirms first arrivals of his Sheffield United era after “fundamental for success" verdict
Ruben Selles has confirmed the first arrivals at Sheffield United under his management after being officially confirmed as the new man in the dugout at Bramall Lane. The 42-year-old Spaniard succeeds Chris Wilder in South Yorkshire, after a decision was taken on his future almost a month after the painful play-off final defeat to Sunderland at Wembley.
A Blades statement on Wednesday evening confirmed the departure of Wilder, with his assistant Alan Knill and coach Matt Prestridge initially following him out of the exit door. There has as yet been no confirmation about the futures of United’s other coaching staff, including the likes of Jack Lester, Micky Collins and goalkeeping specialist Matt Duke.
But Selles is understandably keen to bring his own man to work with him at Bramall Lane, with two familiar faces from his previous clubs also set to join the Blades before the start of pre-season. James Oliver-Pearce, who was Selles’ assistant manager at both Reading and Hull City and formerly of AFC Wimbledon, will link up with Selles for a third time, as will coach Tobias Loveland.
Speaking in his first interview since being unveiled as the new Blades boss, Selles confirmed: “Yeah, we are [bringing in some familiar faces]. James and Toby have been working with me and my previous clubs in England, and they have been fundamental for my success.
Ruben Selles confirms first arrivals of his Sheffield United era after “fundamental” verdict
“So obviously every time I speak about myself, I speak about them. We are also working to bring a coach with a little bit more experience with us. So we will have some new faces and things like that.”
Although the identity of the more experienced coach has not yet been disclosed, all Selles’ staff will have done their homework on the Blades by the time the players report back for pre-season training later this summer. Their break was cut short by the elongated 2024/25 season, with the new campaign kicking off on the weekend beginning August 8.
“The team has been really competitive, just missing the promotion last year in the last game, and there has been good work behind that,” Selles added. “So I think we have a lot of good attributes in the team and in the squad.
“Obviously, as in any season, you will have some players that are already going out because the contract is expiring and some new players, exciting moments. So I think we are in a good place as a club and my task as a manager is just to get what we have got right now and try to make the place a better place.”
Selles caught the eye of the United ownership back in February when his Hull City side beat the Blades 3-0 at Bramall Lane, a vital result for the Tigers as they stayed up on goal difference on the final day of the season before parting company with Selles.
“That really was a powerful game for us in that moment,” he admitted. “We needed a kind of game like that. Obviously Sheffield United had not lost at home in the entire season by that moment.
“It was a very difficult night but we did a lot of things well on that day and we were capable to play one of our most competitive games in the season. So the memories are really, really good from that day, and I hope to build a lot of more memories in that stadium with our fans now.”