Sheffield United time runs out for Ruben Selles as Chris Wilder prepares for sensational return

Sheffield United will have a new face in the dugout for next weekend’s crunch clash with Charlton Athletic - albeit a potentially familiar one - after Ruben Selles was officially sacked as Blades boss. The Blades made the call on the Spaniard after a disastrous start to his tenure in South Yorkshire, with an announcement made this afternoon.

As we revealed yesterday, United officials sounded out former boss Chris Wilder about the possibility of returning to his boyhood club just months after his departure, to be succeeded by Selles. But the former Hull City and Reading coach has lost all six of his competitive games so far, with the final straw coming on Friday as the Blades were hammered 5-0 at Ipswich Town.

A Blades statement read: “After a disappointing start to the EFL Championship campaign, Rubén Sellés has been relieved of his duties as manager. The board of directors wish to thank Mr Sellés for his hard work.”

Selles remained open-minded about his Lane future after that one but it was enough for the call to be made to Wilder, to ascertain whether he would be willing to make a sensational return to United. The understanding is that he answered in the affirmative, with the lure of his beloved club too much to turn down.

The timing of Friday’s defeat could not have been worse for the beleaguered Selles, with representatives of the COH Sports ownership group in attendance at Portman Road to watch United get dismantled by a side who had endured their own tough start to the current campaign.

The Star has also been told separately that COH Sports, the ownership group who decided to move on from Wilder earlier this summer just months after handing him a new deal, are privately considering installing a football representative above the manager, in a technical director/director of football type role.

Wilder returned to United during the club’s last Premier League struggle and banished the hangover of relegation to mount an instant promotion push, leading the Blades to the play-off final earlier this summer after winning 92 points.

He left his post weeks later, with COH keen to go in a different direction. But the Selles gamble has backfired, with United scoring one goal in five league games and only mustering their first shot on target away from home in the league in the second half at Ipswich.

Their start to this season is their worst in the second tier for 30 years, with their next game coming a week today at home to recently-promoted Charlton Athletic. "It doesn't matter what I believe but I will keep working until the last moment," Selles said when asked about his future after the Ipswich hammering.

"I have to take the pain and analyse what we want for the next game to try to beat the next opponent. In the first half we saw the team we want to be – we put them under pressure and won some balls. The first goal comes from an interception 70 yards from our goal. The second goal changed the game and I think we fell apart."