Ruben Selles joined Southampton over the summer and some seemed to think that he would quickly replace Ralph Hasenhuttl as manager.
The Saints have decided to part ways with Hasenhuttl, firing the Austrian on Monday after nearly four years in the job.
Sunday’s 4-1 defeat to Newcastle United proved to be the final straw with Saints fans voicing their anger after Newcastle’s third goal.
It does feel like this decision has been coming for a while now though and Southampton must look to find a replacement over the World Cup break – or possibly sooner.
Ruben Selles joined Southampton over the summer
There have been some curious decisions at Southampton of late.
Southampton decided to sack a host of coaches as Kelvin Davis, Dave Watson and Craig Fleming were all let go.
The idea was to re-energise Hasenhuttl’s backroom stage and in came Spanish coach Ruben Selles as ‘first-team lead coach’.
It never really felt like this was an appointment Hasenhuttl wanted and more a decision taken by those above him.
Hasenhuttl hadn’t really had an assistant since Danny Rohl left Southampton for Bayern Munich so Selles was given a key role.
What’s interesting now though is that The Athletic’s Adam Crafton has claimed on The Athletic Football Podcast that Selles’ arrival set tongues wagging.
Crafton suggests that agents immediately thought that the move meant Selles would become Southampton manager within months and here we are – Hasenhuttl has gone but Selles is not only staying but will be in caretaker charge against Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow night.
“I remember at the time, agents messaging me saying ‘Ruben Selles will be the manager within a couple of months’, that was the impression that it gave to the industry, whether that’s right or wrong,” said Crafton.
“If we’re thinking that, then I imagine some of the players must have been thinking it as well,” he added.
Selles, 39, has enjoyed a long stint in coaching and actually started out as a fitness coach at Aris Thessaloniki and Villarreal’s youth.
Selles then served as assistant manager under two managers at Shinnik Yaroslav, four managers back at Aris and four managers at Neftchi Baku in Azerbaijan.
The Spaniard moved into an analysis role with Stromsgodset in 2015 but quickly returned to Azerbaijan as Qarabag assistant.
Selles moved on to Aarhus in an assistant manager position before managing Valencia’s Under-18’s, only to continue his nomadic career with a move to assist Jess Thorup at Copenhagen.
That time in Denmark may have put Selles on the radar of Rasmus Andersen, who is the CEO of Sport Republic, the owners of Southampton.
It doesn’t look like Selles is the favourite for the job but he has the reins for now and it will be fascinating to see if he can somehow secure his first senior managerial role – or even stick around on the coaching staff of the next manager.
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