Exclusive: What Ruben Selles has been predicted to do after Sheffield United sack - "it's a big ask" | OneFootball

Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie spoke exclusively to Football League World about Ruben Selles' future after being sacked by Sheffield United

Ruben Selles is now facing a somewhat-uncertain managerial future in the EFL, having been relieved of his duties at Sheffield United just five matches into the 2025/26 Championship campaign following a disastrous start to the season at Bramall Lane.

The Blades made the controversial decision to part ways with hugely-popular boss Chris Wilder in the aftermath of last term's agonising play-off final defeat to Sunderland, with the Blades earning 92 points across the course of the season but finishing third in the Championship behind 100-point pair Burnley and Leeds United.

Club owners, COH Sports, decided to dispense Wilder in favour of Selles, who himself was contentiously dismissed by Championship rivals Hull City by trigger-happy chairman Acun Ilicali after retaining the Tigers' divisional status on the final day.

Selles, quite naturally, had colossal shoes to fill and fell drastically short of doing so, and the flawed decision process was only amplified when the club announced the return of Wilder - just three months after his exit - earlier this week after sacking the Spaniard.

The harrowing 5-0 defeat at Ipswich Town was the final straw for ex-Reading and Southampton boss Selles, representing his sixth successive defeat.

United lost every competitive fixture under his stewardship and were left rooted to the foot of the table upon his departure, behind crisis club and cross-city rivals Sheffield Wednesday, with Wilder now facing a significant task in dragging his side back towards the higher echelons of the Championship standings and resurrecting what has been, to date, a nightmareish campaign.

Lee Hendrie predicts what Ruben Selles will do next after Sheffield United sack

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit and former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie is skeptical about Selles' future prospects within EFL management.

He did, of course, arrive at Sheffield United with a healthy reputation, built up predominantly from his admirable work under desperately-difficult off-pitch circumstances with League One Reading. However, in Hendrie's view, the 42-year-old could now be set to undertake a period of time and reflection away from the dugout, with the possibility of getting a new job with swift effect representing a "big ask".

Indeed, Hendrie believes that Selles' style could be better suited to the continent, with the Spaniard having coached across the globe through previous stints in Azerbaijan, Denmark, Greece, Russia and, of course, his native Spain.

"With Ruben Selles, it's quite hard to really figure out where and what he does next," Hendrie told FLW.

"I've looked at the clubs he's been at and I felt it was a big step-up for him to jump into Sheffield United's mold. Now, I think it may be a little time out to figure out what's going to work for him.

"I actually see him possibly going abroad. I think his style and ways would suit a Spanish or Italian side, that will be down to whether he feels like he can still do that in the EFL and, again, what jobs come around that might be suitable for him.

"It's a big ask, with the way things went at Sheffield United, the possibility of getting a next job and it might be that he has to take a step down, which would be unfortunate."

Sheffield United job was never suited to Ruben Selles

It would be unfair to judge Selles purely from his ill-fated reign at Sheffield United, a job never suited to his modus operandi and the stage of his career in which he finds himself.

Selles, in stark contrast to his predecessor and swift successor Wilder, lacks promotion-winning experience and has instead represented the sort of modernised 'project' head coach, capable of developing young talent, operating shrewdly on a tight budget and patiently developing a progressive brand of football.

Many of the Spaniard's fundamental coaching attributes would make him a strong appointment for a number of Championship or League One sides when vacancies invariably open up deeper into the season, but the Blades required a bullish and experienced taskmaster capable of immediately stamping down his authority on the side and picking up where Wilder left out.

Automatic promotion was, of course, the barometer for success this season after Wilder fell short of taking the side up, and United were never going to compete for that under Selles.

The appointment simply came too soon for Selles, and both hindsight and indeed the job which Wilder had conducted last year, meant he never should have been dismissed in the first place.