Sheffield United must eye ex-Nottingham Forest manager if they sack Ruben Selles | OneFootball

Steve Cooper would be a potential upgrade on the Blades' current head coach

It has been a disastrous start to the Championship season for Sheffield United, with the Blades suffering an extreme post-play-off final hangover under new head coach, Ruben Selles.

Just a few months ago, optimism was high at Bramall Lane that United would make an immediate return to the Premier League under the management of boyhood supporter Chris Wilder.

However, the dramatic 2-1 defeat to Sunderland at Wembley Stadium in May proved to be his final game in charge, with COH Sports marking a new era with the appointment of the Spaniard on a three-year contract.

Selles' managerial resume prior to moving to the Steel City showcased a mixture of fortunes, suffering relegation from the Premier League with Southampton, battling through extremely tumultuous circumstances with Reading in League One and eventually preserving the Championship status of Yorkshire rivals Hull City, before being dismissed at the MKM Stadium less than two weeks after the conclusion of last season.

Whilst the Valencia-born man could have potentially been forgiven for enduring a mixed start as he conveyed his early-season methods to his new chargers amid a tough set of fixtures on paper, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would have foreseen the current circumstances at Bramall Lane, with Selles already facing several calls for the sack.

Ruben Selles already under fire after disastrous Sheffield United start

Selles' tenure got off to the worst possible start with a 4-1 defeat to Bristol City, who the South Yorkshire side had dismantled 6-0 in last season's play-off semi-finals, with question marks immediately raised after his decision to address his side on the pitch following the defeat to Gerhard Struber's outfit.

Since then, the Blades have shown very little signs of improvement besides a second-half display at home to Millwall, in which Lions goalkeeper Steven Benda was in inspired form, keeping the likes of Louie Barry, Callum O'Hare and Gustavo Hamer at bay.

Despite a plethora of late transfer moves, the majority of which have bolstered the club's defensive department in the form of Ben Godfrey, Japhet Tanganga, Nils Zatterstrom, Mark McGuinness and Ben Mee, there was no change in United's fortunes at the Riverside Stadium last weekend, with Middlesbrough putting a 12-point gap between the sides at the top and bottom of the second-tier after just four games played.

Selles has also failed to get the best out of his attacking forces which include last season's Championship Player of the Year in Hamer, who has been largely ineffective besides a remarkable finish in the EFL Cup defeat to Birmingham City. As a result, the 42-year-old faced chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning" from the away end on Teesside, with the vast majority of supporters already calling for change.

It remains to be seen who COH Sports would appoint if Selles' tenure comes to an end in the coming days and weeks amid strong pressure from supporters, with one of the main reasons behind his initial appointment being his knowledge of AI as the club adopted a new transfer strategy.

However, with no points on the board, appointing a steady, experienced Championship performer should be the board's number one priority, two categories which Steve Cooper certainly falls under.

The 45-year-old has managed both Swansea City and Nottingham Forest at this level, establishing himself as a quality asset to have at this level, with a keen eye for developing talents such as Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher, Ryan Yates and Brennan Johnson in South Wales and the East Midlands respectively.

Cooper accrued a 45% win percentage at the Swansea.Com Stadium across a two-year stint during which the Swans became one of the dominant forces in the division, although they couldn't quite end their Premier League exile with defeats in the play-off semi-finals and the final in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

However, he is well-known for his short-term transformation at the City Ground. Similarly to United's current predicament, Forest were rooted to the bottom of the Championship at the time of his appointment, having won one game out of eight under Chris Hughton despite having a squad with a nice blend of youth and experience.

Those at Bramall Lane know more than most about his ability to galvanise the current UEFA Europa League side, winning 23 of his first 39 league encounters as Forest narrowly missed out on automatic promotion before defeating the Blades and Huddersfield Town in the play-off semi-finals and final, returning the Reds to the Premier League for the first time since 1999.

Despite an underwhelming end to his two-year spell at the City Ground and a run of just four wins in 15 games at Leicester City between August and November 2024, his aforementioned Championship exploits make a swoop for Cooper a no-brainer for United at this moment in time as they look to rectify the club's worst start to a second-tier campaign since 1995/96.