How Ruben Selles is getting on since leaving Sheffield United - it's not good | OneFootball

We looked at how former Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles is getting on at his new club Real Zaragoza.

It is fair to say that Ruben Selles will probably want to forget his disastrous spell in charge of Sheffield United.

After a tough start to life in management as he oversaw Southampton's relegation from the Premier League in his first senior job, Selles built up a strong reputation during his time in charge of Reading, where he delivered impressive results despite working in incredibly difficult circumstances under the ownership of Dai Yongge.

Selles' creditable work at the Select Car Leasing Stadium earned him a move to Championship side Hull City last December, but despite successfully keeping the Tigers in the division on goal difference on the final day of last season, he was sacked in May after only five months at the MKM Stadium.

The following month, Selles made a swift return to management as he took over at Sheffield United, who had controversially parted company with popular manager Chris Wilder after missing out on automatic promotion and losing to Sunderland in the play-off final.

The decision to replace Wilder with Selles backfired spectacularly, with the Spaniard enduring a dismal three-month spell at Bramall Lane, and the Blades are still recovering from the damage done during his ill-fated tenure.

Ruben Selles' Sheffield United reign quickly turned into a nightmare

There were legitimate question marks from the start about whether Selles was an upgrade on Wilder, but few could have envisaged his time in South Yorkshire going quite so wrong.

As the Sheffield United board pursued their infamous data-driven transfer model, a host of young players arrived at the club in the early stages of the summer, including the likes of Mihail Polendakov, Djibril Soumare and Ehije Ukaki, while Selles was allowed to bring in two players he had worked with previously at Reading and Hull respectively in Tyler Bindon and Louie Barry.

However, as results started to decline, the Blades hierarchy soon turned to more experienced signings in the latter part of the window, such as Japhet Tanganga, Ben Godfrey, Ben Mee, Chiedozie Ogbene and Danny Ings, but it could not save Selles' reign at Bramall Lane.

Selles was sacked in September after losing all six of his games in charge of United in all competitions, with his side scoring just two goals and conceding 14 in those matches, and a horror 5-0 defeat at Ipswich Town, during which large sections of the away end called for his dismissal, proved to be the final straw.

In a sensational turn of events, Wilder returned for a third spell in charge of the Blades to replace Selles, just 89 days after his shock summer departure, but the 58-year-old has not made the impact he would have hoped for so far, with his side still languishing in the relegation zone.

Ruben Selles' nightmare is continuing at Real Zaragoza after Sheffield United exit

Given the reputational damage Selles suffered at Sheffield United, many assumed that he was facing a period out of management after his exit, while it would also have been fair to expect that he may have wished to take a break after his bruising experience at Bramall Lane.

However, just over a month after being sacked by the Blades, Selles made a surprise return to work as he took over as the new head coach of Spanish second division side Real Zaragoza.

Zaragoza parted company with manager Gabi in October after winning just one of their first nine league games of the season, with that poor start leaving them bottom of the table, and a 5-0 home defeat to newly-promoted side and relegation rivals Cultural Leonesa under caretaker Emilio Larraz underlined the size of the task Selles was inheriting at the Ibercaja Stadium.

Selles initially failed to make any kind of impact as he lost his first three league games in charge against Sporting Gijon, Deportivo La Coruna and Granada, but there was some brief respite for the 42-year-old as his side won 3-1 at fourth tier Mutilvera in the first round of the Copa del Rey.

At the fourth attempt, Selles finally tasted victory in the league as Zaragoza secured a much-needed 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Huesca on Sunday night thanks to Martin Aguirregabiria's 12th-minute goal, although it was a nervy end to the game for the hosts after Aleksandar Radovanovic was sent off for a second bookable offence in the closing stages.