Leeds United’s former key promotion rivals quickly have a new boss.
Leeds United’s former key Championship promotion rivals Sheffield United have quickly appointed a new boss after taking the huge decision to sack Chris Wilder.
Wilder’s Blades were involved in a fierce battle for last season’s two automatic promotion places with Leeds and Burnley but Sheffield United missed out as the Whites and Clarets went up on 100 points apiece.
The Blades, who eventually finished ten points adrift in third place, saw their promotion bid decided by the play-offs in which they suffered a 2-1 defeat to Sunderland in the Wembley final.
News then emerged earlier this week that the Bramall Lane club were considering Wilder’s position and the club announced on Wednesday evening that a “mutually agreed decision had been reached for manager Wilder to leave the football club.”
Just one hour later, the Blades unveiled former Southampton, Reading and Hull City manager Ruben Selles as the club’s new boss. Selles, 42, has signed a three-year deal at Bramall Lane.
A statement from the club read: “Sheffield United have moved swiftly to fill the managerial hot seat at Bramall Lane, appointing a boss with Premier League and Championship experience.
“Rubén Sellés is the new Blades manager and moves to S2 having signed a three-year deal with the club.
‘His coaching CV is extensive’
“Further coaching appointments will follow in due course. Spaniard Sellés successfully kept Hull City in the Championship last season, despite taking over with the club bottom of the league, with an impressive win against United key to their survival.
“Prior to his arrival on Humberside, he led Reading impressively despite a lengthy period of off the field turmoil, leaving the Royals in sixth place in League One.
“His coaching CV is extensive, and includes working in the Premier League with Southampton, whilst he also boasts a background across several areas of the game.”
Selles said: “When we first heard about the possibility of coming here, it was a no brainer for us to join a club with this kind of history and with a mission to move forward and try to be even more competitive. This is a very powerful and ambitious project.
“It was very important at the start of the conversations that everyone is on the same page.
“We need to embrace data and new technologies, but the most important thing is not to forget the football essence. I think we are capable of delivering a good model and optimise our performance by using all the tools that we have.
“Our identity is always very clear. We want to be aggressive, we want to make things happen. So, the fans can expect a team which is not going to wait or be reactive, we will be proactive, we are going to go and try and be as competitive as we can in every single game. If we can do that then we’ll give ourselves a very good chance of winning games.”
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