Ruben Selles has confirmed the first arrivals at Sheffield United under his management after being formally confirmed as the new man in the dugout at Bramall Lane. Nearly a month after the heartbreaking play-off final loss to Sunderland at Wembley, a decision was made regarding the 42-year-old Spaniard’s future, and he now takes over for Chris Wilder in South Yorkshire.
Wilder’s departure was confirmed by a Blades statement on Wednesday night. Coach Matt Prestridge and his assistant Alan Knill originally followed him out the exit door. The futures of United’s other coaching staff, such as goalkeeping expert Matt Duke, Micky Collins, and Jack Lester, have not yet been confirmed.
But Selles is understandably keen to bring his own man to work with him at Bramall Lane, with two familiar faces from his previous clubs also set to join the Blades before the start of pre-season. James Oliver-Pearce, who was Selles’ assistant manager at both Reading and Hull City and formerly of AFC Wimbledon, will link up with Selles for a third time, as will coach Tobias Loveland.
Speaking in his first interview since being unveiled as the new Blades boss, Selles confirmed: “Yeah, we are [bringing in some familiar faces]. James and Toby have been working with me and my previous clubs in England, and they have been fundamental for my success.
Ruben Selles confirms first arrivals of his Sheffield United era after “fundamental” verdict
“So obviously every time I speak about myself, I speak about them. We are also working to bring a coach with a little bit more experience with us. So we will have some new faces and things like that.”
Although the identity of the more experienced coach has not yet been disclosed, all Selles’ staff will have done their homework on the Blades by the time the players report back for pre-season training later this summer. Their break was cut short by the elongated 2024/25 season, with the new campaign kicking off on the weekend beginning August 8.
“The team has been really competitive, just missing the promotion last year in the last game, and there has been good work behind that,” Selles added. “So I think we have a lot of good attributes in the team and in the squad.
“Obviously, as in any season, you will have some players that are already going out because the contract is expiring and some new players, exciting moments. So I think we are in a good place as a club and my task as a manager is just to get what we have got right now and try to make the place a better place.”
Selles caught the eye of the United ownership back in February when his Hull City side beat the Blades 3-0 at Bramall Lane, a vital result for the Tigers as they stayed up on goal difference on the final day of the season before parting company with Selles.
“For us at that time, that was a really powerful game,” he said. That kind of game was just what we needed. By that point in the season, Sheffield United had clearly not suffered a home loss.
Even though it was a really challenging night, we performed admirably and managed to play one of our most competitive games of the year. The memories from that day are so wonderful, and I want to make many more with our supporters in that stadium in the future.
