If the Premier League is the ultimate end destination for aspiring managers around the globe, how many steps along the path must be taken in order to reach the promised land?
The answer, at least in Ruben Selles’ case, is in double figures. The new Southampton manager is only 39 but has been preparing himself for this kind of opportunity for well over a decade. After attaining a master’s degree in sports and physiology from the University of Valencia and undertaking his Uefa Pro License – the highest coaching certificate there is – at the age of 25, he has hopped from one club – and country – to another, gathering exposure, experience and expertise along the way.
“I have been ready for the last four years [to be a manager], so it’s no different now,” Selles told the media in his first press conference after stepping into the interim job after Nathan Jones’ doomed tenure had reached its inevitable conclusion. “I want to be the manager.”
Interim bosses are rarely so forthright in discussing their ambitions so publicly, but then Selles’ career path to date gives the impression of someone who is constantly searching for something bigger and better.
A Valencian native, Selles moved abroad to get his coaching career up and running, joining Greek club Aris in 2008. Selles returned periodically to Spain after – he has had spells with Valencia, CF Gandia and Villarreal in his homeland – but that travel bug has evidently never left him. As well as Greece, Selles has coached in Russia, Azerbaijan, Norway, Denmark, and now England.
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“He was very clear on his ambitions. He had big dreams and wanted to coach at the highest level,” Magne Jordan Nilsen, Stromsgodset’s CEO tells i. “It’s a long journey from being an assistant coach at Stromsgodset to the manager at Southampton. Of course, I am a bit surprised, but it just proves what you can achieve with hard work, talent, and dedication.”
Selles was brought to Stromsgodset, the club renowned for developing Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, by David Nielsen, a former Denmark U21 striker who lists Wimbledon, Grimsby Town and Norwich City among his former clubs. The pair met in Valencia during the formative years of their coaching careers. Nielsen took Selles with him to AGF too and the pair led the club to its highest league position in the Danish top-flight for 24 years.
“It would be completely insane [for Southampton] not to give it to him,” Nielsen told Danish outlet Bold earlier this week before Selles was appointed on Friday morning. “It would be wilder not to give him the job than to give it.
“If you’ve seen what he does on the training pitch and the players’ response after the game, I hope they at least give him the rest of the season. I don’t think they have a better chance of survival with any other coach than him.”
Selles certainly enhanced his job prospects last weekend by guiding the Saints to a surprising and extremely welcome 1-0 victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in his first Premier League match in charge – he previously oversaw a Carabao Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday in the interim period between Ralph Hasenhuttl’s sacking and Jones’ appointment.
Ruben Selles’ coaching career
- Aris (Greece)
- Valencia (Spain)
- Shinnik Yaroslavl (Russia)
- C.F. Gandia (Spain)
- Villarreal (Spain)
- Neftchi Baku (Azerbaijan)
- Stromsgodset (Norway)
- Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
- AGF (Denmark)
- FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
- Southampton (England)
Not only was it Southampton’s second league win in their last dozen games, but it was also their first clean sheet since October. While it was a win that came via a trusted source, a trademark James Ward-Prowse big dipper, it was defined by a tactical framework and collective spirit that looked to have ebbed away under the previous regime. In other words, precisely the kind of display supporters can get behind. Selles was serenaded by the travelling Saints at full-time.
“It’s been a chaotic week, a lot of unknowns, but Ruben’s come in and given us a real calmness and a familiar way of playing that suited us today,” said Ward-Prowse. Southampton made 32 tackles in total, the third-most in a Premier League match this season, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Romain Perraud both made goal-saving interventions. It certainly looked as though they were playing for their new manager.
Selles will now remain in position until at least the end of the campaign after being appointed following a breakdown in talks with Jesse Marsch. Selles first match in the dugout as full-time manager will be for Saturday’s crunch relegation six-pointer against Marsch’s former club Leeds on Saturday.
“Ruben had a very strong tactical understanding and he came to our club with a lot of knowledge,” Nilsen recalls. “The way he implemented his football philosophy onto the pitch was impressive. I would call him a perfectionist. He was determined, he knew exactly how he wanted things, he always pushed for progress and he demanded a lot of both the players and the rest of the staff. He was very professional and disciplined.
“At the same time, I remember Ruben as a good colleague and a nice person. He always had time to talk and to listen. And he always wanted to learn.”
Rookie managers often learn lessons the hard way, but Selles appears to be as prepared for his new role as it is possible to be. Keep Southampton in the Premier League and an already burgeoning reputation will only flourish.
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