00:00So Danny, within, I think it was probably about 20 minutes or half an hour of Chris Wilder's confirmation of leaving Sheffield United, Ruben Seles was announced as the new manager.
00:15I must admit, and I feel like I'm in the minority here, that I was very impressed by the work that he did.
00:22No, actually I'm not in the minority. I think I might be in the minority in Sheffield United fans, but I was really impressed by what he did last season.
00:30I was really impressed by the way he conducted himself, himself, across a couple of clubs and even maybe including Southampton in that, given that it was a tough job that he took on there.
00:44He clearly doesn't share a challenge and, you know, he's played for difficult owners, very difficult owners and, sorry, he's played, he's managed under different difficult owners.
01:05But this is the big, this is massive now. This is a huge step for him.
01:14What is it you think they have seen in him that makes them think that he's the man to take into the Premier League?
01:21Yeah, I think it's, excuse me, I think as we touched on before, I think it's more the, the approach that they want to take.
01:31I think it's more of a, if I could use the words, hands-off model, if that's the right word to sort of, to sort of use.
01:38I say Chris sort of had his fingers in, oh, his fingerprints, sorry, in every part of the football club, didn't he?
01:43And he was a very hands-on manager from what I gather of what the new era is going to be like.
01:49It'll be slightly different. He's, Ruben, you know, had a lot of plaudits from the work he did at Reading.
01:56Obviously, as you touched on there, under very, very difficult circumstances.
02:00And then I imagine when he came to Hull last season, you know, when his Hull team came to Bramble Lane
02:05and they were actually very, very good on that night and, you know, played United off the park almost, didn't they?
02:11So I think that might have stuck in the mind of the owners as well.
02:14You know, his work with young players, his sort of philosophy, if that's the right word, you know,
02:20he speaks very, very well about the game.
02:22You know, what he wants to do is easy to see.
02:26You know, he likes a very high-pressing game, you know, very sort of chaotic game is the way that I've had it described to me recently
02:34by someone who's played under him.
02:37You know, it's very interesting.
02:40Someone's, they sort of compared it to a game of basketball, which made me smile because that was one of Chris's big sort of bugbears.
02:46He didn't like it becoming a game of basketball.
02:48And it almost seems like Ruben Sellers actively encourages that, you know, the chaotic sort of game, you know,
02:57about even going down to the minute details about the press and things like that, where, you know,
03:03I've listened to a podcast with Harley Dean recently, the way he said, you know,
03:07if you're pressing a player, you know, on the ball, don't stop, just run straight through them, smash them.
03:14And that's quite a departure for a lot of players and what they're used to, you know,
03:18used to sort of holding players up and jockeying them.
03:20I don't think there'll be any of that under Ruben Sellers.
03:24But as ever.
03:25I don't mean the stereotype of fan base, but if anybody's going to love that, it's Sheffield United fans, isn't it?
03:32Yeah, I was thinking, I listened to a lot of what he was saying.
03:35I know he's going to say the right things.
03:37You know, you can't really put too much sort of stock into that, can you?
03:42Because it's about what you say rather than what you do rather than what you say.
03:45But a lot of it, I thought, was quite impressive.
03:49It sort of resonated a lot with what I imagine Sheffield United fans will want to see from their team.
03:54You know, he talks about the data, he talks about the technology,
03:57he talks about all the stuff that the owners are obviously really keen to implement.
04:01And I think he made the point of saying, let's not forget about the football side of it,
04:05which I think is really important, because that's ultimately how he'll be judged.
04:09You know, and that's how United's season and success will be judged.
04:14So, yeah, I think all those sort of aspects will have played into that selection of him.
04:19As I say, it's a huge call for the owners.
04:22It's a huge opportunity for him.
04:23You know, you are essentially swapping a manager who was 15 minutes away from the Premier League
04:29for one who was a point away from being relegated into League One.
04:35So that alone probably suggests that the decision is not purely a football one or one based just on what happens out on the pitch.
04:44You know, I think we've possibly agree on this, that I would have stuck with Chris.
04:52You know, I make no sort of apologies for saying that.
04:54That's my view on it.
04:56I think you have to be true to what you think and what you see and what you feel.
04:59And I would have given him another year.
05:01And I think even if this time next year United somehow don't go up with the parachute payments ending,
05:06I think Chris probably would have gone, you know what, this is the time for me to walk away.
05:11But I think he deserved another year.
05:12I think he'd earned another go at it.
05:14But he hasn't got it.
05:16And I guess now it's about looking forward, isn't it?
05:18And United fans have got to, it's not me telling them how to support their club because everyone can do what they want.
05:24But I think it's about now getting behind the new man, the new regime, because, you know, ultimately, as Chris said, you know, many times before,
05:33it's one man is not bigger than the football club.
05:36You know, the football club's been here, as he kept saying last season on several occasions.
05:40It's been here 130 years, whatever it's been now.
05:44And it'll be here for a long time after, you know, we've all gone as well.
05:47So it's about the future of the club now.
05:50I think it's sort of important to look forward while also recognising, I think, the impact that Chris had and what he did for his football club
05:59and the huge decision that the owners have made.
06:02But ultimately, it's their football club.
06:04They're the ones who sign the checks and they make the calls.
06:09And they've made a damn big one here.
06:12And, you know, hopefully, we all hope that it comes off as a success.
06:17The early signs from Ruben, as we say, have been good.
06:19But as we say, it's about what you do, not what you say.
06:22And he'll be judged when the season starts on, what is it, August the 8th?
06:25I think it is.
06:27How difficult will that be for him, do you think?
06:29Is that the first thing he has to do, do you think, to kind of win people over again?
06:34Because obviously, Chris is such a huge figure.
06:37And, you know, it'll feel like he's almost still there, in a sense.
06:46If you get what I mean, people will be constantly comparing Celeste to Wilder.
06:54Yeah, it's a tough gig in that aspect, isn't it?
06:57When you replace a manager that's not only had success there, but has been such a sort of charismatic, iconic, legendary figure.
07:05You know, we're talking about someone who, by most metrics, is probably the most successful manager this club's ever had.
07:11You know, he's by a million miles the most successful of my lifetime and my generation.
07:17You know, it's probably only, well, there is only Dave Bassett in living memory that can even sort of rival him, isn't it?
07:23And the way that football's changed in modern times, I think, probably puts Chris's achievements just slightly above Harry's.
07:31You know, he might disagree with that.
07:33You know, every sort of era thinks that their time was different or better or whatever.
07:38But, yeah, I think it's a really tough gig in that respect, sort of walking into a place where Chris's fingerprints are all over.
07:46You know, you're walking into a team that he pretty much assembled last summer and rebuilt last summer, aren't you, as well?
07:53So, Ruben, I'm sure, will be keen to put his stamp on it.
07:57You know, it'll be interesting to see how much he changes, whether it is a revolution or an evolution.
08:04I think it'll help that he will, as I said, go about things a different way on the pitch.
08:09You know, I think he plays a different shape, a sort of 4-2-2-2 sort of shape that we've seen him use at Hull and Reading.
08:16So I think that'll help sort of differentiate.
08:18It's not like he's coming into play exactly the same way as Chris, you know, with the same players.
08:22I'm sure there'll be a turnover. It'll be interesting to see how many players perhaps try and follow Chris out of the door
08:30or make an expression of interest in following Chris out of the door, whether that comes to pass.
08:35We've heard a few whispers privately about that potentially happening.
08:40And then, obviously, who comes in?
08:41You know, the owners have been pretty open about the way they want to go about things,
08:45signing players from, I'm going to say all corners of the world, but it's pretty much Bulgaria at the minute, isn't it?
08:52But that approach will continue.
08:55So how does Ruben sort of gel those players with, you know, who's already here with the other ones who are coming in?
09:02How does he adapt them to English football?
09:04You know, I don't say that in a sort of xenophobic way or anything like that, but it is a unique, you know, proposition, isn't it?
09:10Playing in the championship, it's a very different league to what many players around the world will have experienced.
09:16We saw it when United sort of dipped their toe in this method a couple of years back when they signed Benny Traore and LaRucci and, you know,
09:24all those players, you know, that have sort of gone by the wayside now.
09:31You know, how will they sort of adapt to playing in England?
09:33You know, how will he sort of blend them together to play his style of football, to play a style that the fans will like and grow to love?
09:42Yeah, there's a lot of question marks, isn't there?
09:44He's got a big task on his hands.
09:46I'm sure he'll know that and he'll be keen to sort of put his stamp on it, you know, make it clear that he's his own man.
09:52And the Ruben Seles era has well and truly begun and it's hopefully a successful one.
