Rubén Sellés’ time at Sheffield United was all of six matches long.
The Championship side had appointed him as Chris Wilder’s successor in July. Sheffield United lost all six matches under the Spaniard, the Blades reacted quickly and showed him the exit door in September and reappointed Wilder the same month.
After a disappointing short spell at Sheffield United, Sellés quickly bounced back by taking the Real Zaragoza job in October. There was doubt around his appointment at the time, but he insisted his Championship experience could help.
Monday’s edition of El Periódico Aragón has a report explaining he’s winning people over at the Spanish club.
The second division side had already gone through two managers this season before appointing the former Sheffield United boss. This saw him take over a club from his country for the first time in his career.
El Periódico Aragón says there were initial concerns when the 42-year-old’s name was linked to the Segunda División side. This was because of age, lack of experience in Spain and a poor spell with Sheffield United.
Therefore, there were doubts whether he could immediately improve the situation at Real Zaragoza. Sellés suffered defeats in his first three league games, which wasn’t the best start.
The newspaper states: ‘Those who wanted to see it could appreciate it in the first half in Gijón and also in solid stretches of the match against Deportivo at the Ibercaja Stadium. The defeats buried those early seeds. The 3-1 loss against Granada at Los Cármenes was the episode that most tarnished Sellés’ work. It was his biggest blemish and the moment when his intervention was most questioned.’
First signs of success for former Sheffield United manager
Sellés has managed to turn things around as they’ve won their last two league matches. El Periódico Aragón say he’s ‘achieved the impossible: being decisive in the opponent’s area, achieving high returns with few shots, and securing his own goal in the last two matches.’
The newspaper explain the former Blades coach was calm and managed himself well when under that initial pressure.
Despite the fresh optimism, Real Zaragoza are still at the bottom of the table. Sellés’ side need a run of wins to climb above the relegation zone.
