Sitting bottom of the Premier League table with just 15 points after 22 games, Saints have already sacked two managers this season, Ralph Hasenhuttl in November and Nathan Jones last week. Brought into the club in the summer to work under Hasenhuttl, Selles will now be taking charge of his first league game as manager, currently in position on a temporary basis. The 39-year-old made it clear on Friday that he wants the full-time managerial role after spending the campaign thus far in an assistants’ capacity.
Ruben Selles said: “Listen, I have my own opinion, of course, some of which I can share with you and some I can not. The thing is that we also started this week some kind of mentorship group. Because when you develop players, you can not develop 11 young players at the same time. I think in parts of the season, in our team selection, we were not taking into consideration those things. I think we have a lot of good young talented players, but we need to bring them the best platform to show and to grow into the Premier League level. I think I have a brilliant team, a brilliant bunch of young players, and also experienced players that can help. We need to find that connection and that’s what probably hasn’t been there a lot. But it’s not because of one of the players or the other players. It’s because we as an organisation didn’t put it together and didn’t put in the tools to give them the best chance to show themselves and perform the best for the club.”
Saints recruitment in the last two windows has seen a raft of talented players arrive, with eight of the new recruits 20 years old or younger. It’s led to great promise within the Saints team but also understandable questions as to whether they can handle the intensity and pressure of a Premier League relegation battle.
