Sheffield United head coach Ruben Selles is standing firm amidst what has been a calamitous beginning to their season. The Blades have endured a start of historic proportions, losing all six of their games under the former Hull City boss and sinking to the very bottom of the Championship table. In a stark contrast to the team’s abysmal form, Selles has remained outwardly bullish, insisting he retains the full backing of the club’s board and is confident in his ability to turn their fortunes around. His defiant stance comes in the wake of the latest crushing defeat, a result that has only deepened the crisis engulfing the club.
The team’s miserable start plunged to a new low on a brutal Friday night at Portman Road, where they were comprehensively thrashed 5-0 by Ipswich Town. The scoreline was a harsh reflection of the performance, as the Tractor Boys, who had themselves been struggling, recorded their first victory of the season in emphatic fashion. The hat-trick hero of the night, Jaden Philogene, exposed the gaping holes in the Blades’ defence, with his goals serving as a painful reminder of the team’s ongoing struggles. The humbling defeat left many wondering how Selles and his side could possibly recover their form.
Following the match, however, Selles was defiant in his post-game comments, refusing to be shaken by the result. “If you don’t win football matches your position is going to be discussed, not only for me but for every coach in the world. We have to keep working hard until the end,” he told Sky Sports. He showed no signs of concern about his job security, stating, “The owners have been supporting me until today. I haven’t spoken to them after the game. I’m not worried about that, I’m just worried about how we can do things better.” The coach’s resolve appears to be rooted in a deep self-belief. “I believe in myself. I will always be in front of anything that has my name,” he declared. The coach acknowledged that the team’s current predicament could not be solved in a single night but saw a silver lining in the schedule. “The good thing about football is you have another game in seven days and it’s another opportunity,” he said, focusing on the upcoming chance for redemption.
Owners support Selles despite the Blades’ difficult start
While Selles’s confidence is unwavering, the statistics behind the Blades’ nightmare start make for grim reading. The team’s porous defence has been a major concern, having conceded 12 goals in just their first five Championship games, the most in the entire division. This is a stark comparison to last season under Selles’s predecessor, Chris Wilder, whose side did not concede that many goals until Boxing Day. The Blades’ attack has been equally impotent, with Tyreese Campbell’s strike in a 4-1 home defeat by Bristol City on the opening day being the only time the team has found the net in the league so far this season.
When compared to other teams in recent history, the numbers paint an even bleaker picture for the Blades. Since the Championship was rebranded for the 2004-05 season, only four other teams have started a season with five consecutive losses: city rivals Sheffield Wednesday (2007-08), Peterborough United (2012-13), Blackpool (2014-15), and Wycombe Wanderers (2020-21). Out of those five teams, only one, Sheffield Wednesday, managed to survive relegation, finishing 16th, just three points clear of the drop zone. The Blades’ current form marks their worst start to a season since 1995-96. That season, the club’s fortunes only turned around after manager Dave Bassett was replaced by Howard Kendall in December, leading to a recovery that saw the team finish ninth in the second tier.
The stark contrast between Selles’s determined optimism and the bleak reality of his team’s performance leaves the club at a critical crossroads. The statistics and historical precedent suggest that the odds are stacked against them, but with the coach’s self-belief and the board’s apparent support, the club and its fans can only hope that they will prove to be the exception to the rule.
