Ruben Selles

[Forester]

Without question our goals conceded ratio is helping us to catch up the other strugglers.  Interestingly though this improvement from an awful 2022 defensively actually pre-dates Selles, although he has further improved this.

 

It may surprise people that in 2023 (so including the Forest game) our record is nine conceded from eight Premier League games (there is a three in Brentford game within that), or 16 from 14 in all competitions.  
 

I was banging on week after week under Ralph that we were always doomed to struggle until we could get our goals conceded down to say 1.2 per game, which if you look back to our four seasons in the top eight under Poch, Koeman and Puel is what really drove the success.  An obvious statement but you are always in the game and can take points from scoring no more than one goal.

 

That is what is helping right now 

[Wade Garrett]

I think he picked the wrong side yesterday, I thought bringing Adam Armstrong and Mara on was ridiculous.

But, we won.  We’ve won 2 out of 3 in the league under Selles.  So fair play to him and the team.  I still think we’re going down, but at least we’re fighting now.

[Ted Bates Statue]

Take out his first match against Wednesday and he's got a 50% win percentage. 😉

[Chewy]

I was clamoring for a move away from the narrow 4222 so was happy with the starting line up from that perspective. And although it wasn’t a great performance it was telling that we actually managed to create things in open play for once by having some width, movement and space to run into.

Thought Alcaraz in the 10 worked well, Theo played an effective role and Adams kept the defenders occupied. Sulemane wasn’t great but he’s going to be inconsistent, especially at his age.

It’s encouraging that Selles adapted from his default formation and having got the result (with some luck to help) I’m hopeful he’ll persevere.

Of course, it depends on having the personnel available too. As AA, Moi and Mara demonstrated yesterday, behind the first choices we have an army of dross to call on.

[Charlie Mealings]

I like Selles, a lot, but the return of Jan Bednarek makes me a bit nervous. I wrote about it:

https://cmealings.substack.com/p/why-is-bednarek-back-and-is-he-here

[saintant]

37 minutes ago, Charlie Mealings said:

I like Selles, a lot, but the return of Jan Bednarek makes me a bit nervous. I wrote about it:

https://cmealings.substack.com/p/why-is-bednarek-back-and-is-he-here

Have to disagree with you because I think Bednarek is awful on the ball. He dawdles and takes way too much time enabling opponents to press him into lumping the ball in a blind panic. If you are trying to play out from the back he is the last person you want receiving the ball from the keeper or a team mate.

[ant]

20 minutes ago, saintant said:

Have to disagree with you because I think Bednarek is awful on the ball. He dawdles and takes way too much time enabling opponents to press him into lumping the ball in a blind panic. If you are trying to play out from the back he is the last person you want receiving the ball from the keeper or a team mate.

100% this.

When he receives the ball he holds it, has a think... Holds it... And then eventually releases. I'm not sure that's composure.

If you're playing out from the back you need swift, incisive, meaningful distribution.

Not convinced any of our CBs are particularly good at it; certainly seems strange to me to highlight it as a Bednarek attribute. 

 

[Toadhall Saint]

29 minutes ago, ant said:

100% this.

When he receives the ball he holds it, has a think... Holds it... And then eventually releases. I'm not sure that's composure.

If you're playing out from the back you need swift, incisive, meaningful distribution.

Not convinced any of our CBs are particularly good at it; certainly seems strange to me to highlight it as a Bednarek attribute. 

 

He really doesn’t do anything well apart from put his body on the line which either unsights the keeper or puts it past the keeper. 

[Harry_SFC]

1 hour ago, Toadhall Saint said:

He really doesn’t do anything well apart from put his body on the line which either unsights the keeper or puts it past the keeper. 

 

2 hours ago, ant said:

100% this.

When he receives the ball he holds it, has a think... Holds it... And then eventually releases. I'm not sure that's composure.

If you're playing out from the back you need swift, incisive, meaningful distribution.

Not convinced any of our CBs are particularly good at it; certainly seems strange to me to highlight it as a Bednarek attribute. 

 

Yep, they are largely awful on the ball.

Salisu and Lyanco regularly give the ball away and Bednarek takes ages to make a decision. DCC is the best out of a bad bunch. 

[BotleySaint]

Well, we had a good shape today. He absolutely has improved the team from where Jones left us. Unfortunately the players and options for subs are still diabolical. 

Edited 12 March, 2023 by BotleySaint

[CB Fry]

Impressive defensive record since Selles took over from that fucking "agressive, front footed" Welsh idiot.

Clearly shows how much Jones has fucked our season and (very likely) doomed us to relegation, when it was possible to survive.

Edited 12 March, 2023 by CB Fry

[S-Clarke]

What an absolute bloody waste of 3 months pissing around with Nathan Fucking Jones.

Seriously.

[Dman]

6 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Impressive defensive record since Selles took over from that fucking "agressive, front footed" Welsh idiot.

Clearly shows how much Jones has fucked our season and (very likely) doomed us to relegation, when it was possible to survive.

Forest at home still haunts me. Probably the fixture which has relegated us, tbh. 

[miserableoldgit]

Four League games, three away from home, three clean sheets, (only one goal conceded....build from the back) and seven points. Not too shabby....

[striker]

7 pts in 12, including away fixtures at Chelsea and ManU. I don't see who could do more, not like we are loaded with top players

[bpsaint]

6 minutes ago, miserableoldgit said:

Four League games, three away from home, three clean sheets, (only one goal conceded....build from the back) and seven points. Not too shabby....

Yep, average of 1.75 points per game. Keep that up and we’d finish on 43 points. Think we’d all take that.

[Pilchards]

The players are slowly getting some confidence back thanks to having a better manager.

I just wish he had some better squad players to bring off the bench as this is what is going to bite us.

 

Edited 12 March, 2023 by Pilchards

[Dman]

8 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

The players are slowly getting some confidence back thanks to a having a better manager.

I just wish he had some better squad players to bring off the bench as this is what is going to bite us.

 

I agree. I see his reasoning behind switching the front 3 after 70/75 mins, but the players we bring on (no fault of his) make us significantly weaker and kill any attacking threat. 

[Dellman]

46 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Impressive defensive record since Selles took over from that fucking "agressive, front footed" Welsh idiot.

Clearly shows how much Jones has fucked our season and (very likely) doomed us to relegation, when it was possible to survive.

Agreed, but the real fault lies with the people who had the insane idea of appointing him in the first place.

[Chewy]

Another day in the plus column; got to be happy with another clean sheet and a positive performance. He does look set on 4231 which I think suits us far better. The trouble is, beyond probably Stu for Theo or Charlie there isn’t anything you can see as a viable sub to freshen things up in attack. I guess Paul for something different up top but the rest of them … Aribo, Orsic, Moi, Mara, AArm, Djenepo … all utter gash or seriously out of form. Possible exception is Edozie but he hasn’t really produced and looks out of favour (he’s also just a kid).

Getting a settled and increasingly confident first choice 11 or so is really good progress from where we were, but a lack of options and goals (obviously) is going to cost us. But that’s on the board, not Selles. Great work so far - let’s hope it continues at St Mary’s!! Looking forward to it for once!

[Lord Duckhunter]

With our forward line there’s only one way we’re going to stay up and that’s clean sheets. RS really seems to have sorted us out defensively, with 3 out of 4 league games resulting in clean sheets. A far cry from the previous 2 managers who managed a pitiful 1 between them. It’s all the more impressive managing this with our Keeper and Bednarek playing week in week out. At the start of the season most fans would think Salisu our best centre half, and he hasn’t even been playing. So far so good, let’s hope we can build some momentum with 4 points this coming week. 

[Rivers]

Ruben said when he first came in as Manager, that his first priority was to stabilise us at the back, stop the flow of goals against, and make us more difficult to beat.

He has done exactly what he said he was going to do.

Four Premier League games, three clean sheets, two wins and a draw.

We have become more organised as a unit, and whilst there are still times where we lack composure under pressure, there is clearly a much improved structural framework around which our defense is built. We are defefending from the front with a lot more cohesion (something else Ruben said early on was important, which we had lacked). We are pressing the ball more intelligently. Choosing the right moments better, and then rather than the constant insane levels of counter-pressing we saw under Ralph that often left us so dangerously exposed, we are tending to collapse back into an organised shape as quickly as possible, to force the opposition to have to try to play around us.

That is giving us more time to get back into a compact defensive formation, and it is indeed making us harder to break down.

Obviously, this is a work in progress, and we don't do all these things perfectly, all of the time.

But the signs of progress are very clear.

We can see with our own eyes, through the recent performances on the pitch, a very good idea of just what Ruben has been working on in training during the week. We finally look like a team that do have some kind of an idea what we are supposed to be doing, even if the execution is sometimes let down by the inherent lack of genuinely top flight quality in the squad.

For me, after the debacle of being criminally mismanaged by the fittest human being in history, I couldn't really have asked for much more at this stage, given the level of the players available to us.

Because of the way we play, with the forwards being our first line of defense, Ruben unfortunately has to freshen the legs up top with earlier changes than we might like, and it is not his fault that the options off the bench in those positions weaken us further in terms of quality. I still cannot possibly with agree with his choice to use the woefully inept Adam Armstrong as one of those substitutes, but I do understand that it is because of his workrate he is selected, to keep the pressing machinery fully fuelled.

But, that being my only major critiscism, Ruben's management of our CLub is clearly having a positive effect on the players, and results are having a positive effect on the fans.

Keep up the good work Ruben.

 

 

[ant]

43 minutes ago, Rivers said:

Ruben said when he first came in as Manager, that his first priority was to stabilise us at the back, stop the flow of goals against, and make us more difficult to beat.

He has done exactly what he said he was going to do.

Four Premier League games, three clean sheets, two wins and a draw.

We have become more organised as a unit, and whilst there are still times where we lack composure under pressure, there is clearly a much improved structural framework around which our defense is built. We are defefending from the front with a lot more cohesion (something else Ruben said early on was important, which we had lacked). We are pressing the ball more intelligently. Choosing the right moments better, and then rather than the constant insane levels of counter-pressing we saw under Ralph that often left us so dangerously exposed, we are tending to collapse back into an organised shape as quickly as possible, to force the opposition to have to try to play around us.

That is giving us more time to get back into a compact defensive formation, and it is indeed making us harder to break down.

Obviously, this is a work in progress, and we don't do all these things perfectly, all of the time.

But the signs of progress are very clear.

We can see with our own eyes, through the recent performances on the pitch, a very good idea of just what Ruben has been working on in training during the week. We finally look like a team that do have some kind of an idea what we are supposed to be doing, even if the execution is sometimes let down by the inherent lack of genuinely top flight quality in the squad.

For me, after the debacle of being criminally mismanaged by the fittest human being in history, I couldn't really have asked for much more at this stage, given the level of the players available to us.

Because of the way we play, with the forwards being our first line of defense, Ruben unfortunately has to freshen the legs up top with earlier changes than we might like, and it is not his fault that the options off the bench in those positions weaken us further in terms of quality. I still cannot possibly with agree with his choice to use the woefully inept Adam Armstrong as one of those substitutes, but I do understand that it is because of his workrate he is selected, to keep the pressing machinery fully fuelled.

But, that being my only major critiscism, Ruben's management of our CLub is clearly having a positive effect on the players, and results are having a positive effect on the fans.

Keep up the good work Ruben.

 

 

Great summary. As you say, even at a basic 'with my own eyes' measure, the difference is marked.

Whilst reading your post it occurred to me that Mad Nate is probably delusional enough to think he laid the groundwork for the upturn. 😆

[woodsaint1]

1 hour ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

With our forward line there’s only one way we’re going to stay up and that’s clean sheets. RS really seems to have sorted us out defensively, with 3 out of 4 league games resulting in clean sheets. A far cry from the previous 2 managers who managed a pitiful 1 between them. It’s all the more impressive managing this with our Keeper and Bednarek playing week in week out. At the start of the season most fans would think Salisu our best centre half, and he hasn’t even been playing. So far so good, let’s hope we can build some momentum with 4 points this coming week. 

Makes the goal we conceded against Leeds even more bewildering. Was a total clusterfuck and nothing like how we've defended under Selles

[trousers]

19 minutes ago, ant said:

Great summary. As you say, even at a basic 'with my own eyes' measure, the difference is marked.

Whilst reading your post it occurred to me that Mad Nate is probably delusional enough to think he laid the groundwork for the upturn. 😆

I'm sure @hotsaintwill be on here soon enough to make that very claim (once they've worked out how many years they've lived in Luton of course... )

Edited 12 March, 2023 by trousers

[Dark Munster]

Damn you Selles. Just when I was getting used to my despair that relegation was inevitable, you are giving me a glimmer of hope.

[saintwbu]

I’m just glad we’ve finally been able to put to bed any idea that 3 CB’s makes us better defensively. 1 goal conceded in 4 games is pretty remarkable for this team. 

[Mr Nimbus]

All I have wanted from a saints team for the last few years is the ability to keep more clean sheets.

Imagine if we had just turned some of the 1-0 defeats this season into 0-0's we would be in a much better situation.

It's given us a fighting chance so I hope it can continue.

[pimpin4rizeal]

Interesting thing here with selles is he’s managing to pick quite a lot of unpopular players which most of us would usually be against 

don’t think many of us would have been choosing theo janny b even bringing adams back in over the supposed striker we bought to save our season..

but as long as he’s getting the results  I guess it’s ok

[cloggy saint]

2 minutes ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

Interesting thing here with selles is he’s managing to pick quite a lot of unpopular players which most of us would usually be against 

don’t think many of us would have been choosing theo janny b even bringing adams back in over the supposed striker we bought to save our season..

but as long as he’s getting the results  I guess it’s ok

Is it possible that he knows more about football than a collection of forum members?

[pimpin4rizeal]

1 hour ago, cloggy saint said:

Is it possible that he knows more about football than a collection of forum members?

Well us forum members have been  watching the likes of bednarek adams elyounoussi etc to know they are not really the answer… when jones started picking janny B he was getting murdered on here for that decision ….

whilst the results are coming in it’s fine and we can’t really argue with the selections but you would think the likes of salisu and caleta Carr were upgrades over janny.. on paper it’s a bit of a smack in the face to our transfer activity that now we bring him Walcott adams moi (not this week) back and looks a bit going backwards . but as long the points are coming in he has license to do what he likes

[Weston Super Saint]

3 hours ago, cloggy saint said:

Is it possible that he knows more about football than a collection of forum members?

Nah.

[Chez]

On 12/03/2023 at 16:20, Dman said:

Forest at home still haunts me. Probably the fixture which has relegated us, tbh. 

such a shockingly bad displaying in every way. Individually, collectively, tactically...just horrible....truly awful. 

Let's not kid ourselves that we haven't been fucking terrible before, many, many times. But I'm trying to think of a display quite like it. I recall the 3-1 mauling by Reading in the FA cup in 1997 being particularly bad. I suspect there have been some equally insipid and inept performances since then too. Not sure how many have quite reached that level of kackhandiness.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

on paper it’s a bit of a smack in the face to our transfer activity that now we bring him Walcott adams moi (not this week) back and looks a bit going backwards . 

Yeah that's an interesting comment (were you referring to summer and January windows, or just January by the way?). How does current selection reflect on our scouting/transfer committee?

We've signed a shed load of players (15) to be fair, so it's inevitable that some won't be starting. It's also not unusual that a percentage of transfers `work out' too. Six starters and three on the bench out of a 20 match day squad. Not sure if that's good or bad. I guess the quality of player we had before matters. We were pretty shit last season, I think only KWP and JWP were starters that were ever going to be tough to improve on, so if you can't find players good enough to better the rest, you've not done a decent job.

Starting: Bazunu, AMN, Bella Kotchap, Lavia, Alcaraz, Sulemena

Bench: Carleta-Car, Mara, Onuachu

Out in the cold: Edozie, Aribo, Larios (injured), Orsic, Bree,

Out on loan: Lis

Literally none of the players we have are what you could call `Selles' transfers, so he has pretty much no kind of bias.

Edited 13 March, 2023 by Chez

[washsaint]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

such a shockingly bad displaying in every way. Individually, collectively, tactically...just horrible....truly awful. 

Let's not kid ourselves that we haven't been fucking terrible before, many, many times. But I'm trying to think of a display quite like it. I recall the 3-1 mauling by Reading in the FA cup in 1997 being particularly bad. I suspect there have been some equally insipid and inept performances since then too. Not sure how many have quite reached that level of kackhandiness.

OMg - that Reading game!  I remember that really well.  Under Souness, if memory serves me right, and what an awful, spineless display that was on a miserable day overall.

[pimpin4rizeal]

6 hours ago, Chez said:

Yeah that's an interesting comment (were you referring to summer and January windows, or just January by the way?). How does current selection reflect on our scouting/transfer committee?

We've signed a shed load of players (15) to be fair, so it's inevitable that some won't be starting. It's also not unusual that a percentage of transfers `work out' too. Six starters and three on the bench out of a 20 match day squad. Not sure if that's good or bad. I guess the quality of player we had before matters. We were pretty shit last season, I think only KWP and JWP were starters that were ever going to be tough to improve on, so if you can't find players good enough to better the rest, you've not done a decent job.

Starting: Bazunu, AMN, Bella Kotchap, Lavia, Alcaraz, Sulemena

Bench: Carleta-Car, Mara, Onuachu

Out in the cold: Edozie, Aribo, Larios (injured), Orsic, Bree,

Out on loan: Lis

Literally none of the players we have are what you could call `Selles' transfers, so he has pretty much no kind of bias.

To answer your question I’d even take it back further then this years transfers. Salisu for example was seen by practically every one as our first choice centre back we then signed ABK who started great and also Caleta  Carr. by this stage bednarek is like our 4th choice cb at best and no one cared when he went to villa

then you have likes of Walcott elyounoussi.. same kind of thing we have signed likes of sulamana orsic (god knows what’s going on behind the scenes with him), edozie stuey is another good option .. but here we are going back to Walcott.

and then finally there’s che, yes we all know he has some good aspects to his game and that finishing is not one of them he has uses, but everybody and his dog knew we needed a striker upgrade we all spent all January crying about it .. jones knew it Rasmus knew it the fans knew it . 
but after what 2 or 3 starts ? Onuachu is already out of the side and we are back with che again .. maybe he’s not good enough ? But it’s too early to know really 

main point is all these team selections on paper look kind of like moving backwards instead of forwards .. doubt bednarek would be getting a look in under Ralph for example .

it could also be that maybe selles wants more experience from players who have been there and done that for the relegation battle.Where  I suppose that makes sense as jan,walcott and che do have a lot of premier league experience .

you know as long as the results are coming in,, we are gonna be happy with whoever he’s starting and the results validate his selections ..

but I think deep down the points above do stand and people would be quick to point out the above if we went on a terrible steak 

Edited 13 March, 2023 by pimpin4rizeal

[Saint Garrett]

Che is playing over Onuachu IMO, because he can defend from the front and put a shift in, and probably offers more all around than Onuachu does, I also think having some competition is a kick up the ass for Che too. Like you say he also has the experience. 

There is no doubt that we're looking at not throwing games away in the first half under Selles, whereas under Jones we threw games away before we'd started. 

If we can keep it tight in most games this season, turn narrow 1-0 losses into draws, and draws into the odd win, then we have a genuine chance on staying up, which I think the majority of us never thought we had a chance of a few months ago.  

I've no idea on stats, but it feels like the players are working way harder and covering more ground under Selles than under Jones. The players never wanted Jones, and clearly were not playing for him.

[Chez]

14 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

main point is all these team selections on paper look kind of like moving backwards instead of forwards .. doubt bednarek would be getting a look in under Ralph for example .

it could also be that maybe selles wants more experience from players who have been there and done that for the relegation battle.Where  I suppose that makes sense as jan,walcott and che do have a lot of premier league experience .

I'd say Selles just doesn't have all that much choice but to go back to the like of Che, Bednarek and Theo.  The results with Onuachu, Salisu/CC and Orsic/Edozie have not been there.

[Chez]

On 12/03/2023 at 20:02, Rivers said:

Ruben said when he first came in as Manager, that his first priority was to stabilise us at the back, stop the flow of goals against, and make us more difficult to beat.

He has done exactly what he said he was going to do.

Four Premier League games, three clean sheets, two wins and a draw.

 

I don't want to put a dampener on things, but our defence didn't look terribly stable when Iheanacho was finding acres of space and time. On another day he could easily have a hattrick and you'd come to a very different conclusion. Obviously I welcome the results, and we looked good against United, all be it against ten for a long time, but I'm not convinced our issues have been resolved. A good solid win against Brentford, with us offering them few or no guilt edge chances and I may be sold.

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

Che is playing over Onuachu IMO, because he can defend from the front and put a shift in, and probably offers more all around than Onuachu does, I also think having some competition is a kick up the ass for Che too. Like you say he also has the experience. 

Is Onuachu better than Che at anything? We had two windows to find a forward that improved us. Have we done that?

Selles selection of Che makes sense to me. As does him bringing on Mara towards the end of a game rather than Onuachu.

[badgerx16]

Have we seen the last of Bree in a match day squad ?

[Fabrice Fernandes no.1 fan]

51 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Have we seen the last of Bree in a match day squad ?

It does seem so without an injury to another defender. Selles seems to be picking one full-back and one centre back on the bench, so whoever out of KWP, Perraud and AMN isn't starting I would expect to see on the bench, and not Bree

[Weston Super Saint]

55 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Have we seen the last of Bree in a match day squad ?

Hope not. He brings something special with his front footedness.

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

Is Onuachu better than Che at anything? We had two windows to find a forward that improved us. Have we done that?

Selles selection of Che makes sense to me. As does him bringing on Mara towards the end of a game rather than Onuachu.

TBF we signed Sulemana which bolsters the attack when we play him and Adams. Onuachu to me always seemed like a bit of a nice to have signing rather than one we badly needed. He hasn't really shown much so far but then he hasn't had a ton of opportunities. 

[stevy777_x]

9 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

TBF we signed Sulemana which bolsters the attack when we play him and Adams. Onuachu to me always seemed like a bit of a nice to have signing rather than one we badly needed. He hasn't really shown much so far but then he hasn't had a ton of opportunities. 

Smacks a bit of Carillo esque signing thus far. Signing that fitted the previous manager in terms of style but who will hardly get a look in under Selles

[hypochondriac]

50 minutes ago, stevy777_x said:

Smacks a bit of Carillo esque signing thus far. Signing that fitted the previous manager in terms of style but who will hardly get a look in under Selles

You may be right. It does seem like there really weren't many strikers available who actually wanted to come here. We may have been better off buying a decent youngster.

[sledger]

to be fair to the guys that came in january its not easy,new country,come over with a suitcase,got to get youre family sorted,premier league a culture shock and on top of that youre coming into a struggling side.

[Chez]

43 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

You may be right. It does seem like there really weren't many strikers available who actually wanted to come here. We may have been better off buying a decent youngster.

This was/is the problem. We want a player of Ramos or Gakpo's quality, but simply can't attract them. However, why we settled for Onuachu I will never know. Actually I do. He is the archetypical Jones striker. We may have just signed Luton Adebayo and saved ourselves abut £15m.

[31cc]

19 hours ago, pimpin4rizeal said:

 

you know as long as the results are coming in,, we are gonna be happy with whoever he’s starting and the results validate his selections ..

but I think deep down the points above do stand and people would be quick to point out the above if we went on a terrible steak 

You mean he might get the chop? You don't mince your words...

[hypochondriac]

39 minutes ago, Chez said:

This was/is the problem. We want a player of Ramos or Gakpo's quality, but simply can't attract them. However, why we settled for Onuachu I will never know. Actually I do. He is the archetypical Jones striker. We may have just signed Luton Adebayo and saved ourselves abut £15m.

Yep. We don't have the ability to attract player like that even if we have a bit more cash than we used to. I think we would have been better served recognising that in the summer and getting someone decent in who maybe isn't as sexy as the two mentioned.