Tim Dellor, BBC Radio Berkshire reading commentator
Friendly, calm and well organized, Rubén Sellés’ character was tested to the maximum in Reading.
A lesser man in charge of the Royals for the past 18 months would have knocked the toys out of the stroller and it would have broken at least once, but Selles took all the nonsense thrown at him by the owner and CEO in stride.
He also patiently and politely responded to media questions about the baffling situation week after week, when in reality others should have been on the front lines. He is as well qualified to be in the Westminster cabinet as he is to be a championship football manager.
He got his tactics wrong during his first months in charge, playing with a miserable 4-2-2-2 formation that was completely ineffective and, in another situation, after not winning in nine games and being last in the League table One, his tenure would have ended after three months in Reading.
However, a change in tactics and selection and a notable change in results, with young players at the helm, helped Selles become one of the most popular managers in Reading’s history.
All said and done, however, the basic human quality of being a genuinely nice man is by far the most important quality, and that was what made him so effective during his 18 months at Reading.
