Reading FC: Sky Sports pundit makes Wayne Rooney claim amid Ruben Selles message | OneFootball

Reading FC have been deducted a total of six points this season for various breaches of financial rules and regulations, and yet they look set to survive relegation from League One; Don Goodman thinks the club's manager - Ruben Selles - isn't getting enough credit for what he's done.

The working conditions at the Select Car Leasing Stadium have been well below the expected standards of a modern football club. Some of the coaching staff were made redundant in a: "restructuring" of the backroom staff arrangement, as per The Athletic.

Some of the other things that The Athletic reported to have happened include the team not being able to stay overnight at hotels to save costs, players having to eat microwave meals due to an unpaid debt to a catering company, and the stadium sponsor having to loan the club money in order to pay the players.

A horror show has been orchestrated by Dai Yongge at Reading, but, thankfully for the fans, after long-standing protests against the Chinese owner, the end may be in sight. The club released a statement a few days before the start of the Easter weekend, in which they said that Yongge: "has committed to a letter of intent with a potential purchaser of Reading Football Club.

"The parties will now enter a period of exclusive negotiation to agree the final terms. The completion is expected to take up to two months, at which time the purchaser will be announced."

Even though there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel, the team and its manager have had to endure a lot just to get to where they are now, which is 18th in League One.

The nominations for the third tier manager of the season were announced yesterday, and the Spanish boss wasn't on there. Instead, it was Portsmouth's John Mousinho, Peterborough United's Darren Ferguson, and Stevenage's Steve Evans who were chosen by the EFL. Even though the Reading manager isn't on the official list for the award, Goodman believes that he should be up there.

Don Goodman on Ruben Selles

The Sky Sports pundit believes that the former Southampton boss should be in consideration for the manager of the year award in League One.

He said via Crypto Casino LTD: "Ruben Selles is in the conversation to be manager of the season. I cannot imagine having to deal with what he has gone through. To cope with all the rubbish and adversity is not too dissimilar to what Wayne Rooney experienced at Derby. It's a nutjob of a club.

"He's definitely gained kudos and I just hope this takeover bid brings stability to the club. I love football stories where clubs go through all sorts of trouble and come through the other side. I hope the takeover helps stabilise Reading and enables Ruben Selles to show his true potential, whatever it is.

"Southampton was a little too much, too soon. His Reading team are very young and to keep them up under such circumstances is incredible. He would be one of my nominations for manager of the year."

Ruben Selles has outperformed expectations

Before the season even kicked off, it was well known that the Royals were in financial trouble, and he had no experience of managing at this level before. He was appointed as Southampton manager late last season, and he eventually ended up being the man to take them down. His pedigree of taking charge of a Premier League club certainly suggested that he shouldn't have been down in the third tier, but this level, in and of itself, presents totally different challenges to the ones he will have faced with the Saints.

To be able to adapt quickly to the level, all the while having to deal with the issues that were being created by the ownership, shows how good of a manager he is. The one area that you can fault him on is his away record, which is the second worst in the league, but the aforementioned travel issues will have had something to do with that.

It could have been a match that led to utter chaos and misery at the club. Appointing a manager that has no experience in the EFL, as a club that was going to face huge challenges, regardless of who came in, was a risk, but it's one that has paid off.