How Ruben Selles feels about the Cardiff City job - there is a reason why he doesn't want it | OneFootball

Cardiff City are still on the hunt for a new manager after Ruben Selles turned them down, and this is why he did so.

Cardiff City remain in the hunt for their ninth manager in four years after Ruben Selles ruled himself out of being the man to spearhead their attempts to get back into the Championship next season.

The 2024/25 season saw Cardiff relegated from the Championship in bottom place, while Selles didn't enjoy a particularly successful season himself, getting fired by Hull City shortly after the end of the season after only having accepted the job the previous December.

Hull had finished in 21st place in the final Championship table themselves, only avoiding relegation themselves on the last day of the season.

Selles wants to stay in the Championship

According to reports from the BBC, Selles turned down the Cardiff job because he wants to stay in the Championship next season.

There remain managerial vacancies at other clubs elsewhere in the division, and it would appear that Selles would rather hold out for one of those than drop a division to take on the Cardiff job.

The BBC's report confirms that Cardiff have a list of six potential new managers, with the former Oxford United manager Des Buckingham and the former Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt having both already been interviewed.

Selles is used to working in a difficult environment

This may all be considered something of a surprise, considering that Selles dropped two divisions when sacked by Southampton two years ago to accept the then-vacant managerial position at Reading.

Selles stayed at The Select Car Leasing Stadium for a year and a half before leaving to take the job at Hull before his departure from there in May.

None of this reflects particularly well upon Cardiff themselves.

Selles can hardly be said to be afraid of working in difficult environments. During the 2023/24 season, Reading were deducted a total of six points on three different occasions.

On the 16th August 2023, Reading were deducted one point by the EFL for failing to pay players on time and in full on three occasions during the 2022–23 season alone.

Another 3-point deduction was applied on the 13th September, for failing to deposit wages on time. And a further 2-point deduction was applied on the 27th February, due to late payments to HMRC. Despite this, Selles managed to guide his team to 17th place in League One.

The 2024/25 season was going even better for Reading, when Selles left for Hull. At the time that he left, they were in the League One play-off places and ended up in 7th place in the table, only narrowly missing out.

It may be that the former Hull manager has learned a lesson from his time working with the now-former Reading owner Dai Yongge. It seems unlikely that working at a club that is chaotic behind the scenes again will appeal to a manager who's experienced it before.

But this does all leave Cardiff very much back where they started, in pursuit of a new manager and with a feeling of deep discontent having descended over the Cardiff City Stadium.

Cardiff supporters may well reflect that it says something about the current condition of the Bluebirds at the moment, that the manager who put up with a year and a half of Dai Yongge won't countenance the idea of joining their club.