Ruben Selles: Reading boss urges restless fans to get behind the team ahead of League One season
- Published
Reading manager Ruben Selles wants the fans to support the club from the first minute of every game until the last despite a turbulent offseason
Reading boss Ruben Selles has urged restless fans to "get behind" the team ahead of the League One season.
The Spaniard joined the newly relegated Royals after his contract as interim head coach with Premier League side Southampton expired following their disappointing 2022-23 campaign, that saw them drop into the Championship.
He is tasked with rebuilding an inexperienced side and making supporters believe again.
"We cannot change the past," he said.
"My message to fans is, support us from the very beginning, the past is the past for all of us.
"We need to be together, push together, get people in the stadium from the first to the 90th minute - get behind the team."
The Reading manager's call to action comes after a turbulent offseason for the club and its fans.
Following their relegation to the third tier some of the team's most experienced players left, then the English Football League charged the club with failing to pay players on time and HM Revenue & Customs issued the Royals with a winding-up petition over unpaid tax bills.
When things were unravelling around the Select Car Leasing Stadium a collection of fan groups joined forces to demand Reading's elusive Chinese owner Dai Yongge sell up.
'We need to be ambitious'
Before 40-year-old Selles officially arrived at the Berkshire club, a number of financial debts were resolved and a long-standing EFL transfer embargo that had been hampering player recruitment was lifted.
With just three weeks until they kick off their League One campaign, the ex-Southampton manager says he is ignoring the noise and focused on results on the pitch and little else.
"[Ownership controversy] is not really our business," he said in his interview with BBC South Today.
"Our business is to be ready on the pitch so that we are prepared for the start of the season, to try to work as a unit with an identity, and have a clear understanding of what we are all playing for.
"When you are winning football matches everything is much easier, so that is what we need to do first and then I am sure everyone will be pulling in the same direction.
"Maybe it will be difficult in the beginning but if we can navigate those first moments together than I am sure we will be there at the end.
"We need to be ambitious, this club was playing in the Championship last season, even with the limitations we want to push for that position again and get promoted."
Reading open their League One season at home against Peterborough on Saturday, 5 August.