The 42-year-old has been dismissed by Real Zaragoza after less than five months in charge. It is the third time in ten months that he has lost his job.
Selles arrived at Zaragoza last October. He replaced Emilio Larraz and was tasked with lifting a struggling side. That never happened.
He won just five of his 21 matches. The club slid to the bottom of the Segunda Division table. Results did not improve, and patience has run out.
Zaragoza confirmed his departure in a short statement. They thanked him for his professionalism and wished him well. That was that.
It read: “Real Zaragoza announces the termination of its contractual relationship with sporting director Txema Indias and coach Ruben Selles.
“The club thanks Txema Indias and Ruben Selles for their professionalism, dedication, and hard work during their time with the club and wishes them the best of luck in theirfutureendeavors.”
It is a familiar ending for Selles.
He was dismissed by Hull City last May after losing 11 of his 28 games in charge. Before that he endured a miserable spell at Sheffield United. He failed to win a single game there and was removed after just three months.
Three jobs. Three sackings. All inside 291 days.
A difficult road since Saints
Selles first stepped into the spotlight at Southampton after Ralph Hasenhuttl was dismissed in November 2022. As caretaker manager, he took charge for the Carabao Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday. A James Ward-Prowse penalty took the match to extra-time and penalties, where the Saints ran out 7-6 winners.
Sport Republic appointed Nathan Jones (they have never been forgiven for it) and spent big in the January window. One win in eight Premier League games saw the Welshman relieved of his services, and in came Selles for a second time as caretaker boss.
Selles took his side to Stamford Bridge, where a direct free-kick handed Southampton all three points. Sport Republic had seen enough and appointed him as permanent manager.
That's when things started to go wrong for the Spaniard at Southampton. The seven points that Southampton took from Selles' fifteen games in charge were not enough to keep the Saints in the Premier League. Selles left for Reading in League One. Southampton went for Russell Martin.
In difficult circumstances, Selles did a decent job at Reading. He stabilised the club in 2023/24 and departed for Hull City in December 2024 with the Royals in a play-off position.
Selles kept Hull City up in dramatic fashion. On the final day of the season, a 1-1 draw away at Portsmouth (of all places) was enough to keep Hull in the Championship. It was not enough, however, to keep Selles in a job! 34 points from 27 Championship matches was not deemed good enough by Hull's impatient Chairman, Acun Ilicali, who had sacked Liam Rosenior after finishing 7th, the previous year.
Sheffield United was an unmitigated disaster for Ruben Selles. After failing to win a single match, he was dismissed after a 5-0 humiliation at the hands of Ipswich Town.
At Real Zaragoza, he inherited a tough situation with the team at the bottom of La Liga 2. Selles needed momentum quickly. It never came, and Los Maños remain rooted to the bottom of the division, six points adrift of Huesca and safety. Zaragoza have 14 games left to save their season without Selles.
Despite hitting a new low, Selles is still young in managerial terms, and he may be able to rebuild his reputation. That next role will be crucial because another short stint would only deepen the pattern after a catastrophic year.