On The Hunt For New Beginnings
The Ruben Selles era is over. Step forward new Reading first-team manager Noel Hunt.
I suppose it was inevitable really. Ruben Selles has departed us, taking Tobias Loveland and James Oliver-Pearce with him. I’m f*****g devastated really.
With a number of clubs rumoured to have been casting admiring glances Selles’ way, the body of his work during his time with us has been incredible and he deserves a chance to work in a football club that isn’t, well, whatever kind of mess that we are these days. They won’t love you like we do though, Ruben!
How do we move on from the best manager we’ve had in recent times – a man who has worked wonders to give us as a fanbase hope of a better tomorrow? Well, we’re probably going to have to find a new manager really, aren’t we?
And indeed we have – Noel Hunt is our new man. I have to say, the swiftness with which the club has dealt with this and moved to appoint a new head coach has been quite impressive.
What do we expect from Hunt then?
What’s key here is that we have built a side based on a certain playing style and profile of player: not just young, but technically gifted. Young though. It was going to take a very specific type of coach to come in and make the most of the tools at their disposal here, with the limited resources available.
Already Hunt meets this criteria, but be under no illusions – despite knowing the club, this is a seriously challenging role to take on at the best of times, let alone as your first go as a full-time, senior-level manager.
Here, I am going to outline five things that we should be looking for from Hunt, to give us reassurance that this is the best next step for the club and stop us purchasing mounds of ice cream and ugly crying in front of re-runs of the games like Tuesday night.
Keep developing youth
Obviously. I wrote another article about this, but Reading have the joint-fourth-youngest average squad age in England’s top five leagues, which is hardly a surprise given that we are largely made up of our promoted academy products.
As such, it means that any new head coach coming in had to know not only how to work with younger players, but also how to support their development. Bringing in someone who is used to working with more experienced players, or who is not interesting in continuing the pathway foraged between the academy and the first team, would have just been massively counter-productive, created a bad atmosphere and ended badly for all concerned. Already you can see some of the logic behind the appointment of Hunt.
We needed someone who believes in youth and thrives on working with young players. Hunt is that man, he’s done a sterling job of developing many of the players currently plying their trade in the first team, and the hope will be that he can both continue to support their development and allow the pathway from the academy set-up to remain open against the backdrop of a sustained push for the play-offs, as has been our form so far this season.
Hit the ground running
Last time out Reading picked up a nice home win. Hunt’s first game in charge will be away at league leaders Wycombe Wanderers. It’s a big ask.
Then you factor in all the other stuff in the background – the chaos of the club, the sudden nature of Sellés’ departure, not having a first-team coaching staff yet in place and little time to work with the team ahead of the game. It seems Hunt has only had the Friday before the game to prepare them.
There are a whole lot of emotional reasons to take this job and strikingly few rational or logical ones. With only six points between fourth and ninth, a stumble in form could precipitate a quick tumble down the table and, with no support to fix that coming from external transfer sources, the solutions will have to be internal.
Hunt has got to hit the ground running in order to stand a chance of seeing this thing through. It’s one hell of a big job on his hands.
See the long-term potential
Despite everything, it must have still been something of a tough sell for Hunt. You have to either be glutton for punishment OR be able to see the longer-term prospects. Hunt must be someone who can focus on the positives, pushing the noise and chaos to one side, while shielding the players from the unpleasantness.
But it’s more about being a diplomat. It’s about seeing that this is a club with Premier League-standard facilities, a good stadium, a loyal fanbase and an incredible academy. With the right ownership – yes, we know that’s hardly guaranteed – success could be around the corner. The foundations have been laid, we just need someone who is determined and strong-willed enough to see the bigger picture and longer-term vision, rather than the immediate mess in front of them.
I might be a bit biased here, but there are very few teams at this level that can offer this level of potential. The challenge will be for Hunt to continue to tread the line between being a loved coach who delivers good football and results and someone who is strong enough to bat away the nonsense. He’s a brave man to put his head above the precipice.
Have a defined but similar playing and coaching style to Selles
As I say, the foundation has been laid. We have a very clear playing style and tactical set-up. We went through a bit of punishment in the first half of last season to coach and develop the style and tactical approach after the horrors of Ince-ball. We really do not need to lose momentum by ripping up the playbook and starting all over again.
Furthermore, this is a squad that has been built with Selles’ playing style in mind. Hunt seems to have worked closely with Selles to keep a similar philosophy within the academy team and, as such, it is crucial we don’t see him look to reinvent the wheel. Evolution not revolution is key here.
For an idea of how to do this successfully, look at Brighton & Hove Albion. From Graham Potter to Roberto De Zerbi and now Fabian Hurzeler: coaches with similar styles, but each one coming in and bring their own flavour to develop and build upon what already exists.
That’s what we need from Hunt. Anything different could be really damaging for us and set us back a long way. He already has the inside line on this – he has to make it count.
Have a clear idea about his coaching staff
A head coach needs support staff to work with. Currently, Hunt has only goalkeeping coach Tony Warner left from the first-team set-up.
Hunt needs to know what he wants, who he is ready to work with and who he will bring with him. The sooner the backroom staff element of the coaching team is sorted, the sooner Hunt and his team can implement their ideas and build the trust of the playing staff.
With a defined coaching team in place, if Hunt is the right candidate he will continue to lead the work of his predecessor by maintaining the environment of strong bonds and relationships with the players and the fans, which has been so key to how the difficult times have been navigated.
There’s no quick recipe for Hunt to successfully replace Selles. However, these five actions will certainly make it easier. Good luck, Ruben. You deserve to be a success wherever you go next. Hull City are lucky to have you. Thanks for everything.