Exclusive: Hull City looking to appoint former Southampton manager after Tim Walter exit, he's first-choice now

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Hull City have spoken to Mark Robins and Slavisa Jokanovic but former Southampton and current Reading coach Ruben Selles is now the leading candidate to take over at the Championship strugglers.

• Exclusive from Graeme Bailey

As Hull City drew a line under the ill-fated Tim Walter era last week, Acun Ilicali’s decision to dispense with the services of Liam Rosenior over the summer once again came under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Rosenior departed Humberside following a highly-impressive seventh place finish. Their tally of 70 points, meanwhile, was just three shy of a play-off berth.

Ilicali claimed that Rosenior’s shock departure – and the subsequent appointment of Walter – was made with a desire to instil a more attack-minded style of play. But not only have the toothless Tigers struggled in the final third since then – 17 goals in just 18 Championship matches – the organisation and the discipline Rosenior instilled in the side has also been extinguished.

So, with Hull going from promotion candidates to relegation battlers in just a few months, Ilicali and co are under big pressure to get the next appointment right.

And TBR can confirm that Hull City’s focus is firmly fixed on the man currently sat in the Reading hotseat; Ruben Selles.

Reading’s former Southampton boss Ruben Selles is Hull City’s first-choice

There is certainly no shortage of talented coaches on the market at present. Many of those out of work – including four Hull have spoken to already – offer a fine track record in England’s second tier.

Mark Robins had Coventry City a penalty shoot-out away from the Premier League and the tightest of VAR calls away from an FA Cup final before his own controversial sacking. Chris Hughton, most recently seen in the Championship at Nottingham Forest, guided Newcastle United and Brighton to promotion albeit back in 2010 and 2017 respectively.

Alex Neil had Preston North End overachieving season on season. Neil was linked with a return to Sunderland after Mick Beale’s exit, but remains out of work.

Slavisa Jokanovic, meanwhile, took both Watford and Fulham to the top-flight even if a poor spell at Sheffield United – six wins in 19 games – diminished his reputation.

TBR have been told, however, that Hull City look set to prioritise the relatively inexperienced Selles rather than settle for someone who has ‘been there and done it’ at Championship level.

Selles, more than two decades Hughton’s junior at just 41, has never before worked in the second-tier of English football. He would arrive at the MKM Stadium having earned plenty of admirers during his time at Southampton and Reading, however, impressing in testing circumstances at both clubs.

Selles helped steady the ship following the disastrous Nathan Jones era at Southampton back in 2023, even if he could not escape relegation. The Valencia-born Spaniard currently has Reading sixth in League One, meanwhile, despite some very well-publicised off-field issues.

Ruben Selles opens up on Hull links after latest Reading win

Selles is now the leading candidate to take over from Walter at Hull.

He gave little away when quizzed on the speculation following Reading’s 3-0 win over Cambridge United on Tuesday night, however.

“Literally, [for] the last 24 hours I have been fully focused on the team,” Selles told the Reading Chronicle after a victory which lifts the troubled Royals to within three points of pre-season title favourites Birmingham City.

“If there is something, it is always my agent [who finds out]. I don't want to know anything, especially when we have a game like today.

“I am happy here giving everything for this club. I am enjoying this group of players, and the things have done, are doing, and hopefully will do.”