(Reuters) -Southampton interim coach Ruben Selles will not have his contract renewed at the end of the season, the Premier League club said on Wednesday after their relegation from the English top-flight.
Spanish coach Selles, 39, was placed in temporary charge after Nathan Jones was sacked on Feb. 12 following a dismal run of nine defeats in 14 games that left Southampton sitting at the bottom of the standings with 18 points.
He led them to a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in February, following which he was appointed manager until the end of the season.
However, he was unable to engineer a turnaround in fortunes for the south-coast club, who have been relegated and will finish bottom of the standings before returning to the second-tier Championship for the first time since 2012.
“Southampton football club can confirm that it has held conversations with men’s first-team manager, Ruben Selles, and decided that his contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of the season,” Southampton said in a statement.
“The club wants to place on record its thanks to Ruben for taking on the managerial position at a difficult time for the club and for giving his all as we attempted to stay in the Premier League.
“Ruben will take charge of the team for the final game against Liverpool on Sunday at St Mary’s. We wish him all the best for his future career.”
Selles joined Southampton in July 2022 as an assistant to Ralph Hasenhuettl. He has previously managed Valencia’s under-18 team and has coaching experience in Greece, Denmark and Azerbaijan.
He was also in interim charge of Southampton when Hasenhuettl was sacked in November and he oversaw a League Cup penalty shootout win over Sheffield Wednesday.
Southampton are set to appoint Swansea City boss Russell Martin as their new head coach, British media reports said.
Southampton, who have 24 points from 37 games, host Liverpool in their last game of the season on Sunday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, IndiaEditing by Christian Radnedge)
