Sky Sports: Reading FC defender on coaching aspirations and Selles style.

Reading defender Harlee Dean has spoken about his time on the bench under Ruben Selles, as well as how the Spaniard’s innovative teaching methods saved him from ‘driving into a wall.’ The 33-year-old was signed last summer but did not make a league start between October 2024 and January 1, 2025, proving unpopular with new Hull City manager Selles. The former Birmingham City and Brentford captain is now a regular under Noel Hunt and is loving his game again. Dean is halfway through his UEFA A coaching licence and aims to progress to his Pro licence in the future, eventually becoming a Head Coach.

When Dean spoke to the media at Bearwood last week, he was asked about his retirement plans. “I’ve been working on my A licence since the summer, and I expect to finish it before the end of the season. Then it’s onto the professional. I want to manage and coach. I don’t want to coach too much; I envision myself as a head coach in the future, but it is a long way off. Once you’ve finished playing, you must complete your apprenticeship by putting in the necessary hours.”

Training hard every day for no match on a Saturday would leave most footballers disinterested and frustrated, especially ones with over 400 career appearances under his belt, however Dean insisted that despite seeing little playing time under Selles, it was not all bad.
“That’s why I got through last year without driving into a wall- I learnt a lot off of Ruben,” Dean told me.” “I’ve been playing for a long time and had never seen his playing style or training setup. “I usually go to training because I want to do well, but I approach it from a preparation standpoint. What do we get out of it? How does this work? What are the numbers? What’s the final product? I look at things differently today, but I’m still completely in player mode.”

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