Reading manager Ruben Selles has said he will always be 'fully Reading' and has spoken of his 'deep connection' with supporters.
Arriving last summer, Royals supporters have really taken to the former Southampton interim coach, with the team in top-10 form for most of the last nine months despite fighting constant off-field battles.
Using the international break as an opportunity to engage with The Tilehurst End, one of the leading voices of supporters, his hour-long chat attracted plenty of praise.
Fans raised over £2,000 for a banner with Selles' face on, and even named the last day of last season 'Dia Del Jefe' in his honour.
Quizzed on his near hero status among supporters, Selles said: "I don’t like to think about myself like that. It is a privilege to be the face of a technical staff that is supporting the club, and a lot of people have gone through more difficult moments than myself in this football club. I am just the face of it because of my position.
"In the beginning, I don’t think they knew much about me and when we didn’t win the games it was difficult because as a manager you need to win football matches- that is mandatory. It was a period, also, where they started to realise the things that were going on in the football club and they started to have more context of what I was having in my daily preparation. Anything can bring us closer together and the good performances that the boys put together.
"It was key that fans understood what was going on and what was going on before we started playing football matches."
A boyhood Valencia supporter who has worked in six different countries, Selles believes he has a special bond with Reading which is difficult to repeat elsewhere.
"We are fully Reading," he added. "It is always going to be like that. We’ve found a really deep connection with Reading that is not always easy to find. We are privileged to work here and hopefully, there are more good things to come in the future."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here