👋Ruben leaves

[ForeignLegion]

Did Neil Ardley sign him?

[BCnotts18]

Did Neil Ardley sign him?

He was signed while Ardley was manager, but I doubt he had all that much to do with it, same as Eli Sam and Casper Sloth in the same summer.

[drillerpie]

Did Neil Ardley sign him?

Ardley didn't seem to rate him that much. He only really got his first run of games under Burchnall.

Most people thought he was crap until the free kick at Altrincham and he kicked on from there.

[Robertomac]

Ardley only ever played him for 60 minutes before subbing him. I think it was clear from the start he was a special talent and surprised to see it mentioned that others thought he was crap.

[51Magpie]

ISTR that Ardley went 17 games without giving him a start, which - given that RR's been one of the first on the team sheet through Oxford Utd's Championship-promotion season - tells you a lot about Ardley.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

ISTR that Ardley went 17 games without giving him a start, which - given that RR's been one of the first on the team sheet through Oxford Utd's Championship-promotion season - tells you a lot about Ardley.

At the time, Ruben wasn't the Ruben that we came to know and love. He was out of shape and lacked fitness in that first season, someone must have had a word because he then switched up and was the player we now know

[Elite_Pie]

At the time, Ruben wasn't the Ruben that we came to know and love. He was out of shape and lacked fitness in that first season, someone must have had a word because he then switched up and was the player we now know

Agree. While it was obvious from the start that Ruben had a lot of natural ability, he had plenty of anonymous games in his first season and I don't remember anyone on here saying back then that he should be an automatic starter. He showed promise under Ardley, was better under Burchnall, but only really flourished under Williams. It will be interesting to see how far he can go, I think I put League 1 as his limit.

[nw6pie]

Agree. While it was obvious from the start that Ruben had a lot of natural ability, he had plenty of anonymous games in his first season and I don't remember anyone on here saying back then that he should be an automatic starter. He showed promise under Ardley, was better under Burchnall, but only really flourished under Williams. It will be interesting to see how far he can go, I think I put League 1 as his limit.

That first season was a baptism of fire for RR - away from home and with COVID lockdowns/isolation to deal with. It world take anyone time to adjust to a new country, but that year was something else altogether. Kudos to him for succeeding after such a surreal start.

[keldsyke]

ISTR that Ardley went 17 games without giving him a start, which - given that RR's been one of the first on the team sheet through Oxford Utd's Championship-promotion season - tells you a lot about Ardley.

He was totally unfit when he arrived - he hadn’t played for 18 months if I remember rightly and we were told to be patient - post of someone with an agenda there.

[OP67]

Ardley didn't knaow how to play Ruben as he didn't suit Ardleys style of footbsll. It wasn't until the possession based style that Birchnall brought in that Ruben fitted.