Ipswich 5 – 0 Sheff Utd

Sheffield United remain pointless and rooted to the bottom of the Championship table after they were thumped 5-0 by Ipswich on Friday night.

The result means the Blades have lost five straight games at the start of the season for only the second time in an EFL campaign. The last time was in the second tier in 1995/96.

Ruben Selles’ stricken side have not scored since the opening day of the season.

Jaden Philogene scored a brilliant hat-trick – the first of his senior career – with George Hirst and Jack Clarke adding to the emphatic scoreline that gave Town their first league win of the season.

Speaking to Sky Sports before kick-off, Selles said he and his staff had “analysed what we were doing in absolutely everything” during the course of the international break.

And, in truth, there were few early signs this was a team sitting bottom of the Championship table. But when it rains, it pours.

Ipswich fired a warning when Hirst, then Chuba Akpom, narrowly missed the chance to divert a trademark peach of a cross from Leif Davis home but, 10 minutes later, they hit the front when Philogene profited from Davis’ smart decoy run to find an extra yard and lash a shot into the bottom right corner.

The Blades ended the first half with five attempts – but, crucially, zero on target, as had been the case in the entirety of their two prior away defeats to Swansea and Middlesbrough.

Philogene added a cracking second within five minutes of the restart after another driving run, and before Selles had managed to make a planned quadruple change on the hour, Hirst made the most of a comedy of errors at the back to fire a third through Michael Cooper’s legs.

Philogene – a £20m signing from Aston Villa in January – completed his treble in thunderous fashion with just over 20 minutes to play, before the gloss was added when Ben Godfrey allowed Clarke to chest down a ball from the left and slot a fifth past Cooper.

Selles looked aghast as the final whistle blew as the pressure on him skyrocketed.

‘A damaging result for Selles – we might not see him in the Blades dugout again’

Lee Hendrie on Sky Sports Football:

“Just looking at Ruben Selles after the game, I think this could be trouble.

“This really could’ve kick-started their season. In the first half, we did see signs of it, but in the second half, they blew them away.

“That is a damaging, damaging result for Sheffield United and Selles.

“Sheffield United will have had a purpose this season and the purpose would have been to get promoted. They wanted to go one extra to what Chris Wilder did last season.

“It was a big call for them to make [appointing Selles] and unfortunately it hasn’t happened. Sometimes you’ve got to be careful what you wish for.

“I understand they wanted to bring Ruben in and probably change the style and the feel of the football club. We’ve seen it happen time and time again at the club where they’ve gone back to Paul Heckingbottom, Chris Wilder, who know the club inside and out.

“Yes, I know you want to try and change the DNA and the identity, but that result is going to be really damaging.

“I don’t like to see people getting sacked, but we might not see him in the dugout at Sheffield United again.”

Selles: We need to re-analyse – but right now we need to feel the pain

Sheffield United manager Ruben Selles speaking to Sky Sports:

“The business is like that. If you don’t win football matches, your position is going to be discussed always, not only for me, for any coach in the world. That comes with reality. For us, I think there’s only one way – to keep working hard until the very last second at the club and try to always give 100 per cent.

“If you finish the job and you didn’t get the result you wanted, at least you are clear in your principles, your values and your way to do things.

“They [the Sheff Utd owners] have been supporting me until today. I didn’t speak with them after the game. Things happen in football and people need to make decisions, as I need to make decisions with my line-up.

“I’m not worried about that, I’m just worried about if we go for training, how we can do better, how we can get the boys’ morale up, how we prepare for the next game. That’s what it is for me.

“I’m the first critic of myself and the first one that puts pressure and it’s always going to be like that.

“I believe in myself. I also know things can not go your way sometimes and you can make mistakes, but I think this is part of it. I have done that before and hopefully I will do it.

“The one thing you will find with me is that I will be in front of absolutely everything. Now things are not going in the proper direction, I will also be in front of it.

“Right now, you just need to let the people feel the pain. We are not going to solve anything tonight. In this situation, we just need to sit. There are parts of the game we need to re-analyse. The good thing in football is you have a game in seven days and it’s a new opportunity, a new opponent and things can change really quick.”

McKenna: A good night – but we’re still a work in progress

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna speaking to Sky Sports:

“It was a good night for us. You’re eager to get that first win. We’ve not been far away in some of the games, but tonight’s a real good step forward for us.

“We felt there’s been some good things coming and a lot of it came out tonight with the goals and some of the moves we put together.

“We’re still a work in progress; even tonight there’s a lot still to get better on, but there were some good signs.”