Nuno Espirito Santo is the Premier League manager of the season so far. But last summer it was far from certain that he would even start the Nottingham Forest campaign.
Despite the club remaining at the top in difficult circumstances, not everyone at Forest was sold on Nuno, and neither was he on them.
He was at risk of being sacked at least once before the end of last season due to uncertainty over his methods and suitability. Mail Sport understands some players were even asked for their views as Forest chiefs considered next steps.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has made some smart decisions over the past twelve months, but nothing is better than sticking with Nuno.
As they prepare to face league leaders Liverpool at the City Ground on Tuesday, Nuno has turned Forest into a force of nature through counter-attacking, slight squad rotation and a series of simple instructions. A win would put them three points off the top spot, even if they had played a game more than Liverpool.
In other words, he turned them into title contenders using methods that many consider too basic for the modern game.
To the casual observer, Nuno is the coach who had a nightmare at Tottenham in 2021 and lasted barely four months there, but that will not define his career in English football. Nuno has built something magical in four years at Wolves and he is doing the same at the City Ground.
He was the wrong man at the wrong time for Tottenham. At Forest it's the exact opposite – as Mail Sport reveals here.
DISCIPLINE
Those who have worked with Nuno say he is a strict father whom the children are eager to impress. For this to work you need players with a certain attitude and standard who want to delve into 'the cult of Nuno'.
Nuno is a tactile character and is not a manager who has long conversations with his players. One-on-one meetings usually take place at his request and not theirs. Instead, he often shows his approval by giving a player who has performed well a huge bear hug in front of the rest of the team.
A Nuno hug is a big deal and has been jokingly compared to Paul Hollywood's handshake for contestants on The Great British Bake Off. However, this may not be true for a team with bigger egos and bigger bank balances.
Take Harry Kane. One of the best footballers in the world doesn't need a hug from his manager to convince himself of his abilities. For players who may have lost their way or have yet to realize their potential, a hug can mean the world.
Nuno believes that if players spend a lot of time together, they will naturally become closer and ensure that everyone lives up to the standards he demands. Meals are essential: Nuno insists that players eat lunch together and encourages them to stay on the training pitch long after the session has ended.
He is trying to arrange a trip abroad during the season to strengthen ties within the team. Trust each other off the field, and suddenly everything on it becomes easier. That's Nuno's mantra and it works beautifully.
PERSONALITY
Nuno is a man of fascinating contrasts. On the one hand, he can seem distant and unapproachable. Players would obviously not seek him out for a discussion about off-field matters, nor would they ask for an explanation if they were left out of the starting XI.
After his final game for Wolves in 2021, Nuno invited some of the players he knew best to his Molineux office for a drink and a chat. They noted that this was the most open he had been in four years together. When the team organized an off-season barbecue, they were incredulous when asked whether they would invite Nuno.
Yet some of those same players cried tears in a small meeting room at Wolves' training ground on May 12, 2021, when Nuno told them he was leaving the club. Nuno himself is said to have been particularly emotional.
It proves that the 50-year-old will show his vulnerable side to those he trusts and is capable of great warmth and generosity. He donated £250,000 from his own pocket to help tackle poverty in Wolverhampton in the aftermath of the pandemic.
That Covid season, Nuno's last in the Black Country, was particularly difficult for him. Living alone, away from his family, who remained in Portugal, he could not understand why football was still being played during a global crisis. He felt discouraged, sometimes even sad.
Yet Nuno's press conferences at the time, held via Zoom, were some of his most compelling, as he was able to step away from the latest injury bulletins and meaningless transfer stories and focus on heavier matters.
He delivered a powerful critique of the responses of people in football and the wider political world to the pandemic, which made for fascinating listening – not bad in a second language. Or maybe even his fourth, or fifth. In addition to his native Portuguese, Nuno speaks English, French, Spanish and Russian.
During many of those meetings he would be stern and cold, but if a reporter's child came into view of the camera — an occupational hazard in the Zoom days — the mask would slip and Nuno would suddenly be as clingy as a loving grandparent. Fascinating contrasts indeed.
MANAGEMENT STYLE
Nuno has mellowed over the years. At Wolves they knew what he could deliver and therefore built the ideal structure around him. Nuno repaid the club with promotion to the top tier in his first season after six years in the Championship, their highest Premier League results and an FA Cup. semi-final and a quarter-final of the Europa League. But he could be uncompromising and difficult to work with. His departure probably came at the right time.
The Forest version is different. Nuno attended the staff Christmas party and was charming company. The relationship with forest owner Marinakis is key and Nuno handles it with calm authority. Even though Nuno knows who the boss is, there is still the kind of mutual respect that could exist between senior colleagues at a large company. No forest manager in the Marinakis era has ever worked with him like this.
Players who have worked for Nuno appreciate his clear communication. There are few long meetings where detailed tactical details are discussed. Instead of delving into piles of data, Nuno relies heavily on his instincts and experience.
Almost all the work is done on the training pitch, where plans for the next match are refined. At the end of the week, Nuno sometimes organizes a 'fun' match to ease tension, encouraging players to play in unfamiliar positions. Nuno patrols the sessions together with his assistant Rui Pedro Silva, the yin to Nuno's yang.
Nuno had Silva at Wolves, but not at Spurs – another reason why things went wrong for him there. The affable Silva can read Nuno's mood in an instant and advise others accordingly. One important rule: never disturb Nuno during lunch. Nuno will not sit in his office for hours analyzing matches and players. He prefers to work smart and spends most evenings with his staff, who live with him near Nottingham.
Antonio Dias is another important part of the operation. Dias' title is 'fitness coach', but he is so much more – as former head of physiotherapy Jon Fearn discovered. Fearn was appointed in the summer of 2023 but left the following February, a victim of Nuno's different attitude to injury prevention and recovery.
For Dias, there is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach to rehabilitation and he believes every player should be treated differently. He will advocate sending them back into training as soon as possible, even if they are not yet 100 percent healed.
The plan worked extremely well at Wolves and we are seeing the results at Forest too. Eight players have featured in at least 19 of the 20 league games, along with Callum Hudson-Odoi on 18, Neco Williams on 17 and Morgan Gibbs-White on 16.
FUTURE
A manager with a clear tactical plan, who has his team eating out of his hand and who understands exactly how to manage his relationship with a powerful, ambitious owner. For now, it's hard to find a better match than Nuno and Forest, which is why they're suddenly the envy of the competition.
However, it is difficult to overestimate the scale of Marinakis' ambition. He is unhappy with Forest re-establishing themselves as a Premier League club and pulling off a few surprises this season. He believes these types of seasons could become the norm rather than the exception.
Nuno works best with upwardly mobile clubs trying to upset the elite. What happens if Forest joins that group? Will Nuno's low-possession tactics and bear hugs still have the same effect as Forest sign bigger-name players and compete regularly in Europe?
If Forest asks these questions, they are right. Making plans for the future is wise and there is nothing wrong with aiming as high as possible. Similarly, those running Wolves thought they could do better than Nuno after he guided them to 13th in 2020-21. Since then they have come nowhere near European football and this season they are once again embroiled in a relegation battle and have just appointed their fourth manager in the three and a half years since Nuno's departure.
Whenever there is a bump in the road, Forest will surely remember where Nuno has taken them and be very wary of the painful lessons Wolves have learned.
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