Soccer

Nottingham Forest confirm Nuno as manager and set him top-10 target

Former Wolves and Tottenham manager takes over from Steve Cooper on a two-and-a-half year contract

Nuno Espírito Santo has been handed a two-and-a-half year contract at Nottingham Forest. Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire

Ben Fisher
Wed Dec 20 2023 - 12:31

Nuno Espírito Santo met the Nottingham Forest squad before taking charge of training on Wednesday morning after replacing Steve Cooper on a two-and-a-half year contract.

Nuno has been tasked by Evangelos Marinakis, the ambitious Forest owner, with establishing Forest as a top-10 Premier League side but avoiding relegation is the immediate target. Forest are five points above the relegation zone after one win from their past 13 matches.

Nuno’s first match will be at home to Bournemouth on Saturday. The 49-year-old former Tottenham and Wolves manager was available after being dismissed by the Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad early in November, months after he won the title there.

Nuno – a client of the agent Jorge Mendes – led Wolves out of the Championship and into Europe across a four-year spell before an ill-fated 17-game spell at Tottenham that ended in November 2021. Marinakis seriously considered Julen Lopetegui – another Mendes client – and Oliver Glasner, the former Eintracht Frankfurt manager, before deciding to appoint Nuno.

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The Greek billionaire is a long-term admirer of the Fulham head coach, Marco Silva, who worked for Marinakis at Olympiakos, but he was deemed out of reach after he extended his contract.

Forest sacked Cooper on Tuesday but his exit had been on the cards for some time. There was no way back for Cooper after a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Fulham this month. Cooper wanted to leave Forest with his legacy intact and reputation high. Crystal Palace have previously expressed interest in the Welshman, who is free to take another job. – Guardian

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