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<\/p>\nNuno Espirito Santo faces a difficult challenge at Nottingham Forest<\/p>\n
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Nuno had a dream. Or so the song that used to reverberate around Molineux went, anyway. The soundtracks to Nottingham Forest games, even the 5-0 thrashing at Fulham, has been choruses of \u201cStevie Cooper\u201d, paeans to a manager whose sacking came to feel an inevitability but whose popularity remained undented.<\/p>\n
Nuno Espirito Santo\u2019s challenge as his successor is considerable. Replacing Steve Cooper is part of it: the danger is that he seems the man foisted on Forest, the uncharismatic choice to take over from the cult hero who elevated them from the foot of the Championship, ended their exile in the Football League and kept them in the top flight.<\/p>\n
The Tottenham supporters never warmed to Nuno\u2019s beard-stroking passivity but four years at Wolves suggested that, as Cooper proved at Forest, he could be a transformative figure at a Midlands club with a great past, but which had spent most of its recent history in the doldrums.<\/p>\n
The most pertinent part of the Portuguese\u2019s record may not be the Saudi Pro-League title he won with Al-Ittihad or the Champions League qualification he secured for Valencia but the twin seventh-place finishes he achieved with Wolves. Given Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis\u2019 ambition to push on into the top 10 this season, that has obvious appeal, even if it came before the rise of Newcastle, Brighton and Aston Villa. But Nuno\u2019s Wolves could be the best of the rest: Forest, in 17th<\/sup>, have been the worst of the rest this season, with only the three promoted clubs beneath them.<\/p>\n And yet Nuno has to counter perceptions he is appointed less because of his CV than his agent. Forest have felt a particularly profitable club for agents in the last 18 months and Nuno, Jorge Mendes\u2019 first client, has a famously powerful one. And part of the problem with managing Forest is that they have been too active in the transfer market.<\/p>\n The 49-year-old has signed a contract with Forest until 2026 <\/p>\n Half of the team Cooper led to promotion were either on loan or leaving. An immediate overhaul was needed. Yet the signings have kept on coming and coming: 29 of them last season, a further 13 in the summer, including seven on deadline day. Conflicting power bases, between Cooper and Marinakis and various transfer specialists, are a reason why they can end up with multiple and different players in the same positions, but there have been too few successes. Morgan Gibbs-White was Cooper\u2019s best buy but has had less of an influence this season when not deployed as a No 10. Taiwo Awoniyi was a club signing who has proved so integral that Forest now struggle to play without the injured striker. Some of the others have come and gone \u2013 in some cases to Olympiakos, Marinakis\u2019 other club – while some are marginalised, some veering in and out of the team.<\/p>\n Forest have spent \u00a3250m and Nuno inherits a quandary. There is potential and talent but, perhaps, no obvious team. His preference for a back three was apparent at Wolves, but Cooper switched between systems. Forest have pace on the break, but have shown no signs of developing into a dominant, passing side. Arguably, instead, they have relapsed during a run of 13 matches that produced a lone win. Now there are only two teams with fewer goals, only three with fewer shots or a smaller share of possession.<\/p>\n Nuno will require a clarity of thought he displayed at Wolves, though not Tottenham where his tactics came to feel confused. His Wolves side oozed class in the centre of midfield, with Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho. At Forest, Ibrahim Sangare was supposed to be a \u00a330m upgrade in the middle, Nicolas Dominguez an Argentina international who would add another dimension. Neither has really come to pass. In goal, Matt Turner has been a liability, Odysseas Vlachodimos little better. A bloated squad requires both tough decision-making and deft man-management.<\/p>\n Nuno\u2019s most recent job was in the Saudi Pro League<\/p>\n It feels pertinent that the two spells last season when Cooper found a formula amid the madness, when he flourished \u2013 taking 18 points in 10 matches part-way through the campaign and then 11 in six at the end \u2013 began long after transfer windows closed, indicating the time required to gel after spells of frantic incomings.<\/p>\n Now Nuno has been parachuted in, perhaps needing an early impact at a point where the fixture list is getting tougher. Eight of Forest\u2019s next 11 games are against top-half teams. Factor in a wretched away record \u2013 and the fact they have already played the bottom three at home, winning only one of those matches \u2013 and relegation could be a risk.<\/p>\n Part of his task is managing upwards, and Cooper\u2019s relationship with Marinakis deteriorated. He twice seemed on the brink of the sack last season and was protected each time by his relationship with the fans. Nuno has no such insurance policy and his bland public pronouncements may not forge such a bond with the supporters. It means he has taken on the potential and the problems of Marinakis\u2019 Forest, with the mercurial owner\u2019s seal of approval but without his predecessor\u2019s power base.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2023\/12\/20\/17\/GettyImages-1869931569.jpg\")
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