The simple secret behind Nottingham Forest's rapid rise under 'control freak' Nuno Espirito Santo, writes IAN LADYMAN
- Nottingham Forest sit third in the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo
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Every time I see the Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo smiling in front of a TV camera after another victory, I think back to something somebody at Tottenham said to me the day after the London club sacked him three years ago this week.
‘He was like a ghost,’ the Spurs source said. ‘It never felt like he was really here. He was detached, hardly ever smiled. It was as though he just didn’t want to be a manager anymore.’
Nuno looks like he wants to be a manager now. Forest are third in the Premier League and, six weeks or so short of the Portuguese’ first anniversary in charge, they very much deserve to be there.
Forest have done some growing up over the last six months. They are starting to look like a club Nottingham can be proud of once again.
I have a vested interest. I covered the club in the late 1990s for the Nottingham Evening Post. So last year I felt a little sad about it all. I liked and admired Steve Cooper – responsible for their promotion back to the Premier League after 23 years away – but they sacked him after flooding his dressing room with strangers.
Nuno Espirito Santo has rediscovered his mojo at Nottingham Forest
Nuno was compared to a 'ghost' during his ill-fated spell at Tottenham in 2021
But he has turned Forest's fortunes around, and they currently sit third in the Premier League
They made some more poor transfer decisions while at the same time allowing the wrong people to choose the players. They broke the Premier League’s financial rules and then accused a VAR referee of being biased against them. It was ugly and at the end of it all they were lucky to stay up.
But sometimes in football people do learn lessons. Forest are slowly piecing their reputation back together and Nuno is proving to be the glue.
The former Wolves manager is a control freak even by the standards of most managers. When he first worked in England, he would not allow players to stand with their hands on their hips at training. He saw it as a sign that they were not fully ready for action.
It’s hard to control everything at a club like Forest, though. The owner Evangelos Marinakis has his hands on most things. At times he needs to be indulged and that’s challenging.
But Nuno has moved Forest forward by taking ownership of the things he can control. Marinakis does not interfere with team affairs, no matter how much influence he has on recruitment.
At Chelsea, the long-despatched Graham Potter was once advised (in vain, I believe) what team to pick for a cup game. Marinakis doesn’t do this, whatever he may think.
And this is where we can find Nuno’s strength. He has been given some good players to use, for sure. Goalkeeper Matz Sels was the club’s third choice recruit in that position last January but it’s worked. Central defenders Murillo – who they will make a fortune on at some point – and Nikola Milenkovic have been outstanding. Further forward, midfield talent Elliot Anderson has people excited after being stolen from Newcastle.
But the beauty for Nuno has come from an old football principle: repetition.
Last season Forest had a group of about 20 players who registered a significant number of starts in the Premier League. So far in 2024-25, it’s much more settled. Indeed 10 players have started seven or more of the club’s 10 league games.
It’s a key difference and it’s been the consistent faith placed in less flashy players like Ryan Yates and Chris Wood - along with Morgan Gibbs-White and Callum Hudson-Odoi - that sits right at the heart of the stunning improvement made by Forest so far this season.
They sit third, six points off the leaders Liverpool - who would be unbeaten without Forest's brilliant 1-0 win at Anfield in September - and having lost only once themselves.
There is still work to do. Marinakis has spat at the feet of a referee and has been punished with a five-game stadium ban. I would have banished him for the season.
But the truth is that Forest are growing on the back of proper and sound football theory. Nuno is a serious man. He does not enjoy media work but can be engaging when in the mood. I sat with him with a few others back in 2018 and he explained why he had included the kit man on a staff photo to celebrate a manager of the month award.
Nuno is a control freak, and his strict approach is working for Forest so far this season
Mail Sport's Ian Ladyman reveals the key to Nuno's success is repetition, as he has now got a settled set of players and is getting consistent performances out of them
‘OK, let’s say it is Wolverhampton in January,’ he said. ‘It’s a training session at 10am. It’s minus five degrees.
‘A player arrives in a bad humour and why? It’s because the kit man hasn’t given him his hat and gloves. So we have a problem. The kit man is as important as the rest.’
Inclusivity can take you a long way in football. Nuno couldn’t find that comfort - that sense of self and home - at Spurs and maybe he will one day tell us why. At Forest, he seems to have rediscovered something of his inner joy and when new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim arrives in England next week he will have to wait a while before he can even say he is the best coach from his own land in the Premier League. At Fulham, Marco Silva will join that conversation.
Fulham, as it happens, are the only team to beat Forest in the league this season. On Sunday, Newcastle will park up by the Trent and have a go.
The walk to the City Ground from Nottingham train station is still something. The lights of the stadium reflecting off the water. The chatter and bustle reaching you from the sailing clubs doubling up as bars for the day.
It stirs the soul. Well it does mine and I am biased, I know. And one other thing. I tipped Forest to go down this season. Nice to be wrong, eh?
Noel's surprise commentary stint
I am less surprised that broadcaster TNT Sports asked Noel Gallagher to be part of their commentary team for Manchester City’s Champions League match in Lisbon than I am about the fact the Oasis guitarist actually agreed to do it.
Noel and brother Liam often lament the absence of real rock n roll stars these days. With good reason, it seems.
It was a surprise that Noel Gallagher agreed to be part of TNT Sports' commentary team for Man City's 4-1 defeat by Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday
Mourinho brings the noise - and not much else
Jose Mourinho has only been managing in Turkey for a few months but is already deep into his repertoire.
We’ve seen the fake charm, saved this time for the English reporters visiting for Manchester United’s game against Mourinho’s Fenerbahce last month. We saw the pointless red card that followed in that game.
Now we have heard the baiting of match officials and a suggestion this week that the Turkish league is corrupt.
Next - as the gap widens behind leaders and rivals Galatasaray - Mourinho will turn on his players. He always does. It’s the last resort - the final rabbit from that dusty old hat - and he does it every single time. Just wait.
And this is Mourinho at 61-years-old. These are the patterns of a coach with precious little left to offer bar the noise.
Jose Mourinho is still grabbing the headlines in Turkey after joining Fenerbahce in the summer
Mourinho was sent off against Man United last month and is struggling to keep his cool, so is likely to turn on his players next
Tuchel's messy start
The 2026 World Cup begins in 20 months and England hope to win it.
Yet, as the national team gather for two Nations League matches next week, the new England manager will not be with them.
Thomas Tuchel was unveiled as England's new permanent manager last month, but will not take over until January when he should have been put in charge straight away
Nor, we are led to believe, will he be in the stadium to observe when England play Greece in Athens and then face the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.
So Thomas Tuchel will miss out on precious and valuable time meeting and then watching his players, while they will be deprived of an opportunity to spend some time - however limited - with him.
This is professional football in 2024 and this is a mess. The clock is ticking on 2026 already yet Tuchel sits at home, not contracted to take charge until January 1.
Next week already feels like a waste of time. We can expect withdrawals from Lee Carsley’s squad on an unprecedented scale.
