Forest hold talks with Nuno over manager's role

Nuno Espirito Santo guided Al-Ittihad to win the 2022-23 Saudi Pro League Championship and also secured the 2022 Saudi Super Cup.

The football club Nottingham Forest has decided to remove their manager Steve Cooper from his position, and they are currently in discussions with former Wolves coach Nuno Espirito Santo to take his place.

Forest made a big decision on Tuesday by informing Cooper that he will no longer be the coach for the team. The decision came after Forest suffered five defeats out of their last six games.

Nuno, who is 49 years old, was dismissed from his position at the Saudi Pro-League team known as Al-Ittihad during the month of November.

The name of Oliver Glasner, who formerly managed Eintracht Frankfurt, has come up as a potential candidate to replace someone, but it appears that Nuno is now the front-runner for the position.

Forest is currently ranked 17th in the top soccer league. Unfortunately, they have only been victorious in one out of their previous 13 games and have only managed to grab eight points during that period.

In the last six games, they have only earned one point, and currently, they are ahead of third-bottom team Luton by only five points. However, Luton has a game in hand.

The Forest fans consistently showed support for Cooper, but the owner of the club, Evangelos Marinakis, had grown more worried about the team's situation.

Forest will have a match against Bournemouth at the City Ground on Saturday, followed by challenging matches in Newcastle United on December 26th and Manchester United at home on December 30th.

For a span of four years, Nuno was at the helm of Wolves and successfully led the team to ascend from the Championship league in his debut season. Subsequently, he tallied seventh-place finishes in the Premier League and steered the team towards reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

The ex-goalie from Portugal departed from Molineux in 2021's summer to be part of Spurs. However, he got dismissed in less than four months at the helm of the team due to a string of losses of about five times in seven games.

In July 2022, he became a part of Al-Ittihad and successfully led the team based in Jeddah to achieve the official championship title in Saudi Arabia in the previous season. However, due to a string of unsatisfactory outcomes, he was relieved of his duties just 12 games into the current season.

Before, he was in charge of Rio Ave, Valencia, and Porto.

We inquired about the news from the individuals who visit our special Nottingham Forest web page to know their views. Below are some of the opinions shared by them:

Jonathan thinks that choosing Nuno Espirito Santo as the new manager is a terrible decision. The previous manager was very successful and admired by the fans, but had to start from scratch after losing key players. Additionally, the team's top scorer left. Jonathan doesn't know how the new manager is supposed to handle all of this. On top of that, Nuno Espirito Santo has a bad track record from his past two jobs and has even managed a rival team. Jonathan thinks this decision is crazy.

Rob expressed his affection for Cooper, but acknowledged that he has reached his limit. Despite his frequent use of defensive strategies, Cooper has failed to achieve favorable outcomes and secure sufficient draws or victories. This prolonged streak of defeats indicates that the situation is irreversible and that the team must prepare for another relegation battle. While some may look to Nuno as a potential solution, Rob does not believe he is the right fit for the job.

I disagree with the decision made, as Steve Cooper's efforts have led to a great deal of success and optimism that hasn't been witnessed at the City Ground in quite some time, not since Brian Clough and Frank Clark. Steve deserved better treatment.

Tim thinks it's a pity that Cooper has to leave Forest, but it was bound to happen. Although Cooper is loved, his track record of one win in 13 and only two wins in 30 away games shows that there are issues. On top of that, they have had many instances of losing points when they were close to winning. Everything seemed to unravel after the Luton Town game, and with the stress of the past two years, it's not surprising Cooper seems worn out this season.

John thinks that it's unfair to criticize Cooper because he did his best despite having a team of players who weren't all his choices. John doesn't believe that Nuno could do a better job. However, John predicts that the team may end up in the Championship next season, leading to a cycle of changes once again.