Nottingham Forest third in the Premier League: how good are they and can it last?
Nuno returned to the Premier League after a spell in Saudi Arabia and there were a few doubters when he replaced Steve Cooper in December last year.
He had won the Saudi Pro League and the Super Cup with Al-Ittihad but after a short and difficult time at Tottenham, Forest fans would have been forgiven for being underwhelmed at his appointment.
His four-year spell at Wolves ended as things went stale at Molineux and the squad was unable to maintain their spectacular rise from the Championship to the Europa League quarter-finals.
But before the decline, he built a squad – with the help of agent Jorge Mendes – which included young talent like Ruben Neves combined with the experience of Joao Moutinho.
He is slowly doing the same at the City Ground with the arrival of six senior players, including defender Milenkovic who has helped Forest tighten up at the back and concede just seven goals so far. Only Liverpool – six – have shipped less.
Those who have covered Nuno at either Wolves, Spurs or now Forest know he is not the most expressive in news conferences.
He is a meticulous planner of what happens on the pitch which, over the course of a year, has steadily improved prospects at the City Ground, although he has still benefited from the foundations predecessor Cooper laid.
Cooper’s influence and relationship was crucial to signing Gibbs-White – who he won the Under-17 World Cup with while England manager – while the now-Leicester boss brought Wood to the club and kept them in the Premier League.
Nuno has built on that success, although he has let his emotions get the better of him on the touchline – despite promising to rein in the criticism of officials – and in August he was fined £40,000 and given a one-game suspended ban after his comments following the 2-0 defeat at Everton last season.
That suspension was activated when he was dismissed for contesting Gibbs-White’s red card in the draw at Brighton in September, meaning he has watched Forest’s last three games from the stands.
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