Nuno Espirito Santo: Wolves memories will stay with me forever – but my Nottingham Forest team have a special bond | Football news

Having spent a few days with Nottingham Forest at the end of their pre-season in Spain, I knew they would be third in the table at the turn of the year.

Okay, maybe not.

But what I will say is that it was absolutely clear that with a whole summer under Nuno Espirito Santo, the atmosphere among his team was buzzing and they seemed closer than ever.

It’s easy to forget, but Nuno spent an awful majority of last season fighting a relegation battle, a points drop and a bloated squad – but Forest are now benefiting from what he describes as an obsession with improving in all areas of the game.

What became clear in sitting down with the 50-year-old was how protective he feels of this group. The group he makes clear in this exclusive interview that he and the club decided they wanted to stick together because they believed in the players’ potential.

Ahead of facing his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers next monday night football, Espirito Santo told Sky Sports that he is enjoying his return to Molineux.

“Of course, of course. We spent four years there. It was nice. I think we’ll keep our memories forever. The coaching staff, the players, Morgan (Gibbs-White) coming back. It’s quite nice.”

Forest, the Premier League’s surprise package this season, are bidding for their sixth straight win. Speaking on Friday, Nuno said there had been little time for reflection on his side’s eye-catching first half of the season.

He believes Forest’s success this term has been based on sticking to the principles introduced during the 2023/24 campaign.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

“You start with routines, and when you achieve routines, they become habits. And on the field, if you have habits and you play without even knowing that your teammates are going to be in certain positions, it sometimes happens not.

“When that happens, it clicks. It flows.”

So how does he block out the collective noise surrounding his Champions League contenders?

“We stick to the same message since day one,” says Espirito Santo. “That’s what we’re obsessed with. That’s how we work and how we think we should do things – focus on match by match.

“Focus on today’s training. Trying to look at all the drills, improve the players’ performances and results, help.

“But there’s no distraction because we’re not changing. That’s how we approach the competition.”

Espirito Santo admits it will be harder for him to keep Forest in the Premier League’s top four than it was to get them there.

Forest have far exceeded expectations this season after securing top flight safety on the final day of the 2023-24 campaign by winning 2-1 at Burnley. So does Nuno believe his side can maintain their remarkable rise up the table?

“I’m very happy, very happy, proud, happy,” he says when asked to reflect on his first 12 months or so.

“I know not many teams can say they have a healthy squad. We have been able to keep the core of the squad from last season. We had a tough moment but it was crucial that we decided together that we have to go with a quality team.

“We want to believe and do it again and improve what we need to improve. We are halfway through, but we are proud of what we have done. Now comes the big challenge.

“Can we do it again? Are we going to face the same opponents? Can we compete again and again against these tough opponents… the same way we did in the first round.”

Nuno’s side bid farewell to 2024 with a fifth straight win, Sunday’s 2-0 win at Everton ensuring they start the new year in third place.

Forest’s current winning run is their longest in the Premier League since the 1994-95 season, when they finished third behind champions Blackburn and Manchester United under former boss Frank Clark.

After Monday’s trip to Molineux, Forest play three home games in a row against Luton, in the FA Cup, Liverpool and Southampton.

Every passing positive result and performance seems to make a mockery of pre-season predictions that the team would contend again, but Nuno dismissed that theory.

“It’s not about proving people wrong, it’s not about that,” he insists.

“It’s about improvement, about self-respect, about connecting with your teammates. It’s about getting the job done together, not individually.

“How can I do better if I do things right? That’s what drives us, that’s what moves us. We don’t have to prove anything to anybody. We have to prove to ourselves that we will do what we want to compete and play football in a good way.

“In a way that our fans are happy after the game. In a way that we go back to our families and we feel that we did well. We go again with the same motivation, regardless of the result we had before.

“But we go to next week with the same purpose, with the same idea of ​​competing again. That’s what’s important.”

This will be the fourth managerial meeting between Portuguese duo Vitor Pereira and Espirito Santo.

The previous three meetings were all between Rio Ave and Porto in the 2012-13 campaign with Pereira unbeaten across those fixtures, winning twice.

But Espirito Santo is unbeaten in four managerial meetings against Wolves since leaving Molineux, drawing both games as Forest boss at the City Ground.

His only Premier League return to his old ground in August 2021 resulted in a narrow victory during his short spell as Tottenham boss.

Given Forest’s outstanding record away from home this season, supporters who make the short trip across the Midlands will be assured of another three away points thanks to the team spirit fostered by Espirito Santo.

“That’s the foundation,” says the Forest Manager with a smile. “It’s the foundation of everything. Everything I told you before… without this bond, it’s impossible.

“If you don’t have a strong bond among your colleagues, how can you – after a bad moment – go back with the same motivation, look over your shoulder and say, let’s do it again. That’s the foundation.

“I think we’re building a good one, but we still have a lot of things that can make us stronger and stronger on a daily basis in terms of ties.

“Us in the squad… when I say the coaching staff, players, the staff working on the training ground, everyone. Then the fans and we’re improving that too. I think the fans believe in us more.

“They trust us. They know we’re going to compete, and that’s what we can promise them. We’re going to compete.”

We see a certain side of Nuno in his news conferences and on the sidelines at games, but what has become more and more apparent to me is that there is another side to him that has created a special bond between this group of players and the man in charge.

With their current defensive steel and lethal attack linked to all of the above – why can’t they have a genuine chance of a Champions League position?

After all, they won’t have European football to contend with like many others.

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