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

When I 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.

Well, maybe not.

But what I will say is that it was abundantly clear that with a full summer under Nun Espirito Santo, the atmosphere in his team was on fire and they seemed to be closer than ever.

It’s easy to forget, but Nuno spent the awful majority of last season fending off a relegation battle, points deductions 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 after sitting down with the 50-year-old is how protective he feels about this group. A group he made clear in this exclusive interview that he and the club decided they wanted to stay together because they believed in the players’ potential.

Before the meeting with his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers Monday Night Football, said Espirito Santo Sky Sports to enjoy his return to Molineux.

“Sure, sure. We spent four years there. It was nice. I think we’ll remember it forever. The coaching staff, the players, Morgan [Gibbs-White] is coming back. It’s really nice.”

Forest, the surprise package of the Premier League this season, will be fighting for their sixth consecutive win. Speaking on Friday, Nuno said there was little time to reflect 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 set during the 2023/24 campaign.

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

“You start with routines and when you get a routine, it becomes a habit. And inside the field, if you have habits and you play without even knowing that your teammates are going to be in certain positions, sometimes it doesn’t happen.

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

So how does he block out the buzz gathering around his Champions League contenders?

“From day one, we stick to the same message,” says Espirito Santo. “That’s what we’re obsessed with. This is how we work and how we believe we should do things – to focus on one game at a time.

“Focus on the daily training. I try to look at all the exercises, improve the performance and results of the players, it helps.

“But there is no distraction because we don’t change. This is how we approach the competition.”

Espirito Santo admits it will be harder 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 sealing top-flight safety on the final day of the 2023-24 season. with a 2-1 win at Burnley. So does Nuno believe his side can sustain their incredible climb up the table?

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

“I know that few teams can say that they have a healthy team. We managed to keep the core of the team from last season. We had a difficult moment, but it was crucial that we decided together to go with a quality team.

“We will believe and we will repeat it, improving what we have to improve. We are halfway there, 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.”

Nunn’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 streak 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 Clarke.

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

Every passing positive result and performance seems an affront to pre-season predictions that the team would struggle once 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-esteem, about connection with teammates. It’s about doing a task together, not individually.

“How can I improve if I’m doing things right? That’s what drives us, that’s what drives us. We don’t have to prove anything to anyone. We have to prove to ourselves that we want to do it, 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 return to our families and feel that we did well. We go again with the same motive, no matter what result we had before.

“But we go into 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 the Portuguese duo of Vitor Pereira and Espirito Santo.

The previous three meetings were all between Rio Ave and Porto in the 2012-13 season, with Nuno’s Porto unbeaten in those games, winning twice.

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 post in August 2021 resulted in a narrow victory during his short spell as Tottenham boss.

Given Forest’s excellent away record this season, those fans making the short trip across the Midlands will be confident of another three points on the road thanks to the team spirit fostered by Espirito Santo.

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

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

“I think we are building a good one, but we still have a lot of things that can make us stronger and stronger every day in terms of connection.

“We in the team… when I say the coaching staff, the players, the staff that works in training, everyone. Then the fans, and we are improving there as well. I think the fans trust us more.

“They believe in us. They know we will compete and that is what we can promise them. We will compete.”

We see a certain side of Nuno in his press conferences and on the touchline at games, but what is becoming 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 a lethal attack linked to all of the above – why can’t they have a real push for a Champions League place?

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

Watch Wolves v Nottingham Forest on Monday Night Football starting at 8pm