Fans shed tears for Steve Cooper as new Nottingham Forest boss Nuno gives first interview

Fans shed tears for Steve Cooper as new Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo gives his first interview since signing the deal.

The ex-Wolves and Tottenham boss comes into the club with quite the task on his hands, with Forest winning just one out of their last 13 Premier League games, leaving them 17th in the table and five points clear of the relegation zone.

Nuno signs a two-and-a-half-year deal at the City Ground and this will sees him return to the Premier League for the first time since his spell with Tottenham, which saw him sacked from that role in 2021 after just four months in charge.

Welcome to Nottingham Forest, Nuno Espírito Santo 🤝

— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) December 20, 2023

CLUB STATEMENT:

Nottingham Forest can today confirm the appointment of Nuno Espírito Santo as first team head coach.

Nuno joins the club on a two-and-a-half-year contract and will take charge of his first match on Saturday when Forest face Bournemouth at The City Ground.

The 49-year-old arrives with a wealth of experience having managed over 460 games in his career, including in the Premier League, La Liga, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.

Nuno began his managerial career at Rio Ave, guiding the Portuguese side to two cup finals and qualification to the Europa League for the first time in their history before taking charge of Valencia in 2014.

He steered the Spanish outfit to Champions League football with a fourth-placed finish in La Liga in 2014/15, before spending a year in charge of Porto where he won 27 of his 49 games at the helm.

A move to England came in 2017 as Nuno took charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers. In his four seasons at Molineux, he led Wolves into the Premier League after winning the Sky Bet Championship title, before achieving successive seventh-placed finishes in their first two seasons back in the top flight.

Nuno also led Wolves into Europe, guiding them to the quarter-finals of the Europa League in 2019/20, with his departure in 2021 bringing an end to an impressive tenure in the West Midlands.

After a spell in charge of Tottenham Hotspur during the 2021/22 campaign, Nuno now arrives at The City Ground having most recently managed in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad, where he led the club to league and domestic cup honours last season.

The new head coach will take charge of his first training session with the squad this morning as they prepare for Saturday’s Premier League fixture when The Reds host Bournemouth at The City Ground (15:00 kick-off).

Emotional Nottingham Forest fans have reacted to the sacking of manager Steve Cooper.

Read more: https://t.co/LkmwakGIJf pic.twitter.com/HAGlFXhZyf

— BBC East Midlands (@bbcemt) December 19, 2023

Supporters gave their thoughts to BBC East Midlands on seeing Steve Cooper no longer in charge of the club.

Fan 1: “I just wish him all luck for his future, you know, and thank him for everything’s done. Bit sad. There you go. That sport for you.”

Fan 2: “My heart goes out to the guy. He got us up after 23 years. It’s a very, very sad day. Very sad day indeed.”

Fan 3: “I feel like this is no exact. I read something earlier. One of my friends genuinely feels like there’s been no exaggeration. It feels like there’s been a death in the family. This is a guy. I’m fairly old. I’ve been through good times before the Cloughy days and what not, but 23 years of not being great most of the time, and he brought it all together, the most incredible couple of seasons and obviously we’ve lost him. It’s horrendous. And my message to Steve Cooper, his family is, please, once this is over and he’s going to move on and do great things somewhere else, just remember, there’s always, you’ll never have to buy a drink in Nottingham, that’s for sure. And he’d always be welcome back here.”

This was the Twitter reaction after seeing fans shed tears for Steve Cooper as new Nottingham Forest boss Nuno gives his first interview…

@jamesbrindleyy: We all have to get behind him. We have all given our huge thanks to Cooper who will forever be a Forest Legend. But we have to now move on and back Nuno like we did Cooper. COYRs 🔴⚪️

@Willh1985: Welcome Nuno. Let’s push on 💪

@Bvsnffcsg01: Gutted Cooper’s gone but the income of Nuno at this point makes sense, give him a few games before the window to see to have a better idea of who he needs to bring in, heartbreaking but understanding #nffc

@1865Reds: Welcome Nuno, I don’t like how the change has been enacted but all great things come to an end. I hope you get a warm City Ground reception on Saturday. COYR’s.

@Debs90181034: A very warm welcome to you Nuno 👍🏽

@nffcpricey: well then, nothing but good luck for nuno, hope this is the right appointment, but just so harsh on stevie

@fm_throwing: Looking forward to seeing how he sets up. 3-4-3 at Wolves, 4-3-3 at Spurs. We should definitely be compact and structured defensively, keeping the centre crowded and setting pressing traps to counter quickly. Not much difference to Cooper but should be done better. 🤞

@AshVck7: However you feel about it. Supporting #NFFC isn’t about Cooper or Nuno. It’s time to get behind the team once more. Who knows what’s going to happen in the coming months but we cannot refuse to back Nuno out of loyalty to Cooper. Here’s to another rollercoaster ride of emotion

@Jonny90nffc: Good luck Nuno, big shoes to fill, I just hope everybody gives you the chance & support like they did with Steve from the start. We move foward. This is Nottingham Forest FC 🌳🔴 ❤️ #NFFC

@DaysUntilForest: New chant to the tune of No Limit: Nuno, Nuno Nuno, Nuno Nuno, Nuno Nuno Santo. 🎶 #nffc

@Gratollini: Nuno has a few things in his favour – he speaks several languages so there will be no language barrier, he favours 5 at the back so we have the players to suit his system and he already knows Boly and MGW. Does he rate MGW? We’ll find out soon enough. Over to you Nuno. #nffc

@molineux4eva: These forest fans slagging Nuno off already. He’s managed and done well with Porto, Valencia and got wolves from the championship into Europa league , a 50% win record at spurs is Apparently a step backwards from cooper 🤣 #wwfc #NFFC

@hannahforest: Welcome to Forest, Nuno. You have my 100% support until things go wrong. #nffc

@Rads_NFFC: I will miss Cooper greatly, and he deserved a more respectful exit. But Nuno did wonders with Wolves, he had a strong connection to their fans like Cooper did with us, that could be key. Got to get behind him now. #NFFC

@Footy_Shirt: I can’t lie and say Cooper going was what I wanted but the amount of people saying they’re not supporting Nuno is absurd, he’s our fucking manager now get behind him you bunch of clowns #NFFC

@suden29: ffs Coops has gone, he just wasn’t gonna take us any further. The negativity already for Santo is incredible. He is the head coach, he is there to hopefully turn things around so either support him & the players who have to deal with it or fcuk off with coops. #NFFC

@NathanNFFC_N07: I hope I’m wrong but i can see us having another new manager before the seasons done. Just like Coops had to work with, Nuno will too. It’s not the manager… it’s the squad #NFFC

@mattwheelerdj: Let’s get behind him , he knows what he’s walking into, Cooper connection will never be replicated impossible …. But hopefully we can start to pull away from the bottom three now 🫡 #nffc

@dannyhowitt: Don’t feel any anger should be aimed at Marinakis either, for a man who has a reputation firing managers, he gave Cooper time, he listened to the fans, but results haven’t been what the club need. He’s also a BIG reason we are where we are! #NFFC

@Tinman_BT: Thanks SC. Many great memories. Whoever you are that form is sacking material. Can’t be holding onto nostalgia. I remember lots of the fan base wanted Fawaz to stay. Sometimes loyalty goes the opposite way. Welcome Nuno. Hopefully he breaths some fresh air into the place #nffc

@DavidFrancisDa3: Thankyou SC. And welcome Nuno.. Can’t fault Mr M for this decision. Stats are stats. The performances and results were in free fall, and left him no choice.. Time now to hope for improvements. Build again. Grow. But better. Stronger.