(20-12-2023, 04:21 PM)Sausage Roll Wrote: First interview with Colin Fray.

(20-12-2023, 04:30 PM)Tricky Wrote:

(20-12-2023, 04:21 PM)Sausage Roll Wrote: First interview with Colin Fray.

He comes across well. Said all the right things to appease the fanbase and speaks excellent English.

So far, so good.

(20-12-2023, 12:33 PM)Marinakis Red Wrote: Welcome Nuno and I look forward to being on the receiving end of your first fist pumps at 5pm Saturday. We are all right behind you.

(20-12-2023, 03:23 PM)Salvatore Matrecano Wrote:

(20-12-2023, 03:13 PM)Sausage Roll Wrote: I see Worrall and McKenna were both in the short training video that the club released today.

Clear and deliberate I reckon.

(20-12-2023, 07:24 PM)ac_vodka Wrote: I think it shows it's a new start and everyone has a chance versus creating divides day 1. A motivated squad/first 11/bench is what we need regardless of what has gone off in the past.

(20-12-2023, 07:35 PM)Red Dog Wrote:

(20-12-2023, 07:24 PM)ac_vodka Wrote: I think it shows it's a new start and everyone has a chance versus creating divides day 1. A motivated squad/first 11/bench is what we need regardless of what has gone off in the past.

Agreed. What kind of reception will JW get from the crowd IF in the squad for Saturday?

(20-12-2023, 11:09 AM)Salvatore Matrecano Wrote: Extract from the Daily Mail about him. Going to be a different style for some used to Coopers methods.


“Though he will have his work cut out to match Cooper’s relationship with Forest fans, he forged a strong bond with the Wolves crowd. His three fist pumps to the South Bank after victories are fondly remembered and when Wolves take on Forest at the City Ground in April, he will get a good reception from the travelling support.

He is a different character from Cooper, though. Cooper believes man-management is key and held regular daily meetings, with individuals and the squad.

Nuno does not subscribe to that. One summer, when Wolves players were planning a barbecue, they were asked if their manager would be joining them. They reacted as teenagers might at the prospect of their strictest teacher rocking up at a party.

Nuno values respect far more than popularity. It was that clear-sighted leadership that helped turn Wolves from a club drifting in the Championship to one competing well in the Premier League.


Nor does the 49-year-old like compromise. If Nuno leaves a player out, he is unlikely to tell him why. A knock on the manager’s door may be fruitless.

For some, this is unsettling. Patrick Cutrone, signed for £16million from AC Milan in 2019, never saw eye to eye with Nuno and it was no surprise when he was moved on. Ryan Bennett was another to question his judgment that season and rarely played again.

Yet for every story like those, there is a player who improved rapidly under him — see Adama Traore, Matt Doherty, Conor Coady, Pedro Neto or Romain Saiss. The methods work.

Nuno speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish and Russian, but when addressing his squad he only speaks English. He demands his players reach a solid level of English, which is rare at many Premier League clubs but was the case at Wolves.

Players had to have lunch at the same time and sit together at a long table. There are many ways to put your foot in it with Nuno, but perhaps the biggest would be to disturb him during lunch.

Fitness is also non-negotiable. Some of his lieutenants at Wolves — assistant head coach Rui Silva, first-team coach Julio Figueroa, assistant first-team coach Joao Lapa, goalkeeping coach Rui Barbosa and fitness coach Antonio Dias — may join him again and Forest’s squad can look forward to ferocious training.

Before the pandemic, Wolves’ injury record was excellent, with 11 players clocking up more than 40 games in the 2019-20 campaign. That will be music to the ears of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, who tears his hair out at Forest’s long absentee list.

Nuno uses a counter-attacking 3-5-2 or 3-4-3, with pace in wide areas, and it will be fascinating to see how he deploys Forest’s most creative player Morgan Gibbs-White, as he did not always trust him at Wolves.

He prefers a small squad, which will surely mean several of Forest’s fringe players leaving in January. The Portuguese’s arrival also means super-agent Jorge Mendes will likely have a big influence again at a Premier League club. Nuno was one of Mendes’ first clients and the pair have a very close relationship.”