Nottingham Forest unveils Nuno Espirito Santo after Cooper sack

Premier League's second managerial casualty as Steve Cooper departs Nottingham Forest; Nuno Espirito Santo takes over.

Nuno Espirito Santo has joined Nottingham Forest from his Saudi Arabia club on a two-and-half-year contract following the sacking of Steve Cooper on Monday. (Photo credit: Nottingham Forest)

It’s no longer news that the Premier League has recorded the second managerial casualty of the season, but the real question is why it has taken this long for heads to roll.

At this stage last season, lots of managers had walked, and some were even planning to reshuffle, with results going south despite new hires. Only Paul Heckingbottom of Sheffield United and Steve Cooper of Nottingham Forest have been shown the exit door this term.

Speaking of Cooper, results didn’t go his way for a substantial period last season, and many thought he was going to join the likes of Patrick Vieira, Antonio Conte, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, and Julien Lopetegui, amongst others, to walk, but he was handed a new deal, and the owners backed him.

There were rumors that if he had lost at Wolves a couple of weeks ago, he wouldn’t return to the City Ground dugout the next game. It wasn’t a surprise to hear they parted ways with him following a 2-0 home loss to Spurs last Friday.

Nottingham Forest unveiled Nuno Espirito Santo as their new head coach on Wednesday, an interesting development considering the Portuguese manager had stints at Wolves, which were a great spell and a better-forgotten one at Tottenham.

Nuno looks like someone who is built for a mid-table team. The pressure at the top is too much for his person, and, with no disrespect to him, the Forest job might be the perfect avenue for him to return to Europe after his Saudi sojourn.

Cooper was fired two years and three months into his time at Forest, and Nuno has been hired on a two-and-a-half-year contract. The former Wolves and Spurs boss insists he’s here to improve on Cooper’s legacy and will hit the ground running from day one.

"We have a good group of players, a squad that needs to become better," said ex-Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno. Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, the Portuguese head coach added, "What Steve [Cooper] did here is amazing.

"Putting Forest back in the Premier League, keeping Forest in the Premier League. That shows how good Forest fans are and the respect they show for Steve. That says a lot about our fans: "We are trying to improve his legacy."

Nuno's first match in charge will be Saturday's home Premier League game against Bournemouth (15:00 GMT kick-off).

"What we can bring is to try and improve the players," said the new Forest boss. "Help players become better; give them the solution that they need to compete well, starting on Saturday.

"Play good and win—that's the biggest challenge we have ahead of us. It's a huge challenge."