Nottingham Forest part ways with Nuno Espirito Santo

Nottingham Forest part ways with Nuno Espirito Santo after weeks of tension, with Ange Postecoglou and Jose Mourinho tipped as possible replacements.

Nuno Espirito Santo has been fired by Nottingham Forest following tension between the Portuguese and the club hierarchy. Who replaces Nuno at Forest? (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

It has looked like the worst-kept secret in the Premier League since the start of the season, and after three weeks of patching things up, Nuno Espirito Santo is set to leave his role as the head coach of Nottingham Forest.

It doesn't make a lot of sense if you look at it holistically, but it was expected, and no one seems surprised that the news broke in the late hours of Monday that the Portuguese and the Premier League side will part ways.

Where were they before the summer?

They were that team that missed out on Champions League football by a whisker after a slump at the tail end of the season, having led the way on that front for almost the entirety of the season, and they looked like they would reinforce in the summer to arm the manager ahead of the new season, but late-season tension dovetailed into a summer of unrest.

The incident involving Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi towards the end of the season started the problem. Club chairman Evangelos Marinakis came down from the director's box to give Nuno a piece of his mind. Initial thoughts suggested that the result was to blame. Still, the club came out to debunk the rumor, pinning the altercation on the manager's refusal to remove Awoniyi, who appeared to be badly injured.

Former Arsenal man Edu Gaspar resumed as the Group Sporting Director, and that presented another problem to Nuno. The Portuguese didn't get along with Edu, and the club seems to side with the Brazilian, leaving Nuno floating.

What happened next?

At the tail end of the transfer window, Nuno went public with club criticisms on the transfer front; the Portuguese complained about the club's refusal to sign players. However, the club refused to release the interview until they had signed five players, making Nuno look crazy to the public when the video was eventually released.

Nuno's first interview ahead of their league opener against West Ham was another problem. After he was beaten by the summer video, Nuno went to the presser to confirm that the relationship between him and Marinakis had broken down, a statement that Marinakis didn't find funny.

The club signed a host of players, from Dan Ndoye, who was seen as the direct replacement for Antony Elanga, to Omari Hutchinson, James McAtee, Dilan Bakwa, and a couple of goalkeepers to relieve Matt Selz as they embark on their European sojourn, and Alex Zinchenko arrived from Arsenal on deadline day.

With Forest now in the Europa League after Crystal Palace lost their place due to ownership breaches, the club seems to have enough to compete in Europe, but their manager won't be Nuno. The club have confirmed they have parted ways with the Portuguese, and replacements have been lined up.

Former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been named as the favourite, while many believe Jose Mourinho will be interested in returning to the Premier League after he was fired by Fenerbahçe last week.