Michael Spencer provides a re-cap of Nuno’s Espirito Santo’s positive start to life at Wolves.
The English football league was agast when Wolves announced to the world that Nuno Espírito Santo.
The former goalkeeper and manager of Portuguese giants Porto had taken the position our their new head coach.
Weeks of speculation came into fruition and Wolves said goodbye to Paul Lambert following a season to forget for Wolves fans.
Some were sceptical of the appointment, as he didn’t have “championship experience”.
Some were unhappy with the fact that he was a Mendes client.
But for most this was a step in the right direction, and it showed that Fosun where no longer standing for league mediocrity.
Nuno started to put his doubters to rest. A pre-season tour of Austria displayed early signs of some gorgeous one touch passing football.
He started to bring the best out of players such Jack Price, Romain Saiss and Conor Coady on the back of average seasons, playing like they were solid first team options.
Nuno has also showcased excellent man managing, after spotting the
leadership skills in Conor Coady and his potential as a centre back.
Nuno’s clear ability to make a squad a strong unit where everybody is involves was made very evident in the Sky Sports documentary
‘Working with Wolves’ was a fascinating piece following the club behind the scenes 24 hours before their final pre-season game against Leicester at Molineux.
The leaders, such as Batth and Coady where vocal and everyone seemed determined.
Yet there was clearly still work to be done.
Nuno used his European and Mendes influence to lure top talents such as Diogo Jota, Ruben Neves and Willy Boly to the second tier of English football.
From the outset, Wolves were starting to look like a real threat.
In front of a sold out Molineux, Nuno’s Wolves defied the odds and won on the opening day of the season with a goal from loan signing
Leo Bonatini.
Yet Nuno insisted that the team remain grounded, and needed to keep improving.
And they sure did with delightful wins in the league away against top opposition in Hull City and Derby County.
Confidence was high amongst Wolves fans.
However, the honeymoon period ended when Wolves faced Cardiff City at Molineux in a early top of the table clash.
A bullish bluebirds provded a reality check for Nuno’s men and dealt Wolves with their first defeat of the season, losing 2-1.
However Nuno’s message to his players remained the same, keep working hard and keep trying to get better.
Nuno also saw success in the Carabao Cup.
A tough fought victory against League Two opposition Yeovil Town, lead to Wolves being drawn to Premier League opposition Southampton.
There, Nuno’s hard working philosophies and fully
changed starting 11 outplayed the Premier League side, with Wolves beating their third top flight opposition within the year.
Even after a 0-0 draw with fellow promotion chasing Brentford, Wolves were 3/1 with the bookies to win the Championship title.
This was concrete evidence that Nuno had transformed this side, a team which finished 15 th in the league last season.
So, going into the first international break in 4th position with 10 points out of 15 and with a hugley successful transfer window (if you ignore the fact that Wolves are allergic to signing strikers), hopes remain high around Molineux.
Any neigh Sayers of Nuno have all changed their minds and more and more Championship teams are nervously looking over their shoulders at Wolves and the heights that they are capable of reaching.
Nuno’s revolution is almost in full force. Begin as you mean to go on…
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