Current Nottingham Forest Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo
There is no doubt that the inclusion of Nuno Espirito Santo makes the Nottingham Forest manager history even more illustrious. Given the potential that the Portuguese manager has with this team, he is considered the next best genius of a Nottingham Forest manager. Back in December 2023, Nuno Espirito Santo was appointed as the manager of Nottingham Forest. With the arrival of the Portuguese manager came the consistency in the performance of the club.
Born on January 25th, 1974, Nuno Espirito Santo is now 51 years old, as of 2025. The genius Nottingham Forest manager was a goalkeeper during his playing days. While not as legendary, Nuno Espirito Santo led a respectable career as a goalkeeper, playing for the likes of Vitoria Guimaraes, Deportivo La Coruna, FC Porto, and Dynamo Moscow. Safe to say, from his playing days, he started developing his understanding of the tactical aspects of the game from a managerial point of view.
In addition to his playing career with many clubs, the managerial journey of Nuno Espirito Santo has been an upward trajectory. His coaching days began with Rio Ave back in 2012, before his one-year spell at Valencia. The Portuguese manager won the domestic cup finals with Rio Ave and helped Valencia secure the 4th spot in the La Liga table to qualify them for the Champions League.
After that, he managed FC Porto for a year before making his debut in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers back in 2017, where he stayed for four years. Following his spell with the Wolves, where he made massive strides, he was appointed as the manager of Tottenham Hotspur. However, the spell at Spurs ended quickly due to the poor results. It led him to a brief spell in Saudi Arabia, where he managed Al-Ittihad for a year before making a return to the Premier League. This time with Nottingham Forest, and this was the regeneration of the Portuguese manager.
After Steve Cooper, the arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo raised a lot of questions. However, his progress with the clubs already puts him as one of the best in Nottingham Forest manager history.
From the tactical discipline to defensive organization, Nuno Espirito Santo has changed multiple aspects of how the Tricky Trees used to play. Safe to say, it worked given how great their performance was in the 2024-25 season. Even though Nottingham Forest finished in 7th place, they were the favorites to take the 2nd position in the table.
