Nottingham Forest‘s decision to sack Nuno Espírito Santo seems to be related to off-field relationships rather than on-field performance, but given their successes under the Portuguese coach, was that a good enough reason to dismiss him?
At the start of the season, very few people would have guessed Nuno Espírito Santo would be the first Premier League manager to lose his job.
The writing did seem to be on the wall, though, when stories emerged a couple of weeks ago that the now-former Nottingham Forest boss had fallen out with the club’s new Global Head of Football, Edu, and owner Evangelos Marinakis pulled the trigger late on Monday night.
A statement from the club read: “Nottingham Forest Football Club confirms that, following recent circumstances, Nuno Espírito Santo has today been relieved of his duties as head coach.”
Nottingham Forest Football Club confirms that, following recent circumstances, Nuno Espírito Santo has today been relieved of his duties as Head Coach.
The Club thanks Nuno for his contribution during a very successful era at The City Ground, in particular his role in the… pic.twitter.com/catCyeaeR4
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) September 8, 2025
Those three words ‘following recent circumstances’ stood out.
It seems unlikely they referred to on-field performance. Granted, the 3-0 home defeat to West Ham last time out was chastening, but it followed a comfortable win over Brentford and a respectable draw at Crystal Palace to start the campaign. The rift with Edu is surely the main reason for Nuno’s sudden departure.
Especially as all this has come after one of the best campaigns in Forest’s recent history.
Nuno’s predecessor, Steve Cooper, guided the club back to the top flight in 2022, and finished 16th in the first season back. They were 17th when Nuno replaced Cooper on 20 December 2023.
It was difficult enough having to replace the Welshman, who had earned a special place in the hearts of Forest fans, but Nuno also had to put up with a four-point deduction for a PSR breach. He kept the club in the Premier League, ultimately finishing 17th.
There could have been questions about how much of a difference he made, though, considering Forest still would have finished 17th even without losing those four points, though that seemed to be down to Nuno essentially playing safety-first football to keep them in the league.
In 2024-25, he really got his claws into the team.
Forest defied the doubters to challenge for the European spots, even looking like they would qualify for the UEFA Champions League until a few stumbles towards the end of the season. Finishing seventh ended up feeling slightly underwhelming, but was still a tremendous achievement.
In fact, they could consider themselves unlucky. Their 19 wins was the joint-most by a team to not finish in the top six in a Premier League season, along with Manchester United in 2013-14 (also seventh).
Overall, Nuno’s record at Forest was 28 wins from 73 games, drawing 20 and losing 25. In the Premier League, they won 26 out of 62, drawing 13 and losing 23.
Only six Premier League teams have won more points than Forest (91) since his appointment on 20 December 2023 (not factoring in the four points deducted in 2023-24). They have won 13 more points than Man Utd in that time, and 14 more than Tottenham, who were managed by his replacement, Ange Postecoglou, for all but three games of that period.
You can see the clear rise in their rolling points since Nuno arrived. After an initial dip, their improvement has been obvious.
Nottingham Forest since 2022-23 rolling points total
Does not include four-point deduction in 2023-24
Over the last 38 games, only Liverpool (84), Arsenal (73), Chelsea (72) and Manchester City (65) have earned more than Forest’s 64 points.
Premier League last 38 games points 9 Sept 2025
You can also see from Forest’s rolling xG map since returning to the Premier League in 2022 how Nuno largely turned them into a positive net xG team before a wobble towards the end of the campaign. They had started the new season positively, though.
Nottingham Forest rolling xG since 2022-23
It may not have ended ideally, but Forest earned 57 points in the Premier League from their first 30 games last season, their second-highest ever total after that many games of a top-flight campaign (assuming three points for a win all-time), after their only title-winning campaign in 1977-78 (67).
They were masters of taking the lead. In their first 22 Premier League games last season, Forest scored the first goal in 18 of them. In the competition’s history, only Manchester City in 2011-12 and 2018-19 have managed that more often in their opening 22 matches of a campaign (both 19).
Unfortunately for Forest, they won just two of their last eight league games, losing four and agonisingly missed out on Champions League qualification. It was, though, still their highest finish since they came third in 1994-95.
Highlights included beating Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield, with Forest still the only team to stop the Reds from scoring in a Premier League game under Arne Slot, as well as being the only visiting team to win there since mid-April 2024, while it was also Forest’s first win at Anfield since 1969.
They also won 3-2 at Manchester United, their first victory at Old Trafford since 1994, and beat Man City 1-0 at the City Ground, which had also been the scene of their biggest win of the season a few weeks prior as they thrashed Brighton 7-0 in February. It was their biggest league victory since beating Chelsea by the same score in the top flight in April 1991.
In that win, Chris Wood became the first Nottingham Forest player to score a top-flight hat-trick at the City Ground since Nigel Clough against QPR in December 1987.
Many players thrived under Nuno, but arguably none as much as Wood. He scored 33 goals in 55 Premier League games after the Portuguese coach’s appointment in December 2023. In that time, only Erling Haaland (38), Mohamed Salah (37) and Alexander Isak (37) have scored more.
Chris Wood xG since Nuno appointed
In fact, if you remove penalties, only Haaland (31) has outscored Wood (30) in that time.
In 2024-25, Wood became only the second player to score 20+ goals for Nottingham Forest in a single season in the competition, after Stan Collymore in 1994-95 (22). Whether he will be able to continue that form under new boss Postecoglou remains to be seen.
Things had been largely looking good this season, that West Ham defeat aside. The fierce work ethic they became synonymous with was still on show, too; only Brighton (322) have applied more high-intensity pressures in the opposition’s final third than Forest (301) this season.
Nottingham Forest team pressures 2025-26 after 3 games
How will Postecoglou change things? You can read all about that below.
Ange Postecoglou to Nottingham Forest
As for Nuno, he will be disappointed with how things ended, but can at least take solace in the fact that he got to go out while he was still hugely popular with Forest fans.
Don’t be surprised to see him back in a Premier League dugout before long.
Premier League Stats Opta
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