Leeds United’s Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest have taken the huge decision to sack Nuno Espirito Santo, and it’s a development worth keeping an eye on at Elland Road.
United are three games into the season with four points on the board, but it won’t stop many neutrals from questioning the strength of Daniel Farke’s position at the club.
He’s enjoyed a strong start to his third attempt at Premier League survival, but the track record behind him is difficult to shake off, while reports emerging shortly after Leeds’ promotion that the club were considering his position haven’t helped his standing.
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Nottingham Forest first club to sack manager: Nuno Espirito Santo departs City Ground overnight
Looking at the managers most likely to face the axe first in this season, many would have expected Nuno Espirito Santo to be the man leaving before anyone else.
On face value, qualifying for the Europa League would keep someone miles away from the exit door, but high-profile incidents between Nuno and owner Evangelos Marinakis mean the writing has been on the wall since the end of last season.
(REUTERS/David Klein)
Marinakis entering the City Ground pitch to chastise the Nuno after a draw with Leicester City back in May was the first instance, before the manager himself publicly noted the strained relationship between himself and the owner, further suggesting a departure was a matter of time.
That departure has now been confirmed overnight, with Forest ditching Nuno in favour for former Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou after his departure from North London.
Will Leeds United be monitoring Nuno Espirito Santo situation if they have to pull trigger on Daniel Farke?
The managerial merry-go-round could be in full swing with Forest replacing Nuno with Postecoglou, but there are other clubs in the Premier League that will inevitably be forced into action at some point, as is the case every season.
Leeds’ hope is that Farke enjoys enough success to see through survival from relegation without the club needing to take drastic action by replacing him.
(Action Images via Reuters/Craig Brough)
However, if the time comes where Farke’s tenure at Leeds has run its course, the club will have contingencies in place, including a working shortlist already drawn up in the event of things turning sour, which is surely going to include Nuno now.
Nuno being available should be alerting any bottom-half Premier League club that have a replacement shortlist drafted, given his remarkable turnaround at the City Ground to take Forest from serious relegation fears to Europa League football.
For Leeds, investment into physicality and counter-attacking football would make Nuno a viable alternative, and while there’s no reason at present to consider Farke’s position after four points from three games (two clean sheets too), the ex-Wolves and Spurs boss is surely someone the decision-makers would be alerted to.
After all, Nuno was strongly linked with the position back in 2023 when the club needed to replace Jesse Marsch, only to turn to Javi Gracia in what turned out to be a disastrous move.
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