French Alps trip and the surprising role Manchester United played in Nottingham Forest's remarkable transformation
Turf Moor. May 19, 2024. Survival officially confirmed and the starting point for Nottingham Forest’s remarkable transformation.
A 2-1 victory over Burnley on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign didn’t just guarantee the Reds another year of Premier League football, it also laid the foundations for what has followed. For head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, it was a turning point.
Before his players headed off for their summer holidays, the Portuguese gathered the group for a debrief. “A nice chat,” as he put it.
“We had a moment,” Nuno explained recently. “That day we realised it was mission accomplished. The first job we had to do, we did it.”
With Phase one complete, it was soon on to phase two - and what a remarkable transformation it has been. Forest have gone from treading water to holding their own among the elite as they push for European football. NottinghamshireLive takes a look at how they have done it.
“First, the bond”
For Nuno, team spirit underpins everything. Creating a sense of unity and togetherness has always been his absolute priority, above all else.
Nuno believes the challenges Forest experienced on their way to securing safety last term - a points deduction and several refereeing run-ins among them - helped to forge a resilience in his side. They have built on that since, and last summer’s pre-season training camp in Spain really allowed the group to come together.
Nuno viewed that trip as a crucial part of the preparation for this campaign. Not only did it allow him an extended period of time to get his ideas across, it was also the forging ground for the bonds and relationships that have really been at the heart of the Reds’ rise.
The 50-year-old would love to take his players away somewhere warm again, to further strengthen their ties. But for now, the training ground continues to be the main hub.
Ribena aficionado Ola Aina is usually at the heart of the positive and upbeat mood at the Nigel Doughty Academy. Clips posted on his social media frequently show the full-back teasing Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga, who he jokingly refers to as his “sons”, with the latter dubbed “the naughty one”.
Players are encouraged to spend time together off the pitch, too - and they frequently do. They go out for coffee and meals, and when schedule allows some go on trips with each other and their families. Most recently, Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson, Neco Williams and Elanga, with their partners, visited a ski resort in the French Alps to ring in the new year. It was also a demonstration of trust, with Nuno certain none of the players were tempted to hit the slopes.
Nuno is big on both love and respect. “When I say respect, it is the commitment to realise that if we are able to do one task together then that task will be easier,” he has said.
“You don’t have to love but you have to share the same feeling, because we are all inside the club. But honestly, with love it is easier.
“You have to have the platform. What I see as a platform, the first thing is the bond, the team spirit, the interconnection and the interdependency you have inside a squad. We all depend on each other.”
Transfer success
By any measure, Forest had an excellent summer window last year. The business done looked very good at the time and appears even better now.
Getting a number of new additions in early meant those players were already integrated into the squad by the time the serious action kicked off. Carlos Miguel, Eric da Silva Moreira, Nikola Milenkovic and Anderson all put pen to paper in time to head to Spain with their new team-mates. Of those four, Milenkovic and Anderson have been transformational signings.
Defending set-pieces was a glaring problem for the Reds last season and Milenkovic has helped to address that. Tightening up at the back in general was a also big focus for Nuno in the summer, and the Serbia international has proved integral on that front.
With Milenkovic - otherwise known as “the Serbinator” - orchestrating the back line, Forest have gone from leaking goals to having one of the meanest defences in the division. He has helped Murillo to improve further, too, and at £12m has proved to be an absolute steal.
As a youngster, Milenkovic would spend hours poring over YouTube videos of his idol, Nemanja Vidic, in a bid to develop his own game. He is a man who simply loves to defend, and it shows.
Anderson, meanwhile, is a young midfielder with vast potential. He has a bit of everything in his game and, aged just 22, can get even better. Eddie Howe has been clear that Newcastle United didn’t want to let him go, and it is easy to see why. Seeing Anderson score his first ever Premier League goal against Southampton last weekend will have been another kick in the gut for the Magpies.
Those two are the standout buys, but Forest’s business overall was careful and considered. Nuno places a big emphasis on recruiting the right characters and he also wanted to make sure he was left with sufficient strength in depth across the pitch, hence his insistence early on in the summer that wingers were at the top of the shopping list.
The same principles apply during this window. The Reds know they do not need to do too much work before the February 3 deadline. They want to make sure they get it right.
Clear identity
“We know what we are. We know our weaknesses and our strengths, and we will keep insisting on that,” Nuno said after Sunday’s victory over the Saints.
He has developed a clear way of playing, and it works. More than works, actually. Forest have a group of players perfectly suited to this style. They do not care one jot about possession stats.
“We are all comfortable when our team has the ball – but it’s impossible in football (to have it all the time),” Nuno has said. “That’s why I always say the moment you know yourself really well, the things you are capable of doing well, you cannot change. You have to do what you are and what you believe. Now the stats show (Forest bottom of possession). We wish we could have more of the ball but our opponents do it so well. We will try.”
The Reds’ success is built around rapid counterattacking play. It is what makes them such an enjoyable watch. Far from being dull for seeing little of the ball, Forest are brilliant entertainers. When they get possession, they use it with purpose.
There is an art to their defending, too. Murillo got a huge round of applause when he deftly stuck out his left leg to thwart Luis Diaz in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the City Ground. That moment earned as big a cheer as any goal Forest have scored. Likewise, the goalline heroics performed by Aina in that game and against Southampton in the following fixture.
Sense of belief
Talk to people around the club and they will tell you there is a different atmosphere around the place this season. Battling relegation was “like having a cloud over the place”, as one employee put it. Now there is a buzz and a real sense of excitement.
The bond between Nuno and supporters has grown stronger, too. Back in the summer, the jury was still out on the former Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers boss. Sure, he’d had a lot to deal with, but he still hadn’t entirely convinced.
This season, he is almost like a different man. Whereas previously he almost scowled his way through press conferences, this time around he is much more relaxed in front of the media. It is almost as though a weight has been lifted from his shoulders.
He is allowing more of his personality and warmth to shine through. His interactions with Warriors United - a learning disability football team based in Nottinghamshire - where he admitted to liking ketchup and favouring pepperoni on his pizza, the perfect example.
Key to everything, though, is Nuno’s work with the players. The head coach will be the first to tell you, what Forest are doing this season is all down to them and the sense of belief they now have.
“I remember our first season back in the Premier League and we went to the Etihad Stadium and were thinking ‘this is damage limitation’,” midfielder Ryan Yates said earlier this season. “Man City are ridiculously good, but I feel there’s been a slight shift in mentality and the way we approach games.”
Chris Wood has attributed his red-hot form to Nuno, too. “He's brought that belief back into me,” the striker said earlier this month.
Nuno has been getting the best out of key players. Forest have a strong spine and all are performing out of their skin - from Matz Sels to Milenkovic and Murillo ahead of him, to Aina and Neco Williams at full-back, to Anderson in midfield, to Gibbs-White, Elanga and Hudson-Odoi in attack, to Wood up front.
Last weekend’s nervy finish to the 3-2 win over Southampton was, Nuno said, “a warning”. It was a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted. He will have reiterated that point ahead of today’s trip to Bournemouth (3pm kick-off).
Nuno has always batted away talk about the title race or of the Reds’ chances of securing European football. It is not for show, it is the same message he drills into the players on the training ground. It might be a cliche but taking it a game at a time really is his mentality.
Keeping their stunning form going is the aim for Forest. But they have already shown they are more than up for the challenge.
