Former Al Ittihad manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been appointed as the new head coach of Nottingham Forest.
The Portuguese has been handed a two-and-a-half-year contract at the City Ground in the wake Tuesday’s sacking of Steve Cooper.
Forest say Nuno will take charge of his first training session on Wednesday morning and will be in charge for Saturday’s home Premier League game against Bournemouth.
The 49-year-old returns to English football after a two-year absence. He managed Wolverhampton Wanderers between 2017 and 2021 before an ill-fated four-month tenure at Tottenham Hotspur.
Nuno says that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has not put any expectations on him, adding that he wants to be the man to take the club to the next level.
“We didn’t mark ourselves to expectations. That’s a day-to-day process,” Nuno said of his conversation with Marinakis.
“What he told me was that what Steve did here is huge. Getting Forest back in the Premier League is fantastic work. We are trying to improve his legacy, which is amazing.
“What Steve did here at Forest is amazing – getting Forest back in the Premier League and keeping Forest in the Premier League.
“It’s normal [to have that popularity] and it shows how good Forest fans are with the respect they showed Steve even when things weren’t going well. That says a lot about our fans.”
He said he has no regrets about his time at Spurs and has learnt from his time in north London and from his spell at Wolves.
“No, no regrets, it happened,” he said. “It was a pleasure to be at Spurs. Things didn’t go well so we move forwards. But no regrets.
“We learn everything, ourselves everything, you learn everything every day. Different situations.
“What we did in Wolves is totally different to what happened at Tottenham. In Saudi Arabia it was a new experience for me, new learning process for me, new culture, so we are always learning.
“I think we have to prove ourselves every day, as players, as coaches, everybody, it is a constant pressure to prove.
“What I expect is to help, try to transmit my knowledge and work ethic.”
During his 16-month stay in Jeddah, Nuno last season led Al Ittihad to their first Saudi Pro League title for 14 years.
He has been out of work since leaving the club in November following a poor run of results. A shock 2-0 defeat to Iraq's Air Force Club in the AFC Champions League proved to be his last game in charge. Ittihad had won only six of their 12 league games and were sixth in the table, trailing leaders Al Hilal by 11 points.
The Saudi champions and hosts were knocked out of the Club World Cup when they were beaten 3-1 by Egyptian side Al Ahly in Jeddah last week.
Nuno takes over at Forest with the club five points above the relegation zone after a run of one win in 13 Premier League matches.
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
Specs
Price, base: Dhs850,000
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 591bhp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.3L / 100km
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
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Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
