As the dust settles on another Nottingham Forest win this weekend, Nuno Espirito Santo might view the win over Aston Villa as a pivotal moment.
Although Forest have been brilliant this season, the Reds hadn’t come from behind to win any of their previous seven victories during 2024/24, prior to the one over Villa.
When Jhon Duran put Villa in front it looked as though that would be that but the game hinged on a VAR call that went against Forest seven minutes from time.
That seemed to rally the Reds and after Nikola Milenkovic equalised there only looked like one winner and when Anthony Elanga smashed home three minutes into stoppage time, the City Ground came alive.
Elanga was praised by Theo Walcott after the game and his goal was the first time he’d notched since February with the joy etched all over his face.
Gary Lineker even felt that Forest were unlucky with VAR but afterwards, head coach Espirito Santo made some pretty intriguing comments on the rise up the table for his team.
Nuno Espirito Santo makes comments that Steve Cooper would be proud of
It’s taken almost a year but Espirito Santo finally looks to have come out of his shell.
Evangelos Marinakis almost sacked Espirito Santo twice last season but he must now be buzzing that he chose not to axe the head coach.
One of the gripes among the fan base last season when it came to Espirito Santo was that he wasn’t always charismatic in his press conferences.
Following on from Cooper in that sense must have been tough as he was the complete opposite and loved chatting with the press on a weekly basis.
Cooper’s big thing was to talk about the ‘we’ and the ‘us’ and the entire community as opposed to just merely seeing it as a place of work.
Now, after beating Villa, Espirito Santo is finally there and his critics might not have anywhere to go after this one.
He told BBC Sport: “The fans were a big part in the game today. They helped the team and it goes beyond football, moments like this. It’s about the heart and desire of the boys.
“We try and every day to build something nice that we can identify with the club, the whole city as well. It’s an important moment that we feel when things go against you and you react, that is what I appreciate the most.”
Espirito Santo finally wins Forest cynics around
It’s taken some time but the Forest head coach now deserves his flowers.
Espirito Santo has been a head coach who has been patient in his approach and quite clearly, he’s benefitted from a full pre-season with the players.
When it comes to the football that is being played right now compared to 12 months ago when Cooper was just about still in a job, it really is night and day.
Cooper will forever be in the hearts of Forest supporters and right now, it feels like Espirito Santo is also well on his way to etching his name in the club’s folklore too.
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