Every Wolves fan will forever hold a place for Nuno in their hearts. He transformed the club and gave us all belief and hope. He is a genuinely great bloke who provided 3 years of some of the best entertainment we will ever have witnessed as fans and for that we shall be forever grateful.
It is sad that his decision to leave comes at the end of a season we would all rather forget, a season where we have underperformed in a huge way. I'm sure we all wanted Nuno to be leading us to success after success for years to come, but the way this decision has come about seems to me that both he and the owners share the opinion that he has taken us as far as he can and someone else is needed to push us up the final hill to greatness.
One thing I will say about this is it's all very amicable. Wouldn't surprise me if he came back in the future when everything has settled down a bit...
Oof! Well, that was a bolt from the blue. Big shock, obviously. Like others, I hoped Nuno would be our SAF, but hoping for something and having it happen aren't the same thing. The past few years have brought the best football that most Wolves fans have ever seen at Molineux, and on a par with what the rest can recall, but the fact we've felt it necessary to speculate on his future here during the past months is clear evidence that something wasn't right, and, even allowing for injuries and misfortune, this season's drop-off in performance speaks for itself. I'm sad beyond words to see Nuno leave, and will be eternally grateful for all he has done for the club, but, if I'm honest, I was more hopeful than confident that things would be any different next season. They certainly will be now! Whether triumph or disaster remains to be seen, but I'm encouraged that we still have the same owners as before Nuno arrived, with the same plan to bring CL football to Molineux. It's the end of an era. It might not be the end of the world.
Its normal in the managerial world to leave after about four years, not many managers stay for longer..sir alex, wenger(maybe stayed too long)...and may feel he needs a fresh challenge too
Yeah didn't see this coming tbh. We've been discussing Nuno for a while and what the future may hold, I think the idea he might step down has been mooted before but I'm not sure most of us gave it much consideration - it seemed he would be here until we were champions of Europe or he was sacked.
I'm glad it's not the latter. That would have been a painful, painful thing to experience. This isn't super nice either, but at least he (apparently) has some degree of agency in the decision. I don't think anyone at or associated with the club could begrudge him this if it's what he wants after what he's done for us.
Some of - in fact, a lot of the best football memories of my lifetime. Scenes that I never thought I would see - romping the Championship, FA Cup semi at Wembley, playing in Europe. Turning over and beating teams we never managed to lay a glove on previously. Feeling like we could beat anyone on our day, but without the arrogance and presumption that we somehow deserved it just because of who we are.
He's proven himself a gentleman and deserves to go with everyone's best wishes and heartfelt thanks. Those of you going on Sunday please, please show him the love he deserves, you'll be singing for thousands upon thousands of others who can't be there.
Incidentally I don't know much about Lage or many of the other names, I did a brief bit of reading on reddit...usual polarised opinions, this one seemed a bit more measured
The truth is we don't really know if he's good or not because it all happened so fast, he had very good results and very bad results, all in the span of a little more than a year.
At Benfica there's a lot of pressure to win everything. We never got the chance to fully understand what he was capable of.
He took over the team from Rui Vitória, in 4th place with 15 matches played, 7 points behind the leaders FC Porto. One of his first decisions was to start João Félix and we played amazing attacking football. Benfica won 18 of the remaining 19 matches (the other match was a draw) and eventually won the title (with notable highlights such as 72 goals scored in those 19 games and a 10-0 win over Nacional da Madeira).
Of course everyone was hyped for the following season, and it started off well with 16 wins and 1 loss in the first 17 matches, 7 points ahead of second place.
Then we lost to FC Porto at home (they were also responsible for the first loss), then to SC Braga, then two more draws... Suddenly we were behind FC Porto, eliminated from Europa League (yeah, we also had a very disappointing performance in the Champions League) and the team never recovered and he was sacked after a few more matches.
And that's it, that was his career at Benfica. Very high highs, and very low lows.
EDIT: Forgot a very important point! His only transfer window was crap. But to be perfectly honest I don't know how much responsibility he had in the recruitment choices, because he seemed to be a bit of a 'yes man' to the board.
I suspect that this decision has been made for some time. Hopefully we know who we want and it is not just Mendes telling Jeff who he's having. Although I have been critical of the football played this season, how can Nuno go with anything other than your very best wishes? Not for one minute do I think he is off to Spurs: I suspect a well-deserved break with his family is what he wants and needs.
Favourite Nuno game in charge? For me it was the 2-1 win at Middlesbrough. What a performance that was. The image of Romain Saiss flat out on the pitch at the final whistle is carved in my memory.
“He did a fantastic job at Wolves,” said Rodgers of Nuno. “Got them promoted, played a wonderful brand of football to come out of the Championship and continued with that.
“It’s been difficult for them this year. Naturally, you need your best players and they’ve had Jimenez out and Jota went to Liverpool.
“It takes a huge part of the team away. He’ll leave there as a legend, he’s done a brilliant job there. They’re a club who want to be up and challenging the top six. Sad to see him leave.
I used to hang on his every word. Absolutely devastated he's leaving but my respect for him grows evermore if he genuine feels he has no more to give. We all know how wonderful hindsight was with the Blackburn 2-3 game in 2012. Nuno going now is less painful than if it goes completely pear shaped next season. Thats all I've got right now.
At 36 I've never had it so good as a Wolves fan, Nuno took every playground jibe from Red Shite gloryhunters, to piss taking local rivals, to the 1-5, to Saunders and relegation and made all of it worth it.
Thank you for everything Nuno.
I will truly never forget Bristol City away or you running down the wing v Leicester. It feels like the next manager has a chasm to fill.
Nuno was as passionate as the fans when we scored, i will so miss that. Managers who just sit in the dugout when we score (Graham Taylor ), i just dont get it.
If that's true it would be disappointing...and honestly a bit worrying. Jeff would be gambling massively.
The foundations that have been built are very good and in theory you'd hope it would 'simply' be a case of new ideas and fresh blood propelling us forwards...doesn't always work like that though.
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