The Case for Midtable Managers
The phrase “new manager bounce” is often used to discredit a manager who doesn’t seem to require a lot of adaptation before they start to bring in results. In a time where a “process” is expected, the idea is almost that the early results mean less than those that come years later.
This boggles the mind; in a sport that is becoming increasingly impatient with players, one would expect that the coaches that bring success or signs of success the fastest would be the most appreciated. At mid-table clubs where manager turnover is higher, the phrase probably gets its most usage as pundits try and decipher whether a team in 15th with two wins has improved or just had some good luck.
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The ideal, of course, is to find a level of balance in the analysis that a manager cannot be doing an exemplary job after only three games, unless the change is truly revolutionary and players are suddenly playing far above what was believed to be their level. Conversely, a manager should be not judged too harshly if in their first five games, they do not have their newly acquired side looking like Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Patience is hard to come by, but if you want accurate results, you will require patience to some extent.
On the other side of the coin, West Ham have struggled considerably this season after moving on from the manager they had previously thought they had grown past in David Moyes, who is currently enjoying his own new manager bounce having returned to his former club Everton. However, the biggest beneficiary of a recent managerial change would be Nottingham Forest, having appointed Nuno Espírito Santo on December 20th of 2023.
Nuno’s success at Nottingham Forest feels like something that is destined to come to an end, and maybe that’s why it isn’t receiving the appropriate amount of attention. Forest have broken records right from the very beginning of the season. They are the only side to have defeated Arne Slot’s Liverpool in the league, and one year after finishing 17th, they sit third in the league table.
As discussions around Nottingham Forest grow and their players start to slowly gain more appreciation from neutral fans, when you think of their coach, you’d be forgiven for thinking that he wasn’t currently in his most successful job in his coaching career. That job came in the same league, for a team that sits in 17th place, Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nuno Espírito Santo guided Wolves back to the Premier League for the time since and in his first season in the Premier League, he led his side to their highest-ever Premier League finish as they went straight from the Championship into the European places, as Wolves finished 7th in the 2018/19 Premier League season, a feat that has not been replicated by a newly promoted side since.
His heroics, however, did not stop there, as the next season he guided the European debutants to a UEFA Europa League quarterfinal at the first time of asking, losing out only to the eventual winners of the competition, Sevilla. Usually when teams who do not have the squad size to compete in these competitions suddenly find themselves there, they usually experience a dip in league form that takes away the shine of the tournament performances.
This was not the case with Wolves as they matched their previous season and finished 7th once again, and improved their points tally by 2 points, finishing behind Tottenham in 6th only on goal difference and only 3 points behind 5th placed Leicester City. Much like Sean Dyche while he was at Burnley, the job that Nuno accomplished at Wolves did not live long in the memory and while he received a bigger opportunity at Spurs, it was only as a last resort and even then he was sacked after an admittedly uninspired start to life as their coach, after only four months.
One could be forgiven for forgetting or understating just how high his stock once was when he received the Forest job. It seems that that is the norm when mid-table clubs and their players are evaluated, because it is not the top level there is almost this lack of prestige, as if things can’t be impressive at a smaller scale, as if avoiding relegation on a shoestring budget is not worthy of praise.
If it doesn’t end in silverware, it seems certain achievements are nothing more than a flash in the pan. Nuno’s side are not the only victims this, the exploits of smaller sides often take years before their players or coaches receive the credit they deserve en-masse.
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The likes of Iago Aspas, Dominico Beradi, and Dani Parejo are usually ignored despite their enviable consistency. The football landscape is vast and forgetful, the hope is that moments like Nottingham’s are celebrated in the moment. As football becomes more commerce than sport, even imperfect sides like Nottingham deserve their moment in the sun.
In a time when West Ham won a European trophy, in a time where Cole Palmer had arguably the most exciting breakout season that the Premier League has seen in ages, but other teams and players with more resources were celebrated far more. It seems only those within the clubs themselves can appreciate certain successes for what they are, undeniable high points.
It is unlikely that Nottingham Forest will win a trophy this season, but even without one it is a season that should not be forgotten, the exploits of Chris Wood, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Murillo, Mats Selz, and of course Nuno Espirito Santo must be highlighted.
With 11 matches remaining, Forest sit ahead of the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, all regarded as members of the traditional Big Six. It is nearly impossible that Nottingham Forest will match what Leicester did 9 years ago and win the league, but the fact that the conversation can even happen is a credit to all involved at the club, by far the most interesting story of this season.
By: Khanya Mosetlhi / @WhoWouldYouTell
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Kieran Cleeves – PA Images