Nottingham Forest hires Nuno Espírito Santo as manager to replace Steve Cooper

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest hired Nuno Espírito Santo as its manager on Wednesday with the Premier League club moving quickly to replace Steve Cooper.

Nuno, who previously managed Wolverhampton and Tottenham in England's top division, has signed a 2 1/2-year contract.

Most recently the Portuguese coached Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad and won a league and cup double last season.

Forest fired Cooper

on Tuesday after a run of one win in 13 league games saw the club drop to fourth-to-last place in the table.

The 49-year-old Nuno's first game in charge will be in the league against Bournemouth at The City Ground on Saturday.

He has had mixed fortunes in England, where he led Wolves to promotion in 2018 to the top flight — where he secured back-to-back seventh-place finishes — and his team advanced to the quarterfinals of the Europa League in 2020. Having kept the club in the Premier League for three years, he was then hired by Tottenham, but only lasted 17 games in charge

before being fired in 2021

.

Nuno previously coached Portuguese teams Rio Ave and Porto either side of a spell in charge of Valencia, which he led to fourth in Spain and qualification for the Champions League.

His most pressing task at Forest will be to steer the club to safety.

It is currently five points above the relegation zone after 17 games.

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