It was quite fitting really that Nuno’s arrival at Wolves was announced while I was sitting by a pool in the Algarve on my honeymoon.
I thought to myself that this doesn’t happen to my football club.
We don’t recruit managers of Nuno’s calibre, we don’t sign players of Neves’ ability, we don’t play utterly divine football, we don’t get purchased by one of the biggest conglomerates in the world.
It felt like dreaming – but we were all to learn that ‘dreaming is for free’.
I found myself hanging on Nuno’s every word; buying car stickers, t-shirts, photos of the bloke – I’m 30-years-old for heaven’s sake! But we could do nothing to stop ourselves worshipping our demigod, we were his disciples.
I was so proud to tell anyone who’d listen that no other club has such a unique bond with their manager, and I doubt we’ll have that again down the Wolves.
Even though I knew it was the right thing to do, I was completely stunned when my wife told me the news about Nuno’s departure. I thought she was having me on. But when it sunk in, I was sad.
I didn’t expect to feel like this, as in the last year I was drained by the identity of Nuno’s Wolves painfully eroding away, and I felt a change was needed for some time.
But it dawned on me what we’d achieved under Nuno and how this special and unique individual became the best manager in my lifetime supporting Wolves.
How could someone of that stature not leave a lasting impression on you?
As our Portuguese contingent affectionately concluded, we’ll miss you Mister.
This season drained away because of things out of Nunos control, the professional assassin employed by arsenal, the injuries that followed, yes every club have injuries but take the players of the calibre of Jiminez, Neto, Boly, Johnny, etc out of the top six teams and see how they get on.
Nuno and his backroom staff have been treated appallingly by owners that couldn’t run a Sunday morning pub team let alone a premiership club, this is how they treat a guy who has brought back the pride to us fans, club and city, stuff Fosun!
If Fosun have sacked Nuno because ‘He’s taken us as far as he can’, I am both sad and angry because I think he could have taken us further. But that is their prerogative as ambitious owners.
If they’ve sacked him because he wanted to take us further than they are prepared to sanction… Then I am sad, angry and VERY worried about the future of our club.
I think newspaper reports of earlier today indicate it may be the latter – differences over transfers.
This is not just the end of the season but the end of something much more. I just feel incredibly sad.
Hopefully the future is still golden.
The acid test will be in whom we recruit as Nuno’s replacement.
Any proven manager of the required calibre will require guarantees on the funds being available to build their own team. If we end up with someone who is merely overjoyed at being able to manage in the Premier League, then that will speak for itself too.
However, I don’t necessarily share the pessimism which seems to pervade some posts, as sad as I am to lose Nuno. In the recent kit deal with the ambitious Castore, our new partners made it clear they would only join with clubs which shared their own ambitions and achieve in Europe.
Give Fosun a chance to come good again. After all, it was they who employed Nuno in the first place.