Nuno Espirito Santo could be a sensible replacement for the sacked Jesse Marsch at Premier League strugglers Leeds United, former Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara tells talkSPORT (6 February, 10.30pm).
Perhaps the one thing that epitomised Wolverhampton Wanderers during the Nuno era is that, until the last drawn out months of a difficult final season of course, is that the men from Molineux were always difficult to beat.
Wolves’ home ground, under the Portuguese, became the proverbial ‘tough place to go’. The sort of destination even the biggest and most well-heeled Premier League clubs would dread travelling to.
You cannot say the same these days of Elland Road, or Leeds United as a whole. Jesse Marsch paid the price for a dismal run of 10 defeats in 17 games; Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest the final straw.
And O’Hara, while dismissing any claims of a Diego Simeone or a Rafa Benitez, believes Nuno ticks both the ‘attainable’ and the ‘sensible’ box for a club who’s top-flight status is becoming increasingly uncertain.
Who will replace Jesse Marsch as Leeds United manager?
“You need someone now to stay in the Premier League,” O’Hara says. “You talk about Benitez and Simeone. Realistic options for Leeds right now; Who’s out there?
“(Nuno is) not a bad shout. He was good at Wolves. I think he got Manager of the Month at Tottenham, and then they got rid of him!”
That eventually ill-fated spell at Spurs aside, Nuno’s top-flight record makes for impressive reading. He guided Wolves from the bottom half of the Championship into the Premier League’s top seven; reminiscent of the job Bielsa did when taking over from Paul Heckingbottom at Elland Road.
According to 90Min, former U23 coach Carlos Corberan is currently the early frontrunner. Not that West Brom will give up the Spaniard without a fight.
Nuno, meanwhile, is in no rush to tear up his contract at Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ittihad. The former Valencia and Porto boss reaffirmed his commitment to Al-Ittihad when linked with both Everton and old employers Wolves in recent times.
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