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ALMOST exactly 50 years ago, in early January 1975, Nottingham Forest’s greatest manager walked into the City Ground as boss for the first time.And while Nuno Espirito Santo has little in common with Brian Clough except the same job title, the Portuguese has Forest fans dreaming of a return to the biggest European stage after more than four decades.Nuno Espirito Santo has turned Nottingham Forest into a top Premier League sideCredit: PANuno will be hoping he can emulate legendary Forest manager Brian Clough and win the league titleCredit: AlamyMonday’s 3-0 win at Wolves – a classic example of how this Forest side are arguably the most adept counter-attacking side in the Prem – drew them level on points with second-placed Arsenal. There is a bitter irony for Tottenham supporters that the man sacked because he did not live up to their expectations of how the game should be played is now staring down at Ange Postecoglou’s side – with the Aussie facing persistent criticism for being far too open.Yet that explains the biggest secret of Nuno’s Forest success.Unlike Postecoglou, who increasingly appears a hostage to his own philosophy, Nuno is unrepentant about the cautious, counter-attacking approach that will never be acceptable for more than a few weeks in N17.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAt Wolves, remember, he took the Molineux side out of the Championship and up to successive seventh-placed finishes – their best since 1980.He did it in exactly the same way as he is working the magic at Forest, not too dissimilar to the manner in which Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester stunned the Prem in 2016.Play to your strengths, not your weaknesses. Keep it simple. Make sure everyone is willing to sacrifice themselves for the common  good. And don’t give a stuff what the media think of you.Ranieri’s side never changed or adapted. They were exactly the same every week. And nobody took them seriously until it was too late to stop the train reaching its unlikely destination.Most read in FootballForest’s eerie Leicester comparisonsNottingham Forest are remarkably similar to Leicester City during their title winning campaign in 2015/16Leicester sat one place behind Arsenal in the league table after 20 games in 2015/16Nottingham Forest sit one place behind Arsenal in the league table after 20 games this seasonLeicester had 40 points after 20 games in 2015/16Nottingham Forest have 40 points after 20 games this seasonLeicester narrowly avoided relegation the season prior to their title successNottingham Forest narrowly avoided relegation last seasonBoth teams had a surprise package in-form striker. Jamie Vardy had managed 15 goals by this point in 2015/16, and Forest’s Chris Wood has scored 12.Forest are currently level on points with second place ArsenalCredit: GettyFOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALSThe truth is that Nuno cares not for criticism. Because he knows what works for him, with the right set of playersYet that only works if the fans are prepared to buy into it, too.Nottingham Forest owner Marinakis wants 50,000-seat City Ground At Spurs, where the supporters had felt bored and patronised by Nuno’s managerial mentor, Jose Mourinho, the very last thing they wanted was more of the same.Nuno, of course, was on the bench as reserve goalkeeper when Mourinho’s Porto won the Champions League in 2004. The philosophy of the “Special One” runs through his very core.Whereas Pep Guardiola will not be satisfied until his side has the ball for the entire game, Mourinho is the very opposite, explaining: “Many believe the team with more possession is dominant.“But a team without the ball can be dominant, in control of the game.“For some coaches, possession is more a matter of PR and image. The fundamental thing is that the team that scores more goals is the one that wins.”True. But sometimes, some teams, require more than that.To be fair to Nuno, he was handicapped at Spurs, horribly, by his best player starting the season with a gripe against the world after Harry Kane’s planned move to Manchester City fell through.Yet Nuno failed to get Kane to want to play for him. And it did not take long for that to be the mood of the entire squad.He was not a natural fit for Tottenham. And no matter how successful he is now, he never would have been.Nuno was unable to make things work at TottenhamCredit: GettyForest are a different kettle of fish, although there are few parallels to be drawn with the Clough era.Certainly, while he wasn’t scared of a pound note, Clough would never have dreamed of a spell managing in Saudi Arabia – although Nuno, having won the title with Al-Ittihad, was sacked after 18 months in the desert after a fall-out with star striker Karim Benzema.Indeed, had it come to a choice between Clough and even his biggest star, you’d put your money on the manager surviving. Different times.Clough not only talked a good game. He played one, too, a spine of experience and quality, with a world-class keeper in Peter Shilton at one end and Britain’s first £1million player, Trevor Francis, at the other.A side that did the horrible parts of the game well but was also about expressing themselves on the ball.You don’t play a tricky winger like John Robertson if the game-plan is all about running power.This incarnation of Forest, by contrast, is very different.An old-fashioned centre-forward in journeyman Kiwi Chris Wood, youngish English talents Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson, plus a collection of discards and bargain signings with the entire squad having cost around £330m – low by Premier League standards.And a team that has, under Nuno, a pragmatic and clear style. You do not need the ball to win. Defend for your lives. Make yourselves hard to hurt. And break at pace.Despite averaging just 39.5 per cent possession so far, the LOWEST figure in the entire Prem, Forest have been doing that, superbly, all season.The only team to beat Liverpool – at Anfield to boot. Wins over Manchester United and – much, to his pleasure, surely – Postecoglou’s Spurs. And a draw at Chelsea.NUNO’S JOY OF SIXFOREST’S victory over Wolves was their SIXTH league win in a row – the longest winning run in the Premier League so far this season. Here is that sequenceDecember 7 – Man Utd (a) W 3-2December 14 – Aston Villa (h) W 2-1December 21 – Brentford (a) W 2-0December 26 – Tottenham (h) W 1-0December 29 – Everton (a) W 2-0January 6 – Wolves (a) W 3-0Critically, too, Forest have demonstrated an ability to beat teams who do not attack in numbers, still sitting back to sucker them in and then take their opportunities.The defending of Serb Nikola Milenkovic – a player hewn from the same solid oak as Nemanja Vidic and Branislav Ivanovic – Brazilian Murillo and London-born Chelsea youth product Ola Aina has been physical, imposing and brilliant.It has allowed the midfield to press tight and force turnovers, allowing pace out wide in Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi to stretch opponents and create the space for Gibbs-White and Anderson to create, while Wood is having the season of his life.Mirroring Clough in winning the title is unlikely, this season at least.READ MORE SUN STORIESBut with a top five place likely to be enough for Champions League football next term, playing for the biggest prize in football for the first time in 45 years is more than feasible.Nuno will never be a modern-day Clough. They are few in number. He is, though, making memories that the current generation of City Ground fans will always remember.Forest’s back line is the basis for their incredible formCredit: ReutersTheir attacking players – especially Chris Wood – are making the most of their opportunitiesCredit: Reuters More

EDDIE HOWE has got “the richest club in the world” fighting for honours regularly again despite not being able to blow the big Saudi bucks.The 47-year-old achieved legendary status at Bournemouth by guiding the then-skint Cherries all the way from League Two into the Premier League promised land.Eddie Howe has turned Newcastle into trophy-chasers despite not dipping into the Saudi fortuneCredit: GettyYasir Al-Rumayyan is Newcastle chairman – but his mega money hasn’t been splashedCredit: GettyEddie Howe has had plenty to celebrate lately amid a superb run of form, including a Carabao Cup semi-final to look forward toCredit: GettyNow he is potentially on the verge of writing his name into Newcastle’s history books if he can end their 70-year wait for a major trophy.Howe came mightily close two years ago when he and the Magpies suffered heartbreak in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.Qualifying for the Champions League with a fourth-placed finish softened that blow, and now he is eyeing more than just another Wembley outing as he takes Toon to Arsenal for the first-leg of the Carabao Cup semis.Of course, it has been nothing like those early days at Bournemouth for Howe since he took charge in November 2021 just weeks after their Saudi takeover.READ MORE SPORT STORIESThere was a big outlay that January transfer window in order to assure the club’s Premier League status, but despite reaching the Champions League, PSR rules have delayed their path straight to football’s top table.Though, despite the purse strings being tightened and even being forced to sell young starlets against his wishes, Howe still has Newcastle punching with the big boys for silverware.And he has achieved that in a number of different ways – and it started instantly.On his very first day in the job, Howe arrived at 6.45am and worked for a 12-hour shift, a schedule he still repeats almost daily. Most read in FootballNewcastle are absolutely flying and have out themselves in a brilliant title-challenging positionCredit: GettyCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITSHe watches every single second of training, even giving some a re-watch on video, and is a renowned workaholic who leaves no stone unturned in his quest for success.And while it is all going good at the moment following their six-match winning run, he decided to take a whole new vantage point while searching for answers during the four-game winless run prior to that.Newcastle workers take blowtorch to Alan Shearer’s statue as it’s given facelift Howe decided to watch sessions from up high on some scaffolding, and whatever he saw from up in the heavens has worked a treat.And it’s not only on the grass that Howe sees as being important – punishments are vital too.While he is no Sergeant Major and disciplinarian, players know not to cross the boss when it comes to the high standards he demands.Howe installed a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ with differing amounts of fines on into the club’s training HQ.Striker Callum Wilson, currently sidelined for at least another month, explained it was brought in for those players who turned up late to work.He said: “We have a wheel and you spin it, and on the wheel there are the figures that you have to pay. The maximum is three figures and it’s kept quite low-key.”Laying down the law and standards for international stars is in a completely different universe to disciplining the players he had in the lower league at Bournemouth.Howe installed a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ with differing amounts of fines on as a unique punishment at Toon HQSo just what is this group of men assembled from all across the globe like to manage?Ahead of taking them to Arsenal, Howe said: “It’s a great group of people. I enjoy coming in everyday and I’m very proud to represent them.“You always have good and bad moments and when you are managing 30 players there are always going to be difficult moments to navigate but they are very respectful generally and very humble. They want to get better and I really enjoy the day to day interactions.”While Howe sometimes looks uneasy being in the limelight, the man he could not have done it all without seems to relish it.And while the players on the pitch have been accused of s***house tactics on the pitch, long-time No2 Jason Tindall, the man affectionately known as “Mad Dog” by the Toon Army, revels in his role as the bad cop off it.Eddie Howe could well win that elusive trophy for NewcastleCredit: AFPHe famously got under the skin of Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp, and over recent weeks has angered both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Unai Emery.Tindall is the yin to Howe’s yang, and the latter won’t go anywhere without him and all of his aggy-antics, just like when he refused to take over at Celtic in 2021 without him by his side.Reflecting on their partnership, Howe said: “We started with no money, no facilities, working with a group of players, and it was just the two of us and we did everything together. You name it, we did it.“We travelled to watch the opposition five hours away in the car together just us and we’ve never changed that approach throughout our journey together.”And he has no problem with his No2’s touchline antics, previously stating: “We’re both really active on the sidelines and I’ve encouraged Jason to be that way. He’s a great guy and he’s been brilliant for me.”But anyone who thinks Tindall is just there for moral support and to play the pantomime villain is very much mistaken.The ‘Most Annoying Man in Football’ has helped transform Newcastle into one of the most inventive and effective set-piece sides in the top-flight with his routines.YEARS SINCE LAST DOMESTIC TROPHYFOR the four Carabao Cup semi-finalistsLiverpool – 1 year (League Cup 2024)Arsenal – 5 years (FA Cup 2020)Tottenham – 17 years (League Cup 2008)Newcastle – 70 years (FA Cup 1955)And those could play a key role this evening if Newcastle are to improve on their dire record of just one victory at the Emirates.Howe, who is without suspended defender Fabian Schar and skipper Bruno Guimaraes plus No1 Nick Pope, said: “We’re aware that there are certain records that we need to do better in and that’s, obviously, one we haven’t done well in historically and we would love to change that.“We can’t talk about it – we have got to deliver it.”READ MORE SUN STORIESMeanwhile, he will also make a late call on Sven Botman, who returned from nine months out in the win at Spurs, saying: “We have to speak to the player, speak to the medical team and the experts that will give me some of the answers to what we do with him next. “Sven is a competitor and hugely driven for the team and himself and wants to do really well in his career so I have no doubts what he will say, but we need to speak to other people and come to the right decision.” More