Wolves comment: Similar scene at Molineux but hoping for a different result with Nuno

Exactly 10 months after Walter Zenga and a little less than seven after Paul Lambert, here was Nuno Espirito Santo sat in front of the same Molineux backdrop, no doubt hoping his tenure as the club’s head coach is more successful and considerably more lengthy than that of his two immediate predecessors.

Including Fosun’s own unveiling, this was the fourth big press conference held at the stadium in the past year, each being greeted with a little less fanfare than the one previous.

The metal barriers which last July held back dozens of supporters eager to greet the club’s new, mega-rich owners were once again placed around the main entrance, only this time they held back no-one.

A year which has delivered far less than supporters had dreamed or expected means this is a fanbase now waiting for actions rather than words.

Neither were fans the only notable absentees of the morning. There was no Jeff Shi for starters.

Fosun’s main director at Wolves was, we were told, already back in China, though his influence on recent events has been such that managing director Laurie Dalrymple felt the need to explain both his and sporting director Kevin Thelwell’s absence before the main meat of the press conference had even begun. Back in November, it was Thelwell who had sat alongside Lambert as the club’s representative, having played a key role in the Scot’s appointment.

That Nuno’s arrival had followed a very different process was already abundantly clear and Dalrymple was ready for the questions which inevitably headed his way.

Inconsistent performances over the final month of the season had, he initially claimed, prompted Fosun to consider moving on from Lambert, a man upon whom Shi had lavished extensive praise in early April.

When pressed, this prompted a slight clarification.

“There were probably enough (results) for the owners to question whether the progression they had hoped for was developing as fast as they wanted,” he said.

“I made a remark at the end-of-season dinner about a rollercoaster season which we seemed to have. The last month of the season kind of typified that and it is where we want to move away from.”

Nuno, then, is the man charged with bringing some long-needed stability to Fosun’s Wolves project.

This was a relaxed yet confident start from the 43-year-old. Noticeably more composed than Zenga and a little more formally dressed than Lambert, he spoke calmly, in excellent English, about his excitement and desire for ‘the challenge’ ahead.

Questions about pressure and his knowledge of the Championship were well dealt with, while an obvious trap was swiftly side-stepped when quizzed on what would constitute success next season.

“This is a time for planning. It is not a time to talk about targets,” Nuno replied.

Two further moments, meanwhile, marked him out as a man who possesses a fair amount of media savvy.

One arrived during a separate briefing for written media, when Nuno was asked whether he had contacted his long-time friend and one-time boss Jose Mourinho before agreeing to take the job at Wolves.

“If I say yes, then that will be your headline,” he replied with a grin.

“Yes, that’s why I asked it,” replied his smiling inquisitor.

Of greater importance was his decision, unprompted, to tackle the issue of his friendship and business relationship with Jorge Mendes.

The agent was another not in attendance at Molineux but his name was rarely far from conversation. Nuno was Mendes’ first-ever client and smart enough to know what some may have inferred from his appointment by Fosun, who have close links to the GestiFute agency.

“I am a client of the best agent in the world,” he said. “He does his job, I do my job.”

Having access to Mendes’s extensive contacts book has obvious benefits but Nuno was quick to stress no players will be foisted on him.

“I can say no to Jorge,” he added, while the previous night’s signing of defender Ryan Bennett on a free transfer was held up, more than once, as evidence of how Mendes is nothing more than a well-connected business partner and friend.

Just how accurate such a picture turns out in practice could be key for Nuno, at least judging by the somewhat varied success rate of the players recruited with Mendes’ help by Wolves over the last 12 months.

The jump from the glamour of the Champions League to the grit of the Championship does not faze him.

“We coached big clubs in different leagues and different competitions. The challenges there were different but Wolves is a big club,” he said.

“The difference will be the players. The ones we have now, we have to improve.

“Nothing changes really in football. In the Championship it is a different style of play but we believe our idea can succeed. You just have to get the right recipe.”

It was another measured, sensible response in what was an impressive first showing.

Yet Nuno only needs to look at the fate of Zenga and Lambert to know the consequences should he fail to quickly cook up some success.