Dreaming is for free
Just some of my highlights of the Nuno era
It is still taking some time to process.
Was it really mutual consent? Was he sacked? Has he walked after seeing the transfer plans? Regardless, the news that Nuno will no longer be the manager of Wolves is hard to stomach.
I don’t think I will ever have an emotional attachment to a manager of our club like I did with Nuno.
I was fortunate enough to be at Nuno’s first league game, at home to Middlesbrough.
Everything so quickly felt different. I had never seen a Wolves team so organised. Matt Doherty had lost weight, Conor Coady was barking instructions and we had talents in Rúben Neves, Diogo Jota and Willy Boly that we had no right to have in the Championship.
This pass is etched in to my memory, I think even at that point most of us could tell we were onto something special.
Even though we won the league in some style and nine points of second placed Cardiff, it wasn’t without its drama. Bristol City away was an incredible night to be in the away end. At this point, you could really see the siege mentality that had been formed within the squad on display.
With ten men for almost the entire game, Wolves grafted after a poor red card decision against Danny Batth (and then Nuno!). At one nil down they demonstrated the resolve and quality required if you want to win a league that can be horrible to get out of.
The drama didn’t stop there. Who can forget the week that began with Wolves beating Middlesbrough with nine men and finishing it with Cardiff missing two penalties in injury time to practically secure promotion?
I can’t imagine how the fans at the game felt, it was tough enough from my uni bedroom. Neves’ free kick was a thing of beauty, but it was yet another game where Wolves had to show resilience where previous sides would have wilted.
After some gruelling fixtures, Wolves finished off the season in style with several comfortable victories and some sensational goals (mainly Neves - see above).
I think arguably the peak of Molineux atmosphere (in my experience anyway) came on March 16th 2019. An FA Cup quarter final at home to Manchester United. At that point, by far the biggest Wolves game of my memory.
Once again, this group didn’t disappoint. By this point we had added internationals like Rui Patrício, João Moutinho and Raúl Jimenez to name just three. We were having a strong league season too.
We managed the game perfectly. As the game grew, we started to seize more control. United struggled for space to create, we scored two goals of the highest quality and when ahead, kept the ball for long periods to kill the game.
The way Molineux erupted when those goals went in. It was truly incredible.
And while we then suffered agony at Wembley, it was just incredible to even watch Wolves play there in the first place. It certainly gave us an appetite for more.
Despite that blip in the season, we still went on to secure European football, the first for this club in 40 years.
The European adventure did not disappoint either.
It started on the day of a heatwave at home to Crusaders. The trains that day were a nightmare, but it was still worth it to see us play our first game in the competition in so long.
Despite initially struggling to adapt to the schedule, Wolves soon found their stride during the 19/20 season. We had one fantastic run of form starting with victories against Watford and Man City (having not won in the first six league games) where we lost just once in fifteen league games.
Both the fixtures against Man City that season will live long in the memory. The 2-0 away win, a defensive masterclass (with Adama Traoré and Ruben Vinagre at wing back) whereas the 3-2 home was a classic comeback against the Champions, with a dramatic late winner.
I’ve now seen my team play in Europe four times, including an away trip to Barcelona (!) to see us play a knockout tie at Espanyol. That is almost entirely down to Nuno.
Even when the pandemic hit, we managed to finish well enough to finish 7th and then make the Europa League quarter finals (imagine if Raúl had scored the penalty against Sevilla?). In fact, if not for Mike Dean striking once again in the final moments at Burnley we may well have finished in the top six.
He really just did get it. It was the right partnership, at the right time, and now it feels like it has been cut short off the back of a below par season. A below par season where we; had literally no pre-season, season ending injuries to three of our most important players, a global pandemic still going on and no fans. I was very much looking forward to a return to normality under Nuno with a well deserved break.
There were so many more moments I haven’t even mentioned. Traoré’s winner at West Ham, hammering Arsenal at home, Besiktas away. He gave us so many of them.
199 games. 95 wins. Promotion. Two consecutive 7th place finishes in the Premier League. And a European quarter final. Dreaming really was for free.
Thank you Nuno.
Great memories - well written.