NOTTINGHAM FOREST manager Nuno Espirito Santo has adopted a very unusual hobby during his time in charge at City Ground.
Nuno, 51, joined Forest in December 2023 and has taken the club by storm by leading them to their first European qualification in 30 years after a turbulent debut season that saw him barely escaping relegation.
Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo has adopted an unusual hobby
Nuno plays the handpan in his office to unwind and meet Forest’s demands
According to The Athletic, however, it’s not just the performances on the pitch that have left everyone at Nottingham fascinated with the Portuguese tactician.
But it’s also the fact that the ex-Wolves boss has proven to be a very multi-layered person.
The former Tottenham boss is well-known as a composed, disciplined and soft-spoken person when he speaks in front of the cameras.
But behind the scenes he shows various different attributes as former team-mates remember him as a daredevil, who loves deep-sea diving, as well as a dressing room joker.
Forest captain Ryan Yates also revealed Nuno has become famous for his love of music.
One of the first things the ex-Porto star did when he signed with Forest was locating a music shop in Nottingham that could find him a percussion instrument known as a handpan.
The handpan produces soothing sounds when tapping or drumming against its steel edges as it perches on the knee and looks like a huge metallic shell.
And it has become quite common for people to hear these melodic sounds from the manager’s office.
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Yates told The Athletic: “Is that [handpan] what it’s called?
“I went for a chat with him and I just sat there while he was playing it for five, 10 minutes.
“It was incredible — like walking into a luxury spa or a five-star hotel. I thought I was going to fall asleep!”
Yates insists this is just one of many things that show what a “very special man” Nuno is.
The midfielder also praised the former goalkeeper’s stunning job at Forest as he led them to the FA Cup semi-finals as well this season.
Yates added: “He’s a very special man. He’s very different to anyone I’ve come across before. But, more than anything, he’s obviously incredible at his job.
“It’s incredible for the club to orchestrate Forest to their first European success in 30 years. It speaks for itself. Incredible.”
Nuno is now gearing up for Sunday’s crunch home clash with Chelsea in the final fixture of the 2024-25 Premier League season needing a victory and other results to go his way in order to secure Champions League qualification.
Nottingham saw their Champions League hopes suffering a devastating blow two weeks ago when they drew 2-2 with Leicester at City Ground.
The game made headlines after Taiwo Awoniyi’s horror injury which led to owner Evangelos Marinakis having an intense talk with Nuno in front of the cameras at full-time as the Greek supremo was very unhappy with the way that incident was handled by the medical team.
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