Image above: A packed out Molineux stadium, home of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Picasa.
All good things have to come to an end I guess, and for Wolves and Nuno Espirito Santo that happens on Sunday, when the Portuguese manager will bring an end to his four year stint at the club with their final game of the season at home to Manchester United.
The news was announced on Wolves' twitter page today, after Santo had recently been linked with a move to fellow Premier League club Tottenham, where he is now odds on to be installed as their new boss.
Santo's gone: The official announcement on Wolves' twitter. Credit: @Wolves.
The 47 year-old joined in 2017, where he was an instant success with the fans as he introduced a new style of football that the Molineux faithful hadn't seen before.
His 3-5-2 which could also be a 5-2-3 brought the feel good factor back to a team who had faced a relegation battle the previous season, and with it brought big players, such as Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota, as Wolves began to adapt a counter attacking style which at times could only be described as 'swashbuckling'.
Promotion at the first attempt from the Championship ended Wolves' six year absence from the Premier League but Nuno's work at the club was never finished, he invested in more players in the transfer window, bringing in Raul Jimenez, Rui Patricio and the fine wine which is Joao Moutinho which saw the side finish in seventh place, their highest finish since the 1979-1980 season.
He also brought European football back to the Midlands outfit for the first time in nearly 40 years where they were knocked out of the Europa League by eventual winners Sevilla in the quarter-finals stage, the club's best run in the competition since 1972.
A small squad which was affected by one injury after another this season meant it was always going to be tough for Santo, as he tried to change the identity of his team while seeming as though he didn't have the players at the club to make it happen.
The injury to his talisman Raul Jimenez back in November left a massive hole to fill up front, a hole which youngster and £35 million pound man Fabio Silva struggled to fill.
Going back to my early memories of the club, I remember Mick McCarthy losing his job after a 5-1 defeat to rivals West Brom and in that same season we were relegated back to the Championship, before following it up with another relegation down to League One.
Kenny Jackett helped build the club back up again with a no nonsense style of football, with club captain Danny Batth playing a major role in that rebuild, before Nuno came in and shipped him off to Stoke, and replaced him with Connor Coady.
The Portuguese influence which is currently at the club for everyone to see creates an issue with the next manager, because it's hard to bring in someone with a different nationality, because that would more than likely mean another massive rebuild would be needed at the club.
Don't get me wrong, a rebuild of some sort is required, and I would love to see the club revert back to a more English approach, but with former Benfica boss Bruno Lage being lined up already as the replacement, it seems as though the Portuguese approach might be taken once more.
For me I'd love for it to still be Nuno, but the last 12 months have shown that he might've taken the club as far as he can and a new approach was probably required.
He'll always be remembered at the club for his positivity, and will no doubt join the list of some of the great managers of the club such as Stan Cullis, but now it's time for a new era at Molineux, a new one which could be exciting to watch unfold.
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