Conor Coady captained Wolves during their bid to return to the Premier League, and went on to do even better things with the Old Gold.
The Englishman, a Wolves hero, now plays for Wrexham in the Championship, having moved there in January.
As well as his playing duties, Coady has become a regular feature on the BBC’s Monday Night Club.
In their latest episode, they discussed Ange Postecoglou’s start to life at Nottingham Forest, which led the conversation back to a former Wolves manager who has left similar impressions on both clubs.
Conor Coady loved Nuno Espirito Santo at Wolves
Coady spent almost eight years at Wolves and was a loyal servant at the back.
He was at the club for the duration of Nuno Espirito Santo’s reign, playing a key role in their promotion and back-to-back seventh-place finishes.
Coady was hitting back at Forest fans who have already condemned Postecoglou after just seven games. He reckons it has something to do with the attachment they formed with Nuno.
As he puts it: “I don’t care what anybody says, that’s unbelievably hard. And I know Postecoglou is now playing three at the back and all this, but for a team to do that and them players within that dressing room to completely flip that way of playing on its head and go the complete opposite way, that is so hard.
“I don’t understand why the fans are doing it. But I understand they loved Nuno. I loved Nuno when I was at Wolves. You didn’t want him to leave Wolves. He’s that sort of manager.”
Nuno was certainly that sort of manager. He was adored at Molineux after taking Wolves to levels they could only have dreamed of. And he did the same at Forest, helping them return to Europe.
But Coady thinks it’s wrong to hold that against the man who comes after.
Nuno has a new challenge at West Ham
After Nuno’s less-than-amicable exit from Forest, there weren’t many doubts about him finding another job.
This is a Premier League-proven coach who has a nice habit of overachieving. The first club that needed a new coach were destined to look in the Portuguese’s direction.
That club would be West Ham after sacking Graham Potter. Nuno now has the task of lifting them out of the relegation battle, likely competing closely with Vitor Pereira in that process.
Wolves fans, and evidently players, love Nuno, but if he is going to be in the opposite dugout and fighting at the same end of the table as Wolves, well, we wish him all the worst.