What does success look like for the four Portuguese managers in the Premier League?

For the first time in history, there are four Portuguese managers plying their trade in the top flight of English football at the same time, a feat which comes following Vítor Pereira's swift arrival at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The former Porto and Olympiakos head coach joins Nuno Espirito Santo, Marco Silva and Ruben Amorim in the Premier League to ensure that 20% of the division have a Portuguese manager - only Spain, with five, have more.

It is an impressive feat for a small nation, and perhaps even more striking is that all four managers look incredibly secure in their current roles which would sugest that, if anything, the number will rise, rather than fall, before the end of the season.

But what does success look like for each of them? And how have expectations shifted since the beginning of the season? Here we take a look at each one by one and assess their individual situations.

Nuno Espirito Santo - Nottingham Forest

What success looked like before the season started: A stress-free lower mid-table league finish would have been music to the ears of most Forest fans. Flirting with relegation at points across the course of the year was perhaps anticipated, but the aim of a semi-routine campaign a few places above the bottom three would have been a welcome change of scenery from the tension of last season.

Imagine the look on Nottingham Forest supporters’ faces at the start of the season if you’d told them that they would be a point above Manchester City as we approach the halfway mark of the league campaign. It is bonkers and surreal, and yet entirely based in reality.

It has perhaps been the story of the entire season so far, not just in England, but across the continent. Nottingham Forest, widely tipped for relegation at the start of the campaign, have been putting together a campaign beyond any supporter’s wildest expectations as they begin to dare to dream of a push for European football.

Nuno had his doubters heading into the summer, both from the Forest faithful and from outside the bubble of the club, and, in many ways, understandably so.

Though he helped secure Forest's Premier League survival despite the punishment of a points deduction, it was hardly convincing, finishing on just 32 points - the lowest ever tally to avoid relegation in the Premier League era. Their top flight status was therefore mainly achieved thanks to the low quality of the three promoted teams from the season prior in Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United, all of whom suffered immediate relegation back to the Championship.

It looked for all the world that this was likely to be another challenging season for Forest, whose bloated squad possessed plenty of quality, but their seemingly chaotic recruitment since marking their return to the big time could also prove a hindrance - particularly for Nuno Espirito Santo, who has always made it clear that he prefers to operate with a smaller, more defined squad.

And yet the Nottingham Forest train has just kept rolling on. At the time of writing, they sit 4th in the league table, not only above Manchester City, but 3 points clear of Aston Villa in 6th, five clear of Nuno’s former club Spurs, and six up on Manchester United. They beat Liverpool at Anfield, they’ve bested Manchester United at Old Trafford, they’ve held Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and most recently produced a stunning late comeback to topple Aston Villa. It has been a season filled with highs, and very few, if any, lows.

All the while it’s worth remembering: a top 5 finish will almost certainly be enough to earn a Champions League spot next season. Suddenly, the impossible does feel within reach.

Of course, there is still a very long way to go. The hype is understandable, if not welcome, but Forest supporters will know that it is highly unlikely that they will maintain this level throughout the course of the campaign. No doubt they’ll enjoy the ride though, having already amassed 28 points this campaign - just four shy of their tally of last season with another 22 games to go.

Relegation is of no concern any longer, and a chance to enjoy the season and see where it takes them is a luxury that is hard to come by. Nuno, after all, has a track record of bringing European football back to a club who had been in the wilderness for too long.

The new target for the season: Make a push for a European place. A return to the continental stage has to be the aim now that they look so comfortable, but most of all: enjoy the ride. There’d be no shame in a plain-sailing midtable finish, but Forest can let themselves dream of something bigger now.

Marco Silva - Fulham

Target at the start of the season: An improvement on last season’s points tally would have been seen as a very good outcome. Fulham have done an incredible job at establishing themselves as a Premier League outfit and have never looked like going down since their promotion in 2022, so a 50-point campaign and a comfortable midtable finish would have been another strong showing.

It’s easy to take your Premier League status for granted when everything is going so smoothly. Marco Silva guided Fulham to the Championship title in 2021-22, and since then they’ve completely dismissed any suggestion that the step-up to the Premier League is a formidable, unenviable task. They have fully embraced their new environment, and a 10th place finish in their return season was followed up with a routine 13th place effort the season after. Fulham are well and truly a Premier League club, and Marco Silva deserves huge credit for it.

This is yet again looking like a remarkably straightforward season. On 24 points from 16 games, any of the fans - if there were any - who were concerned about the prospect of relegation can begin to breathe easy, and some will be hoping to see the Cottagers build on this strong start and make a push for Europe.

That is a tall order of course. Brighton, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Brentford are all looking equally impressive this season, as are the aforementioned Nottingham Forest, while Spurs are always in the conversation. We can expect something of a resurgence from Manchester United too, and Newcastle may fight their way back into the conversation as well. Competing with them - alongside the usual suspects in Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City and the resurgent Chelsea - is an unenviable task, and finishing above four or five of these clubs would be a real challenge. But it’s certainly not beyond them.

What’s really impressive about Fulham is they always look competitive. With exception to their suprising 1-4 home defeat at the hands of Wolves, they always seem to play good football and put on a good showing to make the game entertaining and difficult for the opposition. Draws with Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs, added to wins over Brighton, Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, show they can certainly compete with the other European contenders, and fans can afford to have European aspirations - they’ve been afforded that chance by the performances of their side.

The new target for the season: A top half finish, matching their impressive 10th place finish and 53 point points tally two years ago, would be an excellent effort. A run in the FA Cup would be a bonus.

Ruben Amorim - Manchester United

Target at the start of the season: Though Amorim wasn’t there at the time, Man Utd fans would have been targeting a return to the Champions League after a desperately disappointing showing last season. At the very least a push for top 5 was a necessity to appease supporters who are desperate to return to their former glory.

Ruben Amorim earned the love and affection of Manchester United supporters before he had even walked through the door after his Sporting CP side dismantled United’s arch-rivals Manchester City in the Champions League in what was his last home game in charge of the Lisbon outfit. To beat them again, this time at City’s home and while actually in charge of United, just a matter of weeks later has only further skyrocketed his reputation, and has given him plenty of credit in the bank.

He has walked into an incredibly difficult situation. Manchester United’s squad is, to put it simply, not very good. It doesn’t feel entirely controversial to suggest that the Sporting team he had spent years building is better than United’s current outfit, player for player, while we know that it takes time for Amorim to be able to integrate his system.

This season does feel like something of a free hit. Wherever United finish - as long as it's not in the bottom three of course - you can expect Amorim to remain in charge and have the summer transfer window to stamp his own identity on the squad, as well as the pre-season to better prepare his side.

Nevertheless, there is more than enough time to turn their fortunes around. United sit in a disastrous 13th place right now, but that late comeback win over Guardiola’s side has given them a huge boost, and now they are just 6 points off the top 4. That seems like a step too far for this current United side, but with over half the season to go, they should be able to make it into the European places by the end of the season.

The new target for the season: Champions League looks beyond them, but at least a top 7 place and a chance to be playing on the continental stage next year has to be the minimum requirement, as well as a deep run in the Europa League.

Vitor Pereira - Wolverhampton Wanderers

Target at the start of the season: The ambition had been drained from Wolves supporters after an underwhelming summer transfer window. A solid lower midtable finish would have been seen as a reasonable outcome.

It is due to Wolves’ recent struggles that Vitor Pereira has found himself parachuted into what he would profess as something of a dream job. Finally, at long last, his ambition of managing in the Premier League has come to fruition.

But it is not in the best of circumstances to be making your first appearance in the English game, and the task facing him is a daunting one. Wolves currently sit 19th in the table, 5 points adrift of safety and with a defence that has conceded 40 goals in 16 league outings - more than any other side in the division. Ipswich, by comparison, have conceded just 28, and have looked far more organised all season. The Premier League newcomers defeated Wolves in their last outing and that was ultimately the nail in the coffin for former boss Gary O’Neil.

O’Neil was unfortunate in that he was handed an incredibly tough run of fixtures to open the season - but things don’t get all that much easier for Pereira. In fact, an incredibly daunting run of fixtures await. A more favourable trip to Leicester in what is set to be his first outing in the Wolves hotseat - which, with minimal hyperbole, could prove crucial in Wolves’ season - is followed by clashes with Manchester United, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Chelsea, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool.

When you’re at the bottom of the table, every match can look that much more difficult, but having to take on eight major contenders for European football in a row is about as difficult a start a manager can ask for.

Vitor Pereira will back himself though. A smart tactician, he will be hoping to bring the organisation and defensive resilience that formed the foundation of his excellent spell at FC Porto. and make a positive start. If the run does prove as challenging as it looks though, the remainder of this season is going to be remarkably tense.

The new target of the season: Survival. A 17th place finish at this point in the campaign already looks like it would be something of a success. Preserve Wolves’ Premier League status, and look to make serious progress next season.