Nottingham Forest have announced the appointment of Vitor Pereira on an 18-month deal, making him the club's fourth manager this season. This unprecedented move breaks a record in Premier League history, as no club has ever completed a season with four different permanent managers.
The Portuguese manager takes over from Sean Dyche, who was sacked following a disappointing goalless draw against bottom club Wolves. One of his primary tasks will be to help Forest avoid relegation from the Premier League. Currently, they are 17th in the top flight and just three points above the drop zone after securing only two wins in their last ten games.
Pereira will conduct his first training session at Forest on Monday and his debut game will be against his former club Fenerbahce in Turkey for the first leg of Europa League knockout round play-off tie on Thursday. Following this, he will lead his side against Liverpool at home in a Premier League match on Sunday, 22 February.
Return to English football
This appointment marks Pereira’s return to English football after being dismissed by Wolves last November following an 11-month tenure. He had previously worked under Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis at Greek club Olympiacos where he won both title and Greek Cup during his six months stint before moving to Fenerbahce.
Pereira joined Wolves back in December 2024 but was let go three months ago when they were languishing with just two points from their initial ten league matches.
Starting out with Portuguese Club Sanjoanense back in 2004, Pereira has had spells managing teams across Germany, China, Brazil and Saudi Arabia making Nottingham forest his fifteenth role so far. His coaching staff is set to include Filipe Jorge Monteiro Almeida and Luis Miguel Moreira Da Silva as his assistant coaches.
Forest managerial carousel
Forest's managerial instability began when Nuno Espirito Santo was sacked just three games into the season after he declared his relationship with Marinakis had deteriorated. His successor, Australian Ange Postecoglou, lasted only 39 days in charge without a single win in eight league games.
Dyche's arrival seemed to bring some stability, winning seven of his opening twelve games. However, a poor recent run saw Forest fail to pull away from danger with players reportedly unconvinced by Dyche’s methods. One of the key issues under Dyche was the team's lack of goals despite having striker Chris Wood unavailable due to a knee injury.
Pereira faces an uphill task at Nottingham Forest. During Dyche’s 114-day reign, Forest had 241 shots placing them ninth in the league but their overall conversion rate of 8.3% was third worst in the division. Pereira will need to address this issue promptly if he is to steer Nottingham forest clear from relegation.
