As someone taking on his 19th coaching position, Vítor Pereira, Nottingham Forest’s fourth manager of the season, is not a believer in job security. For the former Wolves manager, working for Evangelos Marinakis, Forest’s exacting owner, holds few fears.
The 57-year-old Pereira, sacked by Wolves in November, worked previously for Marinakis at Olympiakos. They celebrated a Greek league and cup double together in the 2014‑15 season, only to part that June. The very next day, he joined Fenerbahce, who Forest face in a Europa League playoff on Thursday in his first game.
“He has the fire, he has the passion,” Pereira said of Marinakis at his first Forest press conference. “He has the ambition and he is not afraid to make decisions.
“He trusts my work, I trust his personality because in football we need passion too,” Pereira said of an owner who sacked his predecessor, Sean Dyche, in the small hours after the goalless draw with Wolves last Wednesday. “He trusts my qualities, if not only the tactical qualities, the technical qualities, but human qualities also.”
The latest Forest manager has signed an 18-month deal. He has remained on good terms with Marinakis despite the speedy departure from Olympiakos. “I was young. When we are young, we make mistakes, even now. Sometimes we decide with our heart and I made some bad choices but I didn’t have any problem with Olympiakos and they never sacked me.
“I remember the energy and the fire that we created … When I worked with [Marinakis], he never interfered in my work. But he likes to speak, to have meetings, to speak about what happens, what’s up.”
Pereira rescued Wolves from relegation last season and is confident he can achieve the same objective. Forest have 12 league matches remaining, and are 17th, three points above West Ham. “I didn’t come to Nottingham Forest expecting that I will not succeed with my work. I came because I really believe that with our work, and the players that we have, we can do good things.”
After jobs in Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Greece, Turkey, Brazil and now his second English assignment, Pereira does not fear the sack. “If you get results, you are in. If you don’t, you are out. And I accept that. Someone that wants to live in football needs to live with this kind of situation, needs to live with the passion, with the critics, with everything.
“If you are looking for security, you cannot be a manager. But if I want to be secure, I was a school teacher, and, you know, they pay bad salaries, and it was a difficult life to live.”
Pereira inherits an expensively assembled squad that failed for perform to last season’s heights for Nuno Espírito Santo, who lasted 24 days this season and did not win any of eight matches Ange Postecoglou presided over his 40-day stint. Forest had lately struggled under Dyche, whose tenure lasted 114 days. Pereira said: “I believe in leadership with honesty, with good communication, open communication. I believe in leadership with competence … I will not talk about Sean because I respect him a lot, I like his work.
“It’s important that everybody must be ready to help the team. Because we cannot play every time with the same players, because to play with energy, to play with intensity, we need to have fresh legs and fresh minds to do it. They have to feel that they are important, everyone.”
Pereira expects a “fantastic atmosphere” at Fenerbahce in the first leg of the Europa League playoff. On Wolves, where he was dismissed weeks after signing a new three-year contract, he said: “I’m not here to speak about Wolves, but I did make mistakes. What I want to say is it was a fantastic experience.”
