Nottingham Forest have confirmed the appointment of Vitor Pereira as their new head coach on an 18-month deal just three days after Sean Dyche’s exit.
The 57-year-old Portuguese has been handed the task of dragging the club away from the fringes of the Premier League relegation zone.
A club statement said: “Nottingham Forest is delighted to confirm that Vitor Pereira has been appointed as head coach on an 18-month deal.
“He will be joined by coaching staff Filipe Jorge Monteiro Almeida (assistant coach), Luis Miguel Moreira Da Silva (assistant coach), Bruno Filipe Araujo De Moura (head of physical performance and opposition analysis) and Pedro Simao Capela Silva Lopes (opposition analyst).”
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - Saturday, March 2, 2024: Nottingham Forest's owner Evangelos Marinakis during the FA Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool FC at the City Ground. Liverpool won 1-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Pereira becomes Forest’s fourth boss this season after Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Dyche, who was sacked in the early hours of Thursday morning after a 0-0 home draw with bottom-of-the-table Wolves left the club sitting just three points above the bottom three.
The side he inherits has won just once in its last five league games and faces Fenerbahce – one of the new head coach’s former clubs – in Turkey in the Europa League play-offs on Thursday.
Pereira made his name in his native Portugal, guiding Porto to back-to-back league titles before heading for Greece via a spell in Saudi Arabia and winning the double with Olympiacos.
The much-travelled coach has also worked in Turkey, China and Brazil, and gained experience of the English top flight – and in particular a successful survival fight – during his time at Wolves.
Pereira arrived at Molineux in December 2024 with the club in 19th place in the table and five points adrift of safety.
They ultimately finished 16th, some 17 points clear of Leicester in 18th, after putting together a run of results which included successive league victories over Southampton, West Ham, Ipswich, Tottenham, Manchester United and the Foxes.
While Wolves and Burnley are significantly adrift, West Ham are three points behind Forest with just 12 games to play and Pereira will need to produce a significant upturn to satisfy owner Evangelos Marinakis, something his immediate predecessors have been unable to do.