Vitor Pereira has taken over at Nottingham Forest, and Andy Reid has noticed a clear shift in morale among the senior players.
Sean Dyche was sacked by Forest after a 0-0 draw with Wolves, and the Reds are now perilously close to being caught by West Ham and slipping into the relegation zone.
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Pereira is the man tasked with taking Forest to safety in the coming weeks, and in two matches, the performances have certainly been better than anything Dyche served up.
Andy Reid is still behind the scenes at the City Ground, coaching with the academy ranks, and he’s shared what things are like on the training ground under the new head coach.
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Andy Reid says Forest players are ‘buzzing’ now
Despite Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool, Forest look to be in a good place right now, and although points are needed on the board, the performances look night and day from Dyche.
Last week’s 3-0 win over Fenerbahce didn’t flatter Forest, and the team might have scored more on another day with a little bit more luck in front of goal.
Reid believes that although this season has been tricky, he’s highlighted that he thinks the players are now buzzing on the back of the arrival of Pereira.
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He told the Off the Ball podcast: “Yeah, yeah, it has been a whirlwind of a season. Yeah, that’s for sure. It’s always exciting. There’s no doubt about that.
“And yeah, look, it’s been an interesting one. I think it’s, you can’t really say that it’s gone kind of swimmingly well. There’s been some tough times, there’s no doubt about that.
“But there’s also been some good times. And I think what we’re seeing, I was fortunate enough last week to travel to Istanbul for the game against Fenerbahçe last week. And we’ve got the return leg here in Nottingham this evening. And some of the football that was played in that game, 3-0 win against Fenerbahçe, was incredible.
“And then again, the game against Liverpool on Saturday there, obviously with the big Liverpool following over in Ireland, I’m sure a lot of people kind of watched that game and I’m sure a lot of people will have been impressed with how Forest played in that game.
“So lots of positives to kind of take from the last few weeks. The players seem kind of buzzing, although disappointed not to get anything out of the game, played some brilliant football. So there’s positivity on the horizon for us, that’s for sure.”
Forest players have no excuses to start playing now
Evangelos Marinakis asked senior players for their thoughts on Dyche, and the verdict was that a new head coach was needed to keep Forest in the Premier League.
It’s all good, and well, the players are buzzing on the training ground, but the challenge now is to transfer that into performances in the Premier League with survival at stake.
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Forest have to buy into what Pereira is trying to do and put points on the board in order to keep Forest in the Premier League this season, and the players know what’s at stake.
The European campaign is all good and well, but the Premier League is where things are really at and after 23 years away, Forest won’t want the journey to end after four years.
Enough excuses have been made, and hopefully, what Reid has spotted can translate into points being put on the board in the Premier League.
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