Nottingham Forest chairman Nicholas Randall KC has explained why Evangelos Marinakis made the decision to dismiss Vitor Pereira despite conceding the Portuguese head coach had done what he had been asked.
The Reds made another surprise move earlier this month when they got rid of Pereira, little more than four months after he had arrived at the club.
Indeed Pereira had replaced Sean Dyche in the hope he would be able to replicate the salvage operation he had masterminded when saving Wolves from relegation the previous year.
Pereira did just that, ensuring Forest finished two places and five points above the drop zone, only to lose his job a few weeks later.
Randall admitted Pereira ‘did the job he was asked to do’: “He did, and I think not only Vitor, I think Sean did a significant job as well, but look, as I said previously, we have to keep pushing,” he told BBC Radio Nottingham.
“I think that the ownership group and the board saw this as an opportunity that we needed to take because although Vitor had done a great job for us, we think Oliver is the right person to take us forward.
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“I think he's been a long term target, one of the best young coaches in Europe. I think he's widely recognised as being that.
“I think the fans have said it all, haven't they, on their response to the appointment? Vitor did a fantastic job for us, as others have done, but I think Oliver sounds as if he's got the right CV, the right experience, and the right ambition to take us to the next level. So we're all quietly excited with the appointment and we look forward to the new season.”
Randall also backed Marinakis as a man of his word: “The ownership is very clear, the ownership always, if it promises something to a manager, it delivers, which is not necessarily the same at every club.
“I used to do a lot of the League Managers Association work many, many years ago, and I can assure you that the main complaint of a manager is being promised something by ownership and it not being delivered. That is not where we are.
“It's a fantastic club, fantastic fans, we've got room for growth, the core of the team, I think, is excellent, Elliot's [Anderson] obviously been fantastic for us, and on one level we're sad to see him go, but I think everybody will agree that we got the right price for him, and we can look towards the future with real conviction and a justified optimism.”
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