Vitor Pereira - Our Manager

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

I am just glad that we rolled the dice and didn't just accept the inevitable by sticking with Dyche.

Lets see if the gamble pays off.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Im copying in full an article from Peter Blackburn, hope he doesn’t mind as its a free. Not sure about the bit where he suggests Aina could play centre back, other than that its a very good read and definitely cheered me up a bit about Vitor, lets give the bloke a chance and see how he does.



“First points, then pints”.

It is genuinely hard to think of a mantra that could make me fall in love more quickly.

When Vitor Pereira’s name was first linked to Nottingham Forest – just minutes after Sean Dyche’s dismissal as Nottingham Forest manager this week – it wasn’t necessarily an instant feeling of excitement.

The base layer of knowledge for anyone about the Portuguese manager, who was born in Espinho, just South of Porto on the coast, was that he had taken over at Wolves and contributed to a stirring revival to save them from relegation from the Premier League in the 2024/25 season, but that things had gone sour pretty sharply this time round.

Beyond that, and the absolutely outrageous displays of a seemingly freed up Matheus Cunha, I hadn’t taken much notice of the work he was doing

As always, though, the internet changes things very quickly. And after a late night soaking up everything I could learn about him, that was yet again the case. That feeling of excitement is now starting to show, just a little.

Pereira took 14 points from his first 12 games at Wolves and a similar return here would, surely, be enough to keep the Reds up. He sometimes struggled against the bigger sides but tended to get the job done against those who you would think were less intimidating but often seem impenetrable for Forest. He also has already got one over on a couple of the most impressive managers his new side are yet to face in Bournemouth and Aston Villa. Given the growing PTSD around those two opponents, that alone feels like a particularly welcome injection of expertise.

With so little of the season remaining and precious little time to make an impact it remains to be seen whether Pereira will be bringing his tactics from Wolves to this Forest side. It would be a significant departure in many ways and there may be questions about whether the personnel has the skills required, let alone which players are available – Murillo’s current absence feels particularly problematic. He would be a vital cog, perhaps the most vital cog, in the new machine.

You’ll find much in-depth tactical analysis elsewhere (see Forest Analytics or WT Analysis for example) – it’s not a skill I can claim above others – but here’s a potted overview: Pereira is incredibly clear about his vision. There are no half-baked cliches – nothing is vague. He refers to himself as a tactician. He takes pride in trying to solve the riddles of football, in equipping his team to expose the opposition and to find a way to win.

Pereira’s overall vision of the game, in possession, is essentially to have defenders comfortable on the ball, willing to be high up the pitch leaving space in behind them. Those players will be responsible for baiting a press from the opposition – essentially being willing to hold on to and manipulate the ball until the opposition engage. It is at this point that Pereira sees other football teams as vulnerable and with a group of attacking players positioned high up the pitch, most notably the wing backs and striker for Wolves, Pereira asks his side to quickly pass the ball through the thirds and what he calls the box of space which has opened up to a combination of baiting and pushing attacking players on. It’s not new to the Premier League – Roberto De Zerbi and Fabian Hurzeler have operated similar ideas, as has Unai Emery at Aston Villa. But it is still quite different, and will quite unlike much of what Forest fans are used to. If he looks to transpose those Wolves tactics we can expect to see one of the central midfielders – possibly Ibrahim Sangare, but more likely Elliott Anderson for my money – dropping very deep, splitting the defenders and looking to dictate as Andre did for Wolves.

Elsewhere, there could be a call for Ola Aina to play right centre-back in a similar role to Matt Doherty which actually looks much more like a traditional right back job on the heat maps. That could also present an opportunity for Jair Cunha, largely frozen out but capable-looking in the fleeting moments when he has appeared in the garibaldi red. It’s not inconceivable to see players like Dilane Bakwa and James McAtee coming out of the cold too – with McAtee’s game intelligence, an attribute Pereira rates above all others, coming to the fore. Bakwa could be a rogue fit for one of the attacking wing back roles, too, should Aina be dropped deeper, with Neco Williams presumably likely to take the other.

It’s possible all these conversations are moot. There is so little time to enact change. Pereira will have to assess the open-mindedness and willingness of his new playing group to adapt. If he feels he can take their hearts, minds and bodies on a journey next week before the schedule gets hectic perhaps we will see a lot of change. But, it may be that a 4-3-3, with some slightly less radical positional change, could be the fallback. It would be less of a diversion from Forest’s recent structures and is a structure Pereira has used many times in his career.

But what stands out most for me are the things he says in the shadows of the tactics. Pereira speaks of his love of intelligence in footballers and, perhaps most crucially, the importance of players being “connected”. That means connected with him, with each other, and with the plan. Without that connection, the tactics are pointless, he says. It is a language which speaks to me, personally. A recognition of the nuances and complexities of modern football management – the importance of having a dream to sell to young footballers and of taking them with you on their journey.

From the relief that followed the removal of Sean Dyche as Forest manager came a degree of uncertainty and then a minimal reaction to the name Vitor Pereira. But time spent close to his company on videos and written pieces moves me more to optimism than fear.

Above all, there’s one thing that speaks to me the most about this appointment. It’s romantic, it’s sentimental, and it’s everything that my relationship with football is. It’s the manager sitting at the bar in a Wolverhampton local and talking about the points and the pints. It’s everything that hints at.

In an interview with the BBC he said: “What do we do in Wolverhampton after a game? If I lose the game I stay home and drink my beer alone. If I win the game, I go with the supporters to celebrate.”

Pereira added: ‘The connection with the people is stronger when we suffer together and, when you are in a situation where you are fighting for survival you feel this connection.

“When I go to a pub it’s not about the beer. Of course I like the beer but I go to be with the people, to feel that I’m doing something to make them happy, to make them proud.

“Work, home, then we go to a pub just for a beer or two beers and finish. This is our life.”

For me, these hints are of a man that might be someone I can build a relationship with – even if just for the crucial short term. Someone who I can feel some sort of closeness to and unity with. Someone who might be able to make me feel how Steve Cooper and Nuno Espirito Santo did in the best moments.

After all, what is football really about if not that sense of togetherness and belonging – of striving for something arm in arm? Connection is everything.

Well, not everything, of course. There’s also the points. And there’s the pints.

Here’s to many of both.

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Good read and very interesting.

Thank you SM.

[Marinakis Red]

Brilliant read. That's exactly where I am with the appointment

[McDurban]

I'm not going to get to attached to him.
He'll most likely be gone in the summer.

[Marinakis Red]

I'm not going to get to attached to him.
He'll most likely be gone in the summer.

Im not after long term im just after a short term fling full of excitement, one you'll always remember. Lets hope vitor is that guy

[Widdow]

With the run of fixtures coming up, its hard to see him get the new manager bounce (we never got it with Ange) so its a hellava hard start. Good luck to him

[Jimmygordon]

As long as he doesn't drink, Madri is my only red line.

Or drink Madri in the Strat or the Nav. Sacrilege.

[Forest1970]

Why is there still no official word on this man being our new head coach??

[Salvatore Matrecano]

Why is there still no official word on this man being our new head coach??

Waiting for a work permit apparently. They hope he will be here for Monday. Poor bloke probably had a nice round of golf booked he’s had to cancel.

[Salvatore Matrecano]

It’s a hell of an ask
Sunday fly to a foreign country
Monday start new job, do media stuff, training session with a load of demoralised players
Tuesday fly to Istanbul
Thursday Europa league against your old club
Friday fly back to UK, think about where you’re going to live
Sunday home debut against the league champions

Somehow in that time he’s got to do some background on our squad, what he has to work with, look at the opponents and come up with a game plan. Fair play to him if we can get something out of the next games

[Sniffer Dog (Admin)]

Not 100% sure but I think he arrived this morning.

He would already have watched some of our games via video etc.

I would imagine the players will be in tomorrow and they won't go to Constantinople until Wednesday.

So there is some time but I do realise it is not ideal.