Nottingham Forest are close to hiring Vítor Pereira as their fourth head coach of the season after sacking Sean Dyche in the early hours of Thursday. The former Wolves manager worked under Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, at Olympiakos and has held talks about taking the role.
Forest have acted fast to find a replacement for Dyche, who was in charge for 114 days after the disastrous spell of Ange Postecoglou, who lasted 40. Dyche lost only one of his final six Premier League games but had a strained relationship with the squad and bore the brunt of the fans’ displeasure during the goalless draw with Wolves on Wednesday.
Pereira is out of work after being dismissed by Wolves in November. The Portuguese spent 11 months at Molineux, helping keep them in the Premier League last season, and that experience counted in his favour during the brief search for Dyche’s successor. Forest are eager to find someone with man-management skills more akin to those of Nuno Espírito Santo, who was popular with the players before leaving the club in September, something not replicated with his two successors.
If appointed, Pereira will have a week to plan for Forest’s Europa League tie with Fenerbahce next Thursday after being knocked out of the FA Cup. They sit 17th in the Premier League, three points clear of the relegation zone.
