Vitor Pereira reveals Nottingham Forest sacking email ‘was not correct’ and sets Premier League title target

Vitor Pereira has revealed that Nottingham Forest sacked him by email astatine 11.58pm connected 30 June, and the Portuguese manager says the mode the nine went astir it ‘was not correct’. Pereira saved Forest from relegation past season, but helium has present told The Athletic that helium was dismissed with the pre-season already planned.

The 58-year-old was appointed successful February, erstwhile Forest were 3 points supra the relegation zone, and near them 16th successful the Premier League, 5 points up of relegated West Ham United and supra Tottenham Hotspur. His declaration contained a clause allowing either enactment to extremity the statement earlier the extremity of June, and Forest utilized it with 2 minutes to spare.

Vitor Pereira describes sacking email

By the clip the email arrived, Pereira had reviewed the positives and negatives of the erstwhile season, arranged the pre-season friendlies and adjacent identified imaginable signings. The players were owed to study wrong weeks, but nether a antithetic manager.

‘It was a implicit surprise,’ Pereira told The Athletic. ‘I ne'er heard thing that made maine consciousness oregon deliberation the nine nary longer counted connected me. In the end, they had the close to determine what they wanted for the club, and I judge that.’

He accepted the decision, but not the mode successful which proprietor Evangelos Marinakis’ authorities carried it out.

‘The lone happening that was not close was the mode they did it - that was the lone unfair part. Sending an email... 2 minutes earlier midnight, erstwhile we had already organised everything for pre-season.’

Why Nottingham Forest changed its mind

The precocious timing had a reason. It came conscionable aft Forest learned that Oliver Glasner, who won the Conference League and the 2025 FA Cup with Crystal Palace, was funny successful taking implicit pursuing his exit from Selhurst Park.

‘If they had said to me, “Vitor, though you person organised everything, we person different possibility...”, that would person been fine. That is football,’ Pereira said. ‘In my career, I person spent galore years moving successful antithetic countries, with antithetic cultures. I person plentifulness of experience, and I cognize that sometimes shot is similar that.’

‘But it is fine, I americium not the benignant of idiosyncratic who dwells connected the past. I similar to unrecorded successful the present, and the contiguous means studying, preparing and getting stronger for the adjacent opportunity. I privation to support the enactment we did determination successful my memory. I instrumentality with maine the affection of the supporters, the radical astatine the nine and the players.’

The alteration has not yet been justified. Forest are 2nd from bottommost of the existent Premier League array with 1 triumph from 9 matches, are winless successful 5 and person already been knocked retired of the EFL Cup.

Vitor Pereira nary longer wants to beryllium a ‘firefighter’

Pereira’s occupation astatine Forest mirrored his erstwhile Premier League relation astatine Wolverhampton Wanderers, wherever helium took implicit midway done 2024-25 and secured survival. He stayed on, but was sacked successful November past play with Wolves bottommost of the table, earlier they were relegated.

The Portuguese present wants a antithetic way and does not privation to instrumentality implicit sides warring relegation. ‘I americium not a firefighter,’ helium said.

‘I privation to beryllium my worthy by facing and competing with the champion managers successful the league, and bash thing special. When you instrumentality implicit a squad successful the mediate of the season, it is due to the fact that thing is not working. That means I person to judge that situation, commencement with vigor and instrumentality the close steps to physique thing solid.’

Pereira says helium volition look for projects susceptible of competing for the rubric and has precocious received offers that helium mightiness person accepted astatine different signifier of his career.

‘My extremity for the aboriginal is to vie for titles successful the Premier League. If you look astatine my vocation earlier I came to England, you volition spot that I astir ever worked to triumph titles. I request to instrumentality the close steps to scope that level successful the Premier League, but that is my goal.’

The past clip helium took complaint of a nine among the favourites for home honours was Flamengo successful 2023, wherever helium failed successful the Campeonato Carioca, the Recopa Sudamericana, the Supercopa bash Brasil and the Club World Cup, and was sacked wrong 3 months.