Nottingham Forest are in talks with Vitor Pereira over becoming their fourth head coach of the season after sacking Sean Dyche.
Dyche was sacked after the goalless draw against bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday. It is the third time Forest have dismissed a coach this season after the sackings of Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou. The side have won three of their last 13 games in all competitions and are 17th in the league, just three points above the relegation zone.
The Athletic reported Pereira had been identified as a leading contender to replace Dyche, and the club are now in talks with the former Wolves head coach.
Pereira has been out of work since he was sacked by Wolves in November after failing to win any of their first 10 Premier League games of the season. However, the Portuguese was widely credited with saving Wolves from relegation after his appointment in December 2024 sparked a significant improvement in results.
The 57-year-old is also well known to Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis after a brief yet successful spell with Olympiacos (who Marinakis also owns) in the 2014-15 season, culminating in them winning a Greek league and cup double.
Discussions continue internally at Forest regarding a number of candidates. With Forest not in action until February 19, the club are not in a rush to make an appointment.
Forest confirmed Dyche’s departure early on Thursday morning. “We would like to thank Sean and his staff for their efforts during their time at the club and we wish them the best of luck for the future,” Forest said in a statement.
(Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
After the Wolves game, Dyche said that it was up to Forest owner Marinakis whether he made a managerial change.
“People can demand change, and then it’s always up to owners whether they change or not,” he said.
“I just work very hard. I care about this club. I’ve made that clear. I’m working very hard. I’m not saying the players are not, by the way, but we certainly are as a staff, that’s what you do. You know, we work very hard.
“If the owner wants to make a change, then that’s up to him, and that’s the way football is now, that’s just the reality of it.”
The 54-year-old was appointed by Forest in October to replace Postecoglou, who was in charge of eight games and failed to win any of them. Postecoglou had been appointed after the sacking of Nuno on September 8, less than a month into the season. Nuno had led Forest to a seventh-place finish in the 2024-25 campaign and qualified for European football, though he said in August that his relationship with Marinakis had changed. The Athletic reported that there was a rift between the head coach and Edu, Forest’s global head of football.
Following Postecoglou’s winless run, Forest made contact with former Manchester City and Italy manager Roberto Mancini and considered an approach for Fulham’s Marco Silva before eventually focusing on Dyche, a former Forest youth player. It was his first managerial role since being sacked by Everton in January 2025.
Forest defeated Porto 2-0 in the Europa League in Dyche’s first game in charge and oversaw a 12th-place finish in the league phase of the competition, with the team taking on Fenerbahce over two legs in the play-off round. However, Dyche won only six of his 18 Premier League games in charge and his side were eliminated in the FA Cup third round by Championship club Wrexham on penalties.
Forest travel to Fenerbahce in their next game on February 19.
Why have Wolves targeted Pereira?
Remarkably, Forest are hoping for a dose of new manager bounce for the third time in the space of a single, chaotic season.
But while the departures of Nuno, Postecoglou and now Dyche are symptoms of broader issues, the priority at the City Ground is still to avoid relegation to the Championship.
And, in Pereira, Forest know they would be getting a manager with a track record of inspiring a successful fight against the drop.
Wolves were in dire trouble when he was appointed in December 2024, but the Portuguese coach guided them to a mid-table finish.
He left Wolves in November following a dismal start to the season, but his qualities are well known to the Forest hierarchy.
Pereira had a brief but successful spell in charge at Olympiacos in 2014-15, when he led the Greek club — also owned by Marinakis — to a league and cup double.
Where does this leave Forest?
Forest’s clash with Wolves had been billed as a must-win game for Dyche — and they could only muster a 0-0 draw that felt more like a defeat.
The City Ground crowd made their feelings known as a grim mood descended on the banks of the Trent at the final whistle, with Dyche going down the tunnel to a chorus of boos from the stands.
It proved to be the final time he was to return to the home dressing room as manager.
Now Marinakis must appoint a fourth manager of a remarkable, chaotic campaign. And it is partly chaos of the club’s own making.
Marinakis is now looking for his fourth head coach of the season (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Nuno — the man who led them back into Europe for the first time in 30 years — departed in September, after a very public falling-out in which he questioned his relationship with Marinakis and global head of football Edu.
Then former Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou lasted only 39 disastrous days. Dyche has only been in charge since October, lasting under four months in the job.
Now Marinakis must appoint another manager, who will bring a style all of his own, and the club are in talks with Pereira. Forest need to get this one right, as they sit three points above the relegation zone.