EPL: Pereira Vows to Help Aina, Awoniyi Escape Relegation
New Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira says his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis will help the club escape relegation in the Premier League this season.
The Portuguese has become Forest’s fourth manager of the season after Sean Dyche followed Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou out of the door as Marinakis acted in a bid to avoid Premier League relegation.
Pereira has worked with the Greek owner before – guiding Olympiakos to a league and cup double in 2015 – and believes that stands him in good stead to deal with the pressure that comes in the role.
“He’s ambitious. He wants to win, he’s emotional and I know him very well,” the former Wolves boss said at his first press conference.
“The conversations were about our time in Olympiakos. I remember the energy and the fire we created.
“Greece is a bit like Turkey. There is fire inside; they like to see the energy and he asked me to be myself.
“He liked the way that when we worked together, we got the league and the cup.
“It was in the middle of the season and we created a good relationship. He trusts my work, I trust his personality because in football, we need passion too.
“I have fire and I have passion. Football is my passion, something that sleeps and wakes with me.
“I came with the intention to give everything of myself, to give my body and soul to this club to help the club and together we can do it.
“This is the pressure that means football is beautiful. We are better under pressure. I need the pressure to be in my best level.
“Pressure is important in football.”
Forest currently sit 17th in the league, three points above the bottom three, but Pereira is confident he can be the man to guide them to safety, citing the quality and ambition of the players as a key reason why.
He added: “I prefer to speak about the present and the future. But you know this is a difficult season for the players, because it’s different methodologies, different managers.
“It’s not easy, but I believe the reason why I accept this job is that I believe in the quality of the players, because I believe in the potential of this club, the ambition of the president.
“Of course, I believe that it’s possible (to stay up). I believe that we can get points, results and quality in the games.”
