Under both of Nottingham Forest’s most important managers of the modern era, one thing has been the heartbeat of the club and its success.
They had different ways of inspiring it, but both Steve Cooper and Nuno Espirito Santo were able to spark a fierce sense of unity and togetherness.
That spirit was at the core of Forest’s rise from the Championship in 2022 under Cooper and when — for one glorious season — Nuno transformed them into Champions League contenders, the Portuguese knew unity would be central to achieving their ambitions, as he utilised a pre-season training camp in Murcia, Spain, to bring his squad together.
It is also why, after dismissing Sean Dyche in the early hours of Thursday, they turned their attentions to Vitor Pereira, as they looked for a fourth head coach of a chaotic campaign.
When Pereira was appointed as Wolverhampton Wanderers manager in late December 2024, the West Midlands club were firmly embroiled in the bottom three, having taken only nine points from 16 games. By early April, Wolves were 12 points clear of the relegation zone.
Pereira was a galvanising figure, who brought the dressing room — and the supporters — together. He developed a habit of celebrating victories by going for a post-match beer with supporters: inspiring the phrase “first the points, then the pints”. Forest hope he can bring those same qualities back to the City Ground, at a time when they are needed more than ever.
The 57-year-old is a different character to Nuno, but Forest are hoping to appoint the Portuguese and believe he shares the same ability to generate the spirit the club will need in the 12 games that will decide their relegation fate — and as they seek to progress in the Europa League, via their play-off round match with Fenerbahce.
In just less than four months in charge, Dyche never won over the fans in the manner of Cooper or Nuno.
According to club sources — who, like all in this article, spoke anonymously to protect relationships — among the hierarchy at the City Ground, there was shock at the scale of the negativity among the crowd during a disappointing performance in the 0-0 draw with Wolves on Wednesday.
Disappointment and anger were to be expected following that performance, but there was a sense that the chorus of boos at the final whistle was symbolic of something more.
During the second half, the Trent End had voiced their frustration at Omari Hutchinson when he delivered a corner into the side netting at the near post. The reaction of Morgan Gibbs-White, the Forest captain, was to remind supporters that togetherness was required.
It is a quality that club sources felt had been lost in recent weeks, when it came to the relationship between the players and the coaching staff.
In the aftermath of the draw with Wolves, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis called a group of his senior players into his private room. After listening to what they had to say — and the concerns they harboured about the way things were progressing — in what was described by those close to the squad as a calm, casual manner, Marinakis asked that the team try to rediscover the sense of unity and cohesiveness that had previously been a strength.
Dyche was sacked after Wednesday’s 0-0 draw with Wolves (Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Under Nuno, both last season and at the start of this, the training ground was not a gentle environment. “Ryan Yates… if you saw him and me in training… it was a fight,” said winger Jota Silva — now on loan with Besiktas, but who started the campaign under Nuno — in a recent interview with The Athletic. “Some days, it was so, so tough. He was so aggressive in training. And me, I was the same. But you need that, because you have to have it in matches.”
Nuno’s departure — amid a public deterioration of his relationship with Marinakis and the global head of football, Edu — has had a lingering impact. Nuno had forged a close relationship with his players, with some viewing him as akin to a father figure.
There has not been the same close connection with either of the men who have followed. Since Dyche became the third Forest head coach of the campaign in October, when he took over following Ange Postecoglou’s ill-fated 39-day tenure, training has been no less demanding. Players were not allowed to wear anything in training that they would not be permitted to wear during matches — hats were among the banned items.
But sources close to the squad say they felt the work done was often too intensive. Some days were described as “running, running, running”.
After losing his first game in charge, at Bournemouth, Dyche spoke about the need to get the players up to ‘his’ level of fitness. And that work was still ongoing even at the time of his departure.
There were elements added to try to make things more fun, such as players jumping on each other’s backs, with the last to do so being made to do press-ups as punishment.
But, according to those close to the squad, there was a steady erosion of faith in Dyche’s methods and, most specifically, his approach in games.
Chairman Nicholas Randall KC had stoically defended Dyche in a recent Q&A session with the supporters’ trust, labelling criticism of the former Burnley and Everton manager as a symptom of clickbait society. Dyche, in his final pre-match press conference, repeated similar observations about social media.
“In modern society, negativity seems to win. It gets more hits than positivity,” he said. “Before, it was just the media and maybe the occasional fan if they went to a fans forum or something like that. Now everyone has a voice.”
But, while social media can be a dark place, that negativity was catalysed by awful, unconvincing performances against Everton (home and away), Aston Villa, Braga, and Leeds.
The responsibility for Forest’s struggles is not Dyche’s alone. In January, he hoped to add experienced figures Dwight McNeil from his former club, Everton, and Brighton defender Lewis Dunk, to add more of what he would describe as “Premier League knowhow”. But one of the most significant failures by Dyche was his inability to make full use of Forest’s expensively assembled squad, which had been bolstered by 13 players signed in a £200million ($272m) summer recruitment campaign.
Four of those players — Arnaud Kalimuendo, Douglas Luiz, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Cuiabano — departed in January. Kulimuendo has just been named player of the month at Frankfurt after scoring twice in his first six appearances. While £30m additions James McAtee and Dilane Bakwa have started four Premier League games between them, under all three managers.
Under Cooper and Nuno, there had been an understanding that if a player was missing for any reason, there would be somebody capable of filling the void.
“The players who did not play so much last year, they were the most important people in the club,” Jota said. “Players like Anthony (Elanga), Elliot (Anderson) and Morgan — they played so, so good. But it was because they knew they could look back over their shoulders and see so many players who wanted to play; who would fight to play.”
Pereira would be the 10th permanent head coach of Marinakis’ tenure (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
A fresh start under another new manager should at least see the slate wiped clean for those players who have seen their opportunities limited under Dyche.
Dyche’s sacking was confirmed at 12.30am on Thursday. Forest are looking to make Pereira the 10th permanent head coach since Marinakis took over the club from Fawaz Al Hasawi in 2017. Talks have progressed positively since the club accelerated their interest in the former Olympiacos manager on Wednesday night.
Forest’s next game is not until next Thursday, in Turkey. It would be easy to make a joke about the fact that Forest hope Pereira will bring some new manager bounce with him, as Forest make their third change since September.
But they do hope Pereira will bring a little more tactical acumen, a little more unity — and most importantly, the kind of revival in form that he conjured up at Wolves — if a chaotic campaign is not to have a catastrophic end.