Earlier this week we reported Nottingham Forest were moving towards another change in the dugout. Now Vitor Pereira has said the exit itself came as "a complete surprise" and "without any warning", even though he had signed an 18-month contract at the City Ground in February. Reports also point to Oliver Glasner as the likely next man in.

Pereira's own account of the exit

Pereira did not hide his view of how the situation unfolded. "I fully respect the club's right to make the decisions it believes are best for its future," he said, but his clearest line was simpler: "complete surprise to me and without any warning".

He also said, "I truly believed in what we were building together." That is a fairly direct reminder that this was not being framed by the departing coach as a planned handover.

The record attached to his spell is mixed, and Forest's hierarchy clearly decided a change was available. Pereira won eight of his 20 matches in charge, while Forest finished 16th in the Premier League with 44 points and reached 13th place in the Europa League league phase.

The contract detail and the Glasner reports

The contract timing matters here. Pereira's deal included a break clause for June, which gives Forest a cleaner route through a mid-season style reset than the February headline number might suggest.

The replacement talk centres on Oliver Glasner, although that move is still being reported rather than confirmed. Crystal Palace sit behind him in the story because he has been linked with a number of top jobs after winning the FA Cup in 2024-25 and the Conference League a year later, while Palace finished 15th in the Premier League with 45 points and 10th in the Conference League group phase.

Forest's own choice looks less like panic than a club using the tools in the contract it signed only months ago. Pereira's surprise is genuine, but the break clause made the exit possible and the reports on Glasner show the next step is already being mapped out.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →