How long will Vitor Pereira get? Ex-Nottingham Forest star assesses ‘crazy’ four-manager season

For all of the criticism that has come their way in a tumultuous campaign, Forest’s hand - particularly that of enigmatic owner Evangelos Marinakis - has been forced in a lot of ways. Nuno engineered his departure in September, Postecoglou won none of his eight games in the dugout and Dyche - despite boasting previous ties to the club - failed to convince with his brand of football.

Reins have been passed to Pereira, but he has also found the going tough in what has become the most demanding of roles. His tenure opened in impressive style with a Europa League victory away at Fenerbahce, but that remains his only success through six fixtures - with four defeats being suffered by the Reds across their last five matches.

Inevitable questions are being asked of what the short and long-term future holds for Forest, as they battle to avoid suffering relegation out of the Premier League, with another busy summer seemingly in store one way or another.

Asked for his take on goings on at the City Ground, former Reds striker Harewood - speaking in association with casinos zonder cruks - told GOAL: “It's crazy, isn't it? It's mad, it is really, really mad. Obviously, those days have gone of having a manager be there for a while to try and put his feet under the table. No manager's got time nowadays. It's literally sink or swim.

“I get it, but at the same time, you need stability, whatever direction you're going. And it all goes hand in hand. If you've got, not just Forest, obviously it's really close to my heart, but any club really, if you've got an owner going in there and he's brought a manager in, the players need to see the owner and the manager singing off the same hymn sheet, regardless of situations, because you need time.

“It's so difficult being a coach. I've done my badges and I know what it's like when you're coaching kids. It takes time to get into them what you want them to try and achieve. And you just haven’t got time nowadays to go and do that. Especially when you're playing in high-intensity games, games that mean a lot, games that you need to win to get through to next stages when you want to progress, go and win a trophy. And you haven’t got time for if, buts or maybes, because you've got to go in there to look at winning games.”

Harewood added on the reasons for Forest’s struggles in 2025-26, with potent frontman Chris Wood - who hit 20 Premier League goals last term - missing much of the season through injury: “At the moment, with Forest, they're struggling to score goals, whatever reason, because the last couple of years they have been renowned for winning games and scoring important goals.

“You've lost a very big part of that, I think, in Chris, because he was unbelievable for Forest and how he was as a striker, as a goal-scorer, hold-up play, around channels, getting to the box, getting them balls when they crossed into the box, scoring goals. And to be fair, he was scoring all sorts of different goals. He was the person that you were going to if you needed a goal. And I think Forest have struggled to replace that.

“It seems like the philosophy is still there, still have some great players, I just think you need that person like him to put the ball in the onion bag. And that's where I think they’ve fallen short this year, because goals win games. And if you've got a striker like that, that can produce moments when you're not playing really well, even if he's not scoring, he was doing something to put someone else in. Because him and Morgan Gibbs-White formed a very good partnership. They knew where each other were and they knew where you needed to be. And you form those partnerships throughout the team. And I think they've struggled without him, which is not good to say. But they haven't had anyone to replace him.”

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