I know Evangelos Marinakis — he’s fiery like me

The “points then pints” will have to wait but, as he became Nottingham Forest’s fourth permanent manager in the space of 159 days, Vitor Pereira insisted he had no problem working for the most trigger-happy owner in modern football history.

Nuno Espírito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche will all bear witness to Evangelos Marinakis’s short fuse and low threshold for poor results from his managers.

Indeed, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers manager, who famously celebrated with a few pints with their supporters after wins, is the tenth permanent manager to work under the Greek billionaire since he took over at the City Ground in May 2017. No top-flight club has gone through four permanent managers in the same campaign until now.

But, having worked for Marinakis briefly, and successfully, when he won the Greek league and cup double for Olympiacos in a five-month spell in 2015, Pereira knows precisely what he is getting into.

“He’s ambitious. He wants to win, he’s emotional and I know him very well,” Pereira said. “The conversation was about our time in Olympiacos. 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 don’t need to change to have fire. I have fire and I have passion. Football is my passion, something that sleeps and wakes with me. I think I can help… 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.”

Pereira left Olympiacos in the summer of 2015 to take over at the Turkish club Fenerbahce, where, coincidentally, he will begin his Forest reign in Thursday’s Europa League play-off first leg tie.

But, as well as a volatile owner, his biggest challenge at a Forest side perilously close to the relegation zone, would appear to be getting the club’s underachieving players to “buy into” his messages.

Three managers have tried precisely that, and failed, so far this season despite this being the same Forest team — bar the departed Anthony Elanga — that came within a point of qualifying for the Champions League last season.

“If you buy the idea it’s a good step. If you don’t buy the idea of the manager it’s a big problem, and you must also buy the personality,” Pereira said.

“If you buy the idea and the person, have an open mind to receive information and to work hard together, it’s possible to achieve what we want.

“I have had one training session with them but they have quality. I realised this quality for the first time last season when they played at Wolves. They are top players in my opinion and we can be a top team.”

Whether the 57-year-old, who has signed a contract until the end of next season, is around long enough to see that happen is very much open to conjecture.

As for his calling card in his time at Wolves — his interaction with supporters via post-match celebrations in local pubs — Pereira has not ruled out the same with Forest fans. Sunday’s home game with Liverpool would appear to be the perfect opportunity to trot out his slogan of “points, then pints”.

“This is something about my personality,” he said. “I’m not an actor, I’m a very simple honest guy. I am a hard worker and I’m confident. In the end when I feel I deserve the pints, of course.”

Fenerbahce v Nottingham Forest

Europa League play-off, first leg
Thursday, kick-off 5.45pm
TV TNT Sports 3