Two mins, an email and a done deal: The inside story of how Forest sacked Vitor Pereira & hired Glasner

Last Updated on 2 July 2026

At 11:58pm on June 30, an email landed in Vitor Pereira’s inbox. It informed the Nottingham Forest manager that his services were no longer required.

Had it arrived two minutes later: after midnight, after the dismissal clause in his contract expired, Nottingham Forest could not have legally terminated him on those terms. They knew it. They cut it to the wire anyway.

And by the time football woke up on July 1, Oliver Glasner was already confirmed as their new head coach. This is how it happened.

The 11:58pm email Vitor Pereira never saw coming

Vitor Pereira said the decision came as a “complete surprise” and arrived “without any warning. That is not hyperbole. Per Ben Jacobs, they had been aligned on their pre-season tournament, they had recently held a meeting about summer plans, and a new contract.

Every conversation pointed in the same direction. Then, with 120 seconds to spare on the clause, Forest sent an email at 23:58 on June 30 to confirm their decision to terminate Pereira’s contract.

Pereira had signed an 18-month contract in February and guided Forest to Premier League survival and the Europa League semi-final. That last detail matters. Evangelos Marinakis and the club hierarchy were reportedly disappointed by the Europa League semi-final exit.

That result was understood to be the tipping point. As a result, everything dissolved in a minute. Pereira responded with dignity: “I fully respect the club’s right to make the decisions it believes are best for its future.”

He becomes the fourth manager Forest have dismissed in under a year, following Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, and Sean Dyche in February. Glasner will become the 11th permanent manager since Marinakis bought the club in May 2017. No club has ever had more.

Oliver Glasner’s arrival: and why this was brewing for longer than it looked

Glasner had previously been considered for the Manchester United and Chelsea jobs, both of which are now filled. He was not, until this week, reliably linked to Forest, which is precisely the tell that this move had been in the works internally for some time.

While Glasner’s name circulated around Europe’s biggest vacancies, Marinakis was watching closely. After guiding Crystal Palace to the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League in 12 months, Glasner’s contract at Selhurst Park expired. Forest moved immediately.

The irony is that the move arrives loaded with bad blood. Forest, Palace fell out recently over European spots. UEFA ruled Forest take Palace’s Europa League spot due to co-owner John Textor’s interest in Lyon, leading to Palace being demoted to the Conference League.

Glasner then won that Conference League anyway, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the final. Palace fans who had already resented Forest’s involvement now watch their former manager walk through the City Ground doors.

For Glasner, the question is straightforward: can he do at Forest what he did at Palace? Marinakis has seen it happen once. He is betting it can happen again. Whether Pereira, checking his phone at midnight on June 30, would agree is another matter entirely.