Vitor Pereira: Who is Wolves’ new head coach?

Following confirmation that Vitor Pereira has been appointed as Wolverhampton Wanderers‘ new head coach, European football expert Andy Brassell looks at the story behind the man.

Wolves may be no strangers to Portuguese coaches but they are making a break from the past in choosing former Porto boss Vitor Pereira to succeed Gary O’Neil.

Whereas Pereira shares with Nuno Espirito Santo and Bruno Lage the trait of embarking on his first Premier League adventure at Molineux, the 56-year-old is a well-travelled, experienced operator with a widescreen view of the game. His entry into English football is one that was over a decade in the making.

An excellent English speaker, Pereira has long been linked to Premier League posts and was reportedly interviewed for the Everton job on two occasions almost a decade apart – once in 2013 after leaving Porto, and again in 2022 after the Toffees parted ways with Rafael Benitez.

Pereira will be ready for the immediate pressure at Wolves, having boldly defended his record on Sky Sports News when some Everton fans contested his credentials two years ago.

They were never genuinely in question. While still a player in his early 20s, Pereira completed his coaching qualifications over five years of study at the University of Porto’s prestigious sports faculty, finishing second in his class.

Born and brought up in Espinho, a beach resort 15km outside the city of Porto, he always felt his destiny was tied to the club and he had two spells coaching the Under-15s.

His eventual appointment to the top job at the Estadio do Dragao was a whirlwind affair. Having left the head coach position at second-tier promotion chasers Santa Clara to assist Andre Villas-Boas at Porto in 2010, Pereira played his part in their rampant season. Porto won the league without losing a match and lifted the UEFA Europa League trophy in Dublin in May 2011, when future Manchester United and Chelsea striker Radamel Falcao headed home the winner in the final.

With Porto caught off guard by losing Villas-Boas to Chelsea almost immediately after, they wanted to keep the magic of a special season in the bottle and acted quickly.

Highly-rated by legendary president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, Pereira was swiftly promoted to the top job to replace Villas-Boas, with Pinto da Costa announcing to the assembled media that his new man would be subject to the same (then-world record) €15million release clause in his contract that Chelsea had reportedly been forced to pay in order to appoint Villas-Boas.

Pereira won the Primeira Liga in both of his seasons in charge and in the second of these in 2012/13, Porto were again unbeaten. They defeated Benfica in the penultimate match with Kelvin’s stoppage-time winner to effectively pip their rivals and seal the title – Portugal’s equivalent of the Premier League’s Sergio Aguero moment.

Marshalling a star-studded squad including Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Nicolas Otamendi, Pereira was criticised for not making real headway in the Champions League. However, he made them extremely strong defensively, as they conceded a paltry 14 goals in that unbeaten 12/13 season; such organisational skills will surely come in handy at Molineux.

More title successes

Saudi Arabia was not Pereira’s first Asian adventure.

After a short spell in Jeddah with Al-Ahli a decade ago, he led Shanghai Port to a first-ever Chinese Super League title in 2018 to stop Guangzhou Evergrande winning an eighth successive championship.

Al-Shabab, however, was a trickier job. The six-time Saudi Pro League champions don’t, at the moment at least, have the financial muscle to compete with the “Big Four” which consists of Riyadh clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, along with Jeddah’s Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli.

When he was appointed in February, Pereira became the club’s 11th coach in this decade alone. Al-Shabab finished eighth when last season ended in May. And with just over a third of this campaign gone, they are sixth, level with Al-Ahli and just two points behind Al-Nassr.

Under Pereira, Al-Shabab have become harder to beat and more organised overall. He has preferred playing three at the back when the team attacks and five when it defends, but has also shown flexibility.

That he made a difference can be seen by the fact that Al-Shabab, a team that has gone through multiple coaches, was keen to keep Pereira and did what they could to change his mind. In the end, though, bosses had to admit defeat due to a release clause and the fervent and long held desire of the Portuguese coach to work in the Premier League.

Pereira has always strongly believed in his own ability, something he has needed to do. Critics have tried to downplay his league triumphs at Porto and Greek double-winners Olympiacos – both of them title retentions – as merely shepherding already successful teams. But that ignores the authority required to safeguard a winning culture.

Pereira’s ability to look after the belts and braces, to defend properly, will be more relevant than his biggest moments of glory for now.