"As Vitor Pereira wrapped up his pre-match media duties at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on Wednesday evening, his assistant Luis Miguel Moreira da Silva waited at the mouth of the tunnel. Let's go? he said as Pereira eventually emerged, before the Nottingham Forest squad followed the pair on to the pitch. Then it was down to business, Pereira's first assignment in charge of Forest at one of his 13 former clubs, Fenerbahce."
"Then there is the chaos that has stalked Forest's season since they qualified for Europe for the first time since 1995-96. Their journey in this competition provides a snapshot of the story: Nuno Espirito Santo expressing his excitement at facing Porto after the initial draw was made last August, a game which later proved Sean Dyche's first in charge in October; the early promise under Ange Postecoglou at Real Betis; Dyche's last win in the job, a 4-0 rout of Hungarian champions Ferencvaros."
"Has Pereira told his players how to cope with the racket raining down from the stands? Just to try and block it out as much as you can, says the Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. It's going to be loud, but all we can do is focus on ourselves. I don't think you can really prepare for an atmosphere, you just have to focus on your game, the team and try to focus on what you can do to hel"
Vitor Pereira completed pre-match media duties as his assistant urged him from the tunnel and the Nottingham Forest squad followed onto the pitch. The match marked Pereira's first assignment in charge at one of his 13 former clubs, Fenerbahce, where he previously lived across two trophy-less spells in Istanbul, most recently in 2021. The calm before kickoff contrasted with the expected febrile home crowd for the Europa League playoff. Forest's season has been chaotic, featuring multiple managerial changes and varied competition results, and Pereira now faces the task of steadying the team while players focus on blocking out the noise.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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