Vitor Pereira remains a respected managerial figure in Portugal - why Everton fan uproar over his potential appointment was harsh

Vitor Pereira was set to become the successor of world-renowned manager Rafael Benitez at Premier League strugglers Everton FC, expected to sign a contract until at least the end of the season - or so we thought.

News of his supposed imminent appointment was unsurprisingly greeted with an element of scepticism among parts of the Everton fanbase, with some questioning his credentials and others unfamiliar with his previous work as manager.

However, the scepticism quickly morphed into the disrespectful, as some concerned fans even took to vandalising their own home turf to etch the words “Pereira out, Lampard in”, such was their discontent over the potential appointment of a title-winning manager.

It was the first time you’ll have seen a fanbase call for the removal of a manager who wasn't even at the club, a quite remarkable turn of events.

Everton supporters are understandably concerned about their team’s performance this season, with dreary displays and a torrid run of form seeing them now hovering just above the relegation zone - a quite embarrassing turn of events for a club who have spent so much over the last few years to become a force in the English game.

However, the belief that Vítor Pereira was not cut out for a job - and a coach whose only managerial stints include Derby and Chelsea, having been fast tracked into the latter seemingly purely based on who he was, rather than what he had achieved as a manager, was somehow a better option - seems slightly misguided.

Lampard has proven he's an extremely competent manager in his short coaching career so far, and feels like a great fit for Everton. Nobody would be surprised if he proved successful at the Merseyside club.

After all, he did a great job at Derby - albeit backed up by some stellar loan signings - and his first season at Chelsea was remarkable, getting the transfer-banned club to 4th and the Champions League. Tuchel's exploits since taking over suggest Lampard was severely underperforming in his second season though, and so perhaps was in his first too.

But this article is not about Lampard. Here we take a look at Vítor Pereira, his managerial credentials, and why he deserves an opportunity to manage in one of Europe's elite leagues.

If at first you don’t succeed…

Vitor Pereira has garnered a wealth of top-level managerial experience both in Europe and beyond, working his way up from the lower echelons of Portuguese football to manage some clubs that are heavyweights of their respective domestic games, taking over at FC Porto, Fenerbahce, Olympiakos and Shanghai SIPG, among others.

And as he has found success at various moments in his managerial career, Everton FC have come calling - this, in fact, was the third attempt of the Merseyside club to secure the signature of Vitor Pereira, having first tried to bring him in in 2013 before he signed a contract with Saudi side Al Ahli, and then again in 2019 while he was manager of Shanghai SIPG.

It therefore would have been third time lucky for Everton, who have made their way through 6 permanent managers since their first approach for the Portuguese coach in 2013.

So… what’s all the fuss about?

There are understandable question marks regarding Everton’s persistent interest in the signature of Vitor Pereira; although he has had his fair share of success, there have been notable low points as well, and Everton’s attachment - almost obsession - with Pereira is intruiging.

One of the elements that has caused most concern among the Everton fanbase is Pereira being recommended to the club by agent Joorabchian, Iran-born and thus compatriot - and confidant - of Everton owner Moshiri. His role in recommending players and managers is unsettling for the Everton faithful, which is reasonable enough.

It must be said, however, that in Portugal Vitor Pereira maintains a stellar reputation through his work with FC Porto. His time at the Portuguese giants wasn’t a complete success - notably the performances in Europe were not to the standards fans would have hoped for, particularly after he took over Andre Vilas-Boas’ Europa League-winning team - but with back to back league triumphs, he ensured Porto remained the very best team in Portugal - which is always the number one priority among supporters of one of the Big Three clubs in the country, and ensures Portuguese football fans generally hold him in =high regard.

Stepping up in the place of the Chelsea-bound Vilas-Boas, who led Porto to a famous treble - including an unbeaten league campaign with 27 wins, 3 draw and no defeats - would have been a daunting task. Vilas-Boas had set the standards so high that failing to match those heights could have been seen as a failure for any potential successor. In the league, however, Pereira arguably went one better.

Not only did he deliver the league title to Porto on two more successive occasions, but he did so while losing just one game across those two seasons. Indeed, his second, and final, season at Porto was another unbeaten campaign - 24 wins, 6 draws, 0 defeats. Not quite as impressive as Vilas-Boas’ triumph, but to lead a club to a second ‘invincible’ campaign in the space of 3 years is arguably more difficult than doing it the first time.

His Porto sides were undoubtedly talented. Boasting the likes of Hulk, James Rodriguez, Jackson Martinez and João Moutinho, there were stars across the field. He managed them impressively well though, and commanded their respect. And it's certainly worth mentioning that, despite the obvious ability at his disposal, it wasn't at the level of the team he inherited. To match Vilas-Boas' achievements with a weakened squad is undoubtedly impressive.

He did so while playing some entertaining football too. Porto proved a well organised team, but one that were adventurous and good going forwards, pressing opponents and looking to get on the front foot. It was no surprise that fans were generally approving of him as manager.

The season after he left, Porto managed to finish just 3rd in the league, the consistency that had delivered them such success by now non-existent. Having lost one league game in two seasons under Vitor Pereira, Porto ended up losing 7 in 2013-14 - finishing 3rd in the standings behind bitter rivals Benfica and Sporting. By a considerable distance too. After winning just one Champions League group stage match, they also finished in 3rd in Europe on a measly 5 points. It was a massive drop-off from the highs experienced under Vitor Pereira, and his time in Portugal is therefore remembered very fondly by the Porto faithful.

Moving to Al Ahli after this was something of a surprise, to say the least. We have become accustomed to seeing Porto managers move to some reasonably big clubs in Europe, the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea (twice), Malaga, AEK Athens, even the Spanish national team. A move to Al-Ahli, after such a successful stint in Portugal, was surprising.

And it wasn’t exactly the most successful of stints. He did implement a marked improvement, his team finishing 3rd in the league, up two place from the season prior, but a club of Al Ahli’s size and stature in the domestic game have higher expectations than that.

From Saudi Arabia, Pereira made the move to Greece and Olympiakos, so often a safe home for Portuguese coaches. Pereira, however, had his work cut out, taking over a club midway through the season that were, surprisingly, only 2nd in the table. He lifted them to win the title before leaving after just 6 months.

He found similar success in China too, in his longest managerial stint to date, taking over Shanghai SIPG. Under his management, the club won their first ever Chinese Super League title with 68 points, the most points the club had ever earned in a single campaign.

The following season they earned a commendable 66 points - though on this occasion it was only enough to secure 3rd, while the season after - which was modified into a part league part cup format due to the pandemic - saw Shanghai win their league comfortably, but get knocked out in the semifinals and therefore get no reward for their otherwise great campaign.

It hasn't all been successful for Vitoria, of course. At Fenerbahce, it was a case of so near, yet so far as he finished runners-up in both the league and the Turkish Cup. Taking them to the Europa League round of 16, where they were knocked out by SC Braga, is also a noteworthy achievement, but ultimately his reign was unssuccessful.

And his second stint at Fenerbahce - his most recent managerial venture - was even worse. After a very promising start - in which Fenerbahce sat 1st in the table despite a mountain of injuries - eventually the absentees caught up with them, and they slipped to 5th, 14 points off the summit, and Vitor Pereira was sacked as a result. Since he has departed, that gap between Fenerbahce and league leaders Trabzonspor has extended to 17 points.

The Turkish league is in an unusual moment though, almost in a point of flux. As far off the pace Fenerbahce are currently, Galatasaray are in 15th, just 3 points above relegation. Struggling in the league is not uncommon.

All in all, his managerial career hasn’t been plain sailing - his relegation to the German third division with 1860 Munich was clearly a particularly jarring moment (although the decision to drop down a division and take that job was in itself a strange career choice). Nevertheless, there has been plenty of positives surrounding Vitor Pereira’s managerial exploits thus far, and the disappointment among Everton fans when he became the front-runner for their managerial position was harsh to say the least.