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New Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is confident he can lead the Premier League strugglers to safety.
The Portuguese manager was named as Gary O’Neil’s successor on Thursday, with the Midlands club currently five points from safety in 19th place.
Pereira joins from Saudi professional league Al-Shabab on an 18-month deal, with Wolves reportedly set to pay £825,000 in compensation.
His first game in charge is against Leicester on Saturday and the 56-year-old is relishing the chance to preserve Wolves’ Premier League status.
“Of course it’s a responsibility, but a good responsibility.
“Now is the time to give them confidence, to guide them like a tactical GPS. Point them in the same direction, connect them and face them with confidence, play bravely.
“I studied before I accepted the job. Of course we have to improve some aspects of the game. But we have good players, a player with confidence can do a lot, can change everything.
“My idea is to create an identity, a tactical identity. At the first training session, we started working on that identity, that way of playing.”
Welcome to Vukove, Vitor 🤝
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 19, 2024
Premier League big draw
Pereira has work to do to bring Wolves to safety, with the club having lost 11 of their 16 league games so far and each of their last four.
And the former Porto boss admitted that the opportunity to manage in the Premier League was a big attraction for him.
On why he was attracted to the Molineux job, he added: “Because it’s the Premier League and in my opinion the Premier League is the best league in the world. Something that has been a target of mine for a long time.
“It means I’m in the right place with the top high-level players, the league and the managers. I am very happy to be here.”
Wolves plans for January
Pereira did not rule out Wolves activity in the January transfer window, but said he would need time to assess the squad first.
He said: “I think the club is open to it, but at the moment it is important to understand the response of the players on the pitch with new ideas.
“It is important that I have at least a week to understand what I can do with our players, to study the personality and what we need. After this we will decide.”
Nelson Captaincy
Pereira was asked if Nelson Semedo would remain Wolves captain, while O’Neil handed the armband to the right-back after Mario Lemini was stripped of the captaincy.
He said: “Nelson is a very good boy, good personality and now I’m trying to understand where the leadership is on the pitch.
“It is important on the field. I am currently studying. It’s not a time to decide, it’s a time to study, to get information, after which we’ll decide on the captain.”
