Following a remarkable season that has seen four men occupy their head coach’s office, the last of them — Vitor Pereira — managed to lead Nottingham Forest to Premier League safety with two games to spare.The Portuguese also took them through three knockout-phase ties to the semi-finals of the Europa League, as the club returned to the European stage for the first time in three decades.There was a party atmosphere at the City Ground on the final day as, amid a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, Morgan Gibbs-White demonstrated again why it may have been a mistake for Thomas Tuchel not to have included him in his England squad, with a crisply struck goal that was his 15th of the campaign.There was also what felt like a potential goodbye from Elliot Anderson, who will be heading to the World Cup and who will attract serious interest in the coming weeks, from Manchester City and Manchester United in particular, with Evangelos Marinakis understood to value the midfielder at more than £110million.As the dust settles on a campaign that began with high hopes and ended with a sense of blessed relief, here is The Athletic’s end-of-season review.Forest’s grade for 2025-26 is…Overall: C-Nuno Espirito Santo: C — Moved schools in SeptemberAnge Postecoglou: E — Obsessed with his previous schoolSean Dyche: D — Too old-schoolVitor Pereira: B+ — extra credit for this former teacher.The overall mark is boosted by reaching the last four of the Europa League, but would be far lower without it… and goodness knows what it would be without Pereira. His calming influence since replacing Dyche in the middle of February has changed the dynamic significantly.(Dan Mullan/Getty Images)Goal of the season‘Outrageous’ was the perfect word used by former England winger Steve McManaman on television commentary to describe the goal that drew Forest level for the first time in their 2-2 draw at Manchester City in March.Ola Aina loops in a delicious cross from the right, Igor Jesus rises high at the far post to head it down and, with the ball bouncing behind him and his back to goal, Gibbs-White somehow wraps his right foot around his left to audaciously send a back-heeled finish through the legs of Ruben Dias and beyond goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.Inventive, instinctive, impetuous, imperious and entirely bloomin’ glorious.Game of the seasonNovember’s 3-0 win against champions Liverpool under Dyche deserves a mention, but those who braved traffic issues to get to Sunderland on a Friday night in April were rewarded with a 5-0 win that felt significant on several levels.Promoted Sunderland had surprised many by forging a push for European qualification in the first half of the season and, while that form had temporarily fallen away by the time Forest came to town, they still boasted an impressive home record.But the manner in which Forest tore Sunderland apart — leading 4-0 at half-time following a burst of four goals in 20 minutes — will live long in the memory.The rampaging win gave Forest — briefly at least — an eight-point advantage on the bottom three and a significantly boosted goal difference. It was a team performance, but one spearheaded by the outstanding Igor Jesus, who had a hand in three of the goals, scoring one and assisting two.Surprise of the seasonWhen the teams were announced for the match away to Chelsea at the start of the month, it raised many eyebrows, with Pereira having made eight changes.For the first time in Forest’s season, the Europa League was regarded as being more important than Premier League business, with a few key figures being rested ahead of the second leg of their semi-final against Aston Villa three days later.It turned out to be a masterclass in how to utilise your squad, as a team that felt patched together performed as if they had been playing together all year.‘Fringe’ players stood tall and helped deliver a memorable 3-1 win that ultimately proved vital in Forest staving off relegation. Even if it wasn’t followed by an even remotely similar performance at Villa Park…The line-up, and result, at Chelsea both came as a welcome surprise (Visionhaus/Getty Images)Mistake of the seasonThe appointment of former Arsenal sporting director Edu as global head of football for owner Evangelos Marinakis’ multi-club stable proved to be the start of the chaos that followed, starting with the departure of head coach Nuno Espirito Santo just three games in. But numerous mistakes followed. The dreadful 39-day, winless tenure of Postecoglou, the hiring of Dyche and the subsequent firing of Dyche for, well, being a bit too Dyche-y?On the pitch, it can only be John Victor’s gung-ho rampage out of his penalty area at Villa in January’s league fixture, which ended in a simple goal for John McGinn, in a 3-1 away defeat, and a season-ending knee injury for the unfortunate ’keeper.Quote of the seasonPereira on Elliot Anderson, after seeing the midfielder score what proved to be the goal that secured safety, in the 1-1 home draw with Newcastle on May 10.“My assistant told me, ‘Elliot is on fire today’,” said Pereira. “Every shot he had on goal (in the warm-up), he scored. He had the funeral of his mother two days ago. I did not speak with him about this, but I believe he wanted to honour his mother with a goal.“That is why he tried until the last minute to score. Because this is the way that he found to give everything; to play for him, but also to play for her.“It is difficult for me and for everyone to understand what he is feeling inside. In the end, I believe that he honoured his mother by running until the last metre. He wanted a lot to score, right until the end. He is a very, very talented player but he has a strong, strong, strong character.”Elliot Anderson scored against Newcastle shortly after his mother’s death (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)Funniest momentA journalist seeing their laptop slip out of their grasp and drop to the floor, just as they were asking Pereira a question in his press conference ahead of the Newcastle game… at a time when Forest had an extensive injury list.Pereira responded, with comic timing and a concerned look: “Injury? Another one? Cannot play tomorrow…”Opposition player of the seasonMcGinn. Forest might have signed him before he joined Villa, but were not prepared to pay Hibernian’s asking price — and the Scotland midfielder has made a regular habit of reminding them what they missed out on.A player with far more technical ability and quality than appearances might suggest and consistently a class act, he has four goals in four appearances against Forest this season.The issue that will dominate the summer is…The future of Anderson, in particular, and summer transfer dealings in general. Plus, the restructuring of the backroom staff, with Edu expected to depart and Craig Mulholland set to join the Scottish FA as chief football officer. Forest will need to replace their head of football development and talent management, as well as former chief football officer Ross Wilson, who left to join Newcastle last October.This time next year, we will all be saying…“Elliot Anderson is one of the best midfielders in Europe.”