It was 11.58pm on Tuesday, the last day of June, when the email landed in Vitor Pereira’s inbox. And this, perhaps, is the most remarkable detail of another wild, eccentric 24 hours in the modern-day story of Nottingham Forest, culminating in Oliver Glasner’s imminent appointment as the new head coach.According to a source with knowledge of the situation, who remains anonymous to protect relationships, Pereira’s contract at Forest ran until 2027 but also had a clause that allowed either party to terminate the agreement at any time in June this year.Forest, in other words, broke the news with only two minutes to spare. The email was brief and to the point. And that, for Pereira, appears to have been the only contact he has had with the key decision-makers from the City Ground. Instead, Forest were already gearing up to make Glasner their fifth manager in a year, and the club’s hierarchy had done enough of the groundwork behind the scenes to feel assured that removing Pereira would prove worthwhile in the long run.Yes, it feels harsh in the extreme for the popular Pereira, who was being told until recently that he was going to be rewarded with a new contract for saving Forest from relegation last season.Pereira kept Forest in the Premier League last season (Cameron Smith/Getty Images)And yes, it will reinforce the commonly held view that Forest, under the ownership of Evangelos Marinakis, are not quite like any other club in the Premier League. Nobody should be surprised any more. The joke among former staff — many of whom have also been moved out in similarly abrupt fashion — is that it is a shame the Netflix/Amazon fly-on-the-wall documentary has never been commissioned. It would be a blockbuster.Ultimately, though, Forest have taken the attitude that bringing in Glasner means hiring an upgrade — and that, in their eyes, is all that really counts. The scrutiny, the criticism, the lectures? The Marinakis regime won’t care greatly if, as expected, the Austrian is soon confirmed in the job.Ironically, the view inside the City Ground is that this will help the club stabilise and that, if Glasner is as good as they believe he is, everything will prove to be worthwhile. Glasner, they feel, can end the sequence of hiring and firing that has also seen Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche all being removed from the City Ground, at huge financial cost, in the past year.Glasner was the man, after all, who led Crystal Palace to the FA Cup two seasons ago and followed that up last season by winning the Community Shield and taking the London club to glory in the Europa Conference League. If it had not been for Michael Carrick leading a revival of Manchester United, Glasner could conceivably have ended up at Old Trafford once his contract expired at Selhurst Park. Forest, in short, believe the opportunity to take advantage was too good to ignore. That will be no consolation to Pereira, who had formed a strong bond with the players and was looking forward to the start of pre-season training — completely unaware, it seems, that his position was in serious jeopardy.Pereira had already planned the club’s pre-season tour to Portugal and, earlier on Tuesday, he had given his approval for the team to participate in a three-way tournament with Udinese and Barcelona in Udine.Before that, he had identified a new goalkeeping coach and taken part in a meeting in London to discuss new transfers.Another meeting was scheduled for next week with the club’s media team and, though Pereira has experience of working with Marinakis previously at Olympiacos, the whole volte-face appears to have completely caught him out.Instead, it will be Glasner who takes responsibility for the club’s summer planning if, as expected, his talks with Forest conclude with an agreement.If so, Forest will be appointing a manager who had already featured prominently in their thoughts in 2023 when they were looking for a successor to Steve Cooper.On that occasion, it was a choice between Glasner and Nuno. Forest’s preference was Nuno, a decision that had a lot to do with the strong relationship between Marinakis and the coach’s agent, Jorge Mendes, at the time.Three years on, Glasner’s availability started the conversations behind the scenes about whether they could really pass up the opportunity to bring in a coach with his expertise — no matter what Pereira had done previously. Everything changed when the club were approached with the information that Glasner liked the idea of joining. That in itself was regarded as a significant coup, showing how far they have advanced since winning promotion four years ago. The Athletic has been to Forest and Pereira for comment, but earlier in a statement, the 57-year-old said: “Today marks the end of my journey as head coach of Nottingham Forest”. Pereira subsequently confirmed in a statement declaring he would leave “with no bitterness or resentment — only respect, gratitude and wonderful memories. Football is full of unexpected moments, and while this chapter has ended sooner than I expected, I will always look back on my time here with pride and affection.”He added: “Although this decision came as a complete surprise to me and without any warning, I fully respect the club’s right to make the decisions it believes are best for its future. Naturally, I am disappointed and saddened. I truly believed in what we were building together, and I leave with a sense of pride in everything we achieved over the past months.”Glasner will become one of the Premier League’s best-paid managers, and his arrival will also add another layer of intrigue to the occasionally fractious relations between Palace and Forest. The rivalry has gathered legs because of Palace being removed from the Europa League last season. Forest took their place, and resentment has festered. Even before this latest twist, the two clubs had come to view each other through cold, suspicious eyes.The irony, however, is that Palace dropping into the Europa Conference League has worked in Glasner’s favour, to some degree, given the jubilant scenes when they beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in the final. The key people at Forest saw it. They liked the idea that he might do something similar with them.Glasner celebrates the Conference League win with Palace (Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)A long-term fix? That is certainly the hope at Forest, where there is an acute understanding that the club — and the players, in particular — could benefit from some kind of stability.Yet it also represents a calculated gamble given Glasner’s time at Palace included times when he clashed with their chairman, Steve Parish, publicly questioning the club’s transfer activity and ambitions.Glasner’s status as a fine coach goes hand in hand with a reputation for being difficult behind the scenes and, though history will remember him well at Palace, many of the club’s supporters turned against him last season. As Nuno can testify, he might not get away with being so outspoken when Marinakis is his boss.Yet the good far outweighs the bad, as far as Forest are concerned, and Glasner can expect a larger transfer pot than was the case at Palace, especially now Elliot Anderson’s £116million ($154m) transfer to Manchester City is virtually done.Forest tried to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta from Palace last season, and it would be no surprise if they return for the Frenchman.Glasner’s first game, meanwhile, is likely to be a pre-season friendly at Notts County on July 18. Forest believe they are appointing one of the elite managers in Europe and, unfortunately for Pereira, this is a club that will always prioritise glory and success ahead of any employee’s feelings.