New Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is confident he can guide the Premier League strugglers to safety.
The Portuguese manager was named as Gary O’Neill’s successor on Thursday, with the Midlands club currently five points off safety in 19th place.
Pereira joins from Saudi Arabian League side Al-Shabaab on an 18-month deal, with Wolves paying £825,000 in compensation.
His first game in charge is against Leicester on Saturday and the 56-year-old is relishing the chance to maintain Wolves’ place in the Premier League.
“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. To put them in the same direction, to connect them and face them with confidence, to play with courage.
“I studied before accepting the job. Of course we need to improve some aspects of the game. But we have good players, a confident player can do many things, can change everything.
“My idea is to create an identity, a tactical identity. In the first training session we started working on this identity, the way we play.”
Welcome to Wolves, Vitor 🤝
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 19, 2024
Big draw in the Premier League
Pereira has his work cut out for him to lead Wolves to safety, with the club losing 11 of their 16 league games so far and each of their last four.
And the former Porto boss admitted the chance to coach in the Premier League was a big draw.
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 my goal for a long time.
“It means I’m in the right place with the top, high-level players, the league and the coaches. I am very happy to be here.”
Wolves January plans
Pereira did not rule out Wolves being active 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 doing it, but at the moment it’s important with new ideas to understand the response of the players on the pitch.
“It is important that I have at least one week to understand what I can do with our players, to study the personality and what we need. After that we will decide.”
Captain Nelson
Pereira was asked if Nelson Semedo will remain Wolves captain, with O’Neill handing the armband to the right-back after taking the captaincy from Mario Lemina.
He said: “Nelson is a very good lad, good personality and now I’m trying to understand where the leadership is on the pitch.
“It’s important on the field. I am currently studying. It’s not time to decide, it’s time to study, to get information, after deciding on the captain.”
