Pereira only signed a new three-year deal 45 days ago after guiding Wolves to safety last season.
He replaced Gary O’Neil last December – O’Neil having presided over another 10-game winless start – and oversaw a six-match winning streak between March and April. It was the club’s best top-flight run since 1970.
It looked like a perfect match – Pereira nominated for Premier League manager of the year – but cracks started to appear in the summer, which grew to a point where Pereira now regrets not walking away from Molineux at the start of the season.
The former Porto manager, who won the Portuguese title twice, wanted to continue last season’s success after finishing 17 points above the relegation zone in 16th.
The draw to do that was too big, yet he was unhappy with the planning over transfers and Wolves signed five senior players, spending around £100m, but none had Premier League experience and Pereira was disappointed not to land first-choice targets.
He ultimately sanctioned those who did arrive though, including striker Tolu Arokodare, and they were generally his picks, including driving the signing of winger Jhon Arias.
They lost significant top flight know-how in the summer when captain Nelson Semedo left on a free and Matheus Cunha and Rayan Ait-Nouri joined Manchester United and Manchester City respectively, meaning Wolves brought in nearly £120m, including other departures.
Cunha’s £62.5m transfer was a club record, after United triggered his release clause, but Wolves have been unable to replace his 15 goals and all-round talent.
Wolves scored 63 goals last season but the players who scored 32 of them are no longer at the club.
The club is looking to change strategy and will target more homegrown players in the future, to help their quota, and feel they are at the start of a new cycle, aware of the risks it brings.
There is a long-term view at Molineux that Wolves can succeed and even if they are relegated it can be handled, with owners Fosun not looking to sell the club, instead being open to minority investment into Fosun Sports Group.
But perhaps the long-term planning has seen them distracted from the short term and has left the club facing another battle against relegation, one which looks terminal this time.
Players have become mentally drained after conceding late goals which denied them wins over Tottenham and Brighton.
Last week’s late 3-2 defeat by Burnley, in which fans turned on Pereira for the first time, displayed Wolves losing to a team that appeared to be playing for a point with 15 minutes left.
Those results were fatal for the confidence of the side and the Clarets’ win at Molineux meant Pereira had lost to all of the promoted sides this season.
The fact the players were unable to respond under Pereira is believed to be one of the factors behind the decision to sack him, along with the obvious issue of poor results.
At Craven Cottage on Saturday the sight of Joao Gomes casually walking the ball back into his own half late on or Ki-Jana Hoever booting the ball across the pitch and into touch pointed to the players’ mindset.