Pierre Sage's grip on the Crystal Palace job is loosening. A 2-0 home loss to Newcastle United left Palace 17th in the Premier League after back-to-back defeats, and talkSPORT reported that the club is already considering contingency options should things not improve, according to Yahoo Sports.
Sage blamed a lapse right after halftime. "We missed 15 minutes when we came back from the dressing room," he said, according to The Guardian, calling it a mental problem rather than a tactical one.
A defense in freefall
The numbers are stark. Palace have conceded 19 goals in eight league games, the worst record in the division, a sharp contrast to last season, when Sage's Lens side had the second-best defense in Ligue 1. The previous league outing was a 5-0 thrashing by rivals Brighton, and on Thursday Palace gave up two goals to Besiktas from the only two shots on target they allowed.
Newcastle were similarly efficient. William Osula scored shortly after the restart, a Joe Willock effort was ruled out for offside, and Harvey Barnes added the second from an Amar Dedic cutback after Adam Wharton was brushed off the ball. Palace had started brightly, with Daichi Kamada and Jean-Philippe Mateta both threatening early, but boos greeted the final whistle.
Sage defended his approach, saying he believes the best way to defend is to keep the ball. The trouble, The Guardian noted, is that only the three promoted clubs have had less possession than Palace this season.
Who could come next
According to talkSPORT, Sean Dyche, Thomas Frank and Vitor Pereira are all admired inside the club, with Robbie Keane also mentioned. Frank said in the summer he was in no rush to return to management, and Dyche has said he wants the next job to be the right one.
Sage insisted he is still the right man and said that while he speaks regularly with chairman Steve Parish, his future has not come up. For now, he said, the focus inside the club is on finding solutions.
Reporting sources: Sport | The Guardian, “Pierre Sage regrets ‘missed 15 minutes’ as defeat increases heat on Crystal Palace manager” · sports.yahoo.com, “Crystal Palace considering options to replace Pierre Sage after Newcastle United defeat”.
