Following Palace’s 1-0 away defeat to bitter rivals Brighton, and a run of 11 games without a win, Patrick Vieira has been sacked as Crystal Palace manager.
The 46-year-old Frenchman leaves after 20 months in charge, leading Palace to an FA Cup semi-final last season.
In a club statement, Chairman Steve Parish stated: “It is with enormous regret that this difficult decision has been made. Ultimately, results in recent months have placed us in a precarious league position and we felt a change is necessary to give us the best chance of retaining Premier League status.”
"That said, Patrick’s impact since joining us in the summer of 2021 has been significant, and he is held in the highest regard by myself, and all of his colleagues. He led the team to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final and respectable 12th placed finish last season playing some exciting football, which was a challenging and crucial campaign for the club given the changes we made to the squad prior to his arrival.”
Osian Roberts, Kristian Wilson and Saïd Aïgoun have also departed the club.
On a personal level, I’m extremely disappointed to see Vieira sacked as our manager. Last season as a Palace fan was one of my favourites since promotion, with the football we were attempting to play – whilst not always paying off, remained exciting to watch.
I’m also confused as to who the club sees as a better fit to guide us out of this relegation dogfight. Is changing the manager with 11 games to go – many of which against fellow relegation strugglers, a wise idea?
Ultimately however, going 11 league games without a win must constitute as sackable form. The players have been showing next-to-no fight on the pitch and look to be completely disjointed as a squad.
The Athletic this morning reported that there were rumblings behind the scenes over the coaching staff, particularly after the dismissal of Sean Derry at the end of January. It was reported that Vieira didn’t see Derry’s coaching style as one that fitted with his ethos – with the ex-Palace player berating the squad at full-time after a 3-0 away defeat to Everton.
So, where do we go from here?
It has also reported from The Athletic this morning, that ex-Palace defender and club captain Paddy McCarthy, who is currently the u21’s coach, will take charge of Sunday’s game against league leaders Arsenal.
There has been calls for McCarthy to take the helm for the rest of the season, which while I personally would not be completely opposed to, it is a huge risk. The Irishman has excelled at youth level for Palace – finishing second in his first category 1 season with the u18s in 2021. However, the jump to the Premier League would be vicious, and with what is at stake, it may be seen as too risky from the board.
Having said that however, McCarthy taking the reins until the end of the season would allow the board to take the time to make the right decision, with the long-term vision of the club in mind. Names such as Marcelo Bielsa, Jesse Marsch, and Rafa Benítez have been banded around this morning. If one of these names were to be appointed, you feel that they would want a whole summer to build their squad and make it their own, as opposed to coming in with 11 games left.
Of course, the elephant in the room – will the board return to Roy Hodgson for the answer? Well, I personally would be totally against this. To do so, would feel like a complete step backwards, and would put us back to square one. Yes, it’s more likely than not that he would keep us up. However, to see the likes of Brentford, Newcastle, Fulham, Br*ghton etc all pushing for European football, it would be infuriating to see us no further to achieving that goal than we were 10 seasons ago, with the same manager we had for 4 years, returning to the helm.
Equally, it would make total sense for the board to do this, because as I previously stated, it is highly likely Hodgson would keep us up. However, whilst it is normally the defence that needs tightening up in relegation sides, it is up front we are struggling. So, I do wonder if the board will consider that when thinking about giving Hodgson the call, as it’s safe to say, he doesn’t set the world alight with his attacking play!
It is set to be a crucial few days for us now, with work being done behind the scenes to sort a replacement for Vieira.
A tough test on Sunday awaits us, so let's get right behind Paddy and the boys.
I’ll be bringing you the match preview for Sunday tomorrow, and of course will keep you updated on any further developments in our search for a new manager.
Thanks for reading – Up the Palace 🔴🔵
Sources: The Athletic, CPFC
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