Pierre Sage faces pressure after another lackluster performance against Brighton, resulting in a 5-0 loss. The Eagles were three goals down inside the opening nine minutes, and their problems are becoming harder to ignore.
It has been a difficult start for Sage, who arrived in the summer to replace Oliver Glasner. Just 7 games into the new season, Crystal Palace are on only 7 points. Their only 2 wins came against Nottingham Forest and Fulham but both performances were hardly worthy of a genuine winning performance.
The latest setback against Brighton has put him in a difficult position amid four new names reportedly in the news to replace Sage at Crystal Palace. He now needs a response from his side after Sunday’s 5-0 defeat to Brighton.
He has little time to put things right, with four games coming up before the end of October.
Besiktas trip comes first for Pierre Sage
Crystal Palace travel to Besiktas in the Europa League on Thursday before returning to Selhurst Park to face Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Besiktas fixture is far from ideal for Pierre Sage. Besiktas away in a difficult atmosphere under the circumstances will be a very difficult game for Pierre Sage, particularly after the way they collapsed against Brighton. However, he needs to grind a result to ease some pressure off him.
Crystal Palace also struggled in their previous European outing, losing 3-2 to Lyon after going two goals behind in the first half. Sage demanded that his players start games with more purpose and maintain control rather than spending the rest of the match trying to recover.
Talking after the Brighton loss, Sage said, “I prepare the team, I’m responsible. I have to change this kind of thing.”
However, he also needs to demand that his players better control the game and win the battles within the game.
Fulham and Tottenham add to the pressure
Crystal Palace then travel to Fulham for their League Cup tie on Wednesday, October 28, before facing Tottenham away three days later. It is a tough and congested run for Sage to turn things back around, but the big question is whether he will be at the helm if results continue like this.
The league matches against Newcastle and Tottenham will be particularly important. Palace have already conceded 17 goals in seven league games, and another defensive collapse leading into the game may be very difficult for Sage to come out of.
There is still time for him to change the mood, but he needs more than a few improved spells. Palace needs to find their mojo back, and they need to do it quickly. The next four games give Sage an immediate chance to show that Sunday’s result was an exception, not a sign of things to come.
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