Strife at the Palace...

There's been upheaval aplenty at Selhurst Park with Crystal Palace axing Patrick Vieira as manager and appointing former boss Roy Hodgson on an interim basis until the end of the season. 

Lauded for introducing a more free-flowing, attacking style of football in south London last season, Vieira's managerial rein hit the skids with a torrid - winless - run of form in 2023 leading to his dismissal last Friday. 

Had Vieira earned more time than he was given or were the Eagles' board right to act with Palace (currently 12th in the Premier League but only three points clear of the relegation zone) in a tailspin?

To give us the lowdown on how Palace fans are feeling in the wake of Vieira's exit, we checked in with fan account The Eagles Beak for an exclusive Q & A

PM: Before we discuss Roy Hodgson's appointment, what were your over-riding feelings with regard to the sacking of Patrick Vieira? Anger, disappointment...betrayal?

TEB: Very disappointed, but the more we have learnt about a few things behind the scenes during his tenure it is perhaps surprising it took this long, and was only a matter of time with the form we have been in since the turn of the year.

The fixture list has not been kind to Patrick Vieira this year but we head into the last 10 games having to play eight of the teams below us. It's hypothetical now, but I am convinced that he would have seen us to the 9-12 points that is probably needed to stay away from trouble.

PM: There's no doubt that Palace have suffered an alarming slump in 2023. Did you feel it was a difficult period that could have actually helped Vieira (and Palace!) grow...or were the board right to act swiftly and fire the Frenchman?

TEB: Exactly that. As I said before, the fixture list has not been kind which was compounded by fixtures moved from before the break for the World Cup. Vieira would probably have got us through but the problem is this poor form since the start of the year. 

We have been tough to beat, but not scored goals even though draws with LIverpool and Manchester United were very good results. Football is a results game and as soon as we got to within three points of the bottom three, the board have clearly got twitchy feet and it remains to be seen if that gamble ends up paying off between now and the end of the season.

@Getty /

PM: Roy Hodgson has come in until the end of the season. Do you think his knowledge of the club makes him the right man for the job in the short-term or are you concerned given that his firefighting mission at Watford crashed and burned last season? Would you have preferred a permanent manager to come in straight away rather than an interim?

TEB: It is hard to compare us to Watford last season as we are currently in a far better position that they were when Roy came in. 

Following the sacking of Vieira it soon became clear the board did not have a plan so as the hours passed it started to become clear that Roy was likely to be the man to come in. 

The more time has passed since, it has made sense - he knows the club and the change may be just the thing we need (not that it is a huge change as he left the club less than two years ago!) 

The remit is to prevent the club from going down and with Ray Lewington in tow and Paddy McCarthy getting his frst crack as assistant manager under Roy, I don't think there is anyone better placed to come in. 

There are too many unknown quantities when you bring in someone completely new so this has a level os sense around it.  Having said that, the board are now under pressure to make the right appointment in the summer, and not mid way through, early in the summer so the man gets thr right amount of preparation for the new season. 

Obviously, things will be very different if this goes badly wrong.

PM: For all of the talk about managers, must the players ultimately carry the can for Vieira losing his job? Why do you think they lost their way after impressing so many people last season?

TEB:  That's a difficult one, as there has been a lot said about the lack of quality in Vieira's backroom staff. 

Everyone should carry some shoulder of the responsibility but the players never stopped playing for Vieira like you see happen in similar scenarios. You have to question the tactical knowledge of Vieira which was one of the main reasons he lost his job at Nice in Ligue 1. 

Yes, they could have been better in some games and been more clinical but there is an element of luck involved as well. Had Zaha scored that penalty at Forest, had Zaha's goal at Villa stood, had Nick Pope not pulled off that worldy save we may well not be sitting here having this conversation and sit 3 or 6 points better off. 

That's football though, right?

@Getty /

PM: Looking beyond this season, do you want somebody with a similar attack-minded philosophy to Vieira (i.e more possession-based, high pressing, with an emphasis on developing young talent) to take the reins next season - or would you prefer a more pragmatic appointment?

TEB: Fans were sold the appointment of Patrick Vieira as a brave new world for the club. A new style of manager, changing the ethos of the club and to a degree, that has happened. It is a shame that Vieira could not ride this storm and still be in charge but there you go. I would like someone to come in and pick up where he left off if I am honest. 

I appreciate Roy coming in to see us through to the summer and retain our PL status for another season (hopefully) but we need to move away from the type of manager we have had at the helm since we returned to the PL 10 years ago. Football has changed and we need a manager for the times, and the future. 

We have the sensible appointment now in Roy who knows us best and can do what is needed and we need to avoid another appointment like Frank de Boer so the pressure is on the board to get it right. There have been plenty of names thrown around but two that I like the potential of if Paulo Fonseca at Lille or Giovanni van Bronckhorst - two young progressive managers yet still learning their way in the game. 

There are other names out there like Steven Gerrard who was heavily linked with us when Roy retired in 2021. He was unlucky at Villa and probably deserves another shot at the PL. While Fonseca is in a job which makes his arrival unlikely, the more I read and hear about GvB I think he may be a gamble but one that may pay off. 

He took Feyenoord to the Eredivisie title and while his tenure was not that long at Rangers, he was hindered by injuries.  Whoever the board make a decision on, it has to be right and at a critical time.

🗨️ “People see a long diagonal ball and think they’re all the same [but they're not!]."

Our piece on @ell_watt00, the top assister in 'The 92', covers interesting ground:

🇵🇹 Ruben Neves
▶️ The art of passing a ⚽️
🦁 @SalfordCityFC's promotion hopeshttps://t.co/bl8z1JWBNM

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