Crystal Palace line up January transfer that 'could save Pierre Sage from sack'

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage needs to be willing to play “ugly” in order to keep his job in the coming weeks.

That is according to former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Frenchman needs to prove his adaptability to the board.

Sage is under huge pressure amid a poor start to the season, and his position is under major scrutiny after the 5-0 derby defeat to Brighton last weekend.

Wyness believes that the problems at Selhurst Park right now run deeper than Sage alone, but feels that he will lose his job if he cannot stop his team’s awful defensive record.

The Eagles have shipped 17 goals from their opening seven Premier League games, and are already glancing nervously over their shoulder at the bottom three.

They have managed just one clean sheet in the league so far, and that leaky defence could ultimately see Sage pay with his job. 

Crystal Palace urged to sign new centre-back in January

Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Palace are being made to pay for key defensive sales in the summer.

The South London outfit cashed in on Maxence Lacroix, and also offloaded Daniel Munoz to Nottingham Forest later in the window. 

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness suggested that it may take a new centre-back coming through the door in January for Sage to be able to solve the issues.

“Again, I feel sorry for Sage. I don't think he's necessarily the problem here. It is a lot about what he inherited. mean, what do they have? They sold Munoz and Lacroix at the back,” he said.

“It's not all his problem. But sometimes I think they've got to get back to just being ugly for six weeks and really just really battling it out, I'm afraid, and trying to just win and not concede.

“So they've got to get through to January, they've got to get a centre back in January; they've got to shore up the defence some way.

“He's got to get back to some basics; he's got to drop the line, he can't push up as far as he has been doing so far and just play ugly. He's got to show that flexibility for a little while because that's when you get sacked if you try to adhere to your own football purist beliefs.

“If you show flexibility as a manager, I don't think you will get the sack. You've got to be able to adapt to the conditions and the squad you've got.”

Sean Dyche a ‘frontrunner’ for Crystal Palace job

Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider earlier this week that Sean Dyche is likely to be a “frontrunner” for the Palace job if Sage is sacked.

The former Nottingham Forest and Burnley boss is renowned for defensively solid football, which could potentially fix the Eagles’ current issues. 

Brown believes that Dyche has clear “admirers” behind the scenes at Selhurst Park, having previously been heavily linked with the job in the summer. 

Sage has had the backing of the club hierarchy so far, but that is unlikely to continue if results don’t improve.